As of 9:10 pm Wednesday night, I have finished Script Frenzy.

Whoa.

I feel proud, obviously. And accomplished. Scripts aren’t my usual thing, but I liked trying it out. And crazily, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

Oh sure, it’s a lot to write, and the deadline’s always an impressive motivator, but I felt it went so much faster than 50,000 words for a novel.

I know there are huge problems with my first draft of Too Many Princesses but who cares?! It’s a freaking first draft, and it’s complete!

Here’s an excerpt for you to enjoy. For your convenience, I’ve added the characters’ corresponding fairy tale in brackets. Prince Charming and Miranda [the Little Mermaid] are standing in the hall when:

(ROSE [Beauty and the Beast] enters.)

(CHARMING is about to respond, but RAPUNZEL cuts him off.)

(SNOWFLAKE [Snow White] enters.)

(MIRANDA [Little Mermaid] is fuming. CHARMING asides to her.)

(MIRANDA [Little Mermaid] storms off-stage.)

(RAPUNZEL shrieks when ROSE pulls her hair.)

(ROSE [Beauty and the Beast] and RAPUNZEL tussle.)

(CHARMING glances cautiously at the princesses, and then quickly leaves. OLIVE [Princess and the Pea] and NARCISSA [Sleeping Beauty] enter. OLIVE [Princess and the Pea] nearly runs into the fighting girls, and leaps out of the way to avoid getting hit. NARCISSA [Sleeping Beauty] whistles loudly, and the fighting stops.)

(ROSE [Beauty and the Beast], RAPUNZEL, and SNOWFLAKE [Snow White] start talking at once.)

(to herself)

This is embarrassing on so many levels.

(to the others)

Listen up! I don’t want to see any more of this despicable behavior. Just because we are rivals for the prince’s love does not mean we have to lose our self-control.

(pause)

So from now on, if you want to make your point, you’ll do it on the down low, behind everyone’s back.

(The princesses exchange glances or glares for a few dramatic moments. ELLA [Cinderella] pokes her head in.)

End of Scene

Now that I’m half-way through Script Frenzy, I have a better idea of my princesses. And since I don’t have much to report by way of updates, I’ll introduce them to you!

Miranda: [a.k.a. The Little Mermaid] saved Prince Charming when his ship sank. She’s a bit bossy. Her name comes from The Tempest.

Maia: [a.k.a. The Princess and the Frog] betrothed to Prince Charming, but in love with Prince Wright, who she thinks she turned into a frog. OMG!

Narcissa: [a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty] a selfish and domineering person, who faints at the sight of her own blood.

Rose: [a.k.a. Beauty and the Beast] one of the few smart ones, but too curious for her own good.

Snowflake: [a.k.a. Snow White] allergic to everything, including apples.

Ella: [a.k.a. Cinderella] very pretty but has a high squeaky voice from hanging around those mice too often.

Rapunzel: escaped from her tower to go to Prince Charming’s ball, and is way too possessive of him.

Olive: [a.k.a. the Princess and the Pea] super sensitive to anything and everything. I thought it’d be funny if she was named after another food.

Scarlet: [a.k.a. Little Red Riding Hood] totally murdered that wolf.

Most of these girls have a bit of an attitude, which is fun to write. I’ve finally reached Act III, where they begin to blatantly sabotage each other. I’m looking forward to the pranks!

And since humor’s not really my forte, I love how they manage to come up with clever jokes all by themselves.

If you will look to your right, you will see that I have officially written fifty pages for Script Frenzy. That’s fifty percent! I am half way there!

In honor of this milestone, I would like to share with you what I have learned so far during Screnzy, on both scripting and noveling.

1. In show business, scripting is only a small part of the process. Thankfully.

When writing, you don’t have to make sure you cover all the bases. With a movie or play, there are tons of people besides you working on the project. You don’t have to worry about designing sets, you don’t have to worry about blocking, you don’t have to worry about costume and make-up. You don’t even have to choreograph fights or dances. You only need to write out the dialogue and any action that helps it make sense.

2. Noveling is very slow-going.

Noveling is hard. No joke. I’ve seen many people on the Screnzy forums in agreement: it is harder to get to 50,000 novel words than 100 script pages. I enjoy the challenge of the former, but it’s not for everyone. It’s easy to get stymied and frustrated, and is probably why most people never finish their dream novels.

3. Characters rule all.

When I create scenes in my head, they play out like a movie, but with inner monologues. I used to think that writing those scenes down in the slower-narrative-added process was throwing my scenes off track. But Screnzy has taught me that no, it pretty much happens instantaneously. It doesn’t matter what I’m writing, my characters will always take me in a different direction than I intended.

Prince Charming is supposed to be the main character, but Prince Wright is quickly shoving him out of the way. He is demanding to be the lead, and it’s hard to resist him. I always had a soft spot for younger brothers in royal families.

It’s a common complaint of writers, having characters come into a life of their own and taking your story in directions you didn’t expect. I wonder if non-writers can understand our plight, or if they think we’re completely insane.

It’s definitely a strange experience. You try to plan the character’s dialogue and actions, but no matter how you phrase it in your brain, your hands write it differently. It’s almost as if the characters are reaching into the motor functions of your brain and making you write what they want.

Since Too Many Princesses is a play, it’s easy to see my characters on stage, which means it’s child’s play to imagine Wright trying to upstage his brother. I wouldn’t be surprised if this devolves into a literal fight to stand in the beam of a spotlight. Must remind myself to keep fourth wall breaking to a minimum!

“Oh for crying out loud,” you say. “Not another one.”

Yes, I have no willpower. Or do I have too much?

If you haven’t heard, NaNoWriMo has a sister writing challenge, Script Frenzy, in April. You have 30 days to write 100 pages of script, be they stage play, screenplay, tv show, what have you.

You can see where I’m going with this, can’t you?

Yes, I shall be participating. Do I expect to win? Heck no. Have I lost my sanity? Perhaps. But one of my good friends has been having trouble writing lately, and likes a bit of competition to get inspired. So for his sake, I shall be writing with him.

What does this have to do with the Disney princesses? Glad you asked! Here’s my stage play idea:

Too Many Princesses: All of the fairy tales princesses are in love…with the same man.

I’m thinking cat fights and hilarity ensue.

If you are also participating in “Screnzy,” be my writing buddy! My name on the forums is Ms.Pennington. I look forward to meeting / writing with you!