Screenwriting

Yeahhhhh :))) Someday, we will be doing gigs :)))

I can't play the guitar, Sandra Isabel Correia, but it's a fictional band, so I can play the guitar. :D

I know :)) Me too :))

Honestly? I'm grateful for all of you. The platform in general. It's so supportive and informative. I just love it.

The lounges are where I'm mostly at. I believe in networking early. And doing that online is so much easier than in person. Not because of the convenience, but because of the pressure. I can't get nervous if I don't know who I'm talking to. I'm using my obliviousness to my advantage while it still exists!

I'm grateful for you too, Elle Bolan. I'm mostly in the Lounges too, and I'm less nervous networking online. Networking early is great advice! I used to write scripts and make pitch material, then network. Now, I network as I write scripts and get pitch material ready.

The idea is excellent and would make a great movie. Your idea is different and touches a topic no one would talk about

Your story does touch on very key issues in the community that often go ignored. Predation on the LGBT Community has always been an easy out for serial killers and other criminals. It’s one of the reasons Dahmer was able to get away with so much. Mix that with the existence of downlow conservative men, and you have an interesting story!

Thank you everyone for the guidance and encouragement. As I am not a very confident person this word means a lot to me. thank you again guys. I will gonna disturb you guys in future.

You're welcome, DJ Gautam. Keep us posted on your script in the Your Stage Lounge (www.stage32.com/lounge/promotion).

Very important subject material that doesn't get talked about enough. I would say write it.

I wrote a "one sheet" ,more like five sheet, that I was really proud of. I think I finally realized how vital a one sheet is before going to draft. I used to treat it like a vague synopsis and figure I'll get to the details when I start writing. Now I think of it more as visualizing the scenes and really aiming to work out the character development and every nitty gritty turn so that I don't get lost or change the story midway once I start writing. I feel like a one sheet should take a few weeks to really distill and get feedback on. Once it's down, then that first draft is going to go so smoothly. My goals this week are to finish Act one mid-week and then go back and do an edit of it before I turn it in for my animation class.

Banafsheh Esmailzadeh, I love how deeply personal Finding Elpis is for you turning the fear of success into a creative meditation is such a powerful choice. It’s true that we often focus on the struggle before achievement, but exploring what happens after is such a fresh and necessary perspective.

A heptalogy gives your characters so much room to grow, and it’s exciting to hear how you’re embracing those curveballs in the “ten” arc of kishōtenketsu. That narrative detour will make the “ketsu” ending even more impactful, and I can feel your passion for the journey ahead. Cheering you on as you tackle SiR and CC. Your energy is contagious!

Maria Restivo Glassner, that’s fantastic! I love how you’ve reframed the one sheet as a deep dive into character and story rather than just a vague synopsis. Treating it as a blueprint for the emotional beats and scene flow will make your drafting process so much smoother, and it’s clear you’ve already unlocked that insight.

I’m cheering you on as you finish Act One and polish it for your animation class ; sounds like you’re building a strong foundation that will carry the whole project forward. I am cheering for you.

Thank you Sandra Isabel Correia, yes, it's also an ode to dreaming big which I've been praised for not being afraid to do, so the adventure is appropriately grand. And arguably the story is only really possible because it focuses on post-success, on top of achievements in ignorance. It also wouldn't be half as fun if the band got what they wanted, world fame.

Indeed, especially since now I have the room to explore all the adventures I had in mind that wouldn't have been possible in a shorter series (the plot necessitated the band being out of commission for two entries lol, both times it brought great conflict). Thanks so much, with any luck the writing gods will see me make great progress before my vacation lol~ hope you get good and fired up, too!

Sandra Isabel Correia Thank you so much. Will let you know how it is received.

You're welcome, Meriem Bouziani. I've had the same experience. I pitch my ideas to a few trusted people on here sometimes, and it helps me realize things about the ideas and develop them into scripts.

Thank you very much Jon Shallit

I’m still writing it. I’ll share it when it’s ready for script review.

that's great Maurice Vaughan

No one can truly gauge the reality of their work without reviews and insights from others.

I took some time before I started talking to people about my idea and found once I started telling people about the concept/idea, it was received better than I thought which is a lightning bolt to the soul when it comes to creative writing. The community here makes it even better with the support which I'm always thankful for..

Yes sharing your mind isn’t easy. You must be cautious not to absorb hurtful voices—those that can silence your thinking. As you said, Stage32 makes this safer and sharper. We, the creatives, are fortunate to have this space John Fife

Happy Thanksgiving, E Langley!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks for this reminder E. Langley. Frank Capra’s masterpiece, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” is the gift of community. Our fellow creatives are our guardian angels, here to help us grow and succeed, especially after receiving a rejection. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone has/had a happy Thanksgiving! :) I’m living in Hungary (Europe), so I didn’t celebrate it, but it looks like a beautiful holiday!

Happy Turkey Day.

Happy Thanksgiving, Yan Ju Zeng! I say pick the project that excites you the most/the project that's most marketable instead of paying attention to what the market is looking for since things change so fast in the industry.

You're welcome, John January Noble.

Cecile George Yes, it would be categorized as a synopsis too, thanks for the info! I thought that you had to find a manager who could help you develop it further by working with someone else turn it into a screenplay.

Jon Hersh is having a free AMA about "How to Utilize Agents, Managers, and Dev. Execs. In Your Screenwriting Career" all day Friday, Aradia Paquette. You can post questions now. www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Ask-Me-Anything-AMA-11-21-to-11-22-...

