Hello, reader of my blog
I know you are thinking that this is going to be one of those blogs that gets infequently updated, then updated yearly, then not at all. You couldn’t be farther from the truth.
You could be farther from the truth, I admit, but overall, you’re wrong. But this is why: As I mentioned at the end of my last post, I’m currently reading The Playwright’s Guidebook, by Stuart Spencer, which my old University pal Allan gave me when we were still in University. It took me a long time to get to it, but I am now at a time in my life where I am more receptive than I used to be to advice on how to write, so I think it was fate. So far very helpful, and I’ll write a little more about it when I’ve finished the book.
Anyway, on page 43 of the book, the author mentions A Streetcar Named Desire, and then in a footnote at the bottom of the page suggests my reading experience would be helped by picking up some required reading, listed in an appendix at the back of the book. This was problem one: although I was keen to continue on with my Epic Project of the Booklist, I feel guilty if I am missing out on some Required Reading. So I had to embark on a mini-project.
I also ran into a second problem in that this book had exercises, involving writing scenes. I couldn’t do that on the subway or in bed as I drifted off to sleep, so not only did I have these exercises (which I didn’t feel I could skip, or I’d be missing out on the experience of the book) disrupting my normal everyday life, I had to figure out something else to read while I was waiting for a good time to write the exercise, which I had to complete before continuing on with the Guidebook.
Dave's Booklist 