When I started this Script Frenzy business on April 1, I had a couple of assumptions. One of them was (though I guess technically this assumption came along a day or so later once I settled on my script) that I knew I wasn’t wrapping this script in 100 pages. I expected I’d need 120-130, and I’d edit down from there. The other assumption was that because of my vacation and the randomness of my work schedule, I wasn’t making it to 100 pages in 30 days anyway. So I packed up these assumptions, stuck them in the back of my brain, and wrote whenever I could.

I wrote on my laptop at night after work. I wrote on my iPhone on the express bus, on the couch, in my hotel room bed at Disney, while waiting around in at least 2 of the Disney parks, and, I’m not ashamed to admit it, on the can. And after 26 days, I find myself at 76 pages. Approximately 3 days behind schedule.

Is this good? I’m not sure. It’s probably better than I thought I’d be when I saw how little time or interest I had in writing while on vacation. But still, I’ve been writing from behind since the first week of this thing, and since I don’t know what the next 4 days will bring at work, 76 pages might be all I get to do. Who knows. But I think tentatively I have to say that 76 pages is probably pretty good for Day 26. It’s 76 more pages than most people will write in a month, for what that’s worth.

And there’s another obstacle, too. While April 30 is the Script Frenzy deadline, May 1 is the deadline for the latest issue of The First Line, and I’m trying real hard to submit something to them too. I’m just over 1000 words on that story, and need at least 1000 more, and possibly more than that. I’m writing this story exclusively on the iPhone, and that’s working out well so far.

So, 24 more pages of script and 1000-2000 more words of short story in 4 days? I don’t think I can pull it off. I’m gonna give it a try, though. It’s too early to give up. That’s what Thursday night is for.

Of course, I did make a deal with myself as kind of an incentive. If I get them both done on time, I might just head on out and reward myself with an iPad. Let’s see if that helps. For now, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!

Comments are closed