2021 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 5

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

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 5.

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, click here.

On Twitter, use this hashtag: #ZD30SCRIPT.

Zero Draft Thirty Facebook Group: Here. 4,200+ members strong.

Today’s Writing Quote

“A writer can always write. That’s one of the great luxuries we have: Words are cheap.”

— John August

Today’s Inspirational Video

An oldie but goodie:

Transcript: “ I feel… I feel happy of myself. Everybody, I know you can believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike! If you don’t, you start practicing. You will get the hang of it, I know it! If you keep practicing, you will get the hang of it and then you can get better and better at it and you’ll do it. Thumbs up, everybody. Rock ’n’ roll!”

And now, the Songify version:

Hey, if a kid can learn to ride a bike, then do a video which generates tens of millions of views, for sure we can nail a great script!

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 1
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 2
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 3
Zero Draft Thirty: Day 4

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 Anita Loos Award!

Today’s Anita Loos Award winner: Esther Agulian Carr!

Over at the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group, Esther posted this:

Since perfection seems to be a reoccurring theme during #ZD30SCRIPT , here is a paraphrase of a quote by the thinker Voltaire. His actual words were, Don’t let THE perfect be the enemy of good.” But you get the idea.

As Scott always reminds us,

“Don’t try to get it perfect-just get it down.”

Productivity > Perfectionism. That is the essence of the Zero Draft approach to pounding out a first draft. If there is a place to listen to our perfectionist self, it’s when we are putting the last touches on our final draft. Not the first draft. The first draft is a journey of discovery. Better to follow your feelings than overthink it.

Therefore, because of this reminder about the dangers of perfectionism, the recipient of today’s Anita Loos Award is Esther Agulian Carr.

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

Want to win an Anita Loos Award? Post something inspirational. Here, Twitter (#ZD30SCRIPT), the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group… aspire to inspire!

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

In the words of Annie Lamott: “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.”

Embrace the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge and fight back against the oppressive voices of perfectionism.

Just. Get. It. Down.