No pages to report as I'm spending a few days doing some prep work. Corkboard and index cards in action. Nailing down major plot points and turns. Added to my master brainstorming list -- notes on a few new scenes, some possible lines of dialogue, more backstory on a few of the lead characters. Will be fun to write a straight-out comedy, haven't done one in several years. I printed out my ZDT Calendar and will scrawl PREP across Nov. 1. Hey, it's still writing. Hope to start page-writing within 2-3 days. More prep work tonight. There's my report! How about you?

Right there with you Scott. Still in prep mode with index cards and character sits downs. Giving myself to Wednesday at the latest to start writing! Was close to backing out of challenge because I wasn't finished prepping, but your comment just saved the mission..thank you! Make sure you comment guys, you might just keep a despondent going like me!

Survived day 1. 7 pages today. This is hard, despite all the prep -_-

SWEET!!!! Chapel Hill representing for the inaugural Trumbo!!! I'd like to thank Scott, Dalton Trumbo, and everyone at American Standard for making such comfortable bathtubs. (Trumbo was actually featured on the spoof movie poster, but I'm not sure where he went! I must have inadvertently covered him up with someone else. Story of his life, right?) I'm thrilled by the win, and even more thrilled that I WROTE MY PAGES! They're truly vomitrocious, but hey - 4.5 pages of vomit that weren't there this morning! Only 29 more days to go...

No pages to report as well. Like Scott and Justin, still in prep mode. I'm writing a sci-fi comedy. Looking forward to this!!

Me too. Starting with major plot points and subplots of sequel superhero actioner. Figuring out what the big picture is. Angle on the story, what's the hero's journey (corny but true). AND baking a 3 ingredient cherry chocolate dump cake! Will share photos on twitter!

Crashed out twice this year on two attempts around the 30 page mark. This is for lucky number 3. First time doing index cards. First time for a feature length. This site keeps the fire burning. Thank you Scott. 4 pages done. Was a relief and a joy to finally hear my characters speak. Didn't get much prep work on this one, but this story feels like the one i have to write. the one to get me to the end. Best of luck to all you page crusaders out there. "The most important thing in writing is to have written. I can always fix a bad page. I can't fix a blank one." -Nora Roberts

Photos! We want CAKE PHOTOS!!!

Justin, I normally work from a scene by scene outline, but taking a different approach here simply because I didn't have enough time to prep. My plot has some complexities to it, that's a key part to the humor, so honestly, I'm feeling some anxiety about trying to work all that in the page-writing. But I keep reminding myself: Zero Draft. Zero Draft. Tell my perfectionism to take a chill pill! So you've got company, my friend!

[Paparazzi snap a blizzard of photos of Elisabeth as she sashays down the red carpet with her Trumbo in hand. Enter limo. Off to hang with Jennifer Lawrence and pals. A nation sighs with envy.]

If it were easy, EVERYONE would be doing it!

If you prep for a week, that's still 23 days. At 5 pages per day, that's a script. And if you feel the prep work will help your page-writing, do it. Hey, I guess you can call us -- Preppies! [rim shot]

mac, just focus on each day's pages. "Today I'm writing THESE SCENES. That's all I"m focusing on. Nothing else." Demystify the process!

I managed 6 pages today. I'm writing a pilot that I had to create a pitch packet for in my last screenwriting class. I had a lot of the work done already, just needed a fire lit to get me moving along. Thanks for that. I look forward to tomorrow.

Knocked out 4 pages today based on a few notes from earlier in the week. I outlined a few notes for tomorrow. I'm not sure where writing bursts followed by notes will end up at the end of 30 days but I like that. This is a great way to try something different.

No pages today. Good progress limiting distractions. Launched "SelfControl" app to limit internet surfing for next 7 days. Currently about 20 pages into a draft. Characters and Story are well outlined/prepared. My intention is to finish the draft and make headway with the first rewrite. Start another writing job in two weeks, so brainstorming days on that as well. Grateful for the chance to share support with everyone. Wishing everyone a good journey!

