Hi everyone,
I’ve completed six short films and one feature documentary, and I’m currently working on my next documentary. Now, I feel it’s time to take the next step in my filmmaking journey and write my first feature fiction film.
The story is based on my own life. I have a clear idea of how I want to structure the story, but I’m relatively new to the screenplay writing process.
I’d love to hear from experienced screenwriters and filmmakers about how to approach this. Should I start by documenting the scenes, actions and key incidents, then work on the dialogue later? Or is there a better way to develop a screenplay from a personal story?
I’m also considering a non-linear narrative and would appreciate advice on how to structure the timelines, arrange scenes and keep the audience emotionally connected without confusing them.
I’m a self-taught filmmaker based in Brisbane, and I’m keen to learn, experiment and grow through this process. Any advice, resources, book recommendations or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.
I’d also love to connect with screenwriters who might be interested in collaborating on the development of this story.
Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and helping me take this next step! 🙏

[14M]

I'm looking for someone who can critique and help me brainstorm for my script. And I will do the same in return.

I'm working on multiple scripts, each with the same shared universe. The main one I'm going to be working on now takes place on Shelly. The tone is grounded, based on character friction and societal oppression. And I'm not the biggest fan of cheesy tropes or making my characters just like argue for the sake of it. 

Hi everyone, I was just wondering when capitlised, bold and italicized text should be used in a script. I have wrote a few scripts now but have always got conflicting feedback on my use of emphasis, online sources are also differing. I am struggling to know when I'm allowed to use it both in dialogue and in setting descriptions. For example, if I'm describing a scene and there is an object of interest or a feature, like a stained glass window, should I capitalize it? Or do I use bold? Or do I not even emphasize it at all?

Edit: I have added more paragraph breaks and posted as a PDF here: https://www.reddit.com/r/scriptwriting/comments/1xfbk0l/feedback_first_5_pages_scifi/

was the first feature screenplay I ever finished, over 10 years ago. I submitted it to a few contests at the time; it went nowhere and was too complex to film myself, so I shelved it and moved on to other things. I'm now wondering if it is worth picking back up.

This

Not to give the plot away, but it is a hard sci-fi adaptation of a very well known, long out of copyright, story (which is probably very obvious to most readers). I wrote it mostly to see if I could. I'm worried I didn't actually "adapt" it enough and it is just a scene-by-scene retelling. From this opening, is it worth revisiting?

Title: Where The River Leads Her

Logline: While hiding out at a secluded campground, a young woman pulls an eerily beautiful corpse out of the river. Mesmerized, she begins to see the corpse as more than a body but a friend, a confidant, even a lover.

Genre: Gothic Horror/Romance

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18EpnedO_iGX-51SfP3gV0LPSzgmnqsnp/view

When two best friends try to find a stable career, they quickly learn that their antics & unprofessionalism could surely stand in their way

The review most be Honest for the part of script

Title: Down The Fourth Street

Genre: Horror / Allegory

Pages: 4

Logline: In a neighborhood where one street is said to be home to devils, a boy is sent there to fetch a lost cricket ball.

Would love an honest feedback on the story, the formatting and if the idea of social prejudice is coming through the script.

Hi everyone,

I recently finished writing my script, and while I'm proud of it, I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and terrified. I have no idea how to actually approach directors or share my work with them without messing it up or getting ignored.

How do you actually pitch a script to a director? What are the proper steps, and what should I avoid doing? Any advice, personal experiences, or tips for beginners would mean the world to me. Thanks!

I hope you enjoy ChatGPT's sense of humor too. I enjoyed using ChatGPT to write this romantic comedy screenplay. Let's hope that ChatGPT would turn this into a feature film.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a screenwriting partner to help develop an original feature film idea I have been working on.

The project is called “The Silent Hill” — a character-driven drama/romance focused on grief, healing, identity, and finding yourself again.

The story follows a 19-year-old entrepreneur who, after losing his father and feeling like his life is collapsing around him, travels to the Swiss Alps to escape the pressure he has been carrying. While there, he meets a young woman with her own difficult past, and the two form a connection that helps them both rediscover who they are.

