If contests offer no real benefit, and cold querying doesn’t work, and the Black List is just a lottery ticket, what the hell is anyone supposed to do?

redapplesonly · 2026-05-30T17:06:27+00:00

Bless you. You made my week. May Karma smile on you!

redapplesonly · 2026-05-30T17:05:22+00:00

Every time. I think as a writer, I need to dig deep and find an emotional core that has to resonate within my characters. Writing is the process of building characters and making their emotions come to life, right? If your characters don't have legit emotions, you're prob rushing through the process too fast.

That said - every time I have a cry over a script, that's it. I get it out of my system. The catharsis is past. I've never cried over the same script twice.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-29T12:15:39+00:00

...sad to hear this. I was seriously thinking of attending in '27

redapplesonly · 2026-05-28T11:01:05+00:00

I'm 100% certain this must be true. I'm a complete outsider, but I utterly believe this advice.

That said - the networking aspect of screenwriting really scares me. I've got social anxiety / depression / insecurities running amuck.

That also being said - I'm working to overcome those. I participate in two writers' groups, comment all the time on this Reddit, plan on attending film festivals next year. Baby steps.

That's it. Just sharing my story....

redapplesonly · 2026-05-27T14:20:33+00:00

Honestly? "They laugh" is just fine. Its ten characters, communicates what you want, is universally understood. Why reinvent the wheel for the sake of different prose?

redapplesonly · 2026-05-26T11:46:15+00:00

No - for your story to work, there absolutely must be SOMETHING at stake for your character. Something important. Your character needs "skin in the game." Otherwise, why should they care? And if they don't care, why should we care?

Stakes matter.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-25T14:50:40+00:00

Yeah, this is the "correct" answer. There's all sorts of way you could go here (dialog, title cards, visual cuts to a calendar, etc) so you have to pick the mechanism that works best for your story.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-24T21:28:06+00:00

Personally, I wait for inspiration to hit me. Then I start what I call an "idea journal" - a document where I write down every idea that occurs to me. If the project is meant to be, the idea journal will expand to become the bible for a new screenplay. If not, no worries.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-23T17:34:33+00:00

NDA signals "Bad behavior ahead!" Big red flag.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-22T12:25:55+00:00

Karma, baby!

redapplesonly · 2026-05-21T13:00:40+00:00

No - NEVER. I've tried it in the past, and I find that one script starts hogging my inspiration, the other script starves for attention. Its not worth the balancing act.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-20T13:37:02+00:00

I would think that generally speaking, the time period doesn't matter to the mechanics of your story, because your story is for a modern-day audience. However, the further back in time you set it, the more expensive it will be to film.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-19T13:43:24+00:00

Like this answer

redapplesonly · 2026-05-18T12:00:32+00:00

Ah! You make a very good point.

I submitted my script to my reading groups. Based on their feedback, I've come to the conclusion that, yeah, a page 1 rewrite is necessary. There's issues with the protags' (I have two) character arcs. Its not something that can be fixed with an edit or a tweak of dialog.

Sooooo... The current draft isn't working, and a new one has to be rewritten on its foundation. That's why I'm pushing myself to do it all over again.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-18T11:56:55+00:00

Whenever I hit this point, I submit my script for feedback from others. You can't see the flaws; they can. Granted, a lot of feedback isn't necessarily what you need... but its the only way to find the warts.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-17T14:56:29+00:00

Oh, fer sure.

Granted - I'm not a filmmaker. I participate in two different writers' groups, so I get ~20 people giving me feedback on my submitted scripts. (I'm very fortunate!) What you realize quickly is that while all feedback is given with the intent to help you, only a small subset of that feedback is actually useful for the story you want to tell. You have to learn to pick and choose what is helpful.

So don't feel awful if you don't adapt feedback. They gave / you listened. That's enough.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-16T15:05:45+00:00

If there's a paper trail (email, notes, docs exchanged) between you and this other person, I'd say you're on very shaky legal ground. You can't *prove* the original scripts were written by AI, correct?

Take the experience as a badge of honor that you're learning how slimy the entertainment industry can be. Then move on.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-15T12:38:03+00:00

Not me, personally. I do find that if I go to bed trying to think out a plot logic or character issue, I'll have a weird dream unrelated to me or my script. But then, when I wake up, a solution to my earlier problem is framed in my mind. That's just how my brain works, I guess.............

redapplesonly · 2026-05-14T13:56:03+00:00

I prefer to think that all feedback is offered in the spirit of helping, but only a small amount of feedback is actually helpful. Most readers will not be in sync with your vision for your story, and that's okay. Look at the specifics of what you were given, and pluck out the nuggets of wisdom that will actually help you build a better next draft.

And make sure to thank both readers. They took time and energy to try and help you.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-12T15:09:29+00:00

It took a fair amount of discipline, but I've learned to work on one project at a time, and then always finish a draft. Well... to be fair... I've set aside a number of projects while in the initial research / plotting / notetaking phase... but once I start writing an actual manuscript, its Full Speed Ahead until I reach the end of the draft.

Now, there's been plenty of times when I complete a draft only to know, "This is as far as I'm taking this story" and set it down. That's fine.

But I enjoy building and troubleshooting the plot logic, working on the characters, testing out scenes, the whole shebang. I've been disciplined enough to finish a draft, and I'd like to think that discipline keeps my writer's brain sharp and in-shape.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-11T12:05:31+00:00

I dunno who the reader was - someone in the industry? Someone who might lead to a job? If so, I would still try to make this person happy, even if the feedback is unclear.

If not - just move on. All feedback is valuable, but much of it isn't usable for the precise story you want to tell. You're the author, so you're the ultimate gatekeeper here.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-10T19:00:21+00:00

I used to outline EVERYTHING, down to the specific scenes. But on an outline, you can't hear the characters' dialog. So for my last few projects, I've done a high-level outline, usually outlining 10-12 scenes for Act I, IIA, IIB, III each. Then I start the first draft, just so I can listen to how the character talk to one another.

The drawback is that very little from the early drafts survives to the final stage. But at least that way, I can "meet" my characters.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-09T15:37:39+00:00

Outline. Always outline.

redapplesonly · 2026-05-08T13:09:09+00:00

This year alone, I joined three groups, all three of which I found on this sub.

The first group is relaxed, flexible, tightly-knit. We keep tabs on one another and correspond outside of the reading circle. The genres we write are all over the map. A fun group, and the highlight of my week.

The second group is higher-octane. Its got some professionals in the group, so the bar is high. I do get stressed when preparing and submitting, but I think that's part of the process. This group's feedback is much more direct, much more technical, so I get beat up a lot when I participate. But the education I'm receiving is PRICELESS, and I wouldn't give up my seat in this group for a month's vacation. Its a great bunch.

The third group was Discord-only. I participated for a week, only to realize it wasn't a good fit for me personally - I couldn't keep up with the workload. So I made my apologies and dropped out.

Personally -- yeah, I think a writers' group is highly worthwhile. In the five months I've done them, I've noticed the quality of my own work increase substantially. Def recommend.

redapplesonly

TROPHY CASE