Playing the long game
To date, I’ve received six definite no’s out of eleven submissions for my book Thin Sandwich, so I want to thank the agents who have taken the time to email me polite, respectful “not this time” or “not for us” responses. I hope at least one of the remaining five will get back to me once they realise this is precisely the book they have been waiting for 😊.
In any case, my plan is to leave things until the end of this month and then start revising in October, so I am ready to send out another batch of submissions in November or December. My hunch and the feedback I have received so far suggest I need to rewrite some sections before sending it out again.
I am far from ready to give up on Thin Sandwich, but taking a pause and stepping back has given me a chance to reassess how I might move forward.
It’s also given me a chance to research and make progress on two possible future books: one about my dad and the other about my maternal grandmother.
It’s all ‘go’ with this writing lark. 😊
Adventures with acting
Patience and diligence are the two words I will take away from our two-week introduction-to-acting course. I’m coming to appreciate more clearly that what we see on our screens and in our theatres is, in many ways, only the tip of the iceberg compared with the work required to inhabit a character and bring it to life.
It’s been a real eye-opener. I joined the course expecting to spend our time strutting across a stage quoting Shakespeare, or maybe some Samuel Beckett – who knows what? I joined assuming there would be a lot more actual talking and acting. But even in the voice module, we barely said anything.
Looking back, I can see this introductory course was about laying the groundwork and planting seeds. This is where the patience comes in, though I can already feel something shifting within me.
And to my surprise (though why should I be so surprised?), there’s hard graft in the acting game, even with a modicum of talent. Much like writing, I suspect, there are no shortcuts, no instant leap into being able to act. This is where the diligence comes in.
But I did have a bit of a moment on the penultimate day, while playing Hilary in the play The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband 😉. Something magical happened as I became completely absorbed in the character, and afterwards I realised this was what the course had been building towards. I would not have had my moment on day one, and now I think I might be ever so slightly hooked.
Until next time