necessity is the mother of invention

... or why a deadline is good for the soul

today marks the start of music's equivalent of nanowrimo - the opera in a month challenge! i just received the email announcing this year's topic - AESOP - and have now to work out how to write a 10-30 minute opera on the topic, including libretto, by the end of the month. wow. i'm feeling a little intimidated by it, but i'm also really chuffed at the topic, which is nice and broad and allows one to twist it a bit, if one so chooses. i'm not sure how to approach the libretto cos i've never tried to write a libretto before and creative writing (as opposed to essay writing) is really not my thing, but i'll give it a go, because we're supposed to do it ourselves, and if i find i'm having trouble, i'll beg my da for assistance (allowed but just not encouraged)

when i'm going to find time to write the music, i really don't know because we're pretty much fully booked until we leave australia on the 24th, but i felt it was worth trying and i usually do work better to a deadline. not so confident of finishing on time though that i signed up for the competition - it's open challenge only for me this year. maybe i'll think about the competition for next year.

so, aesop. of course the starting point is the fables, which might be good for me, not ever having tried to write a libretto - i'd have a good dramatic framework and no danger of getting bogged down in trying to invent a story, but, as the spec points out, there's a bunch of other potential options available too:

• original fable based on an aesop maxim (usually listed after a fable)
• an anti-fable tied somehow to aesop
• a human reduction of a fable by aesop, staged in the real world etc.
• base libretto on the life or legends surrounding the life of Aesop
• aesop could become a character in period drama
• aesop could become a character in time travel story
• aesop could be used as a stock character as in commedia d'elle arte
• include an aesop-like character (a fable-crafter or fable-teller)

most of these sound a little ambitious for me, but i'll give them a good think about over the next couple of days - it's good to approach things from different angles, even if one ends up taking the easy path of just creating a libretto from a fable.

so off i go - wish me luck!