Day Five – Plenty of Writing Time!

Today was the second full day, and the first to require few commitments to our program. The only thing on the agenda outside of individual writing and studio time was a French lesson from Lea, the delightful co-organizer of our residency. I did consider taking the class, because my French is awful and Lea’s very nice. But I was anxious to dig into my writing–indeed, that was the reason I came!

After breakfast, I hunkered down. I had brought a list of things I wanted to work on, in addition to an accordion file containing story ideas, notes for revisions, and play and poetry books for inspiration. First, I organized my list and made sure everything I wanted to work on was accounted for. Then, I did a revision on my short film script (which I am hoping to produce next year), and a one act play I realized needed some work. That was a good start, and I was happy to have those two pieces sorted. But I came here to be inspired and create some new works, and it was time I did so.

For a number of years, I have been intrigued by the idea that a side effect of prednisone is “inappropriate happiness.” (I’m serious–check your label.) I have known that I wanted that as a title for a play, but I didn’t know what the story would be. Using my brand new Orquevaux journal, I wrote down some ideas, and by the end of the day had the first draft of a five-minute play with that title. Ernest Thompson has emphasized to me the importance of the five-minute play; it’s a format I’ve wanted to explore more deeply.

After dinner, several of us gathered in the salon to share our poetry. It was myself, Emory, and two of the Australian writers: Tilly and Alyssa. It was a real joy reading and sharing everyone’s work, and they are all just the loveliest people. There are so many reasons to feel grateful to be in this place–the quality of the people might just be the most important one.

All in all, it was a splendid day, then Dusty the cat decided he would spend the night. As you can see, he is an adorable cat. Sharing the bed with him was just fine until about 4am, when Dusty decided that I was encroaching too far onto his pillow, and began swatting at my head. So, I rolled away. I didn’t mind–after all, at Orquevaux, its Dusty’s world, and we’re just living in it.