Screenwriting : The Road ahead by Tim Morell

I write because I have stories to tell and to earn money, Tim Morell. It's the same things for some new writers.

Well, I was a writer previously. I wrote prose and poetry for a long time. I had some short stuff here and there I hit a creative block for a good chunk of time. I recently started writing again and screenplays were where I went.

I want my films to get made, absolutely. And I know it's not easy to make your mark. But stories are meant to be shared, and now that I can write again, I can't just... Forgo it because it's hard. It's part of who I am. I'm rusty and out of practice and in a new format. It's hard, but I couldn't be happier.

If it wasn't hard, would it even be worth it?

Well, I suspect that would be a fairly common answer. But in the current environment, how realistic is the second part of that motivation. I don't know what your current circumstance is, do you make your living as a screenwriter, or is it more of a sometime or aspirational thing? If you're making a living at it then that's great, I hope that continues to be the case.

However, from the experience of many writers I know, it would seem that if one of the primary goals is to earn money, then you're likely to see that goal frustrated, and then, what impact does that have on your desire to write, especially if you do get paid for something and what comes out of it doesn't look ANYTHING like what you might have originally envisioned. Again, I knew several writers who had some success but then threw in the towel because they found the money gave them little satisfaction in return for the trade-offs they were required to make in their writing. Again, I'm just asking questions, because I'm curious about how people view things these days.

If I had one asset in my favor during the time I was more actively involved in the industry, it was that I never really cared about the money. The goal was to do interesting work, and I figured if I did that, the money would follow. I still feel much the same way. While getting paid a nice chunk of money for something I wrote would be nice, it's never been a deciding factor in what I choose to work on, which is probably why my career, such as it was, flamed out within a few years. I don't really have any regrets though. Even now, as I consider whether or not to put work out there again, that seems like the right path to follow.

Glad you asked. Number 1. I’m a college dropout out and any other profession I’d be screwed because I dont have the thousands of dollars to finish my Bachelor’s and then my Masters. Im very sorry I’m just not that lucky because I came from an impoverished background where there were times my family was so poor we went to bed hungry. I really really really TRIED to finish college back in 2014 HOWEVER I was unable to win a scholarship that pays 100% of my tuition and like a moron instead of listening to my gut instinct by majoring in Theater and taking acting classes I listened to an arrogant asshole know it all HVAC technician with serious mommy issues and a really bad case of a fear of abandonment. He told me “I’ll never make it in show business, it’s a waste of time and that I should do something else”. I studied teaching and even was a sub and hated every minute of it and this was a time where they weren’t desperate for English teachers and there was no “Me Too Movement”. While I was in college, I was working at a Wendy’s where I wasn’t treated right and was even sexually harassed. Long story short, this now ex-boyfriend and I broke up and I moved out. I stayed at two different homeless shelters while trying to rebuild my life. No one wanted to hire me because of my unemployment gap, my state of homelessness, lack of references and not knowing anyone personally in the store. I busted my ass nonstop to secure affordable housing and SSI for the trauma I went through and thank God it was 4 years before the pandemic. On top of this I was grieving the loss of a wonderful man who treated me extremely well while the both of us were homeless. When I first started college, I would get so frustrated on why I never got the part in the play. After my homeless boyfriend’s death, I came across a meetup group in New Haven called New Haven Screenwriters. I finally got that aha moment. There’s no roles for Latina actresses because there’s not enough Latina screenwriters. I said to myself. I can do something about that. I’ve been Screenwriting on and off since 2016 finally 79 pages into my first Disney crossover feature and finally know how to finish my homeless girl screenplay story. It dawned on me one day ever since I was a little girl playing with my Barbies that I love storytelling whether it’s through cooking, fashion, acting or this very moment Screenwriting. I really hope this better answers your question. Yes the love of storytelling is the reason I haven’t committed suicide or murdered anyone.

Diana Levin - I'm sorry you've had such a rough time of it. I hope the writing continues to be a lifeline for you. Feel free to reach out to me you ever have any writing you would like to share.

I make a living as a ghostwriter and pitch deck designer, Tim Morell.

Tim Morell I agree with Maurice Vaughan besides, what's wrong with wanting to earn some money?? I don’t understand why lots of people on the web preach that "money + purpose” is a recipe from failure...¿? Money is as good as any other reason. Plus, considering the amount of crappy movies Hollywood has released during the last decade, is no brainer more and more people want to take a shot

There's nothing wrong with wanting to earn money, it's just that the odds are so long for anyone to succeed at actually making a living at it that it seems like a poor motivator. Sort of like planning your retirement on the premise that you're going to hit a winning lotto number.

