Script Frenzy

April 1st marks the beginning of Script Frenzy. No joke.

If you don't know what Script Frenzy is, think the National Novel Writing Month only for screenplays/stageplays/graphic novel scripts. The goal is 100 pages in 30 days.


In a number of ways this is much simpler than NaNo. The number of words required is about half (or less). There is usually a lot more white space on a page of a screenplay than a page of a novel so the 3 1/3 page daily goal is not nearly as overwhelming as the almost 2k words required to complete NaNo.

However, there are plenty of challenges too. Less space means... less space. And one can't sneak in adverbial dialogue tags. The dialogue has to convey tone in what is said and how the scene is set up. Then there's setting the scene. In a single paragraph of description. Format is a challenge if you don't have a template but I've got one that should work out fine. In college I just used a basic Word template and it was more than good enough for what I was doing. This is one for OpenOffice and after checking it this morning it looks like it will suit my purposes quite nicely.

The big thing about screenplays in particular (which happens to be what I'm writing) is that structure is very important. And that means outlining and knowing what I'm going to do ahead of time.

Thank goodness I have a novel from November that is in desperate need of replotting. So I'm going to turn it into a script, then (later) rewrite the novel to fit the new improved story arc. I've never written a script based on my own work before - though I've done adaptations a couple of times previously - so it's going to be quite an experience.

I'm excited. (Even though it means putting an even bigger helping of I'm-crazy-to-think-I-can-handle-all-this on plate.) New territory is always a challenge and things that challenge can only help me get better.