Trending Lounge Discussions

Hello Eva, I'm new here too. Your story sounds interesting. Is it on Amazon?

Hi Eva, welcome! 'Zero Error' sounds like a fantastic concept, the intersection of Sherlock and AI is very timely. Since you're building this 'spy world,' are you planning to create a digital hub for it? I’m a Shopify developer who helps creators build immersive sites to showcase their scripts and concept art. Would love to hear more about your plans!

Nice, I really like Backrooms lore. Some of the fan fiction it has produced is really good.

Hi Chass, I saw your post about 'You Were Never Here' the 'Backrooms' inspiration is a really compelling angle for a novel. I'm an eCommerce developer who helps authors set up independent Shopify stores. Have you considered selling signed copies or digital bundles directly to your readers? It’s a great way to keep more of your royalties compared to the big retailers. Happy to share some ideas on how to set that up if you're interested

Michael Dzurak Appreciate it! The Backrooms has inspired some incredibly creative storytelling—it’s a great example of how a simple concept can evolve into something much deeper.

I completely agree, Chass! That evolution from a simple concept to something much deeper is exactly why 'You Were Never Here' has such high potential for a dedicated brand.

Because your work has that atmospheric, immersive 'Backrooms' vibe, you have a unique opportunity to offer exclusive digital bundles or limited-edition physical copies that generic retailers just can't showcase properly. I'd love to show you how a custom Shopify store could serve as a professional 'home' for your world while ensuring you keep more of your royalties. Happy to chat more if you're interested.

Hi Chen,

I really enjoyed reading about the origin of You Were Never Here that feeling of being lost in a space that should be familiar but isn’t… that’s a very specific kind of psychological unease, and you’ve built a strong concept around it. The mall-to-Backrooms transition, especially, is the kind of hook that should pull readers in fast.

I got curious and looked it up on Amazon to see how it’s being received and I noticed something interesting. There are little to no reviews at the moment.

From experience, that usually isn’t about the writing. it’s a visibility issue. The kind where a book has the right ingredients (and yours genuinely does), but it hasn’t yet triggered the signals Amazon relies on to start showing it to the right readers. So it ends up sitting in a kind of quiet limbo… which is ironic, given your theme.

What stood out to me is that your concept already aligns with audiences who actively look for this kind of psychological/spatial horror but without early traction (reviews, engagement, positioning), those readers simply never see it.

I’ve worked around this exact problem before helping authors shift from “invisible” to dis-coverable with a few targeted adjustments (nothing gimmicky, just aligning the book with how readers actually find and trust new work).

If you’re open to it, I’d be happy to share a couple of specific ideas tailored to your book no obligation, just a second set of eyes from someone who understands both the creative and the marketplace side.

Either way, I think you’re sitting on something that deserves more visibility than it currently has.

Best Regards,

Elara Wright

elarawrites133@gmail.com

Kat Spencer It's beautiful and haunting.

Gave it a listen. Thanks for sharing this, Kat Spencer !

What I liked is that it doesn’t lunge for cheap drama. It stays in that suspended ache, like a thought you can’t quite put down and can’t quite act on either. That kind of restraint can be harder to pull off than people think.

If you keep shaping it, I’d maybe look at whether one passage wants to push a little further harmonically or emotionally, just so the piece gives us one moment where the ember glows hotter before settling back into itself.

But the title fits. It feels lived in, not just played.

Bill Brock it seems we all have encountered teacher’s that leave a lasting impression and impact on us we fail to realize until we’re much older. That’s respectable. I’ve had quite a few of these type of teacher experiences throughout my lifetime; both attending the many schools of California and more structured school systems of Kansas. The difference in curriculum was a learning curve but they both offered value in different ways. Since rejoining Stage32 I’ve run into off platform networks like the InkScript (a Stage32 partner), Academy of Scoring Arts, Social media networking, The Writers Guid Foundation, to name a few that offer aligned opportunities as well depending on your journey and goals. But, I’m not going to hold you up too much longer. It was a pleasure meeting you Bill. All the best in your endeavors.

This year, Lost Lake Productions and I decided to take the marketing of our project "Chasing Mary" into our own hands. Our first step beginning in January was to enter the screenplay in multiple Film Festival screenwriting contests to begin elevating the project's visibility. So far, we have six official selections in February and March from NY and LA Film Festival screenwriting contests. We have notification dates for other contests we've entered scattered across the rest of the year with one even in January 2027. Our next phase is exploring international and domestic co-production and publicity campaign opportunities. Additionally, some of my projects have received ISA contest quarterfinalist placements. In late 2025, one of my projects received a Stage 32 Double Recommend. These all feel like affirmation.

This year, I've completed co-writing my first horror screenplay which was invigorating, and it has joined the film festival entry strategy. I've begun re-working the creative decks for a couple of my projects and when I finish those I plan to resume working on a documentary proposal I had started. In summary, I guess success for me is not sitting still waiting for it to find me.

Ashley Renée Smith this is a great question and the timing feels right. For me success right now is about something I did not expect. It is less about milestones and more about whether the work I am doing today would still matter to me if nobody ever saw it.

I spent most of my career in technology building systems that had to work in the real world. There was no room for abstraction. Either the system performed or it did not. When I started writing and building a story that sits at the intersection of AI and human stakes I realized that same standard applies. The question is not whether the script gets made. The question is whether the story is true enough that it deserves to be.