I agree that studio films have, generally speaking, been pretty bad for much of the last two decades, but I think you have to ask yourself why that is. Do you think that there haven't been any decent writers in Hollywood for the last 20 years and everyone is just waiting for someone better to come along?

Bad films are built into the cultural mechanism of the system and have become an almost inescapable fact of life. Hollywood makes bad films because they no longer know how to make good films. Oh, they'll look great because Hollywood trade crafts remain the best in the world, and there are many fine actors working these days, but the writing that usually ends up on the screen is pretty bad for the most part (though there are notable exceptions) and many of the current crop of directors seem to lack the ability to deliver consistently good work, though I suppose that argument is largely in the eye of the beholder.

I have a friend who works as an EMT on movie sets, and he has shared some really interesting observations about things he's encountered there. For instance, on one set a young male actor who was building a reputation for himself told him that he never watched movies made before 2005 because he couldn't see how they would be relevant to him. Another variation on that theme was someone who never watched Black & White films because they also failed to see how they might be relevant. I suspect that mindset isn't just limited to actors of a certain age but perhaps a whole generation of people coming up in the arts.

Another friend of mine who pays more attention to these things than I do said that many of the people coming out of film school these days are inclined to dismiss films like The Godfather as being "too slow". Now, of course, people are free to think whatever they like about The Godfather, but I would think, as film students, they would be interested in understanding why the film has the reputation that it does and be able to appreciate it on that level, but apparently not, and these are the people, presumably, who may well become the next generation of Hollywood execs deciding what type of films will get made.

It's a certainly a curious time.

Let's face it, screenwriting is the lowest barrier to entry into literature that also comes with the potential to earn millions and have a writer become, not just attached to, but adored within an industry that's perceived as incredibly glamourous.

For many, it's a get rich quick scheme that effectively allows them to become a director by proxy.

For some, it's story writing within a format that doesn't require the intense commitment and sophisticated prose of a novel, and made real in a format the average person consumes.

There's a lot of ego, laziness, and greed on show between the lines.

The former give it away when presented with anything non-studio and/or non-blockbuster. They want the big budget, the stars, the union pay, and the high-profile awards, and noticeably retch at the thought of being involved in anything straight to DVD as being worse than achieving nothing at all. Screenwriting is just the next big crypto bandwagon for them, as much as they claim it's their life dream. Point them in the direction of developing craft and they'll turn to basic formatting instead. Ask them to network and wait, and they'll choose to gamble via the shortcuts.

The latter are film fans who never got into film making. Writing down what they can dream up is the closest they can get to being a filmmaker. Funding, organising, and directing a film is too much of a leap. However, they often don't really see themselves as just writers within the collaboration process. The vision is theirs and everyone else is there to have it dictated to them. They often want all the kudos of a director without the commitment and responsibility of a director. Their giveaway is that it's only screenwriting that interests them as a form of writing. They don't write blogs, books, or anything else. In fact, even writing supplementary material around their script, such as a logline, comes across as a chore.

The two can often overlap, and you get the wannabe director who's never directed, hoping their latest script validates them as a film visionary, crossing whatever genre and voice is popular, and collecting meaningless awards as validation, all while waiting to get that call that turns them into the next Hollywood Cinderella - That was very much me when I first started.

It's a world where people who feel compelled to write and define themselves as artists are strangely hard to find.

For me, I’m driven by my ideas themselves. It’s been a year and a half developing many sci-fi concepts, and I’ve reached a point where I simply can’t let them go.

I know the competition is huge, and there are so many voices—each with something unique to show.

So am I.

Maybe my voice will stand out for its originality, its emotional impact, or the warning it offers humanity about the technologies emerging today.

The path isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

To be in the creative stream of making movies. The creation of a world that's not your own is addictive and fun.

If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand.

Tim Morell -- I look at it like this; I'm a creative period. It doesn't really matter. Writing, photography, design, marketing, and the list just keeps going. For some, it's in your blood or it isn't. But I would go even a step further now and say that while I agree with everything you outlined above, the world itself is in flux and has rarely been this unstable in the modern world. So, what is there to lose? You want a "stable" job in tech after hundreds of thousands of layoffs in 2025? AI is nixing HR, Recruitment, Sales, Marketing, etc... so how much more of a risk is it? I may be different than others, but if someone came up to me today and said, "send me what you have," then they'd be receiving up to 10 different scripts. The writing is there. It's the attention and buzz that is not (yet). I can only speak for myself here, but it's about the story. If that's what's in your blood and that's what you love to do then to me, that's that.

