Word to the wise,

This is an OWC rant to help the lost souls on this forum who wants to do better this time around. Long time ago, we wrote for moviepoet monthly contests. My sin that stopped me from ever placing was that I always crammed too much story in those 5 pages. Add to that the language barrier, the fact that I'm a total novice. My scripts were a hot mess. Till I decided to stick to the old wisdom "Keep it simple, stupid." And voila, Quality Control got third place and it was featured on simplyscript. It even got produced twice at least which gave me my first credit ever.

What's the moral of the story? You want to do better this time around? Make it simpler. The skeleton of your ten pages script needs to be pretty straightforward. After that, you can go wild with the meat you put on it. Creative locations, snappy dialogue, memorable characters. Go nuts with those. But the spine needs to be simple, strong, and small enough to allow three acts structure to fit in those ten.

Moreover, don't be too hard on your first concepts that you come up with. Give them a chance, stories has the ability to grow like plants. They seem small at first but they can flourish if you give them enough care. And please, for the love of God, don't take 6 days to brainstorm an ideas and one day to write a rushed, shitty draft, like I always do.

Remember, not winning won't get you killed. Getting that mug won't have Netflix stalking you. It's a fun little contest where the greatest prize for everyone is one extra, polished short script to put in his or her portfolio. So aim for that. The bar is really high here. Some people here would write a pisser that comes out better than my entry. And I'm not new to this craft.

So chill, enjoy it will it lasts, and don't overthink the hell out of it. Be done with your outline today if you can, and spend the rest of the week writing it and getting feedback from friends if you can. And rewrite it some more.

This rant is mainly to myself. It's a reminder: "Keep it simple, stupid" works!

Wise words indeed!

Quoted from realxwriter The skeleton of your ten pages script needs to be pretty straightforward.

Just a reminder though, the script does not have to be ten pages. If you can write one in 1 page, that's great, more power to you.  

Quoted from realxwriter It's a fun little contest where the greatest prize for everyone is one extra, polished short script to put in his or her portfolio.

Well said.  I could not agree more.  Chris Messineo once told me he didn't give out prizes before he worried it would become about the prize and not about telling a story.

Also, every challenge usually has this front and center - "This isn't a contest. It's a challenge. There are no official prizes."

- Don

Quoted from CindyLKeller I've missed being here.

We've missed you here!   Happy to see you back on the boards. Hope you are able to get something in.  

Hi Don and Zack,
I'm glad to be back.😀
Yes, I think I have something for this.
Cindy

Quoted from realxwriter It's a fun little contest where the greatest prize for everyone is one extra, polished short script to put in his or her portfolio.

Well said, but I think you set the bar too high with expectations of having a polished script at the end of this.  

Quoted from ReneC Well said, but I think you set the bar too high with expectations of having a polished script at the end of this.

I wasn't clear enough but I meant that writing a worthy entry will give you something you can polish later and add to your arsenal. But you wouldn't get most of the job done if it wasn't for this contest. Getting a polished draft does take longer than a week usually. You are right.

I'm just kidding. Often entries end up being rushed to get in before the deadline and are far from polished, but the feedback we get and being able to write outside of the boundaries of the challenges have turned a few OWCs of mine into polished quality shorts. One even got me a QF in the Killer Shorts competition (the only one I submitted anywhere, to be honest.)

I've been posting original screenplays on Simply Scripts off and on for about 17 years now, but this is the first challenge I'm participating in.

How do we not put our real name on the screenplay, but use our real name when we submit it?

I can put a psydonym on the screen play, but won't my real name come up in the list of screenplays, if I submit it under my real name?

For instance, won't the listing read

TITLE OF SCRIPT by (REAL) AUTHOR NAME in the list of submitted screenplays on the unproduced page, whenever the challenge scripts are posted?

Or am I missing something?

Quoted from srusteve09 I've been posting original screenplays on Simply Scripts off and on for about 17 years now, but this is the first challenge I'm participating in. How do we not put our real name on the screenplay, but use our real name when we submit it? I can put a psydonym on the screen play, but won't my real name come up in the list of screenplays, if I submit it under my real name? For instance, won't the listing read TITLE OF SCRIPT by (REAL) AUTHOR NAME in the list of submitted screenplays on the unproduced page, whenever the challenge scripts are posted? Or am I missing something?

On the submission form at simplyscripts.com/owc use your real name and real email address.  On the title page of your script use a pseudonym or leave Writer blank.  For the week of the challenge, your pseudonym will be seen.  After the challenge, I'll update the listings to use your real names.

So it will be:
TITLE OF SCRIPT by Pseudonym.
after the challenge is over it will be
TITLE OF SCRIPT by Real Name (writing as Pseudonym)

Don

Understood, thank you!

Intriguing theme, but I've been a little too involved in the Olympics. Plus, today is Super Bowl Sunday. Good luck to everybody.

Quoted from srusteve09 I've been posting original screenplays on Simply Scripts off and on for about 17 years now, but this is the first challenge I'm participating in. ...

This is great to hear, Steve! I'm going to assume your name is Steve.  

You probably know how it works, but just in case not:
Reading and critiquing other's work (auto-correct just corrected me, but I really don't think my mother is entering)  . -  is mandatory:

Participants must read and comment/review in the discussion board at least 10 other scripts submitted or your work will be removed (no harm, no foul. I understand that life gets in the way.

Do your best to meet that requirement, but it's a lot of fun to get involved, especially as it's anon for a week.

Oh, and don't be put off if you don't agree with comments on your own entry, and don't be tempted to 'out' yourself until allowed.

Most are fair with their comments and we all get a chance for revenge afterwards.  

Great to see people coming out of the woodwork for this one!

I thought I knew what I was writing, but after 7 pages I'm not so sure any more. My planned ending feels wrong. I mean, it could still work fine, but what I have so far deserves something more.

I need to think about this ending.

Quoted from ReneC I thought I knew what I was writing, but after 7 pages I'm not so sure any more. My planned ending feels wrong. I mean, it could still work fine, but what I have so far deserves something more. I need to think about this ending.

Hopefully inspiration will strike.
Plenty of time.