Well, another 24 Hour Play Writing Challenge, hosted by Nakai Theatre, is over. By my count, this is my tenth.
I approach these with the same outlook, namely that I’m never going to make as much progress as I planned. Frankly, expecting to write a complete play in such a short period of time is unrealistic. I have written first drafts and frameworks for plays in that time, and have often used the event to edit existing works in the mill.
This was my approach this time around. As per usual, I did not accomplish everything I had hoped, although I did manage to complete a full first draft. Much of the draft is pretty rough, needing some additional dialogue as well as having some removed. More importantly, there was a transition that I have be agonizing over for months. At 4 AM, the way to make this just clicked and, if there were no other benefits of the Challenge, this made it worthwhile by itself. In short, I think this year was a success.
Doug Rutherford 