Readings are so helpful
Tonight I had some lovely people over for dinner who did me the favor of having a casual reading of my new play Mrs. Loring. We were a few people short and some of them had to talk to themselves, but they did a great job for having never seen the script before and just winging it. And even better, afterward they helped me work on what I should edit. Between Steph, Lenny, Eboracum, Charlotte, and Frances, their responses were super-useful to help me figure out what worked, what didn't, what it still needed and how I could accomplish it.
As it is, the script is pretty bare-bones. In my rush to finish it before the deadline, pretty much all the scenes are in the service of moving the plot along. That means that it moves too fast and needs both more lead-up to make things believable when they happen and more character development. I also believe that every character who's more than an extra should have an arc. While I would say about half of my six significant characters do, my lovely readers helped me figure out what the others should have. It needs a lot of work, but I think I have a better handle on how to attack it now. I'm sure I'll want to do another reading once I make the edits, and I'm excited for when I get to that point.
As it is, the script is pretty bare-bones. In my rush to finish it before the deadline, pretty much all the scenes are in the service of moving the plot along. That means that it moves too fast and needs both more lead-up to make things believable when they happen and more character development. I also believe that every character who's more than an extra should have an arc. While I would say about half of my six significant characters do, my lovely readers helped me figure out what the others should have. It needs a lot of work, but I think I have a better handle on how to attack it now. I'm sure I'll want to do another reading once I make the edits, and I'm excited for when I get to that point.