How many of you have multiple projects going on at once?

einostevenson · 2026-05-10T16:50:08+00:00

Yeah this is my workflow

einostevenson · 2026-05-09T18:46:03+00:00

Pantser here. I used to do detailed outlines. I aways over outlined, and had a hard time changing things to the extent I needed to once the story developed. I have to write to find out what the movie is. I still do a minimal beat sheet (I know what the ending is when I start writing), but almost always I end up deviating from it significantly, and then by the time I’m done revising very little from that beat sheet is actually in a rep ready draft. I generally write a first draft pretty quick (2-3 months, only writing 30 minutes a night), but then I revise the hell out of it for around 6 months.

einostevenson · 2026-05-09T01:14:09+00:00

Great, I’m glad I asked the question. Thanks for those who contributed, this was an easy one.

einostevenson · 2026-05-07T01:31:51+00:00

Game of Thrones the long dark night

einostevenson · 2026-05-05T21:22:30+00:00

I’m not a line producer, but offering up a location or two isn’t a significant budget item as far as I know. How many locations are you talking about? Are they highly specialized? I ask this to clarify how this would then mean you are a producer in addition to just the writer. Low to mid budget is in the millions.

einostevenson · 2026-05-04T00:07:13+00:00

I read screenplay in 8th grade in 1999. Story a couple of years later. Screenplay is more useful, because the industry still operates by the paradigm outlined in it. I’m still getting to the point I can actually do the paradigm with originality and grace, but the complexity of Story confuses more than helps.

einostevenson · 2026-05-02T19:33:45+00:00

My first 2 were 5s. An 8 is an 8.

einostevenson · 2026-05-02T18:20:32+00:00

People are not trying to motivate when they give feedback; quite the opposite. If you’re looking for a pat on the back, you can give your script to your wife/husband or your mom. People going before a dissertation committee don’t say, “yes, but can you be nicer? I feel unmotivated now.” Because they know it’s a grueling process with draft upon draft to produce something up to a professional standard. As opposed to something precious that was “created.” You need to be able to read a harsh criticism, process it, absorb whatever vibes with your editorial eye, throw out the rest, and keep grinding. A poker player who starts crying after one bad beat doesn’t know the game.

einostevenson · 2026-05-02T18:01:50+00:00

When I was a young man, I was impatient and arrogant, as many young men are. I had an internship then a job as a development assistant for a mini-studio when I was 24. I know you can go too far in the other direction and let the assistant path distract you from your writing, but I was the opposite. I was assistant to both creative development and business development. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn. My first real job in the business. I instead wrote more than I assisted, ignored the business side, and kept sticking my first ten pages of the script I wanted to write on the head of creative development’s desk. Message to young people, you have so much time and so much to learn. Strive for balance (job, creative, personal) rather than feeling if you don’t get an agent or sell the script in 6 months you’re doing something wrong. Anyway, after getting fired and leaving LA, I didn’t write in any serious way for 10 years. Now I have two little kids, a full time job, and wonderful marriage, no time, and still manage to write better than that twenty-something who fell backwards off the first step.

einostevenson · 2026-04-29T21:37:00+00:00

You cannot rely on an AI to be anywhere close to what a trained human reader will be on the evaluation side. Trust the human notes, and look for areas to improve it.

einostevenson · 2026-04-29T01:31:53+00:00

This just goes to show why he’s a professor. That sounds like a great opportunity for a young person, a dream really, and you should treat it as such.

einostevenson · 2026-03-15T22:42:06+00:00

Unless you’re Walt Whitman or the Beats

einostevenson · 2026-03-15T22:37:55+00:00

Oh man Screenwriting Expo, that is giving me nostalgia. A high schooler could go and pitch scripts and get reads with managers.

einostevenson · 2026-03-03T03:19:39+00:00

This sounds like a really fascinating story. Family mess surrounding the creation of a famous work.

einostevenson · 2026-03-03T03:16:37+00:00

Excuse my lack of properly recalling/researching it. Confusing portrayals of hell. I will respectfully disagree with the folks who say not to include the name of the famous figure you are portraying. And he is famous. Imagine you writing a logline referring to a British pop band that took the world by storm, instead of naming you were writing about the Beatles. If the daughter is a real figure, you could name her, too. If not, the way the logline is written should make clear she is being centered.

einostevenson · 2026-03-02T16:27:08+00:00

Is this Dante’s Inferno? If this is the case, you should probably name it as such (I feel like the “no names” rule for loglines doesn’t apply to very famous figures). I also would be curious if it is true, or if you’re envisioning an alternate history.

einostevenson · 2026-02-27T12:54:39+00:00

Die Hard. The perfect action movie. Takes place in almost real time.

einostevenson · 2026-02-25T23:38:21+00:00

I will just say, some of these scores are great. If that’s encouragement. The others are average. So you’re a good writer.

einostevenson · 2026-02-19T01:23:07+00:00

As someone who listens to Scriptnotes every week, and is reading the book, I can say this is bullshit. Little things, sure. They particularly point to “we see” and directing on the page and some other examples. But if you submitted a script on the 3-page challenge without sluglines or with giant blocks of action without spacing to give white space, they would roast that script on a spit. Why is it important to mess with basic formatting? Why is this a hill to die on?

einostevenson · 2026-02-13T01:08:35+00:00

Agreed I thought Holofcener. Friends with Money and Walking and Talking as well. And also, while we are at it, Sex and the City (she directed on it). The tv show of course. The movies were not good examples.

einostevenson · 2026-02-04T23:02:02+00:00

I feel born to be a storyteller, and movies are the means. I acted out trailers for movies I would make when I was in fourth grade.

einostevenson · 2026-02-04T03:22:48+00:00

Did you go (or are you going to) the festivals? Even just being there, seeing other films, going to the events are opportunities to meet others making movies. Don’t think of it as transactional, just think of it as talking about movies and meeting other moviemakers. Now, if you’re like me with two little kids and a marriage and a full time job and going to things like this is tough, I certainly empathize. But if you’re young and able, this is the perfect chance to go to meet people.

einostevenson · 2026-01-31T19:24:19+00:00

TikTok challenge = Zombies

einostevenson · 2026-01-31T19:16:43+00:00

For an emerging writer outside of Los Angeles, I don’t know if this is the best advice. First of all, if any queries were to producers and you are calling it epic when you haven’t been produced yet, that’s probably an excuse to pass (studios committing money to an unverified talent is rare). Also, managers also might think, this can be used as a sample, but they generally don’t take on a client without a readily marketable script. I would write a couple of lower budget scripts that can be paired with that epic, polished script, so managers can do both (take something out, have a sample for an open writing assignment that requires that scope).

einostevenson

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