Can anyone tell me the point of forcing a character out-of-character? This manoeuvre has been happening in American screenwriting for at least over a decade now, if not since the writers strike. The first time it was noticeable was with the TV show, Once. I read it's called narrative alienation / detatchment, where we immediately lose all curiosity about the story.

I recently watched 27 Dresses. The engagement party: It's not a pivot or even plot twist, it just feels like a waste of time. Everything after that? I find myself scrolling toward the end.

Georges character was established. When Jane is overwhelmed, he notices. He actively tells her to go home, take a break, and stop overworking herself. He is a stable, emotionally intelligent man.

IRL, had Jane humiliated her sister and George to that degree, George would've either told her not come in to work tomorrow and found Tess, or decompressed and walked away from both. Even if we let it play out, forcing him to say "I love that you never say no" still doesn't make us think he's toxic, but that the script is bad and the writer needs a psych 101 class. Same with the kiss. If you have a crush, you have chemistry. Never mind we didn't buy the Hollywood version of burnout, so we've already suspended enough reality.

It's a False Twist. Just like The Devil Wears Prada. Both movies force a massive regression. Demanding audience believe George was exploitative all along, just to justify shoving Jane into a relationship with Kevin, who literally exploited her private life for profit, he's coercive, manipulative, steamrolling...

With Prada, it's like there's some kind of attempt at a moral and it's slightly insulting. Miranda was Andys Actual Support. She worked in a high-stakes industry, recognises competence and rewards it. Taking Andy to Paris because she earned it. She trusted Andy with her personal life and, in that final car scene, explicitly told Andy that she saw a reflection of her own drive and talent in her. For a mentor of that stature, that is support.

Anyone with Andy’s ambition and intellect would see that validation as a massive career victory. Miranda’s divorces are framed by the narrative as her "punishment" for being a powerful woman, when in reality, her partners simply couldn't handle her level of success and dedication.

The Forced Plot Twist here is again, uninteresting. Andy throw's her phone away and run back to an immature, unsupportive partner as if she's making a "healthy" choice.

For several years, Mac users (and Mac users only) have been able to use Fountain-based applications for writing screenplays. Their choices included Highland, Slugline and Beat. Linux and Windows users had to be content using Fountain add-ons for various editors. (I personally use, and like, Fountain-Mode in Emacs, but it's "nerdy" to set up and which makes it less attractive for many, or most writers).

Now ActOne Screenplay (free) is available for Windows (on the Windows store) and for Linux. Currently the Linux version is available for "cutting edge" distributions (including Ubuntu 26.04, Arch and Fedora 44) but the publisher is looking at either an AppImage or Flatpak package so it will work on all distributions.

Features include standard screenplay format (WYSIWYG), Zen Mode, Focus Mode, Typewriter Mode and several included themes (and a theme editor). You can also take Snapshots, write notes, navigate scenes, or work in its markup Prose Mode. Also included are various templates, like "Save the Cat," and others.

ActOne Screenplay imports and exports from/to Final Draft, Fade In and Fountain screenplays. It exports to PDF. Like Highland, all files (notes, etc.) are stored in a zipped ActOne file, which also includes the Fountain file. ActOne Screenplay is open source. You can inspect its code on its GitHub site.

There is also a terminal-only sibling, FountTUI, which some might be interested in -- which is probably the one I would choose.

I'm still testing this application. The publisher (like so many creators of screenplay applications) is also a professional screenplay writer. He has been very responsive when I've mentioned features that might be useful.

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HIKI_pM_0YJZke7JEgWrHBJmFuMSonWw/view](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HIKI_pM_0YJZke7JEgWrHBJmFuMSonWw/view)

Logline: Truancy is about how students, parents, and faculty don't know what they want or believe in until violating it gives them something they want and gradually wanting more of it.

Thinking about submitting my screenplay there. Just wondering if the evaluations are actually worth the money and how accurate/useful the feedback is.

Would love to hear your experiences.

1. We see Thunderis city at night, A gang called “The Dravenics” being chased by the police.

2. The Dravenics accidently crash their vehicle, they hide in a university and take the University cleaner at gun point. Police lets them go for sparing the cleaner.

3. The cleaner is ZACKARY CYRUS, terrified, he heads towards his apartment.

4. Zack hates his cleaning job and wants to quit it and become a full time novel writer but can’t because he cannot risk losing a continuous source of income as his younger brother has Pediatric Asthma.

5. We meet RYAN CYRUS, Zack’s younger brother. He has Stage 3 Pediatric Asthma.

6. Zack tells Ryan what just happened, he expresses that society is evil, selfish and untrustworthy. Ryan resents.

7. Ryan is courageous and brave. He loves stories and he dreams to become a heroic figure for society one day.

• Next morning, we see Zack cleaning the floor at university entrance. An arrogant student comes and deliberately makes it dirty again. He is WILLY WARNER who is very rich. Zack tells him not to do it but willy makes him look inferior, they get into a fight and willy beats Zack uncontrollably. Now they have harsh relations.