Great job, everyone ... off to a great start! I'm back East with family, so, no pages today, but I did have a conversation with my father about one of my characters, which led to the discovery that my mother has exactly the experience in her history that my character has ... go figure! I also picked up note cards and clips, and shared a bunch with my 11-year old niece who is also a writer. I also showed her one of the cleaner pages from "The Wolf of Wall Street" script as well. Hell yeah, for the young ones. Finally, I'm near done with the prep for Act II, having read a highly recommended book on my subject matter that a "Concept to Outline" colleague suggested a few weeks ago. Rock on everyone, see ya' tomorrow! ;-) Cheers, D

Sick as a dog, I faded in early this morning and got three pages out. Starts with a flashback montage so, even sick, that was easy and fun. I will NOT disappoint or make excuses. I will be ready to fade out in 30 days, sooner if the fever doesn't break!!! Write on!

Daily vomit report no.1: lots of pages in prep mode. I'm writing a drama. Very dramatic. Dramatically. (help 1 - background movie in silent mode: Medea by Pasolini)

OK. Renegade writer here. Don't believe in prep. Don't believe in outlines. Just write. Period. No rules. Except you have to show up and write. Which I agree Scott. And no rules includes grammar, and structure. Obviously. And I get this from your posts on David Milch. His video essay from 2007 - the writer's strike days - where he advises that you do not need an outline. You do not need prep. You just sit down and write, and sitting is optional. Actually he does say every writer is different and if prep or outlines work for you then do them. Whatever works for you. They never ever worked for me. An outline puts you into a story structure, in which, when you add characters, they are stilted to fit in. I prefer my characters to drive the story, not the other way around. And I can't imagine you can write an outline in the voice of multiple characters. But that's just me, and maybe Milch. Anyway, that Milch series was wonderfully inspirational. Ever since then I've been writing, at least something. I have a series draft and another on the way. Plus a bunch of short stories. Though I have yet to start in ZDT. But I have some ideas. To apply Milch to the writer's block thing, it goes like this. This is his suggested exercise. Write a narrative dialog between two characters. No names. No setting. No action lines. Just dialog between Voice 1 and Voice 2. This has done wonders for me. Milch calls it a sort of prayer. Try it. By the way, in those videos, in 2007, Milch suggested the premise of The Nick which we see now has become an immensely successful series. And without a mention of Milch. And I'm sure he's fine with that. He offered up his ideas for free.

First time writing a screenplay. 3 pages. Dialogues are harder than I thought.

Good work, everybody. I had been outlining last week and spent more time doing that today. I still want to figure out more of the flow of Act II, but since I felt I had a good grasp on Act I, I started writing and got 4 pages. Also, my apartment is on the NYC Marathon route. All day today runners were going by my window. Some were running at a good pace, others were going slowly or walking, but each was determined to keep moving forward to achieve a major goal. If you haven't ever been to a marathon, the cool thing is that all along the street are tons of people cheering on the runners. I went out for a few minutes to clap. The energy made me even more excited to go back upstairs and write. It was a great inspiration to sit and type while this was happening. And it's a great parallel with Zero Draft Thirty. We are both the runners and the supporters. See you all at the finish line!

Thanks Scott for this challenge, and congrats to those participating! I am using these 30 days to finish a feature screenplay that has been on a back burner for months because I have story commitment issues (and moved to the other side of the planet). So I spent today procrastinating on Facebook before finally creating a story diary, where my plot is beginning to thicken. I will tackle the script itself once I've hammered out the final brouhaha of my story.

What are you gonna do if you finish early?

My plan is to respond to as many of you as I can however I'm trying to write, too, so there will be times when I drop in - like now - to say things like this: YOU GUYS AND GALS ROCK!!!

Spent today doing the index card thing for Act one (scenes) from my outline. Once I get them in order and are satisfied with them, will pound out the pages. By next Saturday, I hope to have Act one completely written. Going to try that script diary thing tonight before I go to bed too! Press on!

Cake Photos! https://twitter.com/CoolLoon2/status/660990885123985408

Sweet! We may need dessert photos every day to give us a virtual sugar rush.

Prepping a TV pilot. Got 5 pages of the outline written today even though I'm still revising the beat sheet. I'm just gonna go with the changes even though the story isn't exactly how I had planned. It's shaping itself. Day One done!

