So as we discussed, Script Frenzy is a month long challenge to write a 100 page script from the people that bring you NaNoWriMo.

I will still, of course, be blogging about my own personal journey in taking on this challenge here at Unpublishable Pennings but I wanted to do a whole bunch of how-to type articles about the challenge and I didn’t want to have Script Frenzy totally take over this blog.

So I set up a whole little section of my website called Script Frenzy tips and resources that is going to be a seasonal blog devoted only to Script Frenzy.

Here’s the problem. I guess I started it too late to have it be indexed in time for the start of Script Frenzy so it isn’t really showing in search.

So I have to ask a favor. If you have a blog about writing and you are either doing Screnzy or just plan to write about it, if you could please link to http://hillarydepiano.com/scriptfrenzy/ or an article from that section to help me out in the SEO department and also to help get the word out about my posts over there, I would greatly appreciate it.

I totally originally wrote that title as “postal child” which you may find to be more appropriate.

So, as you know, back in November, I took on National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo as the cool people call it. I finished and won and all that good stuff.

Now it is March. March, you will be unsurprised to learn, is National Novel Editing Month which people call NaNoEdMo. Though much less formal than NaNoWriMo, the goal of NaNoEdMo is to do 50 hours of editing in the month of March.

I am not officially signed up to do NaNoEdMo but I am basically doing it all the same while I frantically rush to finish editing my novel (written during NaNoWriMo, so you see how this all comes together) so that I can give it to beta readers before the start of April.

Why do readers need it before the start of April, you ask?

Because April, my dear chums, is Script Frenzy, the bastard red-headed step child of NaNoWriMo. (I mean that affectionately, naturally.) That month long challenge is to write an 100 page script in a month. You probably think that the cool kids call this NaScriWriMo but you would be wrong. They call it Screnzy. I have no idea why.

For the love of God, Hillary, you ask at this point, why are you doing Script Frenzy? Don’t you have enough damn stuff to do? Several reasons. Firstly, I was recommended to be the ML (Municipal Liaison) for my area in NaNoWriMo this year. So before I decide if I should dive into that, I wanted to have the experience of organizing a smaller event so I decided to act as unofficial ML for my area for Script Frenzy this year. Now the “why” behind my rationale for taking on ML-ing for either event this is a much longer answer that we shall discuss at another time. But there is a very good reason for it, I promise.

But in addition to that, I also wanted to get a ton more new writing done this year so far be it for me to turn my nose up at any challenge that gets my butt in the seat and makes me write more. So as long as there is a support group and a goal to meet, you know I’m there. I love the creative spirit and group effort that NaNoWriMo is and getting to do it more than once a year is a bonus.

What will I be writing? Stay tuned for that info.

So while I NaNoEdMo my NaNoWriMo in preparation for Screnzy, I will descend ever father into madness. Join me, won’t you?

PS: While I’m still going to blog about Screnzy writing progress and behind the scenes kind of stuff, I moved all my How-To type Screnzy stuff to this new section of the site called Script Frenzy tips & resources.

Isn’t that a scary thought? That’s 3.56 NaNoWriMos!!

(Actually, now that I wrote that out, it sorta makes me feel like a slacker as I should be able to do 12 NaNoWriMos a year if I was hardcore! )

So just about everything you read says writing 500 words a day is a good benchmark to push yourself for. I know that the point of picking a small daily goal is to make it less intimidating than a huge goal (like, say, 50,000 words in a month?) but I actually work better in the long game than the short game. I may not have time to write every single day but when I do have time to write, it’s a marathon session. It’s just the perils of my crazy job but, so far, it works for me.

(I was just going to start this sentence with “so” again. God, do I do that too often or what? I have so many weird ticks on this blog that I don’t do in my normal writing. I wonder if its because I write more like how I talk on here. Hmm. I must talk like a freak.)

Anyway (another blog word crutch, I know), I decided focus on trying to hit 178,000 words for the year which is the same total you would be at if you wrote 500 words a day. Yes, it’s much scarier when you write it all out like that but I need some kind of specific goal or I just flounder about.

You know I have already made myself a spreadsheet to calculate all this shiz because that is how I roll. I should be at 6,827, so I’m 4,919 behind.

Math: Now for writers!

The hard part, for me, is what words I will be allowed to “count.” I write well more than 200k words in a year but I feel like I should limit it for this to be a challenge. Afterall, the point of doing this is to produce more “new” content and preferably fiction so I think I need to set a few ground rules:

• I’m not counting blog posts unless the blog post is actually something I’m going to use in a story. <- brutal, I’m such a damn slave driver!
• I’m not counting rewrites or revisions unless it is a total, from scratch, new scene.
• I’m may not be counting non-fiction. This will be case by case.

So, sadly, I am only at a mere 1,908 right now. Such a loser, I know. But I figured out how to edit my little potato friend (who is the true love of my life, as you well know) to reflect the new goal so we are in business. I feeling like, between Script Frenzy and NaNoWriMo this year, I should really be able to do this so I am going to Spock this action up.

1%

Hilarious, potato man, hilarious. Way to build my confidence.

I want to change the word on the little green box to “STUFF.”

So what goals are you setting for yourself this year?