I got better.

To quote Monty Python and The Holy Grail…I did indeed get better.

I will always have the distraction of pain and brain fog but it comes and goes and for now, it has gone.

Just as well because I’ve got to write a play every day and that is so far out of my comfort zone as to be a mere speck in the rearview mirror.

So, how has the writing challenge been going, I hear you ask?

Pretty good.

I’ve been doing this challenge every February for about 5 years so I’ve learned the hard way to pace myself and not try to write an epic piece of theatre every day or my brain will explode out of my ears!

I usually read the email, then write down the brief for that day, and let it sit for a while. Sometimes an idea comes straight away and sometimes it takes an hour or so to muddle around and get clear in my head. Sometimes it doesn’t really come at all, and then I have to just go with my gut and start writing and see what happens.

It’s the good, the bad, and the ever so ugly!

Today the theme was sport and my initial reaction was to write about two deflated and ignored footballs in a school PE cupboard. I ended up writing a strange movement/impro/scripted piece about racism, sexism, and elitism in sports.

Nope, I have no idea how that happened either but I just went with the flow and submitted it.

Sometimes you just have to call it and acknowledge it’s not what you thought it would be and then move on. When I look at it in the future I might decide it’s pretty good. Or I might decide it needs to be taken out back and shot. The odds are 50/50, to be honest.

I’ve also written a couple of monologues because first-person is my happy place and I feel it lends itself to any kind of theme or brief.

This month I have written about a slightly creepy security guard, an angel allocating phobias to people yet to be born, a raven explaining he is nothing like a writing desk and a ‘dear John’ letter from a dating app match.

I’ve also discovered two new characters – ‘Less’ and ‘More’ – who are waiting for something (but we don’t know what) and chatting about all sorts of things. Oh, and playing the world’s most pointless game of 20 questions.

This has happened before during this challenge – I’ve created characters that I want to go back to and use again. Previously it was a set of 3 trash pandas, this time it is Less and More doing their best ‘Waiting for Godot’ impression.

That’s what I love about this challenge. I didn’t know I had those characters in me and they would never have come out but for doing this. I even wrote a love story in only 30 words…something that would never have occurred to me just by sitting around and waiting for inspiration to strike.

Sometimes (most times!) the thought of having to write every day is stressful and that’s why I make myself get it done first thing. But it’s a classic case of ‘you’ll enjoy it when you get there’ because I either write something I really like or something crap…but either way I wrote something and for a reluctant writer that’s a win/win.

So, let’s see what the next few days will bring…