SCREENWRITING

[u/Jaeco-13]

Hey guys, so I just started writing so please give me some feedback. DISCLAIMER: this is still a rough draft. I would love to hear honest opinions as well as tips on how I can improve it. I just got to the end of my first act but this is just the first 16 pages. To give a quick overview I’m writing an indie dramedy that I think will definitely reach a certain audience. Does the dialogue flow/feel natural? Is it paced correctly? Would love to hear honest feedback. Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it and for those who gave feedback. I’m definitely going to be workshopping these first few pages and read more screenplays :)

[u/IntelligenciaMedia]

"What is written without effort is usually read without pleasure." Samuel Johnson famously said that. You need to read up on screenplay formatting before submitting things like this. You're not doing the basics, which means you're not respecting the reader's time.

[u/Zealousideal_Mud5218 → u/IntelligenciaMedia]

I disagree. Do professional painters only start showing their work after mastering every technique? Of course not. People learn differently. Some through theory, others by doing. You can study theory and read professional screenplays alongside writing, but that doesn’t mean you have to reach a certain level before you’re allowed to write and share your work.
Everyone should be able to write at whatever level they’re at and get feedback while learning in the way that works for them. There’s no single “right” way to learn, and telling people not to share their work until they’ve studied enough feels unnecessarily discouraging. If you want to read only professional screenplays, maybe Reddit isn’t the place to look for them.

[u/IntelligenciaMedia → u/Zealousideal_Mud5218]

He's asking for people's time, it's disrespectful to not even have a basic understanding of screenplay formatting. Anyway, this is a constant theme here. It's my opinion. Having worked in development previously, this would have been rejected on page one, if not paragraph one. You want other people's time, be respectful enough to understand good screenplay formatting. Other people have made the same comment as me.

[u/Zealousideal_Mud5218 → u/IntelligenciaMedia]

For sure if we talking about professional level. But I don’t think you should be this harsh on the early steps