I’m looking for a full alphabet of Camp Nano-ers to spotlight!

I know we’re not even into March yet, but I’m already looking ahead to April for a few things…

• I’ve signed up for the A-Z blogging challenge, for the third time.
• For the first time in six years or so, I won’t be writing a script in April for Script Frenzy 😦
• And, for the first time EVER, Camp Nanowrimo is running an April session full of novelling AND script-writing goodness!

Putting the three of them together; I had a great time spotlighting some of the features of Script Frenzy last year for the A to Z challenge, so this year I’m going to make Camp Nano my topic. But I’m going to change it up a little, and I’m not going to fill up my alphabet with topics like C for Cabinmates or R for Rebel. Instead, I’d like to make as many posts as possible about my fellow campers! (It’s been a while since I’ve done a spotlight series, after all.)

So, if you’re going to be doing Camp Nano in April this year, and you’d like to volunteer for an interview or just to have me mention something about you during April, leave a comment here or contact me at chriskelworth at gmail dot com. I’ll try to slot you in based on your name, your username, or your novel title.

Whoo-hoo!

A CGI Light Saber Video thank-you!

I’ve been waiting ever since April 30th for a ‘Script Frenzy video thank-you’ montage to come out – I donated to support the event, and at my donation level you could send in one line of your script to be acted out. I picked a funny bit from a walk-on Klingon cosplayer where he rants a little about Jedi Knights, from my fandom romcom “Geek at Heart.”

I was starting to wonder if the video would be stuck in Development Hell, especially since Script Frenzy has been sorta-cancelled 😦 – but an email from Grant showed up this evening, and O M G…

They actually did a CGI Light Saber effect!

On one level, I hope that the OLL staff didn’t spend any money on that, that it was just a stock effect in some video program that they were already playing with, or a free online tool, or whatever. But – light sabers! Yay!! Harry, my main character, is probably a bit miffed in that he doesn’t get to play with CGI light sabers, just the moderately pricey glowing model sabers.

In other news, traffic and my air conditioner are conspiring to drive me crazy. Tune in tomorrow to see if they succeeded…

Z is for Zenxara

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

Hi everybody. For the last day of my Script Frenzy A-Z I’d like to share a spotlight interview with a fellow A-Zer and Script Frenzier, Steph, who goes by Zenxara on Script Frenzy and Twitter. Zenxara reached 100 pages of her script on April the 16th, (Wow!)

How many years have you been doing Script Frenzy?
This is actually my first year doing Script Frenzy, I entered last year but couldn’t make it because of school work, but now that I graduated I have all the time in the world.

How did you first find out about it?
I first heard of Script Frenzy when I was doing NaNoWriMo in 2010. I was looking at what else OLL did besides NaNO and found Script Frenzy.

What’s your favorite thing about the script that you’re writing this year?
My script is about a magic bond and trust. My favorite thing that I love to write about right now is the HighLands, which is where the elves are. HighLands is the most magical place there is in my story. I love to write about the Elves.

What’s the hardest thing about participating in Script Frenzy?
There isn’t anything that I find hard really, it’s much easier then NaNoWriMo, but what I find really sad is that there is no one in my region that is doing the challenge so I’m writing alone.

Why should my blog followers join the Frenzy next year?
I went to a workshop once and they say that a script version of your novel is a great outline, because you have a description of the world or characters, you know who is talking and you can get the character’s voice. You can have the action and see them act. It’s much easier to write in script form then novel form and you can use it as an outline later! That’s what I’m doing.

Thanks, Steph, and congratulations on your successes this April!

Six Sentence Sunday – Geek at Heart 4

First six. Second six. Third six.

Still in the initial scene, and still all in dialog. Note that Brent is the character dressed up as C-3PO.

Here’s wishing all of you a good week full of writing joy! And at least 100 pages to all my fellow Script Frenziers!

Y is for Yumesandman

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

Today’s spotlight is on Yumesandman, who is working on a comedy stageplay called ‘Love in Books.’

How many years have you been doing Script Frenzy?
This is actually my first year doing Script Frenzy.  I did National Novel Writing Month in November, and was 5,000 words from finishing, with two days off of work at the end of the month, when a personal emergency came up.  Frustrated that I didn’t finish, I decided to do Script Frenzy to prove I could make the deadline.

How did you first find out about it?
Through Nano.  I learned of it during the middle of March, and thought I would go ahead with it.

What’s your favorite thing about the script that you’re writing this year?
The Muses.  The play I’m writing involves a young girl who’s caught in between two men- one she loves but doesn’t want her, and another that wants her but she doesn’t love.  So to spice up an otherwise boring and cliché piece, I have two Muses who overlook the stage and comment on everything the girl does.  But they’re sarcastic and cynical Muses, so their dialogue is fun to write.

What’s the hardest thing about participating in Script Frenzy?
I’ve never written a script before!  I’ve always been a prose writer, and occasionally poetry, but I’ve never tried to tackle a script before.  The extent of my stage experience was making programs for my high school drama club.  Dialogue is my weakest area though, so in some ways this is great practice for me to learn how to better develop my dialogue.