Got stuck on my opening scene -- I planned what it was, what was in it, all the beats -- but it just wasn't coming. Most of the day, nothing doing. So I said to heck with it, I can always come back later, and started writing the second scene -- got three pages done. I bet that opening scene will be the very last thing I write before Fade Out.

I prepped as well and a little factoid - I am in Beirut, Lebanon so my Day 2 has already begun which is crazy! I wrote a blog post on my Day 1 www.mehannawriter.com for any who are interested to read! Today I begin with the Fade In: Good Luck Everyone!

I have done that before as well. Sometimes breaking chronology is the best cure.

Thanks Scott! You Rock Too!!!

Hey ya'll, Here's my Day 1 report: 4 pages written. One window with Final Draft, another Text Edit window for random thoughts, outlines, character notes. I'm going to start without a clear outline and find my way through this story. This will be my first feature script. Thank you for starting this, I'm excited to go on this month long journey with you all. Be seeing you tomorrow.

In prep mode as well and looking forward to sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly moments of the writing process with you all. My mantra this month: Don't get it right, just get it written.

getting prepped and have a few lines of dialogue. i am a night writer though, there will be more tonight still!

I remember that series, Jon. I actually got the WGA to send me transcripts of his entire presentation for me to draw excerpts from. I should re-run that every year. Thanks for digging that up.

Great comment, Steve F. Like that metaphor a lot.

Absolutely, you can write out of chronological order.

Breaking into the marinated artichokes...oh hell, and the pickled beets, too.

As promised, here is your daily blast of creative juju!

I sat down to write tonight and got distracted. Totally lost focus. So I packed up my stuff and left the strip club. Settled down in a quiet coffee shop and managed to prep a few scenes. I'm writing more of a scriptment at this point and will be ready to expand it to a full vomit draft by Wednesday. Maybe Thursday. Friday at the latest. Which is pretty much considered the weekend. Definitely done by Sunday. Or very early Monday.

No pages as of yet. This is my first feature length screenplay in a number of years as I've spent most of my time on television specs. However, I had an idea kicking around and this seemed like as good an excuse as any to hammer it out. Trying out the index card method to do the prep work. Part of me is concerned that I'm going to get a week into this and figure out the story won't play. Another part of me just says "whether it works or not, I might as well finish it anyway." I'm thinking of taking what I have and diving in to the first pages of the script to shake some more loose and then follow that up with more outlining. Sometimes I have a better idea of where things are going when I'm putting words in characters mouths. Is anyone else the same way?

In South Africa so I'm just starting Day 2: I'm trying to use this project (I've decided on a 1 hour spec pilot) as a way to have fun and do something a little different. I'm usually a compulsive outliner but I'm curious to see what happens if I follow the story rather than forcing the story to follow me for a change. Just to see what my brain/subconscious produces. I have a set of characters that I have been spending time with for a while. And I have also been spending some time getting to know their world a little. Now I want to send my character on a classic "Hero's Journey". I know more about what his internal journey looks like than his outer one (I only have the vaguest idea what that's going to look like) but I'm hoping that'll be enough to for now. Day 1: I placed my Hero in his ordinary world and presented him with the crisis that will draw him into his adventure. (1.5 Pages) Day 2 goal: Find what calls him to the adventure and why he's initially reluctant to go.

Same here, got some pretty good prep work done on both CREVASSE (script) and one of my four ideas. And that in turn untied a few knots for me on DEMON HOUSE (working title, script in-writing for the First Draft class with Scott). I haven't broken the bad spell yet but I'm writing and I'm slowly moving up the stairs instead of running around in circles in the basement. And that feels good. Lots of positive vibes to everyone and two huge thumbs-up to Elizabeth Allore for that great motivational poster :)

Thankfully today I was planning on just doing some finishing prep work/research. I woke up sick as a dog, matter of fact went to sleep at 7pm woke up just now at 11:10pm got 4 hours. Now that I am up again I will do some more research, make the most out of my clarity I have. I hope everyone else had a super productive 1st day! Huzzah!

http://establishareconnect.org/com117/files/2013/02/Screen-Shot-2013-02-25-at-10.45.53-PM.png I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday. Write every day.

