The play that I'm about to write

So there was I, having just completed the scriptwriting course and wondering what the next writing challenge I should undertake. With a few ideas knocking around (that I planned to turn into something over the summer) I was expecting April and my planned week off work next week to be a leisurely time doing a few bits here and there. Well that was the plan until Friday night.

One event that had caught my eye was an email that I received a few weeks earlier but in everything else that has been going on of late I had neglected. As per usual I was spending a leisurely Friday clearing out my emails and decided to take a closer look of the one that I had received from Scriptfrenzy. I had signed up for their email list a few months back but for some reason I had mistaken it for another contest - one that insisted on a payment of $50.

Having looked at Scriptfrenzy’s website I thought that this would an ideal way of getting another script written so soon after my first. I planned to sign up the next day once I had had a well earned nights sleep. Well that’s what I hoped; unfortunately my sleep was disturbed by the antics of my increasingly annoying neighbours. Instead of staring at the ceiling waiting for time to tick by until the soundtrack of crap techno abated, I put on my iPod and explored the website further. On closer inspection I decided to commit myself to the task of writing 100 pages of script over the course of the month of April.

The concept is similar to other writing contests such as NANOWRIMO, which I had previously toyed with doing, but November is always a busy month for me so I haven’t managed to take part in that. That said, April is also a busy month for me, what with the marking that comes with the end of term, but on the plus side teaching is winding down, oh and it’s also the Easter holidays. So there is some free time that could be put to good use…well that’s the hope anyway.

On further inspection of the website I realised that there are a number of communities of writers who had signed up for April’s writing challenge. One was my hometown of Liverpool, which has been chosen as a regional hub for this event - Liverpool for these American sponsored events, is normally geographically lumped in with Manchester. I spotted a post on the forum that the Liverpool writers would be meeting that day in the Everyman Bistro and would gratefully be welcoming new members to meet up. Coincidentally, I was planning to be in the Everyman at later that night, to catch up with a mate from University who I hadn’t seen since he moved back down south. So with no great changes to my plans I decided to meet up with the writers' a couple of hours before I planned to meet my mate.

I was glad that I did, as the other writers seem to be a good bunch. They all knew each from other writing contests and recounted tales of their struggles to successfully complete the other writing contests. Instead of feeling intimidated by the challenge, the steely resolve of the group convinced me I was doing the right thing. It was a shame to be drawn away for my other plans (though that was enjoyable in its own right). There are other meetings planned, there is a ‘fade-in’ event on Wednesday that I hope to attend.

Here’s to April and the task of completing 100 pages of script!