Note: You will not be able to win until April 25
When you register, you will select a page-count goal. During the month of April we will have a progress meter for you to track and share your page count.
In order to become a winner you will need to submit a PDF file of your draft to our page counting robots to verify its length. We don't actually read these or keep them, but you can scramble the text if you wish.
In order to be a fully verified Script Frenzy winner, our page-counting robots will need a PDF of your script (or scripts). Here's how to do it:
Final Draft: File > Save as PDF
Celtx: Script > Generate PDF
Note: you must be signed in to generate a PDF. If you click “Generate PDF” and are not signed in or if you don’t have an account, follow the super easy steps in the pop-up box.
Zhura: Personal/Public > Scripts > Click the name of your script > PDF > Save to your computer
Scripped: My Scripts > Export PDF > Save to Disk
Plotbot: Info coming soon.
Word: If you have Adobe on your computer, you can go to Print and choose PDF as the printer. You can also create a PDF in Adobe Professional by going to Create PDF > from file > choose your script.
If you do not have Adobe you can use the following free programs online:
http://www.freepdfconvert.com
and
http://www.zamzar.com
Just do a find-and-replace on every letter in the alphabet, one letter at a time. Open the find-and-replace interface on your scriptwriting program and tell it to replace every "b" in your story with an "a," and every "c" with an "a," then every "d" with an "a." And so on.
Make a copy of your beautiful piece of work before scrambling. This will save tears and heartache for years to come.
Final Draft: file > save as > edit > find
Celtx: edit > replace
Zhura: export > save with layout > save to disk > open file in notepad or similar program notepad > edit replace
*(If you have Word, use it! It is a great tool to user here because you can use wildcards. See below.)
Scripped: coming soon
Plotbot: coming soon
Microsoft Word: In Word you can get fancy and use wild cards. This will allow you to run the find and replace once for the entire document.
Open the file and make a new copy of your novel using 'Save As...'
Open the Find and Replace dialog box (Edit -> Replace).
Click the "More" button to expand the box.
Check the "Use Wildcards" checkbox.
In the "Find What" field, put this: [a-zA-Z0-9] (include the square brackets, no spaces before or after)
In the "Replace With" field, put this: a
Click "Replace All"
Save the scrambled file as a text file, and upload away!
The procedure for Open Office is essentially the same, except that Open Office refers to 'Regular Expressions' instead of 'Wildcards'. (Thanks to Peter Dudley for this advice!)
Absolutely! Verification simply confirms that you have crossed the 100-page mark. You can continue to add to your page count in the usual fashion until 11:59:59 pm on April 30th.
Yes! If you accidentally uploaded a winning PDF you can un-win simply by changing your page count in the input field. When you are ready, don’t forget to re-win!
Log on. Click on “My Script Frenzy” on the top menu bar, select "Edit"--->"Script and Writer Info" and make sure to set an attainable, yet challenging page-count goal. You will need to set your goal by April 15 or your goal will be locked at 100 pages.
Our supercomputers check your PDF for total page count and then delete it.
More specifically, this is the hike your beautiful PDF will take:
1. You submit the form.
2. Our supercomputers grab the PDF and it is uploaded to a temporary location.
3. Then tiny page-counters, who work for jelly beans, count the pages.
4. The file is then trashed, hopefully for two points.
5. By the time the form submission is complete, the file has already been deleted.
The page-count feature is open from April 1 through April 30.
Page-count controls are on the "Writer and Script Info" edit page in your profile.
The page-count feature respects your time zone. If it's April 1 for you and you can't see the page-count field, please check your time zone setting on the "Account Settings" page.
To get to the "Writer and Script Info" page:
There are two ways to update your page count. The first is the honor system—just enter your current page count into the field.
The second is the page-count validator. Save your manuscript as a text file and upload it to the validator.
You will also use the page-count validator to become a winner once you've reached your word count goal.
You're free to write about anything you want. The content of your script is completely up to you.
Anything you choose to post on the YWP site must be G-rated.
Si! Ja wohl! Ndiyo! We welcome international participants and foreign language scripts.
Yes! As long as you write a script, reach your page-count goal, and upload your script by midnight on April 30, you win!
We don't encourage our participants to write sequels, but if you honestly feel that most of the writing you're doing is original, go for it!
Yes. If you are working with a partner this April, you want to link your accounts by April 15. You can do this by entering your partner's username in the Writing Partner Box under "My Script Frenzy"--->"Edit"--->"Writer and Script Info." As soon as your partner does the same thing, you'll both be officially linked on each other's profiles, and when one person updates the page count for their script, it will change the number for both partners.
Sometimes. There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to writing solo or as a team. You will have to communicate a lot if you choose to write with a partner, and you may have to compromise a little on storyline, but you will have someone to bounce ideas off the whole way. Writing solo, you can write whatever you want whenever you want, but are responsible for the entire page-count goal yourself.
You can choose how many words you want to try to write when you register. If you're writing with a partner, up your word-count goal a little.
Technically it is possible, and there are always one or two delightful people who try. They then spend the rest of their life haunted by the knowledge that instead of simply writing a script, they chose to bamboozle themselves and the community.
Yep. Scripts are all formatted the same so they are easy to read and understand. Your final formatted script will include your dialogue, and the short descriptions of what's happening in the background. The audience will never see your script, but it's important that you learn to write in the language of professional scriptwriters, so the director, actors, and artists can understand your script when they bring it to life!
Script formatting looks scary at first, but it's actually easy. Check out Week Four of the Boot Camps to find out how!
Luckily it's pretty easy to format your script within Microsoft Word or to use an open-source program. Plus, some script formatting software is free. You will learn how to do this in Week Four of the Script Frenzy Boot Camp located here.
Yes, but we don't have the ability to officially validate your page-count for handwritten documents! However, verification is just icing on the chocolaty cake of completion.
Starting April 25, you can upload a version of your awesome script for official page-count validation. We will post more details on how this works as the date draws nearer!
No. Not only do we have our own brilliant ideas, but we don't even read your script. Our servers just check your script — which we encourage you to scramble into gibberish before submitting for word count — and then delete it.
We are! Script Frenzy is run by the Office of Letters and Light, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Oakland, California. All donations made to us---in the form of cash and in-kind donations of helicopters and lavish chocolate fountains---are fully tax-deductible. Interested in hearing more about making a donation to Script Frenzy? Just drop us a line!
Adding a buddy is easy. You can either search for a buddy using the Search function, or find them in the forums. Once you click on their username and enter their profile. You will see the option under their picture to "add them as a buddy!"
You can sign up beginning March 1! Just click on the "Sign Up" link in the upper right hand of the screen to create a Script Frenzy account.
Of course you can! Scriptwriting is new to everyone at some point in their life. We provide all the information you’ll need to get started. Check out all the scriptwriting How-Tos in the Writers Resources section. You'll also be able to ask people online in the forums for help and support.
Yes! There will be Script Frenzy groups all around the world. In March and April participants get together in, classrooms, coffee shops, libraries, community centers, and living rooms to work on their scripts. A great place to meet other writers is in our YWP forums. If you don't have access to the forums, make sure you are signed-up and signed in!
