It’s been a week since Script Frenzy started, so I figured it was about time for an update. Off to a slow start, but quite optimistic. Read the full article for stuff about the script, screenplay formats, first draft tips, and why sometimes a large choice is a bad thing.

1. Establishing Shots

Like most people, I heard about Script Frenzy through an email from the NaNoWriMo people (it’s run by the same guys) and wasn’t sure if I would sign up, given my generally unsuccessful results with NaNos previous. I’ve just never managed to finish one or get involved in the community, although I will admit that both endeavours are highly enjoyable.

In the end, the word count swayed me. 20,000 words is a lot less than NaNoWriMo’s 50K goal. At 2,000 words a day -- a good writing day -- it was reachable in ten days. With my fluctuating writing speed (between 100 words a day and 5,000) it was something I might actually be able to reach by the 30th. The prospect of writing something that wasn’t prose -- which all of my writing so far has been -- was also an enticement.

I had tried to write a script once before, a half-hour comedy that was in Hindi of all things (typed in English. No, it’s never gone anywhere or shown to anyone, so please don’t adjust your sets). I was pleased with it, but just like short stories aren’t the same kind of writing experience as novels (as several NaNoWriMos have taught me), so 22 minute sitcoms aren’t the same as movies.

Most people have read all the big names when it comes to learning screenwriting -- I hear the name ‘Syd Field’ a lot -- but I’d only ever read one book by Tom Lazarus (writer of Stigmata). It’s a decent introduction to the world of screenwriting, and is probably more insightful into the process of making a script that fits into the Hollywood world rather than just craft. I hadn’t read it in years, and thumbed through both it and the sitcom script I’d written to refresh my memory for the task ahead.

First, of course, I had to decide what to write.