One opportunity that has caught my eye, courtesy of Writers Online, is a competition to write a 40-minute dramatic monologue. The winning entry will be performed at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, with a professional cast (though a chunk of money would be nice, too!). I do love a monologue, so I might have a go at this: but how many words is 40 minutes' worth? I've just read out a 1200-word story in seven minutes, but this doesn't allow for dramatic pauses - and I do have a tendency to gabble. What do you reckon: about 6,000 words?
If you fancy having a go, details are here:
You are on a creative roll, Julia! That's probably quite a good guestimate for number of words. I think the BBC short story used to be 2,100 words or thereabouts for a 15 minute slot. Maybe the BBC Witersroom site will be of help as they have lots of info on drama. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rosemary. I've just had a look at the Writersroom and you're right: full of info. I've also found a handy words-to-minutes converter on www.edgestudio.com/production/words-to-time-calculator where it tells me that 7,000 words (read at 3 words a minute) will last 38 mins 53 seconds, so I'm the right area.
ReplyDeleteGlad your enthusiasm hasn't waned... and a shortlisted story too! I think that word to minutes converter sounds really useful and I'm going to take a look.
ReplyDeleteI'm on fire!
DeleteKeep going Julia. You sound really motivated. I was going to do an estimate for the words per minute by reading my book aloud in my head (if that makes sense), but that website sounds much more reliable!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to comment, Maggie. The internet has the answer to everything, it seems.
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