2025 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge: Day 9

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!

As for me, I will spend the month rewriting a feature film comedy spec script. I’m spending most of the month working out my revision plan, then heading off for an extended writer’s retreat to knock out this draft.

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!

Use this hashtag: #ZD30SCRIPT.

Join the Zero Draft Thirty Facebook Group: Here. 5,000+ members strong.

Today’s Writing Quote

“The point is getting it all down, even if it’s crap or incomprehensible to anyone but you.”

— Warren Ellis

Today’s Inspirational Video

A video produced by the Writers Guild Foundation called Words:

It was released in 1987, the year I joined the Guild. I remember seeing it several times and it inspired me as I pushed myself to learn the craft.

Today’s Daily Dialogue Inspiration

I have dedicated the 2025 Zero Draft Thirty March Challenge to memorable movie dialogue. Today: The Lion King.

This entire sequence is straight out of Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology and in my view, the most important “screenwriting guru” there is. I will do a deep dive on this subject in a future blog article, but in terms of the Zero Draft Thirty Challenge …

I encourage you to remember when you first discovered screenwriting. Recall the thrill you experienced writing those first few scenes … printing out and reading those pages you authored … the exhilaration when you felt when you typed Fade Out.

Whether you’re on your second, third, or later script, at some point, that initial glow has worn off. Screenwriting has become more like work. And in reality, it is work. But the actual process of writing should also bring you joy.

So heed Mufasa’s words.

Remember who you are.

You are a creator. A storyteller. A writer.

Embrace that aspect of your Self and let that joy empower you through this draft.

Today’s Dalton Trumbo Award winner: Laurie A. Wiemken.

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

My response:

Laurie’s sentiment aligns beautifully with the underlying principle of The Protagonist’s Journey: An Introduction to Character-Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling.

Begin with character
End with character.
Find the story in between.

And so with all that, the recipient of today’s Dalton Trumbo Award is Laurie A. Wiemken!

Congratulations, Laurie!

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

For your chance to win the Dalton Trumbo Award, post something inspiring, here on the blog or the Facebook group.

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

Now Zeronauts …

Find your characters.

Follow them …

Into and through your story.