Why should my blog followers join the Frenzy next year?

Because it’s fun!  But in all honesty, it’s a great exercise for improving your writing.  Whether you only write scripts, or you’re a prose writer like me, events like Script Frenzy are wonderful.  They help you learn to write on deadlines (important for business/school!), and one of the hardest things- to just put the words to paper, instead of wasting time analyzing them.  By being forced to write so much in such little time, you can’t waste time second guessing yourself, so you learn to just write and then go back to edit later.  It’s a wonderful thing to learn, so that you don’t spend three years on page one (which I’ve done!)

Good luck with your muses, Yumesandman!

X is for Xaeromancer2008

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

Well, surprise surprise, it’s spotlight on a Script Frenzy participant again today, and I’d like you to meet Xaeromancer2008. Xaeromancer is working on a comic script called Bedlam, which he describes on his Script Frenzy profile as Sons of Anarchy meets Black Death. “A knightly order is broken and struggles for revenge during the crusades.”

How many years have you been doing Script Frenzy?
This is actually my first year of Script Frenzy, I’ve tried NaNoWriMo before but never succeeded (so far). I’ve had the idea for this script for about a year and it’s been kept on the back burner by other projects and my day job. Script Frenzy was an ideal opportunity to dust it off and get some words down.

How did you first find out about it?

W is for Webvideos and Webcomics

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

Like other formats, Script Frenzy has a special forum for Webvideo and Webcomic scripts. I tracked down four of the Frenzies posting about their Web projects and asked them each a few questions.

Justangel24 is working on episodes of a web video soap opera called Vicious Lust. “It’s about the complicated relationships between 6 people and how lust winds up being viscious, dangerous and even deadly for them. I made this idea to be a closed ended web series so it’s kind of like a spanish telenovela format but made for the web.

“As of today, April 25th, I’m up to page 80. I know I am writing this for Script Frenzy so there’s going to be some stuff that I am going to change or that isn’t going to be logical to myself so I am considering that for when I start the drafting process after Frenzy ends. So far, however, I am sastisfied with how the story is developing.

“I have always wanted to make a web soap opera because I know the fanbase is very loyal. The creator sometimes has direct contact with the fans and if the fans like the show well enough, it will show in funding campagins, response on facebook and hopefully at We Love Soaps Indie Soap Awards if it gets that far.”

teax2 is working on two different web video scripts this April. One is an adaptation of last year’s Script Frenzy webcomic – Firework, which can be found at http://firework.the-comic.org. “It’s a swear-filled sci fi for teens.”

V is for Video Diaries

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

One of the highlights of Script Frenzies are the little video clips that the staff at the Office of Letters and Light film and post on the website, talking about their own struggles with their scripts, to encourage the rest of us and start conversations on the discussion board. Here are some of my favorite videos from this year…

Some ‘Young Writers Program’ Script Frenziers made their own trailer for the event, which is pretty cool!

Lindsay does a little demonstration of script formatting in action! The script equivalent for the video is here.

U is for Uberskittlez

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

Well, in this last week of the A-Z challenge, I’m going to be spotlighting some Script Frenzy writers and their projects. Yes, this was my clever strategy to find topics for the letters of the alphabet that I couldn’t think of anything else to cover. Feel free to swoon with envy.

So, today, I’m happy to shine the spotlight on uberskittlez, and her script Cirque, which she describes in her profile as: Water for Elephants meets a post-apocalyptic dictatorship. (Earlier this month, the working title was ‘Utopia’ – an extra bit of U appeal, but I guess uberskittlez didn’t stay with that title for long.) “Held captive in the questioning facility of a ruthless dictator in a post-war future, Tristian Roe tells the story of his time with the legendary rebel group ‘Cirque’ in exchange for his freedom.”

How many years have you been doing Script Frenzy?
This is only my second year doing Script Frenzy. I’ve been wanting to write a script for forever, and last year I decided to do it.

T is for TV scripts

The Script Frenzy A-Z challenge so far…

Television is one of the most popular script formats for Frenzy participants, even though you need to write more than one episode of a television show to get to the 100 page goal. (Or a mini-series.) And so TV scripts get a forum all their own on the discussion board.

There’s some interesting conversations taking place on the TV scripts forum this year:

• Asking about the BBC drama format of listing day numbers and times for scenes, and how to handle flashbacks.
• Talking about page counts and act breaks.
• Mourning the deaths of major characters.
• Debating the merits of working with an old plot bunny or starting from scratch.
• Celebrating Doctor Who, Sherlock, and some other favorite shows, (and discussing writing spec episodes for them.)
• Anime writers gathering together for mutual support.
• Talking about ‘the standing sets for your show.’
• The love of writing comedy.
• Crime drama – should the criminal escape?
• Tips and tricks for writing a pilot episode.
• How to create your cast of characters.
• Help – my miniseries idea has exploded in my brain, and it’s not looking so ‘mini’ anymore!

Have you ever wanted to write for television? What would you want the series to be?