Love the idea of the Pats starting yet another much-hated dynasty. But also love me some Sam Darnold come back story. So I'll be good however this game goes. Predictions: Pats. Crucial mistake cost Darnold in the 4th Quarter. Situational football rules the day. But... this takes me back to The Goat, TB12. And the horrible start vs Atlanta, years ago. They fell behind 28-3, before storming back and winning in overtime. And maybe nothing looked worse than when Brady threw a pick 6 when they were down 14, to let the score go to 21-0. But he gathered himself and his team. "Come on now, laser focus! We gotta play harder! Tougher!" And led the greatest comeback in sports history. I've often felt this way when battling a script. Trying to figure out the way forward. Feeling lost, but knowing it's not in my DNA to give up and being determined to fight my way through. I genuinely look to Brady as a model for that. Selected 199th in the draft. 4th quarterback on the roster, behind the first QB ever to sign a $100M contract. But showing up everyday in practice and staying late, with the mentality that this would be his team one day and his work ethic would make that inevitable. I'm curious, who's your model for the way you work, for how you move forward when things get tough? Oh, and what's your pick? I'm going 27-24 Pats. Vrabel's got this team dialed in. I could be wrong, but even if I am, with the mentality Brady set down for that organization, even a loss will be a learning experience on their way back to greatness IMHO. Then again, I'm the same guy who was at a huge Super Bowl party years ago and everybody was making fun of me when the Pats were down 28-3. And I said, we've got them right where we want them. Then I might have turned around and flipped them all a double bird when the Pats won. I'm not saying I did. But I'm not saying I didn't either. Go Pats!

Great group today. I am really feeling the momentum, not only in the number of people showing up, but for the pages getting rewritten and really coming to life. I want to break down what separates those who are actually doing the work from those still sitting on the sidelines. What Happened Today Chris brought a deeply personal scene exploring his character Guy's wound - the absent father driving his need to show up for kids at birthday parties. The scene ran long at 5 pages, but Chris did something crucial: he explored his character's emotional core. We workshopped how to tighten it, add humor to balance the sincerity, and motivate it with a specific inciting incident. Chad completely transformed his teaser based on last week's notes. What was once cluttered and confusing is now a tight, atmospheric demon-summoning sequence with genuine scares AND dark comedy. The goldfish boiling as the demon dances by? Hell yes, Chad! If they can kill a dog in John Wick, you can boil a goldfish! It's funny, it's dark and f'd up in the best of ways. This is what revision looks like when you actually apply feedback. Jason Smith is actively producing a feature film - casting internationally, storyboarding, dealing with the brutal reality of pre-production while trying to nail his dialogue and character voices. Notice what these writers have in common: 1. They brought pages - not ideas, not excuses, actual work 2. They're iterating based on feedback - Chad's rewrite was night and day 3. They're exploring character wounds - Chris digging into Guy's abandonment issues 4. They're committed to their worlds - Like Tolkien building backstory before writing The Hobbit 5. As I said in the session: Lord of the Rings is unabashedly sincere. It commits completely to what it is. Whether you're writing comedy or fantasy, be as much of that thing as you can be. That's how you distinguish yourself. The Brutal Truth Some of you are taking notes. Some of you are "doing homework." But are you actually writing? Are you bringing pages to get read? Are you applying notes and showing up with rewrites?

Also, reach out to someone and cast some parts. Have them read and be prepared, if possible. Let's step our collective game up and see what we can do together, people! If you're coming, drop your name below, even if you don't have pages, so someone can cast you. Thx!

I just thought I’d share what I’ve been up to other than just working my day job 🤣 I’m catching up on posts that i have missed as we speak. Firstly - How is everyone doing? I thought I’d share something different today. I’ve felt a little slump of writing my cyberpunk movie/feature project over the last few days. I’m not sure if it’s whether I’m just stuck. Or not sure how to add my next steps. ( as I’ve written and introduced my main character Billy ). Or if it’s just self doubt. BUT. I have still a lot of creative writing energy. That I want to get out. This morning I heard a song, that was on my playlist for the first ever story I had wrote down. Nearly 2 years ago. I started that at a time of knowing…NOTHING. So, I actually wrote it as a book format. Chapters. Each chapter in my head was an episode. Over the course of the two years I’ve learnt more and more- and started my first draft pilot episode. Now, I LOVE this story. As it came From mostly random thoughts I had and conversations I had with people. Inspired and reimagined by shows I love. Eg. Supernatural and lucifer. Mixed with glitz and glam of Hollywood. As someone who isn’t religious personally. But LOVE when shows explore the cosmic world and supernatural worlds. And well as military style Shows . I always had questions. And imagining “what if’s”. And this is where “ I did it for the devil” came from. So today. I was kind of drawn to this project. A spark. ( I still LOVE LOVE LOVE the cyberpunk project - but today just something in me made me pick my first story back up) So here is a treatment/ outline and also the opening scene of the pilot. ( which I edited and added more of today. ). I still need to expand on places. And figure out the B- line story as currently it’s just an A line story A while ago along side my music playlist for this story. I created a make shift visual trailer using stock videos, to help get the vibe in my head. Honestly this group - I have learnt so so much in such a short time. But even more - I have felt so inspired by all of you guys in this group. So thank you so much 🖤

I just got a laptop (MacBook Air) after being without for a few years. I've been doing everything on my phone. So being a single father at the age of 54 I'm scraping by. I've been blessed to get a computer. YAaaay!!! I don't have wi-fi because it will cost me around $250 a month (Cox Cable is a rip-off)..just don't have it right now. So the only internet I have is on my phone. I looked up Final Draft 13 and it is pricey. I'm sure there is an older version out there that is reasonable and still accessible/usable. Does anyone know how I can access the software at a reasonable price and how to download it on my laptop? ***I'm still writing, but everything is in note form until then. I soooo much appreciate your feedback. Thanks Donovan