Script Frenzy

I was cruising the internet last night, checking out different kinds of software for my script writing aspirations, when I came across a very interesting comment. Well, the comment wasn’t so much as was to what it led… Let me explain. After opening a search engine and typing in “scriptwriting software”, a number of possible leads popped up in my browser. Reading through these, and clicking on the links to the ones that sounded promising, one of the listings caught my eye. Someone had posted a comment in a blog forum or thread of some sort, and they said -more or less- “----- is the scriptwriting software I’ll be using during Script Frenzy…”

Huh. “Script Frenzy?” I said to myself. “What’s a ‘Script Frenzy’?” Intrigued, I clicked on the link…

Oh, the world I found myself now inhabiting! ScriptFrenzy.org is a site that is hosting one of the most incredible “contests” I’ve had the fortune (or some might say misfortune) to participate in. This contest, for lack of a better word, is basically a challenge to all writers. It is a meeting place for some 7,000+ writers world-wide who are all striving toward a singular goal. The goal - Blast out a 20,000 word screenplay in 31 days. The challenge was issued some weeks ago by a group at the Office of Letters and Light. http://www.lettersandlight.org In the past 9 years they have held the National Novel Writers Month, or NaNoWriMo…. Now, they’ve turned their sites toward the Scripting world.

The challenge to write any completed work in 31 days is difficult enough. Let that piece of work be a 120 page, 20,000 word screenplay, and the difficulty goes up a notch. It seems completely impossible to a person such as myself who has found it difficult to finish anything but a term paper in more years than I care to count. There’s no prize to be won, no wealthy benefactor waiting to snatch up your soon-to-be Oscar-winning bit of fiction. There is, in fact, nothing monetary whatsoever to be gained. No critical acclaim either as near as I can tell. Even still, the satisfaction of a job completed, and the bragging rights to such an accomplishment, seem to be impetus enough.

The benefits of an all-out word orgy such as this are numerous, and vary in degrees of importance, dependent upon to whom you are speaking. To start: who doesn’t just love a challenge? It is certainly motivational to set a goal such as this and then work frenetically to bring about a satisfactory conclusion. Then there is the community into which you become thoroughly entrenched. The website offers not only the rules of engagement, but a safe haven for the writers to compare notes, bemoan plot bombs, brainstorm character quirks, and yes, brag about their progress thus far. Everyone is furiously typing (or scribbling) away at a story, with no time to stop for finesse, eager to get those words on the page. Everyone is in the same boat - though some are quite a bit more prolific than others. Even still, there is such a sense of kinship and camaraderie - you’re never too busy to stop to help someone out. Having problems figuring out which poison best suits the intentions of your would-be-murderer? Not sure how a character should react to a given situation? Troubles with the logistics of wormhole physics? Not a problem! Simply post a query in the forums, and with luck, your fellow Frenzies will inundate you with advice and suggestions. There are even local regions of writers who are gathering - live - to have what are commonly referred to as “write-ins”. “We’s all goin’ tuh meet at the water-hole. Bring yer laptop er pencils and join us fer a spell. Grab something to drink, plop yer bum down, and - write!”

How could I resist? I just had to sign up! Though I hadn’t even heard about any of this craziness until June 1st (pencils up day), I had to throw my hat into the ring nonetheless. So, now, here I am on day two, and I have to admit that I’m having a blast! This being the first screenplay I’ve ever penned, I’ve been a bit hampered by the formatting - and the fact that I have to be more “dialogue-centric” and less “internal monologue / descriptive”. I’ve still managed to end day one with over 1400 words, so not a bad start I’d say. There are those who are able to claim over 10,000 words already, and to them I say - “Whuh? Holy cow!” Still, I will take my puny 1400 words and be happy with them. And I will congratulate those who have found the muse burning so strongly as to allow them to go trippingly along at such lightning speeds. I will catch up - eventually. And, in the end, we will have all won!

I’m looking forward to this month of pandemonium, and I shall attempt to update here as often as possible. I won’t promise, however, just in case I find myself stepping through the hole in the page that leads me to the wonderful story that my imagination wants to tell. Should that happen, of course, I will be much too busy to bother with a simple blog entry. You’ll understand, won’t you? For now, I will bid you good-day. I must get cracking or I will fall short of my word objective for the day.

And, just to give you an idea of what we’re all up against… this blog has been a mere 907 words. Multiply by 10 then add a thousand! Yeah. That’s what I thought… And, we’re writing, we’re writing…