From the people who brought you NaNoWriMo...

From the people who brought you NaNoWriMo, comes Script Frenzy:

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants attempt the creatively daring feat of writing an original, full-length screenplay—or stage play—in a single month. Spurred by a wild deadline and buoyed by a community of countless other writers, Script Frenzy participants can't be bothered with self-doubt—or editing. They're too busy writing by the seat of their pants, typing out beautiful, flawed stories that no one else could have dreamt up.

As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or "best" scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 20,000 words is victorious and awe-inspiring and will get a Script Frenzy Winner's Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact. Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there's a script inside you that may never get out.

The 5 Basic Rules of Script Frenzy

1. To be crowned an official Script Frenzy winner, you must write a script of at least 20,000 words and verify this word count on ScriptFrenzy.org.
2. You may write individually or in teams of two. Writer teams will have a 20,000 total word goal for their single co-written script.
3. Script writing may begin no earlier than 12:00:01 AM on June 1 and must cease no later than 11:59:59 PM on June 30, local time.
4. You may write either a screenplay or a stage play.
5. You must, at some point, have ridiculous amounts of fun.

Are you tempted?

Read more...

NaNoWriMo… No. Again.

Well, it’s November and once again I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I mentioned back in February that I’d started this blog in 2005 in order to prepare for NaNoWriMo, but it still hasn’t happened. I don’t seem to have the ability to create anything new, so the only way I’m ever going to get a novel done is to piece together the stuff I scribbled down in pencil on loose-leaf paper when I was 14 years old. Somehow that feels like cheating, like I’m ripping off that younger, more creative self.

But, hey. That’s what old folks do -- feed off of the energy of the young.

Good Novels & Bad Novels Part 2

I found the original list for the exercise I mentioned yeaterday. Below are the things I left out.

Elements of Novels I Like

• Characters who are shamed in some way.
• Descriptions of beauty.
• Injustice.
• Growth, negative or positive.
• Fear.
• Realism.
• Emotion.
• Dialogue. At least one quoteable line.
• Flawed people.
• Societies in conflict.
• Parents and (adult) children.
• Complex family dynamics.
• Well-researched settings.
• Fairy tale motifs.
• War.

Elements of Novels I Don't Like

• More prose than dialogue.
• Characters with no doubts.
• Characters with unreasonable doubts.
• Borrowed settings and/or characters.
• Racist or sexist authors.
• Flaws in logic.
• Bad science.

What, to you, makes a good novel?

I found No Plot, No Problem to be a bit simple for me, but I did do the "what is a good novel/what isn't a good novel" exercise.

I discovered that I like the following in a novel:

• The main character must undergo either mental or physical pain.
• A beloved character is unjustly injured or killed.
• The main character has to overcome some inherent limitations.
• I like novels in which the characters have to travel.
• I like chapter titles.
• I like historical or fantasy settings.
• I like romance that leaves something to the imagination.
• Tragedy.
• Loss.
• Rational villains.
• Hard-won victories.
• Exotic cultures.
• Political intrigue.

I don’t like:

• School stories.
• Courtroom stories.
• Dialogue that can’t be said out loud.
• Complicated fight scenes or battle scenes.
• Precocious children.
• Comedies.
• Novels that are over 500 pages.
• First-person narration.
• Children or animals being abused.
• Old people as the protagonists.
• Insanity.
• Characters that screw for no reason.
• Smartasses.
• Stupid women.

No Plot? Big Problem!

I bought the book No Plot? No Problem last week because I'm considering taking part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this fall. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to produce a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. This book is supposed to help you do this, but the author really has very little in the way of tips to offer.

It's not until page 85 of the 173 page book that he gives you the answer to the "no plot" problem. The answer, in case you want to know, is to make two lists. One list is a list of all the things that make a novel a good novel, in your opinion. The other list is a list of things you hate in a novel. The trick is -- get this -- you're supposed to use all the things in the first list and avoid the things in the second list.

Yep, that's the secret!

Oh, and based on the stuff you like, you will automatically have a list of characters in your head. Write down their age, gender, occupation, hobbies, where they live and what they were doing five years ago.

Boom, there's your story. The plot will automatically come to you as long as you write 1,667 words a day with no regard for how bad it may suck.

Woo hoo!