My Play Is Wondering Where I Went Today

The play I was trying to think of is Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author." It's something worth reading again every time you sit down to write a play. Another one is Moss Hart's "Act One". The screenwriter who wrote "Andersonville" told me he always read "Act One" again before he started another script.

I haven't written a scene today. In fact, I haven't even thought about it though I did write a scene last night. I have no idea where to go next, and again I want to know where I'm going before I write. I don't trust my characters to know the story. After all, I am the one who has to write it. The night is young as I have been sleeping late and staying up late so who knows; maybe I'll write another scene.

Right now, I'm more concerned about the swine flu, or H1N1 flu, or I guess we could say HoneNone if we spell it out. Last night I was even trying to review my algebra, permutation combination formula to see if I could get an idea where this flu is going in a short time mathematically. I'm sure the folks at the CDC have already done that, and that's why they are predicting a pandemic. I can't even conceive of schools closing across the country, much less folks not traveling by plane or subway or going to movies or sports events. I can't imagine what it may have been like in 1918. I hope I don't have to live through something like that, or die in a flu epidemic.

That is not an excuse for not writing on my play today. It's more I just didn't want to write on it. I wanted to be outside and repot my plants. I now have twice as many plants because I've been dividing ferns and repotting them in clean pots with additional fresh soil. I guess I will continue tomorrow until all my plants have had a little attention. I have thought of planting a garden. My dad's wife said you just put the seeds in the dirt and water them. It seems like it would be more complicated than that. I wish I'd helped my daddy with his garden all those years ago so I'd know how to grow vegetables.

It's amazing what I can think of to do instead of write. Maybe they all go together and in many ways are the same. Planting seeds is much like writing a play; you don't know if it will grow or not or if the fruit will die on the vine.