Zero Draft Thirty Autumn 2016 Challenge: 1 Day and Counting!
The 3rd Zero Draft Thirty Challenge starts at Midnight tonight Eastern (U.S.) and you are invited… nay, encouraged to participate in this free writing adventure.
Write an entire first draft of a script in September — FADE IN to FADE OUT in 30 days.
Feature length movie screenplay. Original TV pilot. Rewrite a current project. Break a story in prep. Generate a month’s worth of story concepts.
Whatever you feel will ratchet your creative ambitions into overdrive, do THAT!
For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into being and what it is, go here, here, and here.
Here are 10 damn good reasons why you should take up the Zero Draft Thirty Autumn 2016 Challenge:
1. It is better to write than not to write.
2. You cannot make a script work for you (i.e., representation, meetings, option, sale) unless you write a script.
3. Just 4 pages per day gets you through an entire draft in 1 month.
4. Once you finish your draft, you will have an actual story you can work on, not just an illusion in your mind.
5. You will have the collective energy of hundreds of other Challenge writers at your back.
6. Writing a Zero Draft takes the pressure off in terms of quality as your only goal is to get to The End.
7. You will embark on a journey of discovery which will reveal so much more about your story than you know now.
8. The 30 day structure will motivate you to write every day.
9. You will give your creative life and aspirations a huge jolt of energy.
7. Zero Draft Thirty is great way to transform Perfectionism and Procrastination into Productivity.
Plus there’s this: Your very own ZDT calendar!
Many thanks to Yvetta Douarin and Chris Neumann!. You may download the calendars here and here, then keep track of your progress!
Each day in September, I’ll be uploading a Zero Draft Thirty post here at Go Into The Story with inspirational quotes, videos, and bestowing the Marion Award on some lucky writer. Plus I’ll be doling out the occasional blast of creative juju for Challenge writers in general.
And if you really want to get in the spirit of things, join the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group, a terrific collection of 1,100+ folks who post things every day, even when we’re not in a challenge.
Look, if you’re an aspiring screenwriter or TV writer, you should be writing at least 2 spec scripts per year. That’s why we’ll be running the ZDT Challenge twice in 2016 — March and here in September. If you’re a working writer, my advice is to write 1 spec per year like many pro Hollywood writers I know do.
The more scripts you write, the more chances you have to create something which makes a positive impression and perhaps even get produced. In the process, you become a better, more proficient writer.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please post in comments.
September 1: Type FADE IN.
September 30: Type FADE OUT.
30 days. A first draft of an original screenplay. TV pilot. Or a rewrite of an existing script.
For background on the Zero Draft Thirty challenge, go here.
Don’t forget the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group. A terrific collection of 1000+ folks who post things every day, even when we’re not in a challenge.
So calling all Zeronauts, Outlaws, Scamperers, and Writing Warriors. Who’s up for pounding out a Zero Draft in September? LET’S DO THIS THING!
Hashtag: #ZD30SCRIPT.
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