My Thougths On: Less Than 5 Days Left of Script Frenzy

OMG!!!!!

And, yes, I sound like a teenager, but it's pretty appropriate in relation to how I feel at the moment.

I am at approximately 5,000 words (of 20,000)...with less than 5 days left of Script Frenzy. Can I write 15,000 words in less than 5 days? That's over 3,000 words a day....in addition to my full time job and well, sleeping.

Wow, I have my work cut out for me.

I mean, this is June! The month of mud runs! And trips! And exhaustion! And, whole scripts being written (still in theory)! Can I actually do it all?

Luckily, the Script Frenzy people sent out a VERY inspiring email this weekend and it definitely inspired me because I'm about to undertake this crazy feat. I WANT to finish Script Frenzy before midnight, July 1st.

And, a guy at work has already told me that I can't do it...which makes me want to do it all the more. We all want to do the impossible, don't we? Even if it's just to say "Ha! See - if you stay up for 3 days straight, you too can write an entire script in a matter of days!" and then I'll collapse. Sounds pretty romantically perfect in my mind.

I mean, Sylvester Stalone wrote Rocky in 3 days and that won best picture! So, surely I can write SOMETHING legible in 5 days.....right?

Well, I have 5 days...so I'm about to find out. Wish me luck...as I start to type in a frenzy...

I will leave you with the inspiring words of the people from Script Frenzy:

Greetings Comrades,

Here on the precipice of Week Four, I think it's time to talk about one of the classic plot points in a three-act story. It goes by many names: The Nadir, The Defeat, The Crisis. Essentially, it is the lowest, darkest, most hopeless point in the hero's journey. It's when E.T.'s heart fades from lively pink to deathly gray; when Kathy Bates shotgun-blasts the rescuing sheriff in "Misery"; when Marty McFly begins fading from his own photograph. Amidst the four weddings, it's the funeral.

Some of us know exactly how this dark moment feels, because we're right at that point with our scripts. We're at 2,500 words with only eight days left, and we can't possibly imagine coming up with 17,500 more. Or we've made it all the way to 14,000 but have to attend two weddings, go in for surgery, take a Latin final, fly to a conference in Iceland, and memorize pi to 8,902 places. Our spirits are broken, our fingers are numb, our capacity for invention dulled by lack of sleep and non-frozen foods.

But before you even think of curling up in a ball and calling it quits, I ask you to think back to all those dark points you've seen on the big screen. Did the sad music swell and the credits roll? No! Backed into a corner, thrown into a snake pit, left holding the Kryptonite, the hero digs deep inside to discover an unknown tenacity. Something changes that can never be undone, and from this Turning Point on, no matter how formidable the obstacles, the triumphs of Act III are certain.

Ask your amazing colleagues who've already completed their scripts and they'll testify to the many victorious moments that lie ahead: typing that 20,000th word, receiving your Winner's Certificate, showing off your Winner's-ribbon-bedecked profile to friends, family, and prospective dates. Add in the Script Frenzy Wrap Parties that will be rocking the planet on July 1, and there's a ridiculous amount of fun and glory that awaits you in only one more week.

But as the winners can also tell you, the greatest achievement in the hero-writer journey isn't reaching The End. It's getting past the Crisis and reaching the Turning Point. Winning feels absolutely fabulous, but realizing you can overcome despair, doubt, frustration, and procrastination through sheer force of will? You'll never be the same writer---or person---again.

Even if you can't reach 20,000, that's okay. But still get to that Turning Point. Don't walk away from Script Frenzy with the sense that you couldn't do it. Sit down and push through until you realize that you really have a hidden creative wellspring inside you. Next year, you'll start Script Frenzy knowing that you absolutely can make it to the end.

For those of us shooting for the Winner's Circle, I leave you with the words of hobbit Samwise Gamgee, "Folk in these stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something."

Hold on to your goal of writing a screenplay, your dreams of writing a stage play. Don't stop writing. Don't turn back.

I'll celebrate with you on July 1.

Kristina
Script Frenzy
11,038 words