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I typically avoid music cues. Music rights can be very expensive and it's certainly an emotional risk to pigeonhole yourself into one note for a scene because the chances that scene is going to have that music in a finished product are incredibly low and if you haven't been through it before, it may be upsetting to you.

Also, it's a risk because if you name drop a song you like and the reader evaluating your script doesn't know what song that is, they have two options:

1) put your script down, go look up the song. This is bad because you have now sent your reader away from your script. They are no longer reading but engaging with something else. Which is typically not a desired outcome.

2) don't care about what the song is and move on. This is bad because it means they are disconnecting from your script anyways already if it doesn't matter to them.

neither of these are great outcomes for the writer. thus, I typically avoid music cues.

Pat Alexander another very painful but much needed insight....the pain..........

@Banafsheh I dig your term, life is a fantastic co writer. I do i phone dictation or notes, even on holiday to capture random events. I’ve also a scene in a hispanic pulp from a true experience. Was in rural Spain & last person to be dropped off in taxi, when it purposefully took a wrong turn in opposite direction. I pretended not to notice, & said I’m about to be sick, (gut heaving) & put my phone in my jeans. I left my bag on the seat, saying look after my dinero. They pulled up, opened door, & their greed to search my bag bought me valuable time to run. I ended up in fields, with miles of stumpy trees, all planted in a crazy pattern. Before finding safety, I concentrated on nature, to counteract any fear. Later I used the trees as a plausible ancient code, to solve the riddle of where to find the treasure, in the last scene of the trilogy script.

That’s quite the experience Debbie Croysdale! I’m glad you made it out safely and got inspired at the same time. Life really has a way of plotting sometimes!

Love that—"life as a fantastic co-writer." The best plot twists are often the ones we'd never invent because they'd feel too coincidental or cruel. Reality has a better sense of dramatic irony than we do. What's one unexpected "life wrote the plot" moment that changed the direction of a story you were working on, or maybe even your own path as a writer?

That’s a great question Sam Rivera, I think for me it would have to be when I was in high school and working on a stream-of-consciousness novel and crushing on this one guy, and found myself on the short end of no less than three love triangles with him until we graduated lol. I’m sure we were both quite aware of the dramatic irony at the time. As such, I’m quite good at writing drama and love triangles; very easy when you’ve basically lived a soap opera against your will lol

can you send me more details on the producer and director opportunities!

Thanks for reaching out. The project is a prestige TV drama currently seeking literary management and production company interest. Best of luck with your work!

I typically wait for an interesting inciting event to occur to me, determine whose story it is, and then simply start writing.

One example, which evolved into my story The Bagman, was when I was pumping gas in the wee hours surrounded by inky blackness. I felt exposed and wondered how I would react if the shit hit the fan.

Another was when I drove past an armored car on a stretch of roadway where one highway diverged into two. I wondered how the driver could be compelled to leave his dedicated route and go rogue. Once I figured that out, my short Follow Us came pouring out.

Every one is different from the last. The short "Homeless" was a dream that played out all in one night. Later, it turned into the feature, "The Book of Jon".

"The Jupiter Chronicles" came from my 10-year old (at the time) daughter asking, "Daddy, why don't you write a story about a brother and sister who rescue their dad on another planet." I put down what I was doing and just said, "OK!"

"Haven of Dante" came from the time when my wife was kidnapped and attacked at gunpoint. I wanted to share her story of overcoming through a young girl who inherits the mantle of fighting the nine circles of hell.

And "Agents of C.O.W." came from a visit from my autistic nephew. And the fact that I think cows are peaceful.

There's more but I don't want to take up the whole thread Sammy Warshaw LOL.

I use the Harry Cohen method: If the idea makes my fanny squirm, I stop. If it doesn’t make my fanny squirm, I proceed.

There are some ideas that I think are “worth” putting on screen, from an entertainment/intellectual/fun angle. However, some are not viable budget wise, or serve niche audiences, few producers may be searching for. Writing a script that sells is a balancing act, unless it’s a passion project, usually micro budget and self funded. There are many factors to consider, when facing a blank page EG Target audience, marketability, genre, budget, geographic boundaries etc. I begin by understanding the producer’s remit, or the particular market aiming for, mine the possibilities, & give my own unique spin on it.

The big variable I always lead with is whether I've got something to say via this story. Sometimes you figure that out up top, sometimes it takes a little outlining. But if the message is there and I've got opinions/feelings/arguments to express on the matter, then it's worth putting it to page!

That first one (porta-potty shake down) is really funny, and something that would also work great in a LucasArts style adventure game. I think that the last one (drive-thu) might not work so well though. How would the customers learn about the code in such a short time, and wouldn't the son want to keep his addiction a secret, and thus be willing to aid the group renting the apartment?

Thanks for that Patrik Gyltefors! I appreciate the feedback. One thing I may not have explained clearly in the post is that the friend selling through the drive-thru already works at that fast-food restaurant and has been secretly doing it for a while. He’s more of a side character connected to the group rather than one of the main guys in the montage. One of the friends from the main group goes there looking for help, meets him during his shift, and asks if he can assist for the day, and starts training at the low-paying job. While they’re working together, he ends up helping him sell through the drive-thru and keeps a small amount for himself.

