2024 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 10

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

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!

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, 5,100+ members strong.

Today’s Writing Quote

“Great writing gets you meetings, great concept gets you a sale, great characters get you jobs. All three get you a career.”

— F. Scott Frazier

Today’s Inspirational Video

Are you familiar with “Playing for Change?” It’s an amazing series of music videos that … well … you need to see it to get it.

Here is their version of “The Weight” originally recorded by The Band.

Playing for Change YouTube Channel: LINK.

Today’s Anita Loos Award winner: Stephen Dudley.

Over at the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook group page, Stephen posted this.

I have to say, I’ve never thought of manure as a metaphor for writing … however, I certainly have generated manure-like pages. Even though I live in Chicago, our family has a wonderful urban garden.

Prep the soil. Abundance will emerge.

Of course, this angle on writing reminds me of Annie Lamont’s famous piece: Shitty First Drafts. Here is an excerpt on the subject from her wonderful book Bird by Bird.

Writing a zero draft is all about a writer’s willingness to create shit … to generate manure. That effort preps the soil to generate worthy stories in the rewrite process.

Thanks, Stephen. Your words of inspiration have led you to this big moment: You are today’s recipient of the Anita Loos Award.

Congratulations, Stephen! I trust you’ll print the award and post in a primes spot at your writer’s desk.

To learn more about Anita Loos and her illustrious career as a screenwriter, playwright, director, and journalist, go here.

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

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

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

Now Zeronauts … time to scamper on!

Onward!