I am afraid of not doing my story justice. All other screenplays I have ever written (long or short) have always been a story of the imagination laced with truths rather than the meat and potatoes being a recounting of a series of events. That said though, I think this ZDT thing is the perfect way for me to get what actually happened down on paper rather than me having half a year to tweak things just to be perceived the way I want them to be perceived.

Matt, the ZDT challenge is great for those of us, including myself, who tend to be perfectionists. There is a time for that, especially in the final drafts. But early on, it's important to FEEL one's way into and through the story, don't worry about the small stuff, rather be bold in splashing the canvas.

dude, I'm pumped. Loved your thoughts on fear, inspiring. Looking forward to nov 1. vince

Scott, I really believe that you’re doing a great thing here with the Zero Draft Thirty idea. Writing is hard enough in that we’re sitting on our own in front of our computer (or notebook for those of us who love writing longhand), so being part of a small community of other dedicated souls is both helpful and soothing. Full disclosure, I’m still stuck in my +6 months writer’s funk. It’s not about the fear of writing, that is part of every writer’s DNA and I know that I can do it. It’s been brought on by several bad choices made in the last two years and now, for the first time in my life, I’m wondering if I really WANT this. That’s bad. And painful. And my main mistake has been to let the negative crush me instead of just standing up straight (or sitting, rather) and keep writing. This summer, I prepared four notebooks with a different idea in each. My goal was to write four short treatments (around 15ps each). I didn’t. The notebooks are still collecting dust. Ouch. Severe reality check. So I have made a big decision about that as well and I will spend November working both on my script CREVASSE (a RW) and those four ideas, setting aside an hour or so every day to write a bit on each. Hopefully, by November 30th, I will at least have enough material to then write the treatments. I don’t want to force anything on myself but I do want to break out of this dark place and having something real in front of me to work from will encourage me to finish. So, thank you again for all that you’re doing for us writers, both daily here on GITS (allowing us to participate is the cherry on top) and with the classes. Onward, as you’re fond of saying ?

I am in!

I see a few beat me to the punch, but I'm happy to create a calendar should you still need one.

I was going to do nanowrimo but now that this exists... Time to turn those 40 pages of notes into the screenplay it wants to be... Or do a tv spec... Either way, I'm in!

I shall probably have to reread that post for the next few weeks. Thanks!! #zerodraftthirty

I posted this elsewhere and am re-posting here. For those of you who are planning on writing a screenplay or original TV pilot, but do not yet have a screenwriting software program, there are options other than plunking down nearly $200 for Final Draft. * Celtx: It's free. * WriterDuet: There is a free version available. * Fade In: $49.95 and worth every penny. An excellent program, much preferred to Final Draft, and you can export into FD if need be. I'll also be uploading a guide to format put out by the Nicholl folks. Look for that in a couple of days.

Hi, I'm Chris, and I'm in. Now, guess I have five days to figure out my plot and characters and scrrenwriterey goodness. Now wait, should I bookmark this post to check in, or are we going to be on the front page? I suppose I'll figure it out. Thanks for doing this, Scott, looks like fun, and I'd way rather end up with a screenplay than a novel.

majormarvy, I'm going to do a daily post, each day in November, so we can check in with each other there. Post will include some inspirational writing quotes. I've reached out to some Black List writers I've interviewed and will have some exclusive takes from them about writing a first draft. Onward!

Thanks, marija. One of the primary reasons to do #ZD30SCRIPT is to gun our collective creative engines and blow out whatever it is which is clogging our creative fuel lines. For a month, we take perfectionism and Voices Of Negativity, and lock them in a safe. This challenge is about QUANTITY -- pounding out pages -- not QUALITY. Hopefully we'll all capture some of that, too, but the main thing is to put words onto the page. Onward! That's been my favored salutation for years. And I mean it! Move forward! Go! Push! Drive! ONWARD!!!

Scrivner is also a good one as well and wont break your pocket book.