I'm still here. Is anyone else?

It's almost midnight on the last day, and I sort of accepted a few days ago that I probably wasn't going to finish. Especially with two major papers due on the first and second of May (with another on the fifth). Stupid school. At least I have the outline for a movie that I actually would go see in the theater.

But enough about my spectacular crash and burn. How did everyone else's April go? Any early finishers? Any down-to-the-wires or come-up-from-behinds? Any just barely miss the mark? Anyone else have a crash and burn?

But most importantly, what did everyone here take away from Script Frenzy? Did you have some fun? I know the first time I wrote a script last year, I was amazed at how much better my prose suddenly became. I didn't know how to write padding in a script. There was no room for backstory, exposition, or internal monologue, so I had to fill in the gaps with (gasp!) plot and character development! As a result, I actually liked the script, and I was able to transfer what I learned into my NaNovel in November.

Anyone else learn anything this time around? It's perfectly okay to learn that you hate writing scripts. It's okay to learn that you will never write a novel again because you love writing scripts so much.

What were some of the challenges you faced? Partners? Lack of time? Lack of motivation? Lack of familiarity with script writing or script writing software? Or maybe you had too much of something... like homework, or people who wanted to see you/know what you were doing/you to clean your house.

What were your movies/plays/tv shows about? Mine was a fantasy story, though one without magic, and not set in medieval England. There were two groups of people, those that lived above ground and those that lived below, and the below ground people were starting to take their revenge for being forced down below generations ago, though of course no one above even remembers them. Besides introducing the two main characters, one from each world, and a few bad guys, that's really as far as I got.

What about you?

I'm asking all this stuff in a thread because (I was lonely) I haven't heard from anyone about a Frenzy Final party, or whatever it's supposedly called. I don't think the word "final" is in the title actually, come to think of it. Maybe I'm just hoping the semester will be over soon.

Of course, if we do have a party, we will be talking about these questions, among other things, like having a whole lot of fun.

I'm here if anyone wants to talk!

I finished. This is my second SCRIPTFRENZY. I finshed last year too. I do this because it's fun! I probably have a bit more experience at this because I am not a fresh raw beginner. I am hardly a seasoned veteran either.
Somewhere in between, I guess.

I love this whole experience. IT IS PURE FUN for me!
This year, for the sake of speed, and for the experience I took a novel which I recently read and converted it to my SCREENPLAY.
I chose to do this MOSTLY to see if I could do it. Adaptation may sound really easy but it poses a whole venue of other problems that writing from scratch does not.

An obvious advantage is that the novel provides a ready outline of plot, story and characters. You have a direction that is set for you.

The biggest DISADVANTAGE is that most novels are way too long and cumbersome for easy adaptation. Deciding what not to include and crunching scenes together for economy becomes the writer's primary chore.

I would recommend this for anyone for next year's SCRIPT FRENZY '09 if you ran out of time. Adaptation is certainly a challenge but the writing does move faster. Your conjuring up time is practically eliminated. I say practically because I actually had to create a few scenes that weren't even in the novel, just for the sake of clarity.

This whole process was educational for me and a whole lot of fun.
The forums were more fun this year because I subscribed to and responded to more of them than I did last year.

I recommend that you do that, although it takes time away from writing. That's another reason you might consider adaptation.

Interestingly, my Adapted Screenplay turned out so well that I wanted to submit it for some of the screenwriting contests around. I've learned now, however, that many screenplay writing contests will not accept adapted material, ever! Some do, but you have to gain the expressed written permission from the author of the original material. Oy Vey!

This post is already too long. These are just a few thoughts about
my SCRIPT FRENZY '08 experience that I was glad to share here.

"It's never too late to become what you might have been."
- George Eliot