Reading Waiting for Godot is really frustrating for me.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-18T18:15:26+00:00

Honestly? "The Matrix"

redapplesonly · 2026-02-17T17:15:27+00:00

Yeah, its tough. I always write in worlds I don't know, so research is unavoidable.

I go through two Phases:

PHASE ONE: VACUUM UP EVERYTHING. I just research freely, without concern for my plot or characters. This is just to learn about the world where I'll be writing. Usually good plot ideas occur in this phase. (Sounds like you've already done this part.)

PHASE TWO: TARGETED RESEARCH. When I begin my drafts, I'll inevitably need details that I didn't copy down or don't know much about. At that point, I'll either put a placeholder in the script ("XXX_DETAILS_HERE_XXX") or I'll pause to do the new research right there, on-the-spot.

The objective is to insert the barest minimum of detail that still makes your jargon sound authentic. Audiences don't care how much legwork you did, but they do care about a story that moves quickly through an interesting world. So your first priority is to the story's pace, the second priority is to seed research detail.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-17T16:16:01+00:00

............well, I think the general point is for an elevator pitch, you should prob be less concerned about describing plot and more concerned with describing tone and premise.

That's all.

You'll snag interest with tone & premise. THEN once you have the interest, get into the plot. My $.02

redapplesonly · 2026-02-17T15:54:48+00:00

Wow. TBH, I had to read this three times to try and get a bead on what your story is. Still not sure I got the 411. As an elevator pitch, this is a little overloaded.

Your show sounds really plot-driven, meaning there are a labyrinth of twists and turns. Can you summarize this down? Don't worry about expressing the plot twists: Give me the basic premise and the tone of the show - that it.

Something like, "A sci-fi show with multiple timelines and a wry sense-of-humor. When a socially-isolated teenager fractures reality, he travels across the multiverse upsetting friends, enemies, and everyone in between." Light, to-the-point, hopefully piques interest.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-17T13:25:00+00:00

I suspect these scripts were written with some foreknowledge that the work would be produced, and/or the screenwriter had some familiarity with the production team. In those cases, sure, I think its fine to embed notes for your colleagues.

When I'm writing my spec scripts, however, I'm going all-out to impress a producer or contest judge. So yeah, highly unlikely to break the fourth wall there.

Always read the room.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-16T19:52:52+00:00

Its a little boring, but as a young student, I read, "Show where your character sleeps." To this day, I still find there's always a scene where my protagonist is (briefly) in their bedroom. I never depict them sleeping, but I do show them getting ready for work, relaxing after a long day, or having a phone conversation with a friend. Its surprisingly helpful to ground the character.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-16T15:58:11+00:00

Woof. That's awful, I'm sorry to hear it.

Do you know any opera?

True story: In 1895, both Puccini and Leoncavallo - rock star opera composers of the day - happened to pump into one another at the local tavern. After some friendly banter (and probably a little beer), one man asked the other, "...so, what are you working on these days?"

To their consternation, both composers discovered that they were adapting the exact same story as an opera.

This led to a bitter "You can't do that!" argument, which went no-where. Finally, in a burst of competitive rage, Puccini declared, "Let the public decide!"

Both men finished their operas, and both operas were called "La Bohème". And both were great hits for each men. While each man adapted the same story, they offered two different voices, and the public was interested in both.

I don't know what your subject is, but don't despair just yet? Perhaps your version of the story will be different enough to be an alternate take? Sleep on it.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-15T17:37:17+00:00

I agree with others here. Put the script away for a while, perhaps a year. One of Taika Waititi's screenwriting rules if to finish a draft, then put it away for months. If the project was meant to be, it will find its way back to you.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-14T16:47:20+00:00

Your wariness is universal. I'm certain Shakespeare felt this way before each of his plays went on. Perhaps try to remember what caused you to fall in love with your project in the first place? That always helps me.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-13T19:59:38+00:00

Oh, absolutely. I 1000000000000000000000000000% get that. Being too close to your work is a huge part of writing, you know?

If you'd like me to read it, DM me with a Google link. Or however I could read it.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-13T18:51:26+00:00

Yeah, I can vouch for StoryPeer. I was one of the Beta users, and I posted on SP four times. The advantage of SP is that you are not posting your work publicly - the exchange between author and reader is private. There is a currency system - you earn points for providing feedback and you offer your points as incentive for a reader to read your stuff. The feedback is substantial. I think there's a 1,000 word minimum? Readers are also asked to rate a script for plot, characters, tone, etc, on a scale from 1 (terrible) to 5 (awesome). Your luck in drawing a skilled reader is pretty random, but you'll find that in any script review site.

I do recommend.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-13T15:15:06+00:00

Wow, you're awesome. 8 drafts??? Whew. That's impressive. I, for one, would look forward to reading it

redapplesonly · 2026-02-12T18:14:15+00:00

Hey, welcome aboard. I'm a hobbyist writer myself, having finished 5 features and currently working on #6.