Maurice Vaughan Thank you for your answer by the way! I will make sure to upload a proper profile picture, just wasn't sure how many people have a proper profile, but I see everyone does! And thanks for the all the links, I will check them out

You're welcome, Aradia Paquette. Ok, great. And I'm a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. If you ever have any questions about Stage 32, let me or another Lounge Moderator know. We have badges on our pictures. Or you could email support@stage32.com.

Great to meet you, Davide Ludovisi. Congratulations on getting the script request! I can see the story working as a fiction TV series. I'd watch it!

Here's some free TV writing webinars: www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Stage-32-and-Netflix-Partnered-Up-o...

Stage 32 has a TV written pitch example and a verbal TV pitch beat sheet. You can get them by emailing success@stage32.com.

Stage 32 has a free webinar called "How to Write a 2 Page Pitch for Your Television Series" (www.stage32.com/education/products/free-stage-32-webinar-how-to-write-at...).

Stage 32 also has a free pitch webinar: www.stage32.com/education/products/pitching-tips-from-the-pros-your-blue...

I'm rooting for you to reach your November Write Club goal!

That's awesome! Thanks Maurice

You're welcome, Davide Ludovisi. Stage 32 has feedback services too (www.stage32.com/scriptservices).

And you could post your script on your profile. Producers search profiles for projects. That and networking are how I sold four short scripts to a producer. Click the gear symbol in the top right-hand corner and select “Edit profile” in the drop-down menu. Scroll down to “Loglines” and click “Add/edit loglines” to the right of “Loglines.” You can also post your script on your profile this way: www.stage32.com/loglines (near the top where it says “Add a Logline”)

Decide Ludovisi-That was Ashley Rene Smith's in OPEN HOUSE -response live yesterday, about being attentive here on the platform, interacting, writing. It didn't work out yesterday, maybe today, but tomorrow someone will show up to schedule a meeting and talk about your project. By the way, yesterday's questions and answers were very good. Congratulation

Davide, my mother worked in a nursing home in Laurieton, Australia and a lot of WW2 Veterans used to lend her their war diaries. I woke up one morning and went onto the kitchen, Mum was sitting there crying and then she told me the story of one of these diaries.

The man initially didn't want to share his story, but get really comfortable with my mother as his nurse. When she told me the story all I could think was this is a film script. I think I was only 17 at the time (1998).

I have written down the outline and stuck it in a draw. Reading your post, I might get it out and have a look.

Thank you and good luck with your project.

I agree wholeheartedly. It’s why when I write, I make it a point to respect my audience’s intelligence no matter their age (kids especially I don’t believe in talking down to, they’re brilliant). I don’t believe it’s my responsibility to teach but rather communicate, and if I end up teaching that way? Cool. It’s organically done without being preachy, everyone’s happy.

Most of all, though, I want my audience to feel a little less alone in the world.

Beautifully said, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. Respecting the audience’s intelligence is a form of respect for their inner life — and you’re right, it’s never about preaching. It’s about true communication.

If someone feels a little less alone because of something we wrote, then we’ve done something truly meaningful. That’s the heart of it.

Well written... very deep.... Where I would add one layer is this. I do not think storytellers should see themselves as priests. That is dangerous. But I do think we have become urban planners of inner space. We design the streets people walk in their heads. Conflict engines, resolutions, the difference between integration and annihilation, as you put it, are not neutral choices. They are blueprints for how to imagine disagreement, loss and survival.

Sometimes annihilation is honest. Sometimes reconciliation would be a lie. The point is not to impose “nice” stories. The point is to know that our formal choices carry psychological cost, and to pay attention to who is paying that bill.

Jean Pierre Magro, this is brilliant. “Urban planners of inner space” is the perfect extension of what I was reaching for. It shifts the conversation away from moral authority (priests) toward structural responsibility (architects), which is exactly where it needs to be.

I completely agree that the goal isn’t to impose “nice” stories, but to stay conscious of the “psychological cost” you describe. My concern is that in a lot of modern genre storytelling—especially at franchise scale—we’ve drifted into treating annihilation as the default currency of resolution. Sometimes annihilation is the only honest ending. But when it becomes the only blueprint we offer, the imaginative landscape narrows.

We’re essentially building cities in people’s heads where the only way to resolve conflict is to level the building. I’m simply arguing for a wider zoning code—one that makes room for integration and survival to stand alongside obliteration as equally truthful architectural choices. Not to abolish any one outcome, but to offer more than one way to pay the bill.

I love how you’ve pushed the metaphor forward.

That will be amazing and an inspiration for all of us Maurice Vaughan. I will do next week :))

Wishing you and everyone here a Thanksgiving filled with that same spirit of connection, generosity, and bold storytelling. Cheers to the stories we are all brave enough to tell!

Thank you Sandra, I like this line, “Characters become mirrors, bridges and sometimes battlegrounds.” It is an emotional cue a writer’s can use to remember the importance of “motivation” in storytelling. And, happy Thanksgiving to you.

Beautifully said, Sam Rivera. That spirit of connection and generosity is exactly what makes this community so special. I’m grateful to be part of a room where bold storytelling isn’t just encouraged, it’s celebrated. Thank youuu

Thank you, Shirley Collier. I’m so glad that line resonated . You are absolutely right, it ties directly to motivation and reminds us how characters reflect, connect, and clash in ways that drive story forward. Wishing you a Thanksgiving filled with inspiration, joy, and the kind of sparks that make our writing unforgettable.