I still cannot log onto my page on the NaNoWriMo site.  I’m up to 2174 words.  I need more words!  More more more!  Faster faster faster!  Hmmm…can I count those in … naw.  OK. I’m behind, but I’ll catch up.

Helen

OK, I’m doing it again. NaNoWriMo, and I just wrote 954 of the 1667 daily words. Yippie! But the NaNoWriMo website is overwhelmed, and I can’t put my word count into the box on the site, which will make the nifty icon I have on my blog count for me. That’s why I’m posting it here.

It’s also the return to standard time today.

Helen

Dear NaNoWriMo author,

Hey there! Many items to share…

LOVE MOVIES? WRITE ONE!
Some of you may not know that we run two ginormous, free writing events: NaNoWriMo in November, and Script Frenzy in April. For Script Frenzy, the goal is to write a movie, play, graphic novel script, comic book script, or a collection of TV shows or shorts in 30 days. You can even do a screenplay adaptation of your NaNoWriMo novel!

Script Frenzy’s finish line is 100 pages, and it has the same raucous energy and unpretentious atmosphere as NaNoWriMo. ScriptFrenzy.org is also home to the legendary Plot Machine, which issues all visitors a free, guaranteed Oscar-winning plot for their scripts. I took part in the Frenzy last year and writing a screenplay was the biggest creative shot in the arm I’ve had since first doing NaNoWriMo in 1999. Give it a try; you’ll see what I mean. www.ScriptFrenzy.org.

Also, a shout-out to teachers and parents: Script Frenzy has a separate Young Writers Program created with budding scriptwriters in mind. We spend March getting young authors up to speed on movie, play, and TV scriptwriting basics before unleashing them on their own projects in April. Come on by! http://ywp.scriptfrenzy.org.

GROUND BROKEN ON NEW NANOWRIMO YWP SITE
Speaking of kids…We’ve broken virtual ground on the brand-new NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program site. It’ll be launching this fall, and we’re excited to see it underway. I was hoping the site would consist entirely of a Flash animation of a largemouth bass singing Elvis Costello’s “Everyday I Write The Book.” Because if there’s one thing that gets students and educators excited about writing, it’s mid-period Elvis Costello.

But Tavia insists we clutter up the new site with inspiring content, interactive writing chal lenges, and downloadable workbooks for kids, teens, and teachers. Whatever. We’ll keep you posted.

THE END OF MUGS AS WE KNOW THEM
We love our ceramic NaNo mugs, but the truth about ceramic mugs is that they get very nervous when confined to small, bubble-wrapped spaces. When mugs get nervous, they tend to slough off their handles. It’s taken us four years of mailing out replacement mugs to finally convince us to move to the more durable (yet less timeless) travel mugs. This means the 104 beautiful, black ceramic bistro mugs we have in stock now will be the last of their kind we sell. To send them off on a suitably ceremonial note, we dropped their price to $12, and encased them in acres of bubble wrap to keep them safe en route to you. http://store.lettersandlight.org/home.php?cat=6

NANO PEP TALKERS: WHO WILL LIGHT YOUR NOVELIST FIRE?
Last year we had professional novelists pen ou r November pep talks. Neil Gaiman, Sue Grafton, Tom Robbins, and heaps of other generous souls delivered sermons that dried our tears, lifted our crumpled bodies off the floor, and set us lovingly back at our writing stations. On the NaNoWriMo blog, we’re discussing who we should ask to write pep talks this year. Come by and offer your thoughts! http://blog.nanowrimo.org/node/105

Hope you’re having a great noveling off-season!

Chris
NaNoWriMo

Hello Fellow Frenzy Alumni of 2007,Do you remember where you were on June 1 last year?I was sitting in an uncomfortable chair that caused my right leg to fall asleep, with my feet resting on a hard table, and my laptop—tired out from the extra work—reaching temperatures that could cause third-degree burns. But I was happy. Really, really happy. Script Frenzy had started, and there was no turning back.

My name is Jennifer Arzt, and I’m a filmmaker living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I fell in love with the Frenzy last year and am excited to be able to say that I’ll be your tour guide, AKA Program Director, through the crazy, whirlwind adventure of Script Frenzy 2008.

Much has changed here at the Frenzy since FADE OUT ’07. Have a seat, and I’ll get you up to speed.

First off, Script Frenzy has moved to April (get your taxes done now!), and the goal is 100 cumulative pages instead of 20,000 words. Also, all types of scripts are now encouraged. Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels—any type of script your heart desires! They just have to add up to 100 pages, and be written between April 1 and April 30.

The Donation Station and Store has nifty new Script Frenzy gear including, my favorite, a space-age travel coffee mug. It’s so cool, it could have come from the future. (The Office of Letters and Light has powers well beyond its years. If it can inspire writers around the world to write 100 pages in 30 days, then why couldn’t it also have a time machine? I’ll do some reconnaissance and report back.)

With just over three weeks before FADE IN, there’s plenty of time to outline your plot, meet your characters, and tell your friends and family that you’ve got plans and won’t be seeing them again until May. Of course, you might also want to mention your favorite take-out choices, just in cas e they want to show their love and support through deliveries of food.

If you crossed the finish line last year, congratulations. If you came close, or found a hiding spot on Day Three, this will be a whole new chance to reach the winners circle. Things that were hard during the first attempt will be easier on the second. Writing an entire script in a month is no small feat, and we all win just by trying.

So come by the website and say hi. Let’s have some coffee and chocolate, and talk about our April stories.

Your fellow Frenzy participant,

Jennifer
www.ScriptFrenzy.org

ps: If you know of any young scriptwriters in need of inspiration, our Script Frenzy Young Writers Program is back, bigger than ever. You can check it out at http://ywp.scriptfrenzy.org.

These folks who do the NaNoWriMo program and website have a big task every year, and they warned us that the website gets so busy and this year they have the most participants they’ve ever had, that they were expecting glitches. Sure enough, I went to add to my word count this evening, and the site is down.

D-O-W-N

The exact words are:

Site off-line

National Novel Writing Month is currently undergoing maintenance, and will be back up in an hour or two.

I feel the excitement. The frantic excitement of a not-for-profit group working on a shoestring to make something that’s grown so immensely still fit into their shoebox. They know their shoebox is too small, and have mentioned they are getting a bigger shoebox for next year, but this year, their very predictions are reality this night.

So I will post my 1989 words for the day here. Plus the 636 I did on Friday, brings me up to 2000 something. Tomorrow will be here soon enough and I’ll have that extra hour that I’ve already been trying to get used to as of last week when my computer changed times on me and between it and the clocks on the wall, my week has been an extraordinary bumbling of trying to figure out just what time it is.