Small success and its undercurrents

As some of you will already know I have had a small success, which is always a wonderful way to make one feel that you have at least some credence as a writer. What was it? Oh, My play ‘The Violin Player’ (read all about it here) got 3rd place as People’s Choice in the Sydney Short and Sweet Festival. This does not mean that it will go into the next judging round, because the judges looked elsewhere. What it does mean is that I need to write more, write stronger, write better and so I again sit to scrawl, type, rewrite. The small success is very nice, I can’t deny, but it’s the writing, the bringing to life my characters and their secret lives that I love and want to share. Perhaps I should be more ambitious, put myself forward more, network better (or at least network), self-promote better but what I want to do is write. I figure if I’m any good that will become evident over time. I’m not saying I do absolutely nothing but what I don’t do is spend my valuable writing time distracted by all the extraneous things I am told I must do to get myself ‘out there’. I do what I can when I can, but value the writing above all the peripheral stuff.

That was an awfully long-winded paragraph. I do want to succeed. I do want people to read and hopefully admire my work but…

A friend of mine Anthony Lawrence (a lecturer at Griffiths Uni) has recently written on the topic of “Ambition” go to the web journal ‘Southerly’ here. I took heart from his words and hope they speak to you.

A little more on writing – I am often puzzled that what I sit down to write just doesn’t happen, instead I write completely off topic and my characters take on a savage life of their own. Most people who know me are shocked when I tell them I write of murder and mayhem. I’m more shocked than most. I don’t, necessarily, sit down to write about dark topics it just happens. Honestly! Like the other day, I was a bit fed up with madness and murder and decided my next play would be a comedy. It started well. I got down some funny, well mildly amusing, bits but then…

What is wrong with me?????                               Rosa