Scriptfrenzy 2010

Today is the first day of Scriptfrenzy a month long writing contest, one that I signed up to take part in last year. It is similar to Nanowrimo and all those other do-something-creative-in-a-month competitions that internet has helped popularise.
Last year, I signed up at the very last minute (as chronicled here) and enjoyed every moment of the experience. This year, I have another idea for a script that I was looking forward to getting stuck into but unfortunately I won't be at the starting line with all the other writers. The main reason I guess is that I have surveyed the month ahead and that from a work point of view (work of the paid kind) I just won’t have the time to give the attention that it deserves. Marking season will soon be upon me!

From a writing point of view I also feel like I have a number of half-finished ideas that I need to get out of the way first before I undertake another project such as this. Last summer, I started a novel, which at this moment stands half completed. I also lined up at the start of Nanowrimo in November - unfortunately work got in the way again so I’m left with another half finished novel. Added to this is the small matter of the last year’s script, which is still at the first draft stage and has been filed away and has not been read since its completion.

This last week while I have been off work I have been surveying a number of pieces of work that I had written for other workshops of late and some other bits that that I had forgotten I had written. So I think for now I should really be concentrating on clearing the decks and start getting some of my already completed/soon to be completed work out there.

That is why with great reluctance that I won't be lining up with other ScreenFrenzy participants. I wish them every success in what is an interesting, frustrating and ultimately enjoyable experience.

Fade out

Previous blog posts this month have mentioned the Scriptwriting challenge that I had somehow found myself signed up to. Having toyed with similar challenges in the past, I have always managed to talk myself out of taking part in them at the last moment. So I set myself the task of 100 pages in 30 days - not really expecting to succeed.

God knows how I got here but I crossed the finish line with 10 days to spare. How did I do it? Well there was certainly no daily work ethic it was mainly a case of 10 page splurges here and there. The last few days probably saw me write 30 pages just so I could complete and put the thing to bed. Not that I was getting fed up with, just that I needed to concentrate on other more prosaic things…such as work!

I have not really had time to stop and think what I have taken part in, as back in March with only a weekend to gather my thoughts I set out on this journey. It has been an interesting and rewarding period that has know seen the completion of my first full-length script; which I plan to edit and redraft. I will do this along with the script from the scriptwriting course that I have recently completed. When I’m happy with both, I will look towards sending them off to see if they can be performed.

Another good aspect of the month was meeting a vibrant community of writers in the Liverpool area. We have met at various points in the month to encourage and support each other. The plans are to continue meeting up and getting involved in other projects. One is the Nanowrimo In Novemeber which I’m seriously contemplating taking part in. For or now it’s a period of non-scriptwriting….though I’m sure I said that at the end of the last one.

Scriptfrenzy

Thirteen days in and I'm still on course to complete the 100 pages target by the end of the month. I must admit I have had a few slack days when the Scriptfrenzy has seemed more of a whimper, but when I have manged to get on with the job in hand I have made some good progress.

Today I have reached something of milestone in that I'm half way there, tonight I passed the 50 page barrier. Only 50 pages and 17 days to go.

Fade in slowly

And we're off. Just as I'm about to wind down in work for a well deserved Easter break, I have taken on the task of writing 100 pages of script in the next 30 days. Tonight sees the first meeting (write/fade in) of the writers I met on Friday, it should be good. The ideas are flowing and hopefully I will be able to get them on page later today.

The 30 days start now.

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!