Success right now means being honest about what the story actually needs instead of what would be easier to write. It means staying in the discomfort of not knowing the answer to a scene until the right one shows up. And it means connecting with people here and elsewhere who take the craft seriously enough to push each other.

The big milestones will come or they will not. But the smaller ones like getting a scene right or having a conversation with someone who challenges your thinking. Those are the ones that actually move the work forward.

Areale Hanks Agreed, Areale! I would run into a few students at stores and such, who had graduated YEARS earlier. They would quiz me on some funny things I did in class. As a high school teacher, knowledge of the subject matter, an impressive “fashion statement” wardrobe, and a strong sense of humor were my calling cards. Students I met were very specific in their story descriptions. Some stories I remembered, and some were ones I simply couldn’t recall. I was so touched on how they continued to harbor these pleasant memories.

A few years ago, while writing my comedy feature, SOUTH OF SOUTH BOSTON…. (VIRGINIA), I taught a student named Winter, a real character who always made me laugh! One day, after class, she shared a story about her parents arguing about getting a divorce. I told her how sorry I was, and her reply was: “I’m not! They hate each other! Can’t wait for them to go through with it!” The kid just had that dry sense of humor I needed to inject into my script. She knew I was working on a new screenplay, so I asked her if she would dictate the entire story into my phone. Her STELLAR dry humor was spot on! I included the story into my pages and informed her that I would name the female lead after her. It was a comedy, so the character’s full name HAD to be funny—

I came up with Summer Winters.

Marc Ginsburg Continued success, Marc. You are an inspiration for sure!!

This is so rad !!

Thanks, appreciate it! :)

I think anything is possible within animation and your concept sounds different and I would love to see it. King of the Hill for example is an adult comedy that is not over exaggerated or irreverent. It breaks the mold and stands out.

Your animation could be a refreshing departure from what is typical.

Kevin Jackson Thanks, I appreciate it. It’s actually about animals living like modern humans, but grounded in real behavior and character-driven humor. Glad it stands out.

So sad, the greats are leaving us.

My deepest condolences! Rest in peace, Ted Nichols!

Hi Wilhelmina

Welcome.

it is a pleasure to know you

WELCOME!

welcome

The story is the story. You wrote it that way, believe in it.

One opinion doesn't create a rewrite ...in my opinion.

All the best with your writing,

If they provide crucial information, then they should stay, however you could reorganize them. For example, have a scene that shows something without all the context, thus creating some intrigue. Then when you flash back to it, do it very quickly to provide the full context.

GJ, I wonder if that coverage reader would have said the same thing if they read drafts of Goodfellas, Godfather II, Forrest Gump, The Magnificent Ambersons, Anatomy of a Murder, Casablanca (yes, cut the Paris scenes that explain Rick and Ilsa's relationship), Mildred Pierce, Titanic, Citizen Kane.... and maybe they would tell you to cut the Christmas Past segments from A Christmas Carol. I have used them in a couple of my scripts, and I will continue to use them if they are important to the story. My two cents.

My general rule is that flashbacks will only serve the script if they're thoroughly integrated into the storytelling as a pillar of the narrative structure. If I'm only using one flashback in an otherwise linear narrative because I need to convey backstory information, that's likely to pull the reader/viewer out of the story and there's probably a better way that I can convey the same information. Conversely, if the structure of the narrative relies on flashbacks as an immersive part of how the audience is invited to engage with my characters, then they can work very well.

I often reference Big Little Lies as a good example of the latter; Shailene Woodley's character's memory flashes of the assault she experienced are an integral part of the story and how we as the audience come to understand her. Phoebe Waller-Bridge used a similar technique with Fleabag, which also worked quite well.

acting has no age range. 40's, 50's even 60 year olds still act. I myself went through John Casablanca and would recommend them to everyone. they will teach you the in's and out's of acting and modeling. I highlighted advise to bring a pen and paper. take every note you can. keep the information they give you because if you follow the practice and make it a routine, learn what they share and use their information for everything in your life.

for additional help check out my profile, acting lounge as well as the education tab where they have a library of information to assist you in your acting journey.

Andrew Gardner You're not too old at all, but it does depend on what you are expecting and what you want to do. Many parts of the industry favor experience over youth by definition. Writing for instance, has no necessary connection with age and, for the most part, more mature writers naturally write better and more nuanced material. And directing and producing have NEVER been a young person's game. With rare exception (and the exceptions tend to prove the rule), the older and more experienced, the better. However, film is one of the toughest industries on the planet and it's not for everyone. In fact, the professional level is for very few. For one thing, it is a chaotic landscape of individual entrepreneurial businesses masquerading as a cohesive industry. Most people don't even think about that, but every film is it's own business, starting from scratch. So if you want to produce (as opposed to focusing on writing), ask yourself do you have the entrepreneurial bent? You've paid your dues already, but there are industry specific issues that you have to learn hands-on. With your mature background, you will interpret them differently than your much younger colleagues, and you'll probably be right.

May God guide and direct you bro

There's no such thing as too old, but there is a such thing as too tired. Starting a new career like screenwriting takes an enormous amount of energy to do it in a way that will make you successful. If you got it, you got it, even if you're 99, and if you don't you don't even if you're 19.

Andrew Gardner ,

how are you doing today?

great work