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NaNoWriMo 2011 is about to come to a close at 12:00 AM tonight.  To my fellow writers out there, whether you won or lost you still played the game and I, your humble peer, SALUTE YOU!

ROCK on wid jer bad self, writers.  Straight up.

 

Thanks to Chris Baty, Lindsey Grant and all the rest of the fine people from the Office of Letters and Light.  

I hope to see you again in April for Scriptfrenzy!

Script Frenzy 2009

I won. My script stands at 113 pages (WORD Template) and 102 pages (PDF file – verified).

Mischief Managed.

This was my third Script Frenzy but my first as a Municipal Liaison. I posted something similar to this on the Municipal Liaison’s forum yesterday. We did not have large numbers but you ARE out there and I thank you for participating. Know that I have stickers just waiting for you. You know who you are. I know who you are too – YOU are scribes, playwrights and writers. You ROCK. Although we didn’t have large numbers in the South Jersey area this time out I had the opportunity to network with some really great North Jersey people and I look forward to the chance to do it all again next year for Script Frenzy 2010.

My plan for next year includes putting out my feelers, finding and networking with a Municipal Liaison for the Philadelphia area while nurturing an interest here in Southern New Jersey via schools (any teachers out there interested in having their class participate in 2010? Just give me a call) and local media outlets.

30 Days, 100 Pages – Are you in? Think about it. It just may be time to stop watching and to start doing. This year was great but next year – the sequel – is gonna be jaw dropping.

Stage VS Screen

I saw a snotty tee shirt once that read, “Film is Art, Theater is Life and TV is Furniture”. In my humble opinion, wearing something like that puts you at the head of the class when it comes to snobbery. Do not pass go – collect your more cultured than thou existence and go straight to… jail.

“Why don’t you like that? It’s witty enough and I’ve read this blog before – you have your own set of snobbish ways too, Evil Chicken!”

Guilty as charged and why that very well may be the case, Gentle Reader, please allow me to say right off the bat I find that tee shirt exclusive, a little myopic and heavily weighted down by a boatload of pride. “Why?” It’s because story is the key. I don’t care what venue it takes. Serve the story. However it manifests itself.

That being said please allow me to share a dilemma with you; I don’t know what format I’m going to write yet for this April’s Script Frenzy – screenplay or play. Now, let me just say, I am comfortable with the screenplay format. Not that I’m a whiz by any stretch of the imagination; no. I just have a working familiarity with that process. I’ve written them before or had a hand in writing them. Now I’ve written puppet plays but I’ve always used the screenplay as my canvas (man, that sounds pompous – I’m sorry). To date I have never written a PLAY in standard format. April’s Script Frenzy may be my chance to change all that.

What to do… what to do?

This may not sound like a big deal but it could spell the difference between victory (100 pages by the end of April) and defeat. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ve got to do some research; dust off my old Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller books/plays. It’s always good to look before you leap. Hey, if worse comes to worse I’ve got my tried and true Screenplay formatting to fall back on… right?

Oh well. I’ll decide sooner or later. One thing that I could stand in April is some company. I hear that “Misery” loves it! No pressure or anything but April is Script Frenzy (http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/) and NOW may be YOUR time to shine.

Think about it.

Script Frenzy 2009

30 days. 100 pages. April. Are you in?

Well, you could be. I make mention of this writing exercise now because I would like you to consider joining me in writing a screenplay in the month of April. I figure now is as good a time as any to make the offer so here it is. Script Frenzy is from the same people who bring us NaNoWriMo every November, the Office of Letters and Light. Submitted for your approval, check out http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/. Poke around long enough and you’ll find the following:

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants attempt the daring feat of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April. As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or "best" scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages is victorious and awe-inspiring and will receive a handsome Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact.
Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there's a script inside you that may never get out.

The 5 Basic Rules of Script Frenzy

1) To be crowned an official Script Frenzy winner, you must write a script (or multiple scripts) of at least 100 total pages and verify this tally on ScriptFrenzy.org.

2) You may write individually or in teams of two. Writer teams will have a 100-page total goal for their co-written script or scripts.

3) Script writing may begin no earlier than 12:00:01 AM on April 1 and must cease no later than 11:59:59 PM on April 30, local time.

4) You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires.

5) You must, at some point, have ridiculous amounts of fun.

Of those 5 Basic Rules, number 5 is a must.

“But I’ve never done anything like that. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Well, you’ve got to start somewhere and worrying is bad for your health. Don’t worry; there is helpful advice on the site for whatever genre that you decide on writing. There is support & instruction, there are screenplay programs to download & use for your script too. Perhaps writing a screenplay is something that you’ve always wanted but you felt that you just didn’t have the time to do it. Well in April your time has come.

“What software, if any, would I use?”

Well that’s a good question and the answers are circular; use what is the best tool for you. I’m not a professional writer but I have played with some of their tools. I’ve used “Screenwriter 2000”, dabbled briefly with “Final Draft”, and wrote a script once with “Celtx”. These days when I want to bring out the guns for a screenplay, script or puppet-script I just fire up my Screenplay Template from Microsoft and I’m off to the races. Since I’m addicted to “WORD” anyway it makes a nice even flow. You can score a copy of that template here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=screenplay&sc=4&av=TPL if you so desire. Script Frenzy has several free programs that you could use and discounts on “Final Draft” if you just have to spend money. The choice is up to you. As for yours truly, the Screenplay Template for Microsoft WORD is the weapon of choice.

“I’m still not convinced.”

That’s OK. This is something that I find particularly cathartic; writing. Perhaps you will as well. Yes, now it may seem foreign and be outside of your comfort zone but come April and YOU are writing YOUR script, telling YOUR story the exercise becomes more tangible. You walk into the month of April someone who has ideas and creative possibilities swimming in your head and you walk out of April as a writer who has just completed his/her first draft of a screenplay. You did it. Congratulations writer!

“It can’t be that easy – what’s the catch?”

This will be the third Script Frenzy that I will participate in. The only catches in this process are the internal ones that you will have to answer for yourself, writer. Consider this; you like a good story don’t you? Sure you do. Haven’t you ever found yourself screaming at the TV after watching a goofy show or after renting an expectation crushing DVD from Blockbuster, “That really STUNK! I know I could do better.” Are you sick and tired of the rehashing of tired storytelling in most Hollywood productions? Yeah? Well, do something about it! It’s time to fire back at Hollywood and April is your time to shine.

Script Frenzy, as is the case with all of the writing projects from the Office of Letters and Light, is an exercise in creativity. It’s free, by the way, and they hold non-profit organization status. You can donate if you want but it’s not required. Remember, you are writing the first draft of a script. It’s a FIRST DRAFT so you don’t need to get hung up on if your T’s are crossed or if you transitions in and out are the industry standard. Just write it. Have fun with it. Tell your story. You can do it. I know you can.

30 days. 100 pages. April. GO!