Screnzy prep: committing to the challenge

Ladies and gentlemen, Screnzy is just around the corner.

For those who don't know, Screnzy is short for ScriptFrenzy, an April writing event put on by the same awesome people that do National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The official website says the challenge is to:

Write 100 pages of original scripted material in the 30 days of April. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome).

Let me tell you that, compared to 50,000 words in November, 100+ pages of script is easy peasy. Not only is it easier to do a challenge based on pages rather than word count, but the script allows for quicker writing based on page count. Have you ever looked at a script? Lots of white space. Easy peasy.

If you're thinking of doing Screnzy this year, now is the time to commit to it. Sign up on the website, start thinking about your script, and get ready for a crazy, fun adventure. You don't have to sign up on the website to do it, but it will give you access to the support offered by the forums, and will let you "officially" check in once you complete your script.

Whether you want to participate officially or not, giving yourself the challenge to write a script in April is a good challenge for writers. It forces you to sit down and actually write, and shows you that you can make the time to write if you set it as a priority in your life. I enjoy participating because it reminds me--a prose writer--that other mediums can be fun, too. I don't know that I'd ever pursue a career as playwright, but it's fun to write scripts sometimes. Just for something different.

Last year, I did not participate. I was quite pregnant with Bunny during April (she was born the 26th), so it just wasn't possible. However, I would like to participate this year, using an idea that I came up with last year (or the year before...?) and never wrote.

My idea is a stage play called Wait, which will be a collection of vignettes in which someone (or more than one someone) is waiting for something or someone. I'm looking forward to writing it, and will be spending some time in the next few weeks outlining the vignettes.

If you haven't decided whether or not to do Screnzy, there's still time. It doesn't start until April 1st. Get on their website to look around a little, spend some time brainstorming. The important thing to remember is that it's not about creating some prolific work of art for stage or screen. It's not even about what you get in the end. Screnzy is about proving to yourself that you can make time to write, and that if you make the time, you can write a 100+-page script in 30 days.

Are you in?