NaNoWriMo

For those of you who think the title of this post is gobbledygook, I guess you haven't heard of National Novel Writing Month. Well, it starts on November 1st. Yep, as in the day after tomorrow. I've done it three times. The first time I literally found out about it the day before and I managed to write a full 50,000 word manuscript that I hated and which will never, ever see the light of day. The second time around I prepared thoroughly and also managed to write a full 50,000 word manuscript that I'm quite pleased with and would like to go back and turn into a screenplay someday. The third time around I dithered and couldn't settle on a plot or even a character and I think I was feeling restless with the novel format, already having an urge to write a screenplay but lacking the knowledge and tools. I didn't participate last year because I was just too busy and had thrown myself fully into film at that point. This year, I'm planning on doing it again... in a way.

I'm not writing a 50,000 word manuscript. I'll be completely up front about that. I'm using NaNoWriMo as motivation to complete a second draft of my feature length screenplay. (I really meant to write about my process while I wrote the first draft but I realized that writing about your writing process while you're trying to write is senseless... much like this tongue twister of this sentence.) So I will go back and talk about the first draft later on. During November, I'll try to post wee updates on my progress. I know this project would be more appropriate in National Novel Editing Month which happens in March, but I don't want to wait that long. Why bother with NaNoWriMo when I'm doing something so different? Because the support, the information and the opinions on the forums are so worth it. Resources and motivation, baby!

So here's my plan...

Read more...

I figure that I have about 45 pages of writing still to do. At approximately 200 words per page for a screenplay, that leaves me with 9,000 words to write. Piece of cake, right? Except that I also have some substantial restructuring to do, so let's set aside 10 hours for that. Then there's some research required for some of the new writing, so let's set aside another 10 hours for that. So instead of striving to reach the 50,000 word mark, I will be striving for 20 hours of work and 9,000 words. Not your conventional approach, but I think I can make it work for me.

I'm also planning on posting some of my old NaNo posts from Limes with Orange, the personal blog I was writing while I participated in previous years. So check back.

Script Frenzy

For those of you familiar with NaNoWriMo, the same folks are bringing us Script Frenzy! For those unfortunate souls who are not familiar with NaNoWriMo, that refers to National Novel Writing Month which happens every November, bringing writing communities around the world online together as each of them tries to complete a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Phew!

I've participated twice and "won" once. I may not be thrilled with my completed manuscript but I'm thrilled to HAVE a completed manuscript and I certainly learned a lot about myself as a writer in the process. I highly recommend it to anyone who is having trouble committing themselves to a writing project and staying the course to the end. Or anyone who is struggling with finding their voice and their genre. It certainly taught me that I didn't want to write novels and I don't do light and fluffy!

So I've finally figured out that I am meant to write edgy screenplays. Hence the long format screenwriting workshop that I'm taking. And our summer "break," when we start to stare at blank pages or blank computer screens write, happens to correspond with Script Frenzy which will take place in June. The goal of Script Frenzy? To write a 20,000 screenplay or stage play. I figured I might as well sign up since I'm gonna be writing anyway and I could definitely use the moral support. Maybe I'll see you there!