Big changes are in progress here both with Little Wonder and About Writing. Over the next couple of weeks the website will look a little odd as I make it ready for the awesome projects, series and competitions we have coming up. In the meantime, have you made sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out? Because 2019 is going to be a BIG year.
Last year I had the privilege of reading more than 300 entries to our Little Wonder Radio Play Competition. I read every single one and gave feedback to almost a hundred. This was an incredible opportunity for me to see on a large scale what does and doesn’t work in a play. And one of the most common mistakes made by our playwrights was that they thought a good play should look like this:
This seems to make sense. Start calm, introduce a mystery, steadily build tension until you blow their mind M. Night Shyamalan style with an ending they’ll never forget. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work at all. In this article I’ll show you what this approach looks like, I’ll explain why it doesn’t work and I’ll show you the alternative that will keep your listeners listening.
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In December our good friend Toby Frost published his fantasy novel Up to the Throne, which you should go and buy straight away here.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you, then Radio Charades recently released a recording of Toby reading the first chapter of the novel. Have a listen, and I’ll bet you’ll want to read more…
Ever wonder how a poet’s mind works? With Little Wonder dark for january (we’re resting our tired editing fingers), I took the opportunity to corner and interview rising star of the scene Taylor Johnson. We talked about how they write, what they think poetry is and how they try to achieve what they do. The result was one of the most thoughtful, profound and useful discussions of writing I’ve ever experienced. Perhaps the strongest thing I can say about it is that as a definitely-not-a-poet it made me want to try writing poetry. But don’t take my word for it. You can listen to the whole interview below.
Taylor Johnson is from DC. Their poems appear in The Baffler, Four Way Review, Indiana Review, and Scalawag, among other publications. They’ve received fellowships from Cave Canem, Callaloo, Yaddo, the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and the Vermont Studio Center, among other organizations.
Links for poems:
The Black proletarianization of the bourgeois form isn’t Kanye West’s gospel samples
I hope you enjoyed the interview. You can find out all about Taylor’s work at http://www.taylorjohnsonpoems.com/. A few tickets are still left for the city 27 microtheatre in English (including my utterly ridiculous show Nanas are Forever) – check it out if you’re in Paris https://www.billetreduc.com/228691/evt.htm. There will be a new writing article up on the site soon, and Little Wonder Radio Plays kick off in February with political thriller “The Candidate” and supernatural mystery “No New Messages.” Thanks for listening!
Well, this is exciting. For the next four Saturdays (Jan 19th, 27th, Feb 2nd and 9th) (more if they sell out), City 27 are showing an evening of micro-theatre – four 27 minute shows in 27 metres squared for an audience of only 27 people. Pretty exclusive stuff! City 27 is in the 11th, right next to Metro Voltaire, and the limited tickets are available now on Billet Reduc.
Which feels terribly grown up! Check out the poster, and come and see some plays. I promise you will laughs or you can come and abuse me on this very website!