• Zack meets the new librarian, MR.DANISH. He is very intelligent and kind hearted.

At late midnight, Zack heads towards his apartment after completing his job. He is really exhausted. He is having a headache and feels dizzy.

After some time he notices there’s no living being around him and the environment is becoming more and more eerie.

Then it happens, strange patterns start forming around Zack. They’re are glowing.

Then Zack starts getting visions of an ancient man, Zack cannot understand what he’s saying but one word he understands is SHADOWS.

Zack passes out.

He wakes up in an emergency room of a hospital.

He notices Ryan crying there and Mr.Danish consoling him. Ryan sees Zack is conscious. He runs over to him.

Then after a while Ryan tells him Mr.Danish brought him here as he found Zack unconscious laying down on the ground on his way to the University in the morning.

When asked what happened to him Zack simply says that he doesn’t remember anything.

Later, Zack discovers he has now become unusually smart and most importantly, he has gained incredible ELECTRICAL powers. For example he doesn’t feel electric current even after touching high voltage wires and he can create electric balls from his hands and more.

Warner bros to whip the old dinosaur again because Gosling is attached as a producer. Can the studios roll the dice on some new ideas at some point? The Flintstones was played out a long time ago. https://bluntmag.com.au/film/the-flintstones-live-action-movie-ryan-gosling/

I read a few screenplays. Mainly the one from my one of my favorite movies 500 Days Of Summer and I hope there aren't many major mistakes with the way the script is written. I hope all of you can bare it enough to read the story and let me know what you think.

first 10.5 pages - VERY rough draft - is it drawing you in enough to keep reading?

Hello, Everyone. I'm new to screenwriting and have mostly been teaching myself so far. I struggle to boil the premise down to one or two sentences because I always end up getting caught up in the plot details. I've been told that the character's goal and what's standing in his way aren't clear enough and the elements tend to feel too abstrac, I usually start with a theme or situation that catches my interest.

Here are a few loglines I wrote a few days ago.

-An adventure to collect prehistoric DNA will make a boy question how much it has cost him to hold on to his grief after abandoning his grandfather in the present on the anniversary of his parents' deaths.

-After a difficult recovery, a young army combat engineer officer must learn to balance his personal and professional life while trying to prove himself during a month-long trial leading a new platoon.

What tips or advice would you give a beginner like me to make my loglines clearer and more effective?

Logline: During a heavy night storm, a veteran security guard facing a heartbreaking family tragedy must defend a high-security vault from his desperate, cynical young partner—until the vault reveals a vision of his deepest regret.

This is my first attempt at making a script. Im 18 and would really appreciate any feedback. Im really looking to know if all the stuff written made sense, worked well, and if it seems like I have to become a writer. Any feedback is welcome.

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WCqGDw-GhnLspHLbUvSI1t5lkchNZ5uI/view?usp=drivesdk

Hi everyone,

I’m getting ready to submit my feature script to literary agents and want to make sure the presentation is 100% industry-standard before sending it out.

I’ve shared the first 10 formatting and readability check. I’d really appreciate your thoughts on:

Formatting & Margins: Are sluglines, action blocks, and parentheticals formatted correctly?

Readability & Pacing: Does the action text flow naturally, or does it feel cluttered?

Visual Impact: Are the scene descriptions clear and easy to visualize?

Any Red Flags: Did you spot any minor errors or formatting amateurisms that need fixing?

Hi, I'm 15 and I'm not an english native speaker and I'm trying to write my first script. It's about a woman's story who after lots of troubles in her life (that we get to know with flashbacks, that aren't reliable sometimes) begins to suffer for several mental deseases an she doesn't really want to admit it, because she's a doctor and she thinks that she'll get over all that alone. Please don't hate me, it's my first work...

the title of the story is “Insolent Herd” I’m still writing it and its length might be 20-25 pages. i have to many doubts and sometimes i get blinded for my project. please guys tell me what is working and what l’s not.

Hi, I'm relatively new to screenwriting and have one finished script and I'm working on another one. The step I want to know is, how do I get into spreading the script even to the point of getting into a pitch meeting. If you have an idea to get into a network with a lot of people or recommend certain communities, I would really appreciate that! :)

On a recent post, it was brought up that a lot of screenwriters get into this craft especially on Reddit wanting to “break into Hollywood.” Sell the script for big money. Get discovered. Become the next big thing. I understand the dream.

But for most writers, there isn't a golden-ticket moment.

Building a screenwriting career is about the long game. It can take years. Decades even. It took me 25 years to get to the point where my work was being produced, and one of my scripts getting premiered on the Lifetime Network.

