<a href="http://www.scriptfrenzy.org" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10260" title="sf_08_logo" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/sf_08_logo-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" /></a>

In my <a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/2012/03/21/psst-pass-it-on-because-love-is-in-the-air/" target="_blank"><strong>Psst!  Pass It On!</strong></a> post the other day, I announced that I was about to whirl myself into a frenzy.  A Script Frenzy, that is.

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I began on April 1st (and I'm not fooling!), and I finish on April 30th.  I committed to write a full-length screenplay.  In 30 days.  Crazy, huh?

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And even though that nifty little ticket to your left states "100 pages", I need to write 11o.  Because I'm following The Formula designed by <strong>Blake Snyder </strong>in his book<em><strong> Save the Cat.  </strong></em>

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You're probably wondering, "Formula?  Don't you just sit down and write?"

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That's what I used to think as well.  Until I discovered Blake's book.  And then I learned a thing or two.

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Would you leave for a long road trip without a map?  Not unless you want to get lost.

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It's the same thing with a screenplay.  You better begin your writing journey with a solid outline that follows The Formula or you are going to wind up in Screenplay Timbuktu.

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You see, I've never written a screenplay.  I've always felt that "I have one in me".  It's always been "a dream".  But I've never parked my tuckus on the couch and <em>started</em>.

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I needed a jump-start (thank you, Script Frenzy), and I needed a Screenwriting Bootcamp (thank you to both Script Frenzy's Writer's Resources and Save the Cat).

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My plan was moving along swimmingly when . . . .

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<strong>Five days before The Frenzy I came down with The Flu.</strong>

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Sniffle, sniffle.  Cough, Cough.  Woe is me.

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Here is an excerpt from last week's pity party:

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<em>How am I supposed to write with a fever, throbbing sinuses, and an eensie weensie problem of not being able to stay awake for more than an hour at a stretch?!?!  </em>

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Suck it up, buttercup!  The show must go on!

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When my fever broke on Saturday, I was able to finish my outline.

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The next morning, I dragged my pathetic, sniffly self to my computer and kicked off the Frenzy.  Originally, I envisioned myself sitting inside a trendy, indie coffeehouse.  You know, like a real writer.  Instead, my ambiance was this:

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<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=10276" rel="attachment wp-att-10276"><img class="size-medium wp-image-10276 alignnone" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/P4010015-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>

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To perk myself up, I surrounded myself with me lucky charms.

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<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=10274" rel="attachment wp-att-10274"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10274" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/P4010006-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a><a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=10275" rel="attachment wp-att-10275"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10275" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/P4010012-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>

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I slipped into my lucky t-shirt made for me by my Sissie.

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<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=10279" rel="attachment wp-att-10279"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10279" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/P4010024-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>

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There were other advantages to staying at home.  I would have never encountered this kind of inspiration and cuteness at the coffeeshop.

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<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=10277" rel="attachment wp-att-10277"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10277" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/P4010018-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a><a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=10278" rel="attachment wp-att-10278"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-10278" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/P4010019-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>

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I cranked out the first four pages of my script and promptly emailed them to my mother.  She laughed, she cried, it was better than <em>Cats.</em>

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(She really did cry.)

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And so . . . .

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I AM OFF!

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Sort of.

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I cranked out another 4 pages on Day 2.

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I then stalled with only 2 pages on Day 3.  Because I was overanalyzing The Formula.  In true neurotic writer fashion, I stayed up much too late scribbling notes and worrying about my self-imposed challenge.

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I  woke up the next morning and remembered, "Oh, yeah.  I'm in The Year of Play.  Ummm....Perhaps you could approach this whole process <em>playfully,</em> my dear?"

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I talk to myself often.  Do not be al

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rest of april

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Psst. pass it on for the month of April and lusty month of May? or somewhere on site?

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