2023 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 17

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

Zero Draft Thirty: Day 17.

Write an entire draft of a script in March — 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!

As for me, I will spend the month rewriting a feature film spec script.

If you join the Challenge, I will be right there with you writing each and every day in March! Let’s do this together!

Download your very own Zero Draft Thirty calendar — designed and created by Steven Dudley — and track your daily progress!

On Twitter, use this hashtag: #ZD30SCRIPT.

Join the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook Group: Here. 4,800+ members strong.

Today’s Writing Quote

“A movie is about an emotional struggle. The physical struggle is a manifestation of that.”

— John Gary

Today’s Inspirational Video

What if a movie reviewer took LSD before screening some movies? That’s the premise of this SNL skit.

Today’s Stax Music Video

I have dedicated the 2023 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge as Stax Music Month. Part of that decision is to honor one of the greatest record companies of all time (check out their history here). But mostly, it’s an excuse to feature awesome R&B and soul music to get you out of your chair, dance around the room for 5 minutes, churn up your creative juices, then sit right back down and write your ass off.

Today’s featured song: “Born Under a Bad Sign” by Albert King

Today’s Dalton Trumbo Award winner: Cosette LeMay.

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

This is my first time participating and as a *very actively in recovery* perfectionist, I have found my goal shifting from “write pages everyday” to “carve out time for this project everyday.” Turns out I needed to do more planning and thinking through structure, and that’s okay. I have not written many pages at this point, but I have a much stronger plot outline, and — most importantly — I have honored my promise to myself by getting up at 6am on the dot every morning to write before I leave for work. Some days are more productive than others, but I’m thinking about this project for a window of time every day and I haven’t hit snooze once.

My response:

Good for you, Cosette. As a fellow perfectionist, I’ve learned various coping skills to *not* let that instinct squash productivity. The zero draft approach — every so often, just write completely for the hell of it with *ZERO* expectation other than page count — is one of them. Kudos to your 6AM routine. Impressive!

Getting up at 6AM everyday before work to write? Now that’s dedication! To honor that commitment, today’s recipient of the Dalton Trumbo Award is Cosette LeMay!

To learn more about Dalton Trumbo and his fascinating career as a screenwriter, go here.

For your chance to win the Dalton Trumbo Award, one given away each day during the Challenge, post something inspiring, here on the blog, via Twitter, or the Facebook group.

Congratulation, Cosette!

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

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Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16

Now Zeronauts, Scamperers, Word Warriors, and Outlaws…

NO SNOOZING!

POUND OUT PAGES!

SCAMPER ON!