I'm so glad to see this community coming together. I just want to make sure I'm creating resources that actually help. My journey as a writer has taken me through every stage of doubt/second-guessing and wild eyed confidence that flows each and every one of us! So I want to hear what vibes with you! What would be most helpful: - Getting the patient on the table -- finishing that messy first draft - Rewrites -- diagnosing what's broken and how to fix it - Character work -- my Emotional Authorship method (Wound→Lie→Healing) - Pitching & loglines -- grabbing attention without sounding desperate - Procrastination -- working with your brain instead of against it - Consistency over perfection -- showing up matters more than being brilliant. Stop beating yourself up. - Confidence -- facing the blank page when you feel like "who am I kidding?" - The business -- I can bring in my former agent and TV writers who taught at USC/AFI - Writing together -- body doubling sessions. Cams on, 30 minutes, no talking. Just write. - Using AI as a thinking partner -- I've built a GPT based on my coaching that helps you ask better questions about your story. Not to write it for you, but to show you new ways to think about it. Rave reviews from those who have tried it. You can find The Primal Forge GPT here, along with reviews. - Courses -- like The Full Journey (idea to finished script), Character Deep Dive, Rewrite Rescue, others? Drop a comment. What's keeping you up at night? What would actually move the needle for you? Let's make this place what you need it to be. Oh, and don't forget Story Hot Seat Monday at 10 a.m. PST where you bring whatever you're working on and get clear direction on how to move ahead. And we've got a Script Hot Seat with Vanlyfe by @Elliot Evans on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. You can pick up that script here.

For me, one of the first scenes I remember just blowing my mind was Al Pacino’s Opening Trial Statement in And Justice for All. He’s a lawyer blackmailed into defending a corrupt judge he hates — a man charged with a violent assault. The judge picks him because of that hate — knowing the optics will make him look innocent if his loudest critic defends him. Even decades later, that scene gets me. A man willing to burn his career — and himself — for the truth. That’s the kind of courage and madness storytelling demands. What scenes hit you like that? What moment made you realize you had to write? Drop them below — I want to see what cracked you open. 🔥

Thanks so much for the live call today, David. Really enjoyed it, always love the way these sessions spark new ways of thinking. When @Diane Whiddon brought up procrastination and writing habits, and @David Stem mentioned Big Magic (which I absolutely love), it reminded me of something I’d written a while ago that was sparked from a sentence I said in another community "Procrastination is my rebellion against the divine". It hit a nerve, and I ended up expanding it into a short 175-word piece that was later published by the Society of Scottish Artists. What I’ve realised since is that procrastination isn’t really about laziness, it’s the mind’s rebellion against the unknown. And yet the unknown is where the boon is, where the truth, the surprise, and the magic live. Thank you for creating this space David, and thanks to everyone who shared so openly. You can read the micro-essay here if interested SSA ESSAY PROJECT | SARMED MIRZA | Society of Scottish Artists

Had an idea this morning while flying to NY. The 2 coaching sessions this week were electric — both writers broke through in ways that made me stop and think: what exactly am I teaching when I do this? So I ran the transcripts through ChatGPT and Claude to see what patterns they found in my coaching. After years of instinct, it finally clicked: what I’m teaching isn’t structure — it’s emotional authorship. How to write from your characters instead of about them. How to find the wound that shaped them, the lie that protects them, and the truth the story exists to expose. That’s the forge — the moment when a writer stops moving characters around the board and starts feeling what drives them. So here’s the experiment: Can AI be trained to help writers Forge Creativity, Not Replace It? I know — AI is the third rail of the creative world right now. But this isn’t about replacing writers. It’s about revealing them. I’m calling it The Primal Forge GPT. It’s not a note bot. It’s not a formula machine. It’s a tool trained directly on how I coach writers — to help you uncover the wound, lie, and truth that make a character come alive. The goal isn’t polished pages. It’s to get unstuck — to feel what’s really driving your story, the emotional engine beneath the plot. If you’re curious, drop a logline, a scene, or even a full treatment into The Primal Forge GPT and see what happens. This is just an experiment, so it might totally fail. No worries if it does — that’s part of what we teach here. Don’t be afraid to charge headlong down rabbit holes that might lead nowhere. Even a dead end is good data. If a few of you want to try it as a brainstorming or journaling tool and share honest feedback — useful or annoying — I’d love to hear it. This is just one of many tools I hope to experiment with and bring you in the coming weeks. Click here to access in ChatGPT: The Primal Forge GPT

Great to have so many new people here! 👋 I’m putting together a schedule for upcoming Hot Seats on both script and story, plus future guest sessions with writers, agents, and producers. Most events so far have been in the mornings, but I know many of you have day jobs. I’ve got some flexibility and can definitely host sessions at other times. Since I’m on Pacific Time, drop a quick line below and let me know what works best for you: 🌅 Morning: 9–12 🌞 Afternoon: 12–3 🌙 Evening: 6–10 (I’m a night owl, so that’s totally possible too.) Can’t promise I’ll match everyone, but I’ll definitely take it into account as we plan the next few weeks. Thanks! 🙏