Authoring & Playwriting

I’m so sorry, Kat. The bond you describe — and the way it echoes across generations — is deeply moving. Sending love to you and your daughter as you carry this loss, and honoring Shade’s beautiful presence.

The loss of a pet is often like the loss of a family member. When one of my cousin's dogs died, he buried her in a corner of the yard. His other dogs refused to go inside that night and spent the night by the grave.

Often, the greatest art comes from great loss. So sorry. Pet people get it!

I know how much losing your fur baby can hurt. There's an empty place in your heart and in your home. Hugs on the pain!!! And yes, put your emotions into creating. There are people who will understand your loss and those who don't. When I wrote The Essential Guide to Grief and Grieving, I had to fight with the editor to include my chapter on pet loss. He didn't get it. We compromised on half a chapter. (I'm a psychotherapist and corporate crisis and grief counselor in my other life.)

I'm so sorry you lost your dog to such tragedy in your teens, Kat. Our pets are indeed like family. Even when cats live to their teen years and die of old age, it's difficult to say goodbye.

I think the last novel I finished was Nectar and I had the ending planned for months, but actually getting there proved surprisingly tricky (a lot of characters had to die…). As for the last comic… in Conviction when I realised what Swithun has to do to finally know peace, it was quite simple. Deceptively simple, even. Both endings were actually bittersweet.

I'm in exactly the same situation right now, except I'm writing a screenplay, not a novel. And here, the third act has no right to be weak.

The climax is the moment the audience endured the first two acts for. If the ending doesn't hit, doesn't make them hold their breath — everything that came before loses its value. You can write brilliant characters, craft sharp dialogue, build atmosphere, but if the third act falls flat, the screenplay becomes just a well-written story that no one will remember.

That's why I'm sitting here obsessively polishing every scene of the finale. Because I know: either it explodes, or it was all for nothing.

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This is absolutely true. In my actual case, I have so many ideas, and I am still struggling to write the first one. It has been over a year, and it is not finished yet. I’m so exhausted.

Setting a goal and deadline helped me finish my latest script, Kat Spencer.

And “finishing” is a misnomer as the editing process can easily take just as long, if not longer.

Thanks for sharing the notes, Josephine Florens. I like to describe a story world briefly and foreshadow things at the start of my screenplay, then go into more detail about the world and things as the story goes along. It depends on the story though.

That makes a lot of sense. I like the idea of establishing the world early and letting it unfold gradually. In my case, I’m experimenting with how much to foreshadow without over-explaining. It’s definitely a balance.

You're right, Josephine Florens. It's definitely a balance. Sometimes I don't get that part right until rewrites.

Thank you, Maurice. I appreciate the warm welcome and the guidance. Looking forward to connecting and contributing to the community.

Thank yo debra That’s great advice. I’m actively working on crafting a strong logline for my novel adaptation and studying the Stage 32 resources to sharpen it. I truly appreciate the guidance.

You're welcome, Saad Hmaidawi. I second what Debra said. Christopher Lockhart has a great webinar on loglines called “How To Make Your Logline Attractive to A-List Actors, Producers, Directors, Managers, Agents, Financiers and Development Execs.” www.stage32.com/webinars/How-To-Make-Your-Logline-Attractive-to-A-List-A...

Thank you, Maurice. I truly appreciate the recommendation. I’ve refined my logline and would love to hear your thoughts:

After escaping a ruthless political regime that destroyed his past, a haunted exile must decide whether to rebuild his life in silence — or risk everything to confront the system that still controls his future.

You're welcome, Saad Hmaidawi. That sounds interesting. The first part of your logline is strong, but I suggest not using "must decide" in a logline. I suggest telling the goal and the stakes instead. I also think "that still controls his future" is vague. How do they control his future?

Lauren Hackney & Maurice Vaughan, I actually sat down last night, wrote an article outline for the new times colonist paper and local paper. So thank you for this I just need to tweak it by adding more content with stats. You are welcome Lauren, I started out loving my social media platform with all the professional base I built. So I miss the good old days of social media. you all have a beautiful week and stage 32 is my kind of people. ;)

You're welcome, Rose Dupuis. That's great! Congratulations! Let us know when the article comes out. Have a beautiful week too!

One thing to keep in mind with. platform is that there's a difference between fiction and nonfiction. A publisher expects a nonfiction author to come with a large platform who is ready to consume, hence the reason you see so many celebrity memoirs or self-helps from well-known speakers. With fiction, you'll find publishers willing to take a chance on a new author with a small platform, so long as that author also is open to growing their platform consistently. They need to see you're not afraid to talk about your own book! Lately, I've been encouraging authors to focus on Substack and YouTube since multiple agents have shared with me that those are the highest converting platforms for followers --> buyers.