I want to write, because I want to express myself by sharing thoughts and life experiences through stories. I get inspired by true events and I'd want to put them on the paper. It's obvious that everyone would like to have financial gain from it. I am no exception either, but writing keeps me alive and drives me forward. The competition is big, but that's a challenge isn't it?

Some people definitely choose screenplays to take a big swing at a big payout. Back in the 1920s, you could scribble an idea on a napkin from Formosa Cafe and Louis B. Mayer would pay you $200 a week to write it up. People think... it must be simple right? You just plop down in front of the keyboard and start typing! I write stuff all day! Emails, texts, reports! I can write a movie, easy!

But a screenplay is a different animal. Even me, a novelist with a couple of published sci-fi books and a dozen short stories in magazines, had to learn the rules of screenwriting. I got into it when the editor of my first novel said, "Your prose is really cinematic and punchy. You'd make a great screenwriter." I enrolled at UCLAx and got a two-year certificate in Feature Film.

Having experience in many forms of storytelling allows me to pick the format that best suits each idea. Short stories are great for exploring a single choice or using a specific narrative voice that might be too much for 100,000 words. Novels are fantastic if you want to tease out themes, show change over time, and sink deep into someone's POV. Screenplays offer a chance to tell a story incredibly fast using shortcuts in visual language & sound to trigger associations. Each medium tells a story in a distinctly different way.

I'm also taking big swings at big payouts, but I'd like to think all the grinding I'm doing on leveling up will push one of these scripts over the finish line.

Michael David - What wouldn't I understand?

Some writers are compelled—they'd write regardless of industry viability because storytelling is how they process the world. Others romanticize the lifestyle without understanding the craft or business realities. Some see screenwriting as accessible creative expression that doesn't require expensive equipment like filmmaking does.

The "never written, don't read books" phenomenon you mention is usually from people attracted to the idea of being a writer rather than the actual work of writing. They'll likely wash out quickly when faced with the discipline required.

But industry flux shouldn't discourage genuine writers. Yes, established writers struggle currently—but barriers have always existed. New voices break through during every industry transformation because storytelling demand never disappears, even when business models shift.

The real question isn't "why screenwriting despite challenges?"—it's "do you write because you must, or because it seems appealing?" The former sustains careers. The latter creates frustration.

I think that's a fair take. I get the impression the increasing presence of the "never written, never read" element is a direct result of the rise of AI. People who always daydreamed about writing a screenplay, novel, play, etc., but were unwilling to put in the work, or lacked the talent to do so, now have a tool that allows them to put something down on paper that lets them believe they've actually created something. That may seem a bit harsh, and I don't mean it to, but it seems like a harbinger of things to come. If the Industry feels it could get "acceptable' levels of craft out of an AI program, do you think they would hesitate to do so if it helped them eliminate the need to pay writers? I think that might be the question currently on the table in a lot of studio boardroom these days, which makes the road ahead even more of a challenge.

The creative process is part ideas, part words.

I believe ideas matter more, which is why AI can be used for drafting — not for building the universe itself.

It helps speed up creation, but true originality still comes from the human mind.

ChatGPT can brainstorm thousands of ideas, but most follow patterns of well-known published concepts.

Only the human brain can generate something completely new — something unexpected.

So, even if the market becomes saturated with AI-generated scripts and novels, human creativity will still stand out by finding what’s never been seen before.

That’s how I imagine the future of this industry.

I just hope I’m not wrong — because maybe one day, AI will also begin tackling true originality, making the creative challenge even greater than it is now.

Simple- I'm an author, editor, comic book letterer-- and have done so for years. But writing movies and tv has always been a dream for me. So, moving to this medium is a natural shift even if it means taking the time to learn HOW to do it correctly and accurately.

Had a a 40+ year career that was very successful, but not in a creative field. When I retired from that occupation I needed to start a new career. I stumbled upon a true story I new I needed to share with the world so I became a screenwriter. I don't want to be one, I AM a screenwriter. Yes, currently it's a volunteer position but I'm getting much closer to actually getting paid for a script-much thanks to Stage 32 for that.

