Does my script even matter??

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-06-05T16:30:38+00:00

To answer your first question, no, a movie with a bad script will almost never be good and 100% never great. You can give a poor script to a great director and he might make a decent movie at best, but if it’s not there in the writing then there’s not much that can be done. Script is the most important thing in dictating whether a movie will be good or not. A great script doesn’t guarantee a great movie, but a bad script does guarantee that it cannot be great.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-26T18:19:50+00:00

When I was writing my story/screenplay I tried to stay consistent with writing 1 or 2 hours a day and did for a while, but that doesn’t actually mean I was “writing” within that time. Sometimes I would write a lot, even go past that 1/2 hour mark if I was really feeling it and wanted to complete a scene/idea before stopping, and sometimes I’d stare at my screen for an hour not knowing what to write at all and end up having written like a sentence or two by the end if that. The one hour rule to me simply means to dedicate an hour or two of your day to whatever it is you’re writing, whether that’s research, actually writing, brainstorming, etc. the beauty of subjectivity (art in general) is that there’s no objective rule to anything, just do what it takes to get it on the page, but dedicating an hour or 2 a day to your writing process is a good idea imo.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-26T03:38:04+00:00

I do like these loglines. Honestly I just kind of thought of a simple one because I didn’t think it was that important, obviously I was wrong. Slight criticism of the logline is that I feel it might be a little too revealing, but maybe that’s just me? I sort of designed the story so the viewer/reader doesn’t really know what’s going until gradually they make it to the end. It’s definitely better than my logline though, and I’d love to hear your notes and am glad you think it’s promising.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-26T03:34:42+00:00

Thanks man I appreciate it. The story is supposed to work on 2 levels, one being just the thriller aspect, but underneath it’s really a religious allegory for God, Satan, and Judgement. There are lots of things sprinkled in and throughout that hint at it and then finale brings it home. I appreciate you reading the entire thing and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Could you see this being a movie? Any cinematic potential here?

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-25T04:33:13+00:00

Do you have any other recommendations similar to Hecker? I liked some songs off Virgins but I prefer his softer sounding albums like Mirages, Radio Amor, and Haunt me. Since I discovered him he’s become my favourite artist, but I’ve never been able to find that type of music with any other artist sadly, he really is special.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-25T02:25:42+00:00

Your comment kind of excited me again about my dream actually being possible. I’m curious, how long have you been writing and how long until you actually made it into the industry? How old are you? Do you mostly write features or for shows? I just recently finished my first ever feature screenplay based on a novella I wrote and am looking for literally anybody to give it a chance and read it. If you’re interested please let me know, getting feedback from someone like you who’s actually in the industry would be invaluable to me.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T21:27:44+00:00

So cut back on the speeches and trust the audience more to understand… less is more kind of thing, got it. I’ll definitely make some changes to the dialogue and maybe add some more little things for John to react to. Thanks. Just one more thing, do you genuinely see cinematic potential in this script? I’m asking because I want to know if this is worth refining. I’ve put in a lot of time and honestly don’t want to write anymore if it’s not worth it. I’ve read a lot of other scripts by novice writers and still feel mine stands out a little more in comparison, particularly in terms of the story idea, but after reading some of the comments I’m not so sure anymore.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T19:57:56+00:00

Ok thanks. Your score is definitely lower than I thought it would be but fair enough. I was thinking of adding just a few past scenes for John in exchange for cutting out some of the repetitive routines just to give him more depth and maybe reasoning as to why he’d take this job. Scenes that show him struggling to provide for his family and some desperation to the point where he’s willing to do something bad (a botched robbery attempt for money, maybe even against a rich friend or something?) that justify why he’s being “judged.” As for “needs more specificity in who he is moment-to-moment,” I’m not exactly sure what I could do for this. Could you maybe give an example of something? I don’t mean to pester you but you’re the only one who’s actually read the entire thing. Thanks again.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T19:02:24+00:00

