As part of building this community, I'm updating the About page. Just curious which of these two vibes with the most people and would make you feel like, "Hell yeah, I need to sign up for that!" I was debating and debating, then I thought... I know a whole group of people with opinions! Let's hear it! Which would you prefer if you were landing on the About Page for the first time, and why? VERSION A: ✍️ The Writer’s Forge Stop forcing structure. Learn to create unforgettable characters that get noticed by agents and managers who can take your career to the next level. Most writers stay stuck because they’ve been taught structure-first. The beats look right… but the script feels dead. It’s missing a beating heart — characters that feel real, alive, primal as hell, and hit the reader on a gut level. The kind that make an industry reader flip back to the title page and think: “Who tf wrote this?” I’m J. David Stem (Shrek 2, Jimmy Neutron, Rugrats, Disenchanted). Studios hired me for 25 years to rebuild scripts from the inside out. Now I help writers do the same inside The Writer’s Forge. 🔥 Hot Seats — clear, honest feedback 🎯 Accountability — write with momentum 💬 Emotional Authorship — build characters reps care about If you’re serious about leveling up, get in here. $5/month for now — jumping to $50 soon. Let’s get to work. VERSION B: Stop writing in isolation and start thinking and acting like a professional. I’m J. David Stem, a $2.5B box office screenwriter and script doctor. Inside The Writer’s Forge, I teach serious writers to level up their craft with confidence — supported by a community that actually shows up and grows together. Get instant access to: 🔥 LIVE Story Hot Seats — real fixes, real clarity, coached by me 💪 Emotional Authorship — create characters actors actually want to play 🎯 Rewrite Rescue — diagnose what’s broken and fix it with professional precision 🎤 Pitching & The Business — insights from my former agent and working TV writers

Hey all, I posted a video yesterday to kick the Classroom off. Today I added commentary about the opening of the movie itself as well as how the script is written so efficiently on the page, to convey urgency to the reader. If someone could please a look and make sure everything's loaded up correctly and makes sense! As well as the movie script itself being downloadable. This is such a powerful movie and one I will refer to repeatedly so I strongly urge you to watch it, if you haven't seen it already. Or re-watch if it's been a while. Or we should just have movie night and stream it together ha! Thanks!

Is writing a screenplay like interior designing? Interior designers look at a room, and they have a greater vision of adding a wall, breaking down a wall, etc. When a script is being written, do the writers already have a vision of what the movie will look like on the screen? I’m having difficulty seeing the vision of my story, but I know what is happening. I need to hear someone talk about their creative process.

I'll start. My main goals are to keep researching on and building content for this fabulous community. That and stop eating ice cream every night. One of these seems more reasonable than the other. But I'm not saying which. How about you?

Actually, since I just started this community, we're all new members, So, I'll go first. I'm David Stem, long time screenwriter who decided after my daughter kept telling me I need to teach. She's at NYU now studying creative writing, and she and I have had many long conversations about the creative process and the mindset it takes to be a successful writer over time. I spent my entire 20s trying to figure out how to break into the business and made every classic mistake there was to make ... especially jumping into screenplays just because I got excited about an idea and yet had no real idea how to structure, not only the script itself, but my life as a writer. The good news was that during that journey, I at least learned to develop my own voice. And that led me to working as a journalist and in advertising. Both of which I loved much more than the office job I'd previously had for years. When I was 29, I was finally hired on a Nickelodeon sketch comedy show called, Roundhouse. And my career took off from there. I've seen many writers come and go during that time. And have realized the biggest obstacle any of us face is ourselves. I would say self-mastery is key to this process, but that sounds too harsh. I think there's a walk between discipline and self compassion that keeps a writer sane and productive. Especially when most of us are dealing with ADHD or whatever else drove us to want to be writers in the first place. Something I read long ago has always stuck with me on this journey: The blank page is God's way of showing you it's not so easy to be God. Which is why I created this community! So we could all face that and learn together. So, jump in, introduce yourself, tell us about your journey. Then go read the 10 Iron Clad Rules for a Writing Life and post which you excel at and which you struggle with! Those rules come from 25+ years of being in the trenches, day after day, with... myself!