For me, it happened completely out of the blue. I was deep in my exam phase, lying awake one night, when this idea just popped into my head. Two nights later, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I sat down and started writing — even though I’d never written anything before, not even a short.
That project became Mickey, a psychological crime drama I poured everything into. I uploaded it here on Stage 32 only a short while ago, and to my surprise, it’s already gotten 32 views, multiple comments, and a 4.0 average rating. I’m humbled and honestly a little shocked at the response.
It made me wonder — what was your first step into screenwriting?
Was it a course? A short? A competition? Or, like me, did you just… start typing one day?
Would love to hear your origin stories.
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Hey, Philipp Müller. I found part of the Office Space script online during computer class in 12th grade. I liked the way the script was written. It wasn't like the short stories I was used to reading and writing. I read one or two articles about screenwriting, then wrote my first script.
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Hi Phil, after film school, thinking short films are expensive and since I can draw and have a good imagination, I chose screenwriting
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Philipp Müller, great question. I got into it only this April. I accidentally discovered that I am on the extreme spectrum of creative synesthesia. I also have ADHD with hyperfocus. A song I wrote in April, now more than 250, unlocked my "superpower". I have been writing songs and scripts since then. Four planned TV series, four films and a stage musical all since April of 2025.
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Hey Phil! I came to screenwriting in a very roundabout way! I've always loved to write, but I sought out careers where I wasn't writing creatively - it was more technical and business writing. Eventually, I joined a local creative writer's group and wrote a short story that several people suggested I turn into a screenplay. :) I've been writing screenplays ever since!
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By 4th grade I was going to the theater, watching movies and then coming home to write spoofs to film with my friends. Very simple scripts and stories but ever since then I've been hooked and continuing to work to get better at the craft.
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I decided to write after watching Good Will Hunting at the cinema when I was a teenager. The script is so beautifully written and it inspired me to want to learn the craft. It remains my favourite film since that day.
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Philipp, I bought a copy of a paperback version of the "American Graffiti" screenplay back in the middle 1970s...at a time when I still attended college. That and the 1974 movie "Blazing Saddles" inspired me to take a screenwriting course at that university in 1979.
By 1980, I was hooked...and I started pursuing a screenwriting/TV-writing career.
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My son bet me I couldn't write a good screenplay... so I had to prove him wrong!
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I wrote a book that took three years and then thought 'I'm never, ever, doing that again'. Screenplays are a far faster way to tell a story. (And I've now written 11 books. Three of which are now also screenplays, and the others will follow). Writing isn't something I do, it's something I am.
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I’ve been writing for most of my life and when I was entering my second or third year of writer’s block for my novel, I decided to listen to my Mum about trying my hand at screenwriting. I’m still trying to figure out how to do it well lol
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Years ago after helping coach a collegiate summer baseball team to a national championship, I remember a local reporter said it couldn't ever be turned into one of those true story movies as nobody would believe it, well I wrote the script, followed by two others...probably the worst decision I ever made...but ya never know lol.