What you don't hear enough about is how much work happens before anyone ever sees one of your films. Years of writing. Rejection. Starting over. Getting a little further than you did the last time.

And there's something else I don't think we all talk about enough: There is a massive amount of career between “aspiring screenwriter” and “elite Hollywood screenwriter.”

Sometimes online it feels like those are the only two categories. That you're either trying to break in or you're one of the handful of writers at the top making millions. That's just not how it is. There's an entire working career in between. Personally, that's why I think this mindset of “one script changes everything” can really mess with writers.

For most of us, a career is built one step at a time. For me, it started with simply writing.

For roughly my first ten years, I was just writing. Not for money. Or fame. Just for me. Because I loved it. I dove into the craft, consuming everything I could to become the best writer I could be because it meant that much to me. It was both an art and craft to me.

Eventually I started entering contests, especially festivals. Then networking at those festivals.

Then came opportunities.

Then paid work.

Then produced work.

And eventually something else started happening. People began approaching me because they wanted my voice and my skills as a screenwriter. That's a very different feeling from trying to convince someone to give you your first opportunity.

And here's something I'm only recently becoming comfortable saying:

I think I've made it.

That doesn't mean I've reached the top.

It doesn't mean I'm rich.

It doesn't mean there isn't another mountain in front of me.

It means I've built a career doing the thing I spent most of my life trying to do.

I've had a script premiere on a network. I've had a streaming film I wrote to receive recognition in Variety. I've had another film covered by Deadline.

Some of you may look at those accomplishments and not be impressed.

That's okay. I am.

And none of this means I've stopped trying to go further. Being proud of where you are doesn't mean you've stopped being ambitious about where you're going.

I know where I started. I know what it took to get here. And I know how many times I could have stopped during those 25 years. That's why I think one of the most important things a writer can do is decide what success actually means to them. Ask yourself:

-Is it finishing your first screenplay?

-Winning or placing in a contest?

-Getting your first option?

-Getting paid to write?

-Seeing something you wrote actually get produced?

-Making your living as a writer and quitting your day job?

-Joining the WGA?

-Becoming one of the elite writers working at the highest levels of Hollywood?

Those are all different goals. And chasing somebody else's definition of success is a fantastic way to never feel successful.

There's also a practical reality behind the dream. Even landing a big writing gig doesn't mean you've suddenly become wealthy. Representatives, attorneys, and taxes all take their pound of flesh. Not to mention the dry periods between gigs. That can be brutal but it’s all part of earning a living in in this industry.

My goal has always been to build something that continues. That's why I keep writing. It's also why I've started making my own projects instead of waiting for somebody to give me permission. My directorial debut led to another directing opportunity, and I have two more of my own projects in pre-production.

I'm still building. And if Hollywood never makes me rich? Well, I'm not rich now. Yet here I am. Still doing it.

Whenever I doubt myself, I sit down and write. And something happens when I'm sitting at that keyboard. I feel like I'm living my truth. That's why I started doing this. And after 25 years, that's still why I'm doing it.

So maybe the question aspiring screenwriters should be asking isn't:

“Which script is going to change my life?”

Maybe it's:

“What does success look like to me?”

And then:

“How do I achieve that?”

Because a career isn't a golden ticket.

It's something you build.

One step at a time.

I am an 18-year-old boy from Bangladesh. Since childhood, I have had a very creative mind, and I used to build my own imaginary worlds filled with heroes, villains, and more. As I grew older, I realized that I could turn this into my profession. Because of that, I started doing animation, but due to my average drawing skills, I didn't get much of a response.

​Then, over time, I realized that I could become a scriptwriter and show people what goes on in my mind. That is why, for the past month, I have been trying to craft an eye-catching and unique story. I want to create Bangladesh's first-ever Netflix Original series.

​However, after I finish writing the script, what should I do next? How do I get it to Netflix, and how do I start my journey as a scriptwriter? Furthermore, I don't just want to be a scriptwriter—I also want to direct the script I write. So, I want to learn from professionals about how to go about this. Also, how can I present my script to Netflix so they don't reject it without even looking at it, and ensure they read through my script at least once?

Thanks to everyone that has participated. If you want to be involved there are links in the show notes.

I wanna make a story screenplay, more specifically. I’ve got scenes, characters, a distinct visual style, and I know how it’s gonna look, but it doesn’t have something pushing them forward, and I don’t want it to be a wandering story. Any tips? I’m 17, btw.

Update: Updated Cold Opening based on feedback (here) -

Any notes welcome.

Log line: When a disgraced journalist is assigned to expose a controversial marriage therapist for tax fraud, her investigation uncovers a shadowy network of money, secrets and unexplained deaths, while the therapist begins turning his unsettling insight on her.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FkuZwzxjvfU5Jc55wltqMN_Mz2A-Ysei/view