From Screen writer to Novelist

Well its 3 months away and then I'll take my steps towards my next adventure so to speak. The feeling inside of me to write is hard to explain at times, but its a feeling that I'm enjoying all the same. That being said, the next upcoming contest I'll take part in is called NaNoWriMo and lasts for the whole month of November. During this time, anyone who wants to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel can take part in the free contest.

Yes I'm some what crazy, but I like to think I'm dedicated and will take this challenge head on. I'm not sure how easy this will be and I know the word count is a lot higher, but with out the constraints in formatting a Screenplay, I hope I'll do well and reach my goal.

Just like Script Frenzy, its not about quality as much as quantity in reaching the goal. It's more about being creative and just writing and letting nature take its course. It's all about creating a first draft and then at the end you can look back and edit and rewrite if you so choose. So wish me luck and I'll report back on my progress in November and at the first of December.

As for Script Frenzy, I haven't looked back at my script since I finished it. What I did was send it off to the President of the Dallas Screenwriters Association. He was nice enough to come out and speak to a group of us and reviewed the first 10 pages of our script. Here's a little bit of what he had to say and granted its only the first 10 pages, who knows what he would have thought towards the middle and end.

Hello Robert,

You've written an interesting beginning to a movie. The characters are multi-dimensional and its an interesting premise. I also thought that your basic sense of format was correct, for the most part. The free software that you used has a lot of useful features and I might recommend it to other writers who may not be ready for the industry-standard software.

I've made a few notes on the attached script, which I hope you will find more helpful than critical. Food for thought, but it's your story to do with as you wish. I'd say it's an excellent first draft for your first script. Whether you decide to continue screenwriting or not, realize that you can deliver, if you want to pursue it.

Take care, and good luck with your future writing plans.

Steve Davis
President,
Dallas Screenwriters Association

I was impressed with his feedback and I'm looking forward to next June and perhaps a sequel to my first movie script.