2020 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 14

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

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 14.

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.

To download your copy of the official Zero Draft Thirty calendar created by Stephen Dudley, click here.

On Twitter, use this hashtag: #ZD30SCRIPT.

Zero Draft Thirty Facebook Group: Here. 3,900+ members strong.

Today’s Writing Quote

“Reprogram your brain so THE END isn’t a giant finish line. You got pages done today. You’ll do more tomorrow.”

— Eric Heisserer

Today’s Inspirational Video

The soundtrack to The Shawshank Redemption is one of my go-to pieces of music for inspiration. And the composition “The Shawshank Redemption” which accompanies Andy’s escape from prison is one of my very favorites. In fact, I have a CD of the soundtrack autographed by its composer Thomas Newman.

Here is the scene in the movie:

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
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 11
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 12
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 13

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 Frances Marion Award!

Today’s Frances Marion Award winner: Cindi Woods.

Over at the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group, Cindi shared these thoughts:

On one of my zillion Pandemic sanity walks this week, I found a large acorn. I picked it up and stood under the tree from which it fell and thought of Geoffrey Chaucer’s words, “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”

I couldn’t help but draw a parallel for us as writers. We have a little seed of an idea that has the potential to grow into a big, beautiful story. But it takes a lot of time and tending to become a source of creative shade for others to enjoy.

As I sat at my computer with my new magic (acorn) feather, I remembered the opening scene of Ice Age where Scrat (who might pass for a prehistoric hamster:-) tries to bury his acorn…setting off a chain of events that resembles what I feel like during the writing of a screenplay. It’s difficult, scary, and the story seems elusive on most days. About the time I think I’ve got it pinned down, I get squashed by an unforeseen plot hole.

But the way I see it, there are a lot of oak trees in the world, so clearly it’s possible for tiny acorns to take root and grow. And it’s the same with our stories. We have everything we need in that little seed of an idea…we just have to keep showing up and tenaciously chase the story until we reach, FADE OUT.

Here is Scrat:

And here is the acorn of your story, a “little seed of an idea,” but so much more after you get to Fade Out.

For this wisdom, the recipient of today’s Frances Marion Award is Cindi Woods!

You, too, can be a recipient of an award. Just offer some insight, humor, or something which catches my eye, either here, the Facebook group, or on Twitter (#ZD30SCRIPT).

For more information on Frances Marion, one of the earliest and most influential screenwriters in Hollywood, go here.

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

Now Zeronauts, Scampers, Word Warriors, and Outlaws…

Embrace the seed of your story and write until it grows into a great tree!

Onward!