ScriptFrenzy Prep Work

Well, although no one's agreed to go along for the script-writing ride with me, I'm still going to do my best to stick it out. I have a couple--technically three--decent movie ideas, each in an entirely separate genre. But I think the sci-fi one will be the easiest to write at this stage, as it's the most fully developed (plot wise) in my mind.

My next step, which I need to get a good head start on before April rolls around (rather soon, if my calendar is right), is completing a beat sheet.

For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, a beat sheet is, essentially, the screenwriting equivalent of an outline. It details what will be happening scene by scene. I don't usually do outlines, but when writing for movies the outlining becomes far more important than it is for silly trinkets like essays. The reason? Time constraints. Movies (feature length movies, that is) are expected to be a certain length. If the thing is too long or too short (i.e. over 130 pages/under 80 pages), it's not likely to even be looked at seriously if at all, unless you're already established in the industry.

Anyhow, my task--you know, apart from the extensive grading I should be working on instead of writing this post--for the next day or two will be to put together a rough beat sheet that will serve as my guideline for what to write where throughout the month of April.

I'm still all for anyone joining in. Let me know if you decide to.

JF

But Not Quite Yet, and ScriptFrenzy in April

Hello again. It seems that I have become busier over the past couple months, despite my thought that the hectic pace would diminish somewhat. Such is life. For now. I have taken on new classes and am currently running at over the official maximum allotment for how many students I'm technically allowed to have in my online classes. So, that's a more-than-full-time job. It's running me something like sixty hours a week. Ridiculous, but some people have it worse. It's almost bearable, except the fact that I am realizing more and more how much time I used to have and didn't do anything with. But I think sometimes I work better when I have too much to do--procrastinating on one thing spurs me to accomplish something else, be it laundry, catching up on some reading, or perhaps writing (but not doing the dishes--I still don't like that and wish we had a dishwasher, because I'm lazy about that unless the rest of the house is clean first).

I do plan to get back into writing, and I've found some positive motivation. I've been tinkering with one very specific idea for a screenplay for awhile now. Last year in mid-November, I remembered NaNoWriMo existed, so I was naturally annoyed I hadn't remembered a fortnight earlier. But in working through their website, I stumbled upon ScriptFrenzy, a sister site that runs its event throughout the month of April.

The challenge: write 100 pages of a play/screenplay/teleplay/script/etc. in 30 days. I'm going to do it, despite (read: largely because of) my busy schedule. If you've been wanting to write a screenplay or something similar, or just to try to write one, I humbly ask you to join me. My username on there is "ieromik" but you can probably find my by my email address too. I could use the encouragement/motivation to have some of you along for the ride (I'm lookin' at you, Bethany--you could use some distraction from that other writing, I think; you've been going at it like mad, so take a breather).

I also discovered that NaNoWriMo has had another project for awhile: Camp NaNoWriMo. It's essentially the same deal as NaNoWriMo (i.e. write at least 50,000 words--a novel--in a month). The difference is it's themed as a summer camp, meaning it's not in November. Rather, it's going to happen in June and August. My plan is to participate in both of those. I'll probably throw out a reminder for that when June is a bit closer, because I'll definitely need some of you along for that ride (still looking at you, Bethany--that should be the middle of working-on-one-of-your-sequels time; also looking at Timothy for similar reasons).

For now, who's with me on ScriptFrenzy? Any takers?

JF

EDIT: Anyone?