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think it becomes more a question of economics than creativity. I mean, I'm probably not the best judge of this, but from what I know of the most recent spate of superhero movie failures to hit the big screen, I imagine you could have written just about any of those scripts with an AI program, as there didn't seem to be an ounce of real creativity among them. It could very well be that the next generation of "writers" are those whose primary ability lies in their facility to create precise and interesting prompts.

I was working on a script once for an actor who appeared in a film called "Sword of the Valiant", which was take on the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The work I was doing wasn't related to that, but I got invited to an early screening. The film featured Sean Connery who was in the rocky, mid-phase of his career between Bond and the Untouchables, and it was pretty awful. The writing was bad, the acting was bad, but when Sean Connery came on screen, you couldn't take your eyes off him.

Now, I have to assume he was reading lines from the same writer who did the rest of the script, but somehow, he made them work. Without wanting to start an argument about the relative merits of Conclave, I felt much the same about that script. Ralph Fiennes character, and his performance of that character, is what I think won that writer the Oscar. I thought the rest of the script was mostly forgettable. But again, that's just me and I didn't bring it up to argue about it, but rather to illustrate that great acting can often overcome bad writing and lead to Oscar glory. So, if the studio feels they could get an "acceptable level" of writing from an AI program, and spend that money on really good actors, what incentive would they have not too? Interesting times indeed,

I think actiing can accentuate and make writing become better than it sits on the page. Because that's what it does-- sits on the page. Scripts are not prose. They do not have all of the beauty or surrounding descriptions, actions, or more to help elevate it. But script dialogue-- when done well- and there are some writers out there who are superb dialogue writers and decent storytellers-- who, with the right actors, have their stories elevated to higher levels. It's like when you read a book versus listen to it with the right voice actor-- it comes alive.

I agree with you Cynna Ael

In the age of AI, it can be used to write scripts faster.

But it’s the actors, producers, and world builders who develop the concept that truly bring out the best version of the story on the big screen.

I don't disagree with either of those takes but again, if actors are capable of elevating average writing to a good performance, what incentive is there for producers or studios to keep paying writers if they feel they can get an "acceptable level" of craft out of an AI algorithm? I think that's the question on the table.

When I was revamping my old scripts in an effort to try and bring them into the 21st Century. I submitted them to some of these coverage services to see what kind of reaction they would get, as I assumed current tastes and techniques might be different from when the scripts were written. As I'm sure many of you are aware, a lot of these services use AI analysis to do the work.

I made a concerted effort to make sure I got a mix of feedback that included actual readers and found that, almost without exception, the AI services provided a better understanding of the concepts at play in the scripts than the human readers did, which I think somewhat dilutes the idea that humans have a more nuanced feeling for what makes a script or story work. If AI is capable of making those kinds of discernments in its analysis, what's to say it can't craft a basic level screenplay that would be acceptable for a big, loud action movie?

Now to be clear, I think most AI "creative" writing is pretty bad in its current state, but I have certainly seen worse from actual writers, and the programs keep evolving and improving, so who knows what the future will hold. As with every other aspect of the Industry I think writers are going to have to start re-imagining what that future might look like and be prepared for the consequences.

I came to screenwriting after writing a novel I always saw as a movie. I discovered I have a visual writing style, and coming from a corporate writing background the screenplay form suits the way my mind works. I love what the structure provides when beginning a new story, but I also do the pre-work, and write pages of character backstories, then the actual story in around 30,000 words, and see what I've got.

I've always been a storyteller and have reached a stage in my life where I can concentrate on my creative writing. It's a joy to imagine worlds, build characters, tell their stories, and develop them with the help of other experienced creatives. And in the end, I believe the humanity of what we write will win out over any AI algorithm.

Of course, everyone knows becoming a successful (paid) writer is almost unattainable. For me, I just love to write, and if a byproduct of that love is a produced film project, I'll have to accept it.

The day I stopped making that mistake is the day I truly owned my talent and, believed in my ability to make an impact as a screenwriter. I had to believe in work (and myself) enough to call myself a screenwriter. I had to realize that there would be no incarnation or other special ceremony publicly deeming me a screenwriter and I would, therefore, be allowed to do so. Before then, I identified myself by what I was doing to pay bills (the 9 to 5) instead of by my passion and what I'm gifted to do.

Hi! My family was in a financial hole because of big debts to banks. My mother took a loan for her daughter's online store, but it failed. I decided to become a screenwriter to earn money and help my family. I thought my ideas would interest film companies, but I failed. My mother died of COVID-19 four years ago, and the debts were written off. The end.