This was one of those “Opera composer looking for librettist” kind of things. To be more specific, the “opera composer” in question was “looking for a librettist who would be interested in collaborating on a new work based on a historical figure and a series of events in Central America.” That was back in July of 2015.
I completed my research into the “historical figure” by the end of October and wrote the first scenes in a flurry in November. Unfortunately, I ran into a sticky patch in December when I realised that the outline I’d put in place prior to starting writing was seriously flawed. In terms of “Plot Points”, I’d made the cardinal error of confusing the “Inciting Incident” with the “Midpoint”! This had the disastrous effect of making the libretto “end-heavy”. When I’d finally stopped kicking myself and redrawn my outline, I came to a happy realisation: the scenes I’d already written constituted almost the entire first act! That made the prospect of writing the second act a lot more attractive, I can tell you!
Now, in January 2016, the first draft has already been written. I’m awaiting the comments of the composer. There’ll be changes to be made of course. However, I’m quietly confident they won’t be major ones.