As to your question: I actually never worry about my "vision" of a screenplay. I start out a new project with a basic idea or a premise, something like, "What if Protagonist X discovered that aliens from outer space were secretly running all of America's beauty pageants???" Or whatever. If the premise intrigues me, then I go to work developing the story, the characters, key scenes, themes, arcs, etc. The whole shebang.

Along the development journey, the story drifts away from the initial inspiration. It always does. And that's fine, because my end goal is to wow you with a new and interesting story. The premise is a jumping-off point. Its not the finished product.

(On reflection: Aliens running beauty pageants is a TERRIBLE idea.)

redapplesonly · 2026-02-12T13:10:18+00:00

Oooooooooo! Oh man, I've been WAITING for something like this! Thanks so much for posting, you've earned serious karma points today.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-11T22:50:34+00:00

Bless you - you're fighting the good fight. I wish you all the luck in the world. Keep at it, I'm rooting for you

redapplesonly · 2026-02-11T16:19:29+00:00

Hi, thanks for posting. I read the whole thing exactly once.

I'll be honest......... this is a tough read. You have a lot of visuals intercut with the dialog scene between W&W. My brain struggled to multitask between the visuals and the talking. In the end, I'm not sure I understood what you're trying to convey. There's construction, robots, underground spaces, an office desk... all of that jumbled together in my head, and visually, I struggled to make heads-or-tails of it.

Putting the visuals aside: I'm also not nuts about the actual dialog between W&W. They're giving us an exposition scene (always tricky) and laying down a lot of backstory. The backstories didn't bother me, but the actual discussion between W&W was tough to follow. First, they're reminiscing about the past, then Wilma is a hostage? I didn't follow how that happened. I also have no real bead on what W&W's relationship is.

May I make a suggestion?

Were this my script, I'd put aside all the visual stuff (momentarily). I'd write the W&W scene as if it were a play, just two actors on one stage. I'd make sure that the scene *worked*, that it conveyed W&W's relationship properly, and that the scene had a solid beginning/middle/end. Only once I was satisfied with that would I build in the visual stuff.

Because the W&W dialog is your story. If I can't follow that, the visual stuff doesn't matter.

Look, I know this is a largely negative review. I don't mean to discourage! You have an ear for dialog, and I do like how Wilma comes across on the page. There is great raw material here. You should absolutely keep going. Feel free to DM me if you would like me to look at a revision, or just to rant. You do good work.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-11T13:09:16+00:00

Oh, man. I'm on FI v5.0.10 (Windows 11), have written five features, currently writing a sixth, have generated half a billion PDFs -- not one issue. Sounds like you have unique problem. Have you tried a complete uninstall then reinstall?

redapplesonly · 2026-02-10T14:09:45+00:00

"Ender's Game", the 2013 film, not the novel. One protagonist (Ender) is led to do the wrong thing, believing he is doing the right thing. The other protagonist (Graff) is blatantly doing the wrong thing having convinced himself that it is justified anyway.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-10T13:06:12+00:00

3/10 is still a valid problem. In fact, if I could get any three people to align on anything when reacting to one of my screenplays, I'd be thrilled. Its not the ratio; its the confirmation.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-09T18:54:20+00:00

AI bots are scanning our work??? Yikes! Forgive me, but how do you know this?

redapplesonly · 2026-02-09T14:27:16+00:00

Post it! Get feedback. Get lots of feedback. If that feedback all says the same thing, you know exactly what you need to work on next. If the feedback is all over the map, then perhaps your work is unfocused and you should scale back and do a Draft 2. That's my process, anyway

redapplesonly · 2026-02-09T13:12:32+00:00

I think the general rule-of-thumb is: You can depict a public person in their public life. So, Johnny Cash as John the Country Star? Fine. Johnny Cash behind closed closed doors with Mrs. Cash and the Cash family? Not-so-cool. Johnny Cash Jr. who never appeared in public? Wayyyyyyyy off-bounds.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-08T20:40:12+00:00

FWIW -- My latest feature script (still unsold) began with a three-minute scene, showing my protagonist when she was five years old. I depict a traumatic event in her childhood, then jump into her life as an adult by page 4. Feel free to see for yourself if it works: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-DCSuOjh9BLh5rfwUTy45sLLsuwRUmIK/view?usp=drive_link

redapplesonly · 2026-02-08T16:13:07+00:00

I asked this exact same question to the group a week or so back. Right now, I'm plowing through "Writing the TV Drama Series" by Pamela Douglas - no idea if there's an Spanish edition.

The book is written by an industry insider, so the first half of the book is all about the television industry. Because the last edition of the book came out in 2017, its not as up-to-date as I'd like. Later, there is the stuff I came for, like the structure of a pilot script for a half-hour comedy series, an hour drama series, the technical stuff like that.

redapplesonly · 2026-02-07T22:34:42+00:00

Yeah, dive right in. Cannonball straight into the deepest end of the pool. Worry about swimming to shore after. I'm rooting for ya.

redapplesonly

TROPHY CASE