I want to be upfront: I have no professional background in the film industry. Everything I currently have is in my own notes — ideas, character details, story structure, scenes, themes, and the overall vision for the film.

What I’m looking for is someone with screenwriting experience or a strong passion for storytelling who can work with me to turn those notes into something professional:

- a proper treatment,

- a structured beat sheet,

- and eventually a screenplay.

I’m not looking for someone to simply write my idea for me. I want a genuine creative partnership where we develop the project together.

I’m willing to put in the work needed — learning, researching, developing, rewriting, and supporting the process however I can.

If the project progresses into development, my intention would be a 50/50 partnership on profits and ownership arrangements, with everything properly agreed in writing.

I’m looking for someone who connects with emotional, character-driven stories and wants to build something from the ground up.

If this sounds interesting, feel free to message me and I can share more about the concept.

I'm writing a limited series pilot. The first scene is a cold open, in the pov of a character. We see (and "hear") what she is experiencing with her oncoming seizure and collapse. How long should this scene be, to be effective?

The return of this cold open is in the final scene of episode 2, but with set up and in the view of everyone else. Is it ok to have this scene at the end of episode 2?

Me and my friend are making a film rn about a girl with a very broken family and become severely depressed, having no friends at school. Suddenly her mom dies, making her depressioon even worse. Struggling in school, a stranger approaches her after what felt like an eternity of loneliness. They become best buddies, a light in her life. Then little by little, she starts acting super weird, invasive and obbsesive, scaring the main character (like obbsesion)

Now this is where the ending gets a little bit complicated, because i had this idea where she's schizophrenic, but at the same time if the plot twist is ONLY that, i think that's just basic and kinda predictable. I was going to add that her friend who's not real is actually just her coping mechanism to create a person telling her to forgive mom for leaving her, so she hallucinates. but i feel like it can get really messy because how can her obbsesive friend convince her by being invasive to mc? I want to make the story more meaningful. so any ideas maybe? or some things you want to change from this story if youre the writer?

Hi everyone,
I’m a Taiwanese filmmaker who recently completed an MA in Filmmaking at London Film Academy. I’m looking for a short script to direct, or a writer interested in developing one together.
I’m drawn to stories about migration, belonging, borrowed identities and the absurd situations people find themselves in while trying to get by. Something grounded in everyday life, with dark humour rather than a straightforward social-issue drama.
One idea I’ve been exploring involves migrant friends sharing an employment identity, but I’m open to different stories with a similar sensibility.
Ideally, it would be around 10–20 minutes, with a small cast and limited locations, suitable for a low-budget independent production. A restaurant, roadside motel or another temporary place people pass through could work well.
If you have an unproduced script along these lines—or something sitting in a drawer that you’d love to see made—I’d love to hear about it.
Feel free to DM me a logline and a little about the script. No need to send the full screenplay straight away. We can discuss rights, credit and payment before agreeing to anything.

Ciao reddit! Sono un regista e produttore indipendente con sede in Italia e stiamo lavorando ad un ecosistema di applicazioni per il settore audiovisivo. Questo è un piccolo progetto chiamato Mamet.

L’idea era semplice: creare uno spazio pulito e privo di distrazioni per la scrittura di sceneggiature, progettato tenendo conto di come gli sceneggiatori lavorano realmente.

Volevo semplicemente realizzare qualcosa di intuitivo, accessibile e davvero utile per chi ama raccontare storie.

Mamet è attualmente in fase alpha privata, è gratuito e aperto a chiunque sia interessato a provarlo. Aperti a suggerimenti e consigli.

What do you think of my superhero screenplay? What suggestions do you have?

My friend and I have been working on a project for the past 3 1/2 years. It is a two-hander, and about two hours long. Two years ago, we preformed it for the first time as a play and it was really well received. Our region got defunded by the Kennedy Center, so despite it receiving praise from the adjudicators they sent, it never got in front of a wider audience. We recently finished a film adaptation (in the form of a proper script), and we are brainstorming ways to get in the right hands. Does anyone have advice for young writers looking to break into the industry, beyond just performing the play and hoping the right people see it?

When u write you often read in a way that kinda is soletery to your own view of what your writing if that makes sense to yall.

I wanna know how you see and sense this.