Friday, July 13, 2018

Mid-July check in

So - writing is happening (editing). And grant writing (work). And I am launching into an immersive theatrical interpreting experience in two days! Decided this is a good time to post a quick update before all thoughts are focused elsewhere.

On the writing front, I am still editing. My editing slowed a little as I necessarily focused my attention on a grant application which is due week after next. I am currently editing a story that I submitted part of for the last manuscript workshop. So parts of this editing are sailing and some, I'm shaking my head and thinking, "I hope I didn't submit that part looking like that!" I am, again, feeling hopeful about this book and want to bring it out into the world. Here's to holding onto that thought!

I'm not going to say a lot about the grant here, right now. It is for an exciting project and I am working with a couple of other people to make it happen. Once I get the grant submitted, then I have to wait a couple of months for the decisions to be announced. More on that later. Other than to say that grant writing is not easy, but I knew that before I started the process.

The theatrical immersion project is Portland Center Stage's JAW festival. It is a festival of new plays, where the chosen playwrights are brought in to work with directors, actors, stage managers. The plays are workshopped and change daily, often several times in a day. And at the end (July 27-29), there is the Promising Playwrights Kickoff event (Fri 7/27), where the eight selected students 10-minute plays will be presented as staged readings; then Sat 7/28 and Sun 7/29 are the staged readings of the four JAW playwrights' scripts. Which I and my team will be interpreting. This is almost like competitive performance interpreting, because we spend a ton of time attending the rehearsals, keeping up with script changes, meeting with the team to work out interpreting, and changing as needed as the scripts change. Diving into the deep end of performance interpreting for this event - and it's okay, I know how to swim.

And to end on a writing note. I also decided to join Camp NaNoWriMo this month. Yes, my plate is already overflowing, but Camp NaNo helps me keep engaged with my writing and I am also using it for the grant. For Camp NaNo this time around, I am counting minutes spent writing, on both my editing and my grant writing. I am way ahead at this point (partly due to being away for three days last week). Below are my current Camp NaNo stats.