Friday Report

Good work on the press clips. It's nice to see a once-enormous box of files be sorted and organized and filed. I compiled a progress report of sorts later in the day.

Almost every day I scribble notes on the play draft document. I just bought a book on screenwriting that I think will help. First I'm gonna "diagram" Glengarry Glen Ross. By "diagram" I mean point out the sources of conflict, rank them in a way, and generally trace the shape of the narrative. I don't think there is much to the play other than tracing the conflicts and asking, why? In my opinion, all the characters in the play are flat--not round. Unless you count Shelley getting fired a transformation of sorts, which I guess it is from his perspective.

Once I diagram Glengarry I think I'll have a better read on where I need to dial up or dial down conflict in my two-act play.

Friday session

I had a couple meetings yesterday so I didn't get the full book time I wanted. I got deep into the phone call scandal in the press clips--not my favorite piece of material but necessary nonetheless.

Last Friday

Good work session. I located some missing files and organized them so they'll never get lost again. Disposed of some useless primary source material in the "done" pile. Processed a nice article in Saveur of all places with some good cracker lore for the first chapter.

The play moves along nicely, too. Fiction is such a nice relief valve from the systematic work of biography.

Payback to the Endowment?

Seems the governor of Florida has agreed to repay the Lawton Chiles Endowment after raiding it...according to the Bradenton Herald.

Practice

For mental and verbal exercise I'm sketching a short play which, of course, is political in subject. A lot of the success of this Chiles project depends on good, snappy dialogue. Fictional dialogue done well helps brainstorm good arrangement of nonfictional dialogue. Maybe it was Cal Ripken Jr. who said that perfect practice makes perfect. This is practice, regardless.

Join the Petition to Protect Florida's Children

Click HERE to protect the Lawton Chiles Endowment for Florida's children.

Demand that Florida's current political leadership show vision and wisdom and reject short-sighted budget gimmickry. Ask that they build what Governor Chiles called a "constituency for children."

Once you've signed the petition, ask three friends to answer the call!

Wall Street Journal Chiles News

The Chiles family, with the help of a stellar legal team, challenges the Florida governor's raid of the Chiles Endowment.