Tryin' Something New

I'm trying something new—completely fictional long-form writing—and so I'm terribly proud this imagination map—that's what I call this backstory of the characters of the play I'm drafting. The history spans columns one to eight; columns nine and ten contain the timeline of the two acts of the play. I've never  spent so much time pre-planning a writing project.

The backstory and timeline are the wholly imagined part of this project. The characters will be less so inasmuch as their words and actions will be drawn from my life experience and those of my friends. Here are my characters (remember, this is a work in progress and things will probably change).

Morris is a sixtyish former university VP of Finance. He’s retired but pursuing hedonism with the same energy and ambition with which he attacked his work. And he’s got plenty of money to finance his self-indulgence. He’s discovering he’s less comfortable with relationships without job descriptions; he’s more familiar with reciprocity than generosity.  

Desmond, fiftyish, is Morris’ best friend. He’s a CGA who fled a stressful life in Toronto hoping to find bliss in Vancouver. He met and married Camilla soon after arriving and it was through her that he met Morris who gave him his first job here.  

Camilla, in her sixties, is Morris’ closest friend but they’re not comfortable co-dependents—he feels she feminizes him and his constant presence in her life makes her feel like a fag hag. 

She’s been living in Morris’s suite since her divorce from Desmond ten years ago; Des still pays her modest rent.  She’s overweight and, as she says, in an exclusive relationship with her vibrator. She’s a professor of Anthropology. 

Cam has a son with Des. Miles is thirty-six and the reason they married. He quit college in his second year and two years later Cam and Des divorced. Miles has been incommunicado since his departure; he’s sent his parents sporadic postcards but they don’t have any contact information. (Miles does not appear in the play.)

Giles is a Quebecer in his mid-thirties. He’s been in a relationship with Miles for several years in Montréal.

This is so much fun. I just can't believe it and wish I'd tried this kind of writing ages ago. I'm excited to see if I complete the draft, where it goes if I do and if I'm chuffed enough to produce it. I have actor friends I respect in mind with whom to do a reading; their judgement will guide me.