From the people who bring us National Novel Writing Month (aka "NaNoWriMo") - the international challenge to write a novel in one month, there is ScriptFrenzy - the international challenge to write a 100-page screenplay in the month of April. Yes, it begins in 12 days, and I'm positively ecstatic!
These challenges are perfect opportunities to create something that you never thought you could before. What I love about it is that in one month, it's OVER. I can try it out and decide for myself if this is was fun enough to try "for real," or if it was just an interesting challenge and I now have a cheesy script that will likely never see a director or producer's desk.
If you think you might be a writer, that you might have a book or a screenplay in you, then this is the opportunity to just try it out. For those who are interested in the math, 100 pages in 30 days is three-and-a-third pages a day. That's pretty small; we all probably write and read enough email messages in a day to amount to at least 3.33 pages.
But imagine that you'd be writing what you'd want to write about: maybe it's that ridiculous idea you had for a soap opera; or maybe it's the reason you conjured up on that couple in the booth across from you, who are exchanging such angry looks and one-word answers; or maybe it's what you speculate happens between those two on the drive home after dinner. The possibilities are endless! And I say, the more ridiculous, the better.
The non-objective is: After 30 days, it doesn't have to be good. It doesn't even have to be done! The only one you're really "competing" with is yourself. Don't do it if it's going to make you sick with personal pressure. Don't do it if you're going to beat yourself up over the next month for every day that you don't write 3 pages.
But if you were ever curious if you had it in you, if you have ever wondered what it would be like to write anything on a schedule (That's me!), if you ever wanted to see how creative a person labeled "non-creative" could really get, then this might be something worth trying out. After all, it's only ONE MONTH! (And it's FREE!)
If you're looking for a writing buddy for April's ScriptFrenzy, then look up my ScriptFrenzy profile, and we can encourage each other to have fun for the next 30 days! Oh yeah, and there'll be a script of some sort on May 1st.