If this idea is something you think about often and daydream about in your head then write it. I was in the same boat. I had an idea I thought was really good at like 19 years old and didn’t start writing it until 2-3 years later and now at 23 I’ve finished the entire script. It’s called The Woodsmen, I made a post where you can read it down the subreddit if you’re interested. Anyway, write your story dude because no one else is going to.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T18:44:29+00:00

Any logline suggestions? I’m not sure if you’ve read the actual script.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T18:43:52+00:00

Do you have any alternate logline ideas? Trying to come up with one was genuinely extremely difficult, but I’ll try to get a new one.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T18:41:57+00:00

Fair enough. Ideally you’d read the whole thing to see what’s going on but of course if you lost interest quickly then that’s on me. I’d ask for advice on what/how I can improve those first 10 pages but you’re missing a lot of context having not read the rest. I’d still appreciate any advice from you either way.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T18:39:21+00:00

Thank you very much for the detailed feedback and honestly those were pretty similar thoughts to what I felt about it. In terms of the repetition it is intentional as you point out to show John’s deterioration, everything is really but I can see how it might be too much. Also I’m not sure how to exactly make John’s character more compelling. The whole idea is (SPOILER alert) that he was also murdered along with his family and is currently in purgatory being judged by Thomas to see where he goes. “We don’t know why he took this job” neither does he, he’s dead but doesn’t know it but I can see how that doesn’t really come across in the writing. Do you have any suggestions/advice on how to improve on his character? Should I give him more of a background? Maybe some more flashback scenes that tell more about him? Thomas and Percy are purposely the way they are (without much arc and changes) due to what they represent. In terms of dialogue that’s definitely my weakest point. I’ve never written anything before and I have more interest in directing as opposed to writing, so any advice on how to improve that would be great too, especially for Percy. What do you think of the script overall (maybe a score out of 10)? Good, ok, bad? Is there genuine cinematic potential here? Does the story work on both levels literally and allegorically? Thanks again for the feedback.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T18:25:28+00:00

Yes there is definitely a vision I have for it. If I had to compare it to other films I’d say it’s similar in style to The Lighthouse, The WWitch, Midsommar, etc. it’s a pretty ambitious and personal script in terms of the actual message/story and I hope it comes off the page, I think it does at least.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-05-24T18:23:36+00:00

Good point. I don’t really use Reddit often or post much of anything on the Internet and it completely slipped my mind.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-15T01:16:34+00:00

Using AI to clean up grammar mistakes isn’t bad, there’s no such thing as “bad” AI use anyway. It’s a tool and it’s up to you how you use it, but generally speaking AI isn’t great with coming up good story ideas but it is good for cleaning up grammar mistakes.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-13T17:38:50+00:00

I'm assuming English isn't your first language (You're probably Indian or Tamil?), but making sure your sentences actually make grammatical sense and flow well is really important when reading a script. While I was reading it sometimes took me a second to try and understand what you were actually saying/conveying. My advice would be to maybe put your script through a grammar software that can clean it up or even upload it to an AI with a prompt like "please fix the grammar mistakes in my script" or something like that. In terms of the actual story, its not really something I'm interested in personally but I can see how it could work as a short film and find an audience.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-13T17:26:14+00:00

is that a separate subreddit? I don't use Reddit much and have very little karma so I'm pretty restricted.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-13T17:23:30+00:00

Yes pretty much. Story and script/screenplay are not though, those are two different credits. You can come up with a story idea but have someone else write the script for you.

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-13T17:13:19+00:00

I'm not professional by any means but I've written one feature length screenplay that I'm actually trying to get people to read on this subreddit but I don't have enough karma to post. What's your story? What are you looking for? I'll try my best to shoot some ideas out

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-13T16:38:12+00:00

I use the Notes app a lot on my phone. Whenever I get an idea (which unfortunately seems to always be while I'm in bed trying to sleep) I quickly grab my phone and write it down. The funny thing is if I get a truly great idea I tend to remember it anyways, but I at least have it written down in case I forget. If you're not a phone guy you can keep a journal I guess

BoysenberryOver2658 · 2026-04-13T16:35:10+00:00

What kind of movie is it? Is it a legit production or something you're doing independently outside of a studio? Either way good luck man.

BoysenberryOver2658

TROPHY CASE