I know it's been quiet this week, but there's a lot moving in the background and I'd love your input. I'm lining up guest writers to come in, talk shop, and answer your questions — including Phil Stark, screenwriter-turned-therapist and author of How to Be a Screenwriter. He wrote Dude, Where's My Car? and spent years on That 70s Show, so he'll have plenty to share. I want to start having guest writers and agents and such in regularly. How's Phil sound as one to kick it off? Also I dig deeper into how to run this community well, I've been exploring the Skool "Challenge" feature — and I think we might have something here. A December Challenge built around pages, word count, or scene output could be a great way to get momentum. But only if it's supportive, collaborative, and genuinely fun — not another source of pressure. We all put enough weight on ourselves already. So before I build anything, I want your take on this: Would a December writing challenge help you? If yes, what would make it feel motivating instead of stressful? Drop your thoughts below. I want to hear from you — and I want to shape this with you, not at you.

Enrollment LIMITED, Closes SOON. Most of you have seen me coach writers in this community. You've watched me take a character that felt flat, confused, or inconsistent… and in minutes the entire story unlocks. Suddenly the writer knows exactly what their hero wants, why they're stuck, and what the film is actually about. Here's the truth: That's not intuition. That's not magic. It's a system I built over 25 years of pitching and landing writing jobs on massive studio films — the kind everyone in Hollywood is fighting for. I call it Emotional Authorship — and until now, I've never taught it publicly. 👉 ENROLL NOW — $397 Go to Classroom → "Emotional Authorship Intensive" https://www.skool.com/the-writers-forge/classroom ⸻ What Emotional Authorship Actually Is Most writing tools focus on plot structure (Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, etc). But structure is useless without a story that has a beating heart. Structure tells you what happens. It does not tell you why it matters — to your character or to your audience. Emotional Authorship is the missing layer. It's the framework behind every major film I've written or rewritten: Shrek 2, Jimmy Neutron, The Rugrats Movies, Are We There Yet?, The Smurfs, Disenchanted — and it's why studios kept calling me when the scripts they developed weren't landing. The system comes down to three elements: ⸻ 1. The Wound 💔 Sometimes the Wound is trauma. More often it's naivete — a mistaken belief about how the world works. Example: Shrek isn't relatable because he's an ogre. He's relatable because he's the ultimate bachelor — living a self-protective life that hides deep fear. He's convinced he doesn't need anyone. That's his wound. Fiona's wound mirrors the other side of the same insecurity: She believes no matter how she presents herself on the outside, she'll never be enough as she truly is. That's universal — and why audiences connected so deeply. ⸻ 2. The Lie 🎭

Howdy, folks! Firstly, I just wanted to say that I’m so grateful to be apart of this group - writing can be a lonely biz at times, and it’s inspiring to be connected with so many other artists who share the same larger-than-life passion! Something I’ve noticed over the years is how few screenwriters actually read screenplays. It’s never made much sense to me, and I compare it to an aspiring mechanic who likes to go on car rides but never looks under the hood. I’ve been a professional actor for almost as long as I’ve been a writer, but I didn’t start writing for the screen until about 5 years ago. Which means that I read hundreds and hundreds of screenplays before I ever sat down to write one. I cannot stress enough how vital this has been to my development as a screenwriter. In my experience, mastering a craft of any kind requires an almost sixth sense that only develops through rigorous study and application over a long period of time. They say that it takes ten years to become an overnight success, and I believe there is some truth to this. From what I’ve gathered, mastering the craft of screenwriting is the bare minimum requirement to get a talkie made AND distributed, unless you’ve got a shitload of dough, deep industry connections, or magical powers (and oftentimes, these advantages aren’t enough either). We have an amazing opportunity here! Not only because David has generously dedicated so much of his time, or even his willingness to share his wisdom (and offer one-on-one coaching for like, a ridiculously afforable amount for someone of his caliber), but we also have each other and all of our different life expriences as resources. For me personally, I think that knowing how to think like an actor (or a director) has been invaluable to my screenwriting practice because it allows me to not only understand a character’s motivation as it relates to story structure, but it also has given me a keen sense of what makes dialogue natural, evocative, and economical. Beyond that, I think reading so many goddamn screenplays over the years has taught me more about screenwriting than all of the movies I’ve ever watched combined. And while the good ones have taught me so much about the craft, I think the bad ones have taught me even more (but that’s neither here nor there).

I took the time did the research and discovered my climatic twist for the ending. I had to look at each and everyone of my characters not just a few. All options were either contrived, predictable or too convoluted. The killer was the least suspected but the easiest solution. I cannot believe this guy was there all along - all I needed was time plus researching other films in my genre