I was not done with the prep. Outlined only the major points, characters are still a bit undefined. I felt the need to spend some time with them. Jumped ahead to the scene where they meet. I might throw the scene away, but I know these guys so much better now.

I almost missed day one. When I remembered that this was the day we were to begin it was getting late and I need my beauty sleep. I thought I would just start tomorrow. "Now is the New Later" is written on my Facebook cover photo and those words began haunting me. I have written one page and now I can go to bed with a calm head. Slow start but I did not start with procrastination, so it was a good start!

I got about 1 page completed today of my opening teaser, but I also did some additional brainstorming. I came up with a plot point that might help one of the twists in my story have a little more punch to it. I'm going to try for 4-5 pages tomorrow just to get caught up.

Thank you Scott.

Agreed. I often think that whenever you recall a story, it never comes to you chronologically. It actually makes more sense that way.

No actual pages (my Final Draft crashed) but lots of plotting work on my ZD30 project (feature film). Nailed the opening, I think. Chomping at the bits to get FD fixed so I can WRITE ! PS I don't know why this was loaded as a reply but I hope you don't mind! ;°)

Elizabeth, that is one cool poster! Thank you.

Day 1 .5 pages. Crap...

Scott, I'm going to jump on board with those who said lets write, NOT prep. After all, it is what you called us to do. So no more excuses folks, stop the BS. You want to BS yourself great, but if you accepted or made the challenge to write, than write, but don't BS the rest of us. I don't care if you only write a working title, your name and FADE IN: Let's not BS here let's run the race even if we crawl to the finish line. I don't need to read about how you're stretching and checking out some new shoes for the race. Enough about prep, story board, index cards etc. FADE IN: or FADE OUT:

Got to 4.5 pages. 2 hours 43 minutes. Ground to a halt while trying to focus on details I hadn't figured out. Pushing forward regardless. Back at it today, before work.

Keep going, Jody! Sometimes I just starting writing notes on the page about what I WANT to happen next and eventually I'm typing action and dialogue. Good luck!

Type in plain text until FD is fixed! Don't let the computer slow you down!

Loving the feedback on this page! Way to go everyone. Intention is everything. Almost everything. Action makes it even sweeter. Here's to everybody... WHOO-HOO!

Started script diary. Prep on one particular (and important) aspect of the story. Printed out my ZDT calendar. Stoked by energy in comments. Booya!!!

Rewrite.

Writing AND blogging. Welcome to MY world!

"Don't get it right, just get it written." - James Thurber Nice!

No pages for me either. And yep, working my prep first however many days. Revisited my outline and character sketches, and scribbled some notes during car ride home from Austin film festival yesterday, then did some brainstorming in my script diary last night. Armed with a LOT of inspiration, juju and practical knowledge from Austin --- will be fun to put notes to work so quickly! Mine's an ensemble romantic comedy. I'd like to say it's AMERICAN PIE for the mid-life crisis set. But...tonally, I aspire more toward what I'll call "clever humiliation" than "raunch". Have been re-reading both James L. Brooks and Nancy Meyers scripts, as well as stuff like Bert Royal's EASY A. All inspiration in one way or another! Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dwallace, strip clubs and procrastination. That's not only an apt description of where the Voices Of Negativity would LOVE us to be, it's also the name of a new Starz series: "Strip Clubs and Procrastination".

I doubt there is ANYONE who isn't wondering about their story: Does it play? This is perhaps the most devious tact of the Voices Of Negativity because if they can get us to NOT write the story in the first place, they have truly done their job. My advice: Acknowledge that concern, but understand that -- using a baseball analogy -- you cannot get a hit unless you step up into the batter's box. Finishing your script is stepping into the batter's box. Not finishing your script equals a life spent on the bench wondering what it would be like to be in the batter's box. Just. Write.

Ashleigh, you and I are following a similar path. I always work from a comprehensive outline, however I wasn't able to break the story before November 1, so I'm going in with what will be a partial outline, type FADE IN, then see what happens. This is the value of thinking of it as a Zero Draft. My expectations are lower. In getting to FADE OUT, I hope to discover as much of the story as I can, knowing it will need substantial rewrites. I know plenty of writers who prefer to type FADE IN not knowing all the ins and outs of where the story is going, that way it's more surprising what they discover in the writing process. Like you, I'm curious to see how this will pan out. Onward!

