2019 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 11

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 11.

Write an entire draft of a script in September — FADE IN. FADE OUT. Or any sort of creative goal you have in front of you.

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!

September 1: You type FADE IN / “Once upon a time…”
September 30: You type FADE OUT / “…They all lived happily ever after.”

It’s free! It’s fun! It’s Fade In to Fade Out!

For everything you need to know to join, click here.

Thanks to Stephen Dudley for creating this calendar!

On Twitter, use this hashtag: #ZD30SCRIPT.

Zero Draft Thirty Facebook Group: Here. 3,500+ members strong.

Today’s Writing Quote

“I don’t believe in rules for writing screenplays. What that gives you is formula, and the result will be formulaic.”

— Christopher Hampton

Today’s Inspirational Video

An evening with Pat Conroy, the author of such acclaimed novels as “The Great Santini” and “The Prince of Tides”.

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 1
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 2
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 3
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 4
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 5
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 6
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 7
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 8
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 9
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 10

Each day this month, I’ll post a Zero Draft Thirty Challenge post here at Go Into The Story. And as I’ve done with every past Challenge, I will hand out an award for a notable Tweet, Facebook post, or comment here on the blog. This cycle, the winner will receive the inaugural Ben Hecht Award!

Today’s Ben Hecht Award winner: NuclearWordTechnician!

Ah, the dreaded Voices Of Negativity! Here’s what I wrote in that article:

Those pages you’re working on? They suck.

That sentence you just wrote? Good chance that sucks, too.

In fact the whole damn story, if you’re honest with yourself… you will have to admit there’s a decent chance it sucks. Or will suck. Or already sucks.

Hell, why stop there? I mean what is it with this writing nonsense anyway? The odds against success are ginormous, the process of writing is a pain in the arse, and chances are you will never see one dime of writing income.

But…

On the other hand…

You could have talent.

Your pages could crackle off the page.

Your story could sing.

You could… dare I say… SELL IT!

Thus, the writer’s dichotomy.

One side the Voices Of Negativity inside our head that prattle on with a seemingly endless litany of soul-sucking messages.

No…Suck…Yuck…Quit…Blegh!

The other side exists in the realm of Pure Logic which is this:

No matter where you are in your writer’s quest, no matter how stiff the competition, there is always the possibility you will develop your talent, summon your creativity, find your voice and… make your mark.

YOU CANNOT DENY THAT FACT!

So if your creativity is being hampered or even stymied by the “this is garbage” demon, do like @NuclearWord and find those Voices Of Negativity “tooth and nail.” How to do that? Write the next word… next sentence… next page… next scene… next sequence…

For that inspiration, the recipient of today’s Ben Hecht Award is NuclearWordTechnician!

Congratulations, NWT!

For more information on Ben Hecht, go here.

For background on how the Zero Draft Challenge came into being and what it is, go here, here, and here.

Make Day 11 of the Challenge count. Pound out one scene. Maybe two. How about three?

Remember: Any progress is progress.

Onward!