I haven't said much because I feel like I have little to report. I'm keeping my head down, I know I can't force a solution to my problems but I'm keeping mental pressure on them, like water. Right now it seems slow and insignificant (and impossible to measure), but if I do this right I can crush mountains. Of course, I have no idea if I'm doing it right. When I figure out these answers (and yes, I'm writing down my thought process), that will determine the shape of the work to follow. An idea that takes a second to think of may take 10 pages to execute, and an idea that takes ten days to conceive may take a few paragraphs and might have a much bigger impact. But when it comes to that point, I'll be sure to have all the work done so I can knock those out of the park (I never brainstorm without playing with execution). That'll make the mountain crushing go much quicker.

After getting bogged down for a day, another five pages. Coming up on the last scene of the first act. There's the sense of accomplishment tempered by the knowledge that it only gets harder from here. It's looking like a weekend barricaded in my office with note cards and the bulletin board to get a handle on where this thing goes. Maybe I've overwritten (I've definitely overwritten) but I've had to live with this story and these characters for a little while so I'm hoping it'll be easier for me to nail down the details of where it/they go next. And, if not, I might as well find a way to finish anyway. I've already put this much work in.

Julia, Chuck and Miss Frizzle, wrapping up Day 6 with some words of wisdom. Love the map analogy. Speaks to me. And Chuck was definitely killing it on stage. Personally, I didn't budge past page 15. Admittedly, I did a clean up of those pages. I know, I know... But we all work differently, right? And I need to feel connected with ACT I in a way that allows me to have fun exploring ACT II. Anyway, it makes sense to me, so ya... 15 pages deep. I echo the sentiment of this group; I also appreciate the community. Thanks for this, Scott.

Love it! Hope everyone closes out the first week of #ZD30SCRIPT strong.

I'm listening to The Journey of Natty Gann soundtrack tonight while I write. I loved this movie when I was a kid. It's incredible what music can do for the mind. Relaxation. Motivation. Flashes of childhood daydreams. Lots of writing sparks. Movement for my protagonist. I'm having a successful evening. http://youtu.be/UZ-41YG4Q2U

Chris, don't forget to get in touch with your feelings relative to your story, balance out your mental processes. In fact, that may be a way to jump-start the writing process. Focus on the emotional and psychological state of the characters in each scene, and use THAT as the foundation for your writing.

zbvance, my advice: Don't worry about overwriting. You can always edit and tighten. Rather you have more then cut than less then pad.

There's no shame in editing along the way, Karl. Some writers just HAVE to do that. As part of this 30 day challenge, you just have to figure out a way to do that and keep pushing forward. It's easy to slip into edit and revision mode, and that can stagnate forward momentum. You can ALWAYS revise AFTER you get the draft knocked out.

Write on!

Great, Pepper. An excellent reminder that if we're feeling low energy or uninspired, pick some music which gets us going.

And here's today's batch of Creative Juju!

4 more pages today, 24 total. Hard to squeeze 'em out today, running on lack of sleep due to life happening. The scenes today felt a bit sad as a result, although that might actually work well.

Screw this! I'm hiring a ghost writer! Just kidding. Maybe. Anyways I wrote seven scenes today.

24 pages at this stage = excellent! Per Star Wars IV: "Stay on target!"

David, you wrote 7 scenes today? And YOU'RE talking ghost writer? Save that line for when you hit a scene that you end up writing 20 different ways and it STILL doesn't feel right. That's the time to bust out the 'ghost writer' line. That said, 7 scenes in one day? Great!!!

16 pages for day 6 to bring me up to p60... pleased with my progress, painfully aware there will be a lot of editing to do after I type fade out! But it's all good, half the fun is in the rewrites :-) As for scenes... this one is set in one room, so there aren't too many scenes, more like one humungous scene with occassional jumps forward in time to create new-ish scenes if that makes sense :-) Day 7 calls... Onward!!!

At this rate, Andy, you'll be done with you ZD before the end of November, then you can go back and edit to your heart's content, have yourself a proper First Draft by 11/30!

I was too tired to come on here and post but I was able to write 4 more pages last night. I am pretty sure if ZDT wasn't happening I would not have written anything. Feeling the energy of this helped me forward. Thanks! Gearing up for some more pages later today.

Steve, I've read the same message dozens of times here, Twitter, Facebook, and via email: If it hadn't been for this challenge, they would not have written that day's pages or even started their story in the first place. In a way, that's the entire point of doing this Challenge. I could have just determined to write a Zero Draft on my own. Set a calendar and off I go. But I figured let's see what happens if we go public with the idea. And thus far it's worked! Now is the hard part: Week 2 and beyond. Sustaining the momentum. Hopefully folks have embraced the habit of daily writing so they are in a groove. Good luck to you, Steve. And everyone else. It's the weekend. If you managed to do 4 pages per day during the week, see if you can make it 5 or even 6 pages per day this weekend. Onward!

Finally I arrived at a crucial meeting between the protagonist and a significant character. Was working towards it all week. Keep sailing towards that distant country called FINISHED VOMIT DRAFT :) ZD30'ers!

Daily vomit report no.6 - Here I am. I don't have much to say but I have to say it anyway, it keeps me sane. Definitely embraced the habit of daily writing so I'm in a groove. Shaking maracas. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ? Winston S. Churchill

A slow day, no packets of time to take advantage of and a very untimely head-cold has landed. Just three pages, but still moving forward! I hope I, and everyone else, will be able to power the words onto the pages this weekend. A time to catch up, reflect and write, write, write! To quote the last line from Jaws: "Smile, damn you, smile"