Long time, no see! The past few months have brought so much happiness and hard work. What is this life?
Thought I'd share just a few highlights from my first quarter at UCR in the MFA Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts program. I participated in my first screenwriting workshop, a playwriting workshop, and a lecture called Writer's Life, where we had working professionals in their respective writing fields visit our class and discuss with us their craft and how they got to where they did. Very informative, very awesome.
My portfolio nearly doubled in size! A new 45 page one-act, a new 25 page one-act, a new ten minute play, and the first draft of a 122 page screenplay. Phew. One of which has been selected for UCR's 2016 New Play Festival!!
My technique has definitely grown. I had no idea how to format or structure a screenplay at the beginning of the quarter, but in the end, I finished the first draft with tons of encouragement, questions, and praise from my classmates and professors. While I'm not entirely "happy" with the ending (I HATE ENDINGS), it's really great knowing the first draft's behind me and there's only progress from here.
I think the best thing that came from my first quarter, besides a ton of new work, which you can check out in my PLAYS + SCREENPLAYS tab, were all the new friends I gained. It was incredible meeting my fellow cohort members, attending parties (WUT), mixers (DOUBLE WUT), and meeting some of the second year MFAs. Engaging in thoughtful, respectful, and sometimes vulnerable conversations about writing and life and how those two entities overlap. How lucky am I? I can't even. CAN'T EVEN.
The next quarter starts on January 4th. As of now, I'm enrolled in Writing for Television with Stu Krieger, a first person fiction workshop with Susan Straight, and a fiction seminar with Jane Smiley. Having never written a television script and currently quite rusty with fiction narratives, I'm pretty nervous, but mainly excited for more honest and challenging work ahead.
Thank you everyone who's kept me going throughout these past few months. It's meant the world! I love you.
Chelsea
Thought I'd share just a few highlights from my first quarter at UCR in the MFA Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts program. I participated in my first screenwriting workshop, a playwriting workshop, and a lecture called Writer's Life, where we had working professionals in their respective writing fields visit our class and discuss with us their craft and how they got to where they did. Very informative, very awesome.
My portfolio nearly doubled in size! A new 45 page one-act, a new 25 page one-act, a new ten minute play, and the first draft of a 122 page screenplay. Phew. One of which has been selected for UCR's 2016 New Play Festival!!
My technique has definitely grown. I had no idea how to format or structure a screenplay at the beginning of the quarter, but in the end, I finished the first draft with tons of encouragement, questions, and praise from my classmates and professors. While I'm not entirely "happy" with the ending (I HATE ENDINGS), it's really great knowing the first draft's behind me and there's only progress from here.
I think the best thing that came from my first quarter, besides a ton of new work, which you can check out in my PLAYS + SCREENPLAYS tab, were all the new friends I gained. It was incredible meeting my fellow cohort members, attending parties (WUT), mixers (DOUBLE WUT), and meeting some of the second year MFAs. Engaging in thoughtful, respectful, and sometimes vulnerable conversations about writing and life and how those two entities overlap. How lucky am I? I can't even. CAN'T EVEN.
The next quarter starts on January 4th. As of now, I'm enrolled in Writing for Television with Stu Krieger, a first person fiction workshop with Susan Straight, and a fiction seminar with Jane Smiley. Having never written a television script and currently quite rusty with fiction narratives, I'm pretty nervous, but mainly excited for more honest and challenging work ahead.
Thank you everyone who's kept me going throughout these past few months. It's meant the world! I love you.
Chelsea