Day 17. And, today, coincidentally IS the 17th! ;-) At your request, dear sir, I'll offer up the quote I've held near and dear to my heart since I was a kid. It has always guided me in everything I do. From Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” Press on! ... Onward! Coincidence? I don't think so. Keep writin'!

I nominate you, Scott, for today's Day 17's Trumbo Award! (if that's allowed) For ALL your Facebook Replies. Thank you!!!

Wow, I've never seen that quote from Coolidge. Persistence is, indeed, a requisite for writing success. Thanks for that, Doc!

Thanks, Karl. I reward myself by turning the green marker on my calendar to blue when I finish the day's writing. Silly, but true. Nothing quite as satisfying as that.

Creative Juju? Did someone say Creative Juju?

It's been another long day, but 4 more pages are written.

I'm delighted to have been able to share it with you, then, Scott!

:) Word Warrior was my Twitter handle at the beginning of ZD30 because that's exactly how I felt: armed (with a pen) and ready to fight (the writer's funk, mostly). I see the term warrior not as a soldier but as someone who's ready to take on whatever life throws at them and just keep going. Not slaughtering left and right but standing up to their enemies or opposers, trusting deeply in what's important to them and showing that to the world any which way by always giving it their best. A warrior should be both strong, confident and humble. And y'know, it's good to be in that fantasy mindset when slogging through the Act 2 underbrush :)

4 pages! Not easy. Act 2 is like moving through mud right now. Rewrites down the line for sure. Hopefully discovering some gold every now and then in the muck.

I feel your weariness, Steve F. I've had several very long days in a row. The only thing we can do is keep pressing forward. Besides the end is in sight, only 13 more days. Let's push ahead and run the good race!

I am a decided pacifist, but I have zero problem embracing 'warrior' as a metaphor for writing. I'm not killing anything, rather simply doing battle with my will. Spiritual warfare. Lassoing my will and wrangling magic. Having hacked my way through over 40 scripts in my life, Word Warrior works for me! May we warrior on!

Trust the process, thedchen. You will know SO MUCH MORE about your story when you reach FADE OUT than you do now. Critical to get to The End. Keep your eyes on that prize! And feel good about those 4 pages you pounded out today!

Wait! The warrior thing from the last couple days is just a metaphor? Daaamnit! I've been dressing up in a gladiator costume when I write. And I write in public. Oh well it seems to be helping so I'm going to continue to do it. Anyways today I only wrote one scene. Had a long day at work and caught the last quarter of the Warriors game. The scene was a scene I've been avoiding because it's just a place holder scene in my outline so I wasn't sure how to write it. But after some brainstorming it ended up being one of the best scenes so far. I'm on track to finish this draft in the next couple days.

I used to have this same quote as a refrigerator magnet. Along with another quote that said "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you'll end up among the stars."

Since Zero Draft Thirty hasn't finished yet, I decided to work on a feature film. In the last few days, I wrote 40 index cards and I'm reviewing them right now. I like most of them, but the ending needs some work. Well, I have 12 more days to work on it, so... :)

David, that would be awesome. Dress up like Aragorn and clomp into the local Starbucks where all the other Word Warriors are tapping away with their mocha whatever. Order some grog. Give an epic "not this day" speech. Stomp out. Good to hear re your draft. Why don't you collect all your witticisms you post here over the month into one doc? That would be a fun way to remember your experience by!

Lorenzo, if you finish 2 scripts in one month, I may have to give you Word Warrior Medal of Honor!

Well, if the Word Warrior Medal of Honor is shiny enough, I could try. ;)

Okay, fellow Word Warriors, here's another classic rouse-the-warrior speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=680NlRI3v2I It's The Bard, so on the very-current-day issue of gender inclusiveness, it will sound dated. As writers of all stripes and genders, we're equipped to look past that via context. Just the same, this is a very masculine rendition. And our screenwriting sisters deserve their equal share of inspirational Shakespeare. So in that sincere spirit, here's a gender-switched transcript of the clip: “…Of fighting women, they have full three score thousand. That’s five-to-one. Besides, they are all fresh. It is a fearful odds. Oh, that we now had here but one ten thousand of those women in England who do no work today… “What’s she that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? Now, my fair cousin, if we are marked to die, we are more than enough to do our country loss. And if to live, the fewer women, the greater share of honor. God’s will, I pray thee wish not one woman more. Sister, proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host that she which hath no stomach to this fight, let her depart. Her passport shall be made and rounds for her convey put into her purse. We would not die in that woman’s company that fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is called the Feast of Crispian. She that outlives this day and comes safe home will stand a-tiptoe when this day is named and rouse her in the name of Crispian. She that shall see this day and live old age will yearly on the vigil feast her neighbors and say ‘Tomorrow is St. Crispin’s.’ Then will she strip her sleeves and show her scars and say, ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s Day.’ Old women forget that all shall be forgot but she’ll remember with advantages what feats she did that day. Then shall our names, familiar in their mouths as household words, be in their flowing cups freshly remembered! “This story shall a good woman teach her daughter, and Crispin Crispian shall n’er go by from this day till the ending of the world but we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of sisters. For she today that sheds her blood with me shall be my sister, be she n’er so vile this day shall gentle her condition, and gentle women in England now abed shall think themselves accursed that they were not here, and hold their womanhood cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s Day!”