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I’ve decided to participate in this year’s Script Frenzy. I considered it last year, even signed up for the site but did not follow through. Why? I’m not entirely sure. I have a funny feeling that obsessive World of Warcraft playing fed by a heaping helping of self doubt and fear had a big part in it. My WoW account has long since been cancelled and I am doing a lot of work to overcome those other difficulties so perhaps this year I might just make it.

What’s Script Frenzy?

According to the web site Script Frenzy challenges creative writers to “write 100 pages of original scripted material in the 30 days of April. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome.)”  It costs nothing to participate and there are no huge prizes other than “Happiness. Creative juices. Pride. Laughter. Bragging rights. A brand-new script.”

Why am I doing it?

Why not? I very much enjoyed participating in Movember by growing a ridiculous looking moustache and rounding up donations to a good cause. I met a lot of cool people doing that. This could be a similar experience.

There’s not a lot of pressure to participate other than that you put on yourself. That I like. I haven’t paid for anything and I’m doing what I’m doing for fun and for free.

After you sign up for the site you are asked to fill out some information about your potential screenplay and yourself. You can choose a home region to connect with other writers who are participating near you. Here’s a link to my Script Frenzy profile. Why don’t you sign up too so we can laugh at each other’s horrific screenplays? OK, maybe they’ll be awesome. Does it really matter? Not really.

My screenplay, taken from an idea I had last year, is called Concussion. It’s about “a slacker is given a gift that could do the world a lot of good; knowledge of the afterlife & the ability to communicate with the dead. He uses it selfishly and things backfire on him” — sort of  The Sixth Sense meets Slackers.

To write I am using a free piece of screenwriting software called Celtx. It’s pretty robust and does pretty much everything you expect from the other expensive screenwriting packages like Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter. I did pay a whopping $9.95 USD (plus 5% GST) for the Writers Pack add-on for Celtx. I wanted the distraction reducing Full Screen Mode as well as the Advanced Session Timer that not only keeps track of my progress but allows me to tweet it using a built in #scriptfrenzy hashtag. I’m not sure I will use the Plot View but I got it just in case. I’ll buy the Art Packs later when I actually shoot one of these screenplays of mine.

I’ve also installed a cool widget on the sidebar of this site to track my progress throughout the month. Also, if I’m not completely spent after writing for practice, work and this project I plan on tossing up a few blog posts about my experience.

This could be fun. I’m already working on my outline using the late Blake Snyder’s beat sheet from the Save the Cat tools page. I can’t wait to see how this story turns out.

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