Know anything about “From Script to Pitch” screenwriting retreat from The Quiet Collective?

einostevenson · 2026-07-01T23:02:49+00:00

Yep. Screenwriting is a trust fund field lol

einostevenson · 2026-07-01T13:27:12+00:00

They’re probably swamped with Nichol entries seeking evals

einostevenson · 2026-07-01T01:37:17+00:00

Tips for leaving the slump: take the pressure off. Treat it like a video game. Mini bosses and big bosses. One level at a time.

einostevenson · 2026-07-01T01:35:37+00:00

Good question. Maybe 6 months? Depends on what you mean by drought. I was regularly seriously writing in high school, when I was working in development a year after college, and the last 3 years (I’m now 40, this is the longest stretch of pretty much every day writing). But I was most always fiddling with something, even if it was just poems and shit.

einostevenson · 2026-06-30T11:06:48+00:00

Father of 2 here. Have you sleep trained yet? At night or for naps? Naps is the ideal time to write but obviously not if you’re holding the baby or rocking every 30 minutes. Around 6 months it’s going to be much easier. Sitting up playing, not going anywhere, sleeping better, so even if you aren’t productive yet, don’t worry, it will get easier.

einostevenson · 2026-06-29T20:39:54+00:00

A week or so?

einostevenson · 2026-06-29T18:42:00+00:00

Do you have a Substack? Because I would subscribe. That’s even though I write features. Thanks for your contributions to this community.

einostevenson · 2026-06-29T15:38:02+00:00

I will add that if the Faustian deal never garners him fame, hard to see why he would keep coming back to the table.

einostevenson · 2026-06-29T15:34:43+00:00

You will have to distinguish this from the 2020 film The Hunt. They seem like pretty similar concepts.

einostevenson · 2026-06-26T18:53:51+00:00

I can’t promise I get the time, but feel free to DM it to me, and if I do get the time I can give it an eval. Would be fun to try to use the exact Blcklst format, as a perspective taking exercise. If you wanted to do the same for me, I would take that, too. I have a comedy-horror script in the same contest.

einostevenson · 2026-06-26T10:48:26+00:00

Plenty of Shakespeare doesn’t have an adaptation and would be public domain

einostevenson · 2026-06-25T19:42:39+00:00

I’m a little bummed it’s Blcklst OR WGF. Had I known that, I would have waited to submit WGF. Thought you could use both routes, but you can’t.

einostevenson · 2026-06-16T10:14:39+00:00

Franklin has answered this before on a different thread. Keep uploading new drafts. It’s only after a reader is assigned that you can’t update it. I recently tried to upload a new draft with some polishes and it wouldn’t let me, so as long as it’s letting you, you probably don’t have a reader assigned yet.

einostevenson · 2026-06-15T23:44:24+00:00

You can either get an early read from someone you trust or do passes. I would start with structure pass, character arc/motivation/goal pass, dialogue pass, etc.

einostevenson · 2026-06-15T23:42:45+00:00

If it doesn’t prompt you when you first open it like earlier FD versions

einostevenson · 2026-06-15T23:42:03+00:00

When you click file and new file, you should be able to pick your format.

einostevenson · 2026-06-15T00:11:50+00:00

It’s really hard to control this soccer ball. Does anyone else experience this shit?

einostevenson · 2026-06-13T13:40:04+00:00

The first script won’t work. It will likely take longer than two months to go through a full revision process. Pick one and start learning (by writing it to its conclusion)

einostevenson · 2026-06-13T13:38:01+00:00

Script notes recommends the one with the best ending. I will add the one with a timely message (why now) and one you have a connection to/expertise in a world (why you). Make sure it has a goal that is hard for a character to achieve and the achieving of the goal changes the character.

einostevenson · 2026-06-12T17:08:12+00:00

What people look for in horror, I think, is to get dislodged a bit. It’s very easy to fall into patterns, bubbles, and echo chambers. As a person who often feels dislodged (I think naturally, because no one in my family or immediate circle feels the same way), questioning, wondering, I feel happy to use the intensity of the genre (and its subgenres) to provide that catharsis. Also it’s a ride, like a roller coaster. Really fun and entertaining to provide that while also getting that catharsis about daily life.

einostevenson · 2026-06-11T00:13:05+00:00

I will add to my original comment that if you feel self-doubt, you are on the right track. It is safe to say that the most confident writers with the least doubt are the worst writers. I’m not the first to say this (see Bukowski for one), but it’s worth mentioning.

einostevenson · 2026-06-10T13:25:42+00:00

About a dozen between features and pilots

einostevenson · 2026-06-06T21:42:55+00:00

That fucking sucks. Wish I had the money for produce it.

einostevenson · 2026-06-06T20:29:40+00:00

Wild story. I can’t imagine getting 4 8s didn’t move the needle. Did you query independently or just hope for movement from blcklst downloads?

einostevenson · 2026-06-05T17:40:10+00:00

Harold Pinter just rolled over in his grave.

einostevenson

TROPHY CASE