Lorenzo, if there's one mantra to cling to in ZDT, it's the one you have articulated: "I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday." I checked on Google and found that quote attributed to José N. Harris. I also found this. A nice visual to print out and tack up at your writing desk. Thanks!

Thanks for that kick in the ass. Yes, prep work can become an excuse NOT to write. However story prep is an essential part of the writing process, at least for most screenwriters and ALL TV writers. It IS writing in its own way. But your point is well taken, Roy, and speaking personally, I've capped the number of days I will spend working the story before I type FADE IN.

Hey, just a quick note, great comment thread! This is what I envisioned for the ZDT Challenge, an event we could all use to kick start a story and between the blog and Twitter, a way to support each other. A question for you: What can we do to SUSTAIN the positive energy from Day 1? One thing for sure: More cake!

Thanks for the information and for the image. I like this one, too. :)

What about pizza? :D Also, what about this motivational speech by Denzel Washington?

I will rewrite.

Spent the 1st story prepping and reading pilot scripts. I have the characters mostly worked out and today I'll probably prep the teaser and four acts. Should be fun!

Added a few exciting plot lines to my bible and a wrote a new sc forthe pilot and fleshed out another. This all came from the beginning of my 3rd character worksheet. What to keep in mind--- to SHOW not TELL my protagonist's goal. (With nuance not trope)

I'm in the middle of editing a Doritos commercial for Crash the Super Bowl and was going to do NanoWriMo again this year, but decided to do ZDT instead. Unfortunately I haven't had any time to prep so I'm spending the first few days to decide which idea to use. I usually outline everything and develop my characters in advance. This will be the first time I'm shooting from the hip without much prep. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Yeah, man, this is spot on. I was just about to sit down and prep some more but I read your comment and sat down to the blank page instead. So thank you Roy for that. It's probably a good idea to get the momentum going and once you live and breathe your story and your characters I believe all the missing pieces will begin to fall into place. I always outline a lot and the prospect of writing this thing without all the answers already placed firmly in my head seems terrifying yet exciting. Let's see where it takes me. So anyway, 7 pages today, 7 pages that wouldn't be there without you guys! Thanks and good luck!

Wrote page two today of my thriller. I have a week off from work in one week and I will ramp up the writing tempo soon. With each page I am discovering relationships between characters.

Disclaimer - the project I'm working on is a sequel with a main character I know well. But there's still the story with infinite possibilities. I've found that honing the logline is time well-spent because it helps me cut through all the nebulous stuff in my head and spit out what, to me, is the reason why I want to see how the story turns out.

I'm so fucking pumped for this! Good to see so many others joining in on the fun, too. As of this morning I have a loose outline working and 5 very imperfect pages. They're horribly formatted in that they're simply sluglines and vast chunks of action/description, but HEY, it's something :) Excited about the Thriller about to unfold and hoping it turns into something.... thrilling. #thesaurusfail

Well I suppose I have the Spain timing so I'll like 1 day after you guys for posting my opinions. I'm technically in day 2 and for now I'm achieving my timetable: first day I was gonna create a NEW idea, logline and title and go for it for all the month. And that's it, I've got a survival horror movie in a Carpenter way; for now, very happy with the ideas that are coming from it. I've just finished my second day, the one about Brainstorming Characters, Themes and Iconography/Structural Elements. Again, finding new things about the crazy movie I'm gonna write in a few days. So, so, so HAPPY to be part of this. This is like gym: a few days are for everyone; the whole month is for the champions. Tomorrow, day 3: major plot points, structure and the beginning of the outline!

Congratulations from Durham!

Didn't write anything yesterday...had to work and then spent the night looking over my index cards and telling myself "I'm good at this. I'm good at this." Today got in 4 pages before noon. Decided to work with the scenes with the most impact first. The exciting action scenes that will pull me along in the first few days until the habit cements itself. Also choosing my writing music for the week. Don't want to spent time trying to find the right song when I want to just write. Also, music suggestions are welcome. *closing eyes* I'm good at this....I'm god at this...