Jonathan Jordan Great advice there Jonathan - I also heard 'kick starter' supports publishing too. It's a massive beast to keep up with. Keep sharing what you know - I know this lounge appreciates it!

I’ve found this especially true when developing longform stories — if the emotional core is solid, the external strategy becomes clearer.”

Thanks, Lauren Hackney. I've seen Kickstarter campaigns for films. Putting a logline near the top of the page so people know what the movie is about helps. I'm guessing authors would use a short summary instead of a logline.

Vijay Kumar Thank you for letting me know you go through this too! The lines keep blurring so for now I'm going to put it down and focus on other stories... thank you for answering my post :)

Great question Lauren Hackney. There was one that I never fully-fleshed out that still sits, waiting for me to come back to it. But I think one of the issues was structural and another was the foundational premise. I recently, broke that issue and at some point will come back to it in another form. What you're asking is more on the personal side - about how we feel about a story and yes, this happened once but I think that it was because the issue was within me and not the story. I became insecure about it after reading a review, YEARS ago. Fast forward to present day, I asked a more mature reader who said, "Don't change it. Leave it alone" and because I respect her opinion, I left it and developed the screenplay version closer to what I would do TODAY. Time does that to us, I think, because we grow in our reading and writing.

I think we all have had those moments.

My second (book) agent wanted me to make some changes in my first book, but I stuck to my guns. I'd experienced enough editing by that point to know when a suggestion intuitively felt right and when it didn't. Later, she had an offer for the book, but the publisher didn't want a series. (Crazy, right?) I rejected it and she fired me. Two agents, two rounds of submissions to New York publishers and a big stack of rejections that basically said, "Good book. Doesn't fit the market." Then self-publishing came along and the book no one wanted became a USA Today bestselling book. And the very long series has over 1.3 million sales.

So, I firmly believe that learning what feedback to take and which to reject is vital. (This advice is for books only.)

So Lauren, I suggest you go back to your original project and then go through the rest of your feedback and only take what feels right. Don't make changes just because someone told you to. And they could suggest changes and you don't agree with the suggestion, but you do think there is a problem. You just come up with another solution. Good luck!

Debra Holland Thank you so much for this wonderful advice and congratulations for amazing sales! That's so great to hear. I also appreciate sometimes trusting your own thoughts and not going with what the 'pros' say. Keep me posted on your journey - sounds like you're in for one heck of a ride.

Hey, Ashley Renee Smith. MUST-READ blog!

Thanks Pat for letting me be a part of this, some amazing incites in here.

That's a great idea, Cynna Ael! Thanks. You mentioned Late Entry Audit and Early Exit Audit. They got me thinking about how a character enters and exits a scene (run in, sneak out, walk in slowly while lost in thought, etc.). That helps me write better scenes. How a character enters and exits a scene can tell a reader something about the character and story. It also ties into Phase 6.

What Maurice Said…I agree.

thanks Artemis Craig. I think the final implementation really helps for people who tend to dialogue too much, (Me, it's me.) Plus, it's a great way to focus on the core message and distinct styles of each person's speech.

I've adapted books to scripts and pilots and a pilot and a feature into books. So think this will be interesting to use your list, Cynna. Although, I do think your phase one also applies to writing a book. :)

I've never done an adaptation so I looked over your very detailed guide for writing against my own scripts and a lot of what you said are essential guides for scripting whether from adaptation or original. I do not agree with everything you stated but unfortunately I am not in a position now to belabor my issues. However, if you're interested to learn where I disagree, I'll be happy to talk with you privately when I have more time

Congratulations on finishing the first draft, Debbie Seagle! Could you explain your question some more?

Do you believe a flat ending (especially in a Rom-Com) usually has no excitement because

1) the story didn't set up a clear path to an exciting ending (ex: Rom-Com - you know it's a happy ending). - It's expected.

2) The character simply made a lackluster choice at the end (ex: accepted the proposal), or 3) Sometimes a Rom-Com doesn't leave room for an exciting/emotional ending because every reader will tell you - it's industry standard that they "live happily ever after," zzzzzzzz The emotional promise. I think I'll trash this one & go finish my thriller instead.

Oh okay, Debbie Seagle. Thanks for explaining it more. I've ran into 1 and 2, but mainly 2. And even though some readers will expect a certain ending (like with 1 and 3), a writer can make it unexpected.

Have you considered workshopping the 3 endings with critique partners? Some of the best endings I've come up with only happened after I got feedback and realized that I was off-base. Or sometimes what we think is "flat" feels fulfilling to the audience. So easy to be our own worst critics!

Go back to your theme and see if your ending resonates with it.

I need more romance and romance light movies in my life. preferably those made for GenX, elder millennials. Those still worthy of finding love while having lived life.

I think there's a big market for romance movies. There's a reason romance is the biggest seller of genre fiction. I think it's going to take more successful romance movies and shows to convince the powers that be, though.