Announcing Go On Your Own Quest: The Forums!
When I first announced the The Quest initiative back in May, I had little idea it would evolve into the phenomenon it has become. The idea was simple: Invite anyone to submit a logline for consideration as one of four writers I would select to work with me in a unique 24-week screenwriting workshop I offer through Screenwriting Master Class called The Quest. [For the official May 21 announcement of Go Into The Story: The Quest initiative, go here]. Oh, by the way, the writers I selected would participate in The Quest for free.
What resulted from that announcements was 1500+ entrants and nearly 4000 loglines. I reviewed each logline myself. 21 writers made the first cut [you can see that list here]. I ended up selecting 8 writers [you can see that list here].
[Side note: Since I offered a free 1-week online SMC class to every Quest entrant, I have been dutifully fulfilling that promise, now having given away a class or class lectures to nearly 300 people. The offer still stands to those who have yet to receive their complimentary class.]
Somewhere along the way, I believe one or more Quest entrants who did not get selected said they wanted to use The Quest schedule as a structure within which to write an original screenplay. That led to this: Go On Your Own Quest [for background, go here].
And that led to this: The GOYOQ Forums. An online hub for any writer who is participating in the Go On Your Own Quest project to commiserate with other writers. Thanks to Black List techno-whiz Dino for setting up the forum format. And special thanks to three GITS regulars who have agreed to be moderators of the GOYOQ Forums: Shaula Evans, David Joyner, and Debbie Moon.
For now you can get to the Forums here. We have been beta testing the site and there are probably still a few issues, but it’s in good enough shape to go public.
Like everything else with this crazy Quest idea, the GOYOQ Forums are very much in the spirit of the spec: having an idea, putting it out there, and seeing what happens. I have no concept what will happen there, but I hope it becomes a helpful community for GOYOQ writers, a place where you can talk with other writers, share your ups and downs, even workshop story ideas and script pages if you so choose.
The content will be largely user generated. The Mods will pull relevant posts from GITS there tied to GOYOQ. I may occasionally respond to something, but my focus has to be elsewhere. Besides the Forums are in super capable hands with Shaula, David, and Debbie. If activity explodes there, we may add some more moderators. We’ll just have to see what happens.
So there you have it, the next chapter in this whole Quest saga. When I took a virtual hand count a month or so ago, there were about 80 people who said they were going to use GOYOQ to knock out a script by the end of the year. Currently we are in Week 11 of the process, approaching the middle of 6 weeks of Prep.
NOTE: WE ARE SCHEDULED TO TYPE FADE IN ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 22! 10 WEEKS TO WRITE A FIRST DRAFT!
There is no better time to write a spec script than now. What’s more, we are providing you a context within which you can write it: due dates, 10–15 pages per week, and now forums where you can go to share your experiences.
What are you waiting for? Go On Your Own Quest!
Hit the GOYOQ Forums, introduce yourself, and get started.
Thanks again to Shaula, David and Debbie taking on the responsibility for being moderators!
Onward and upward!
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