Details, schmeetails! Be sure to read the ZDT Writing Quote of the Day in the post that goes live at 6PM by Black List writer Geoff LaTulippe. When you work a Zero Draft, your main goal is to find the story. You can work in details later. Years ago, I sold a pitch for a Rodney Dangerfield comedy (when he was hot off Back to School). I got my hands on a couple of his scripts. There were literally dozens of parenthetical items like, (need joke here) and (baseball bit, expand). When we are under a 30 day time limit, we have to fight back the voice of Professor Detail. Because lurking behind their mask often is none other than... VON: Voices Of Negativity! Tricky bastards. They will do ANYTHING to undermine our progress. This is not to say the details aren't important. They are. But unless they represent MAJOR PLOT IMPLICATIONS, my advice is keep moving forward and fill in the details later.

Lorenzo, that's a great speech by Denzel. Look for that as one of Inspirational Videos with a HT to you. Thanks! And for the pizza!

I signed on to the quest late, struggling to prep out the ideas in my head but by the end of -1 day I was ready – or so I thought, until I realised I had no first scene! So… if in doubt employ a cheat – my script jumps in mid-scene. Not only does it give my character’s a purpose but it means saving my backstory for ACT2 where it belongs. Thank you Scott for that “trick”. Thirty days into a 120page script is 4 pages a day. Some days I will be up, others I know will be down – so I intend to task myself from Monday to Sunday which fits in nicely with the calendar for the month (28 pages); and hopefully enables me to make up any deficit over a weekend. For my score-board: Day 1 I managed 10 pages because it’s a grotty foggy nothing of a day (and I finished all my chores early!) My characters are fleshed out sufficiently for me to know it won’t unravel but I need to be sure my focus remains with my Protagonist despite needing to give page-time to his Nemesis. I’m revved up and ready to snatch every spare minute of day 2 to hit my target!

Nice to see some familiar names participating in the ZDT Challenge. But also gratifying that some of you GITS 'lurkers' have come out of the shadows and are now actively participating in our family of writers. BTW if any of you are new to the blog, check this out: A Go Into The Story Primer. As always, if anyone has any suggestions for the blog or screenwriting questions they'd like answered, just post 'em here.

What do you think of creating a place to work on loglines? A place to post loglines for open comment by others in the group? Fresh eyes. I think it's hard to write clean captivating loglines and have often benefitted from the skills of better wordsmiths. Even questions about what the logline means has sometimes clarified for me what I was trying to say in the script.

I could spend hours reading everyone's comments and responses, but I'd never get any writing done! Today, no one noticed that for a couple large chunks of time, I was writing on my laptop instead of editing on the Avid. It'll be different when I have more work to do, but today I had a great day! 4 pages (and I'm gonna try for another one tonight.)

A pretty rough start for me, but a big thank you to all for lighting the proverbial fire under my ass. Back to work!

Anytime (I'm talking about the pizza here ;) ).

Popping in here to congratulate those who weighed in toward the end of this thread. A reminder you can keep up the conversation with the daily posts which go live on my blog at 6PM Eastern (U.S.). Go here for the Day 2 post. Also Twitter: #ZD30SCRIPT. And Facebook.

Day 2: slow going, just under 4 pages, bummer! Reached the stage where there's a lot of scenes and it halts my flow. So I've decided to cheat again, follow one character thread to the Midpoint, then the second, then third, etc. Then hopefully edit it all to where it belongs later (and fill in any "gaps"). Like Scott says, there are no rules (maybe!!!). But as always my motto is "do what works for you!!"

Day 3: getting some pages under my belt (7 today) now I'm following character threads but I'm not sure they count as the characters are "adding arms and legs" to everything. But at least I ended today's final stint at the keyboard at a plot-point. At this rate my script will be over on length but for me I'd rather write too much and get out the red pen than have too short a story. And the extra pages are "money in the bank" for any non-productive days. On the outside I'm smiling. On the inside I'm living the life of multiple characters. Happy days.

Thanks for giving credit where credit was due for my mantra. Hope my post didn't make it seem like I was trying to take ownership for that gem. It's one of those quotes that I came across at some point over the years, and it always stuck with me. I never knew its origin, so thanks for providing it.