The landlord ends up catching his son with the drugs and pressures him to tell where he got them. When the son explains it was through the drive-thru and describes who sold it to him, the landlord is able to identify the friend working there. That’s what ultimately exposes the whole situation and leads to the group getting kicked out, even though they finally managed to get the rent money together.

Curious what you think about that version of it, does it make the scene work better in your opinion, or do you think the final beat still needs tightening or maybe even replacing with something more original?

Dwayne Williams 2, yes, that makes it work better. Is this the final scene of the film, or will they eventually manage to get their apartment back, and get revenge on the landlord? Also, is this an animated or live action film? Depending on the "rules" of the world you are building, that final beat might disrupt the suspension of disbelief.

I don't subscribe to the trades, but I follow their X accounts so if there are any interesting articles I can read them. I also just signed up for the Dailies. The industry podcast I listen to is THE TOWN. Which basically sums up everything in the trades so saves a lot of time.

thanks Shadow Dragu-Mihai - glad it may be helpful

Karolina Rum thx for that link. very useful. And David K. Knight & Suzanne Bronson love The Dailies :) Sandra Isabel Correia I often forget how much industry info IMDb Pro has! And Rosemary Hills love your networking and project racking angle - very pragmatic. cheers

Hey, these are great Ashley Renée Smith ! I'd also chime in that Substack is increasingly becoming a great place to keep up-to-date with publishing industry news, as well as Threads.

Jonathan Jordan good call about Substack, thank you - do you have a favorite? I recently came upon Evan Shapiro's space: https://eshap.substack.com/

Welcome to this great community!

Welcome

Favour Drey Welcome to Stage 32 and the great creative community!

I don't write flashbacks; like reality, all my scripted experience of time is sequential. But since we are creatures both of great imagination and memory, it is natural for us to bring to life memories in people's minds. But if you do so, you have to be very clear to your audience that this is a step or 100 back in time. Techniques include using the makeup department to make the character look younger. If it's recent, you can't use that. One technique which was used a lot in the past was the slow fade to make scene look like it's dissolving into a kind of dreamlike imagic experience to evoke that we've moved from the actual scene to inside the character's head.

It sounds from what you shared like you haven't defined or introduced your story well enough. Otoh, some writers start with a flashback and then jump to the present. But that is a different setup. Jumps back to a past within a story already happening connotes the character is remembering or the writer wanted us in the story but then felt, "but there's something about _______ you should know first."

Knowing characters, many of whom don't even know themselves (fully) is something that often comes slowly and not necessarily in the first 10 pages, especially in a series which has time to explore the characters more fully than a two hour movie. What you need to be clear about is what is the story you wish to tell? Before yoou know your character? The story itself is where you need to be focused and techniques like flahbacks should only be told when absolutely necessary. put any words on the page, how well do y

I actually really enjoy flashbacks, especially in TV series. Many great examples with Breaking Bad, Ozark, Better Call Saul, and so many others to numerous to mention. For me, it is a structural device designed to show important parts of the story that can sound stilted or clunky on the page because linear timelines can leave out a lot of important backstory.

I love them. I always thought stories in chronological order were boring.

Hi Beth Lauren, welcome back to the Stage 32 community!

It sounds like you’ve got some exciting projects in motion, especially developing a musical and preparing to shoot an unscripted pilot across the UK, Ireland, and Spain. Wishing you the best with the development and fundraising.

If you haven’t revisited it recently, Stage 32 has a helpful blog on navigating the platform and connecting with creatives and industry professionals worldwide:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...

You can also reach out to the Education Team at edu@stage32.com if you’d like recommendations on classes, labs, or webinars that might support your current projects.

And the Success Team at success@stage32.com can help connect you with producers, executives, and collaborators across the community.

Great to have you back here!

Thanks Dwayne Williams 2 I look forward to reconnecting across the platform.

You’re three episodes in and now you want feedback on the core concept? Curious.

The setup sounds good. Nice opportunities for drama, especially with the betrothal to the daughter of the villain.

I suppose the most important thing to emphasize is the stakes. Why is it so important to the prince to do what’s right? Why does he care? Does he witness some suffering he can’t deal with? That needs to be repeated or underlined in each episode so the audience stays on his side.

For the commoner, what is a “consulting office”? Make sure his job is period appropriate, and if it’s accurate to the time and place, you may need to educate the audience (through clever story-based exposition) how his job works.

The same goes for Joseon itself. If your audience is a general American audience, they may not have heard of Joseon (I had to look it up). What do we need to know about the kingdom to help give background for the story?

Thank you so much for the feedback, Mike! That's exactly why I posted here—to learn what I need to focus on and improve. I really appreciate your points regarding the stakes for the prince and the need to clarify the world-building. Please bear with me as I'm new to this platform and still in the early learning stages of screenwriting. I'll definitely take your advice into consideration as I continue developing the story!

Glad to help!