Screenwriting : Momentum and Looking Ahead by Elle Bolan

Hoping to resume work on 2nd novel for guy who hired me for first one!

Hi, Elle Bolan. I'm finishing some feature scripts, redoing pitch material for finished scripts, and networking.

Still waiting on my laptop lol...but in all seriousness, working on query letters for my scripts and seeing who(if anyone) is still open to unsolicited queries from new writers.

@Jon Shallit, fingers crossed for you! Hopefully you can resume on it soon.

@Holly Fouche I'll need to upgrade mine too here soon. It's been a good laptop, but it's about time to let it rest.

I'm not sure in the unsolicited submissions. I don't know of any.

Maurice Vaughan I love it! Gotta keep it moving.

Thanks, Elle Bolan. You're right. I have some older scripts I might finish this month/the start of next year too. And I need to upgrade my laptop too.

Great question, Elle!

I recently completed the feature script and pitch deck for my film THE CALL, so right now I’m refining small details and staying ready — because you never know when a pitch opportunity might open up before the new year.

I’m also focusing on building connections here on Stage 32. My goal is to carry this momentum straight into January and let consistency do the heavy lifting.

What’s inspiring you as you plan for 2026?

@Roberto I'm focusing my polishing efforts on my completed features and teleplays. And I'm currently building my first draft of a new feature called SHIFT.

@Maurice it's gonna take me years to sort through my old pages. We aren't thinking about those today haha

Haha Sometimes rewriting old scripts is too much work, Elle Bolan. You could take the core of your old script and write a new script. That might be easier.

A lot of my old stories and stuff will likely get chucked out in just that manner. Except for one novel. What I've written it too good not to convert as written. But that novel is incomplete, so I can convert the first bit and draft the rest new.

I'm hoping to complete the first draft of my current manuscript, a gothic horror set in England during World War 2, in the next week or so.

I'll be polishing early in the new year and submitting thereafter.

I'm planning SiR and CC out still, maybe not to the extent that I cooked BoFS (that took months lol), but nonetheless I'll hopefully not take too long writing either of them in the new year, as well as Encore.

And it's an entirely personal project, but by the end of the year I hope to finish drawing, inking, and colouring my first-in-literal-decades fanart, of Sydney Sweeney inspired by the American Eagle ad lol with a bit of Marilyn Monroe and Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" sprinkled in.

@Alex Hunter that's exciting! Finishing a draft always feels so good. It's the hardest part, really. And puts you in a good spot for January.

@Banafsheh I absolutely love the Monroe era goddesses of the screen. I'd like to see those if you're willing to show and share.

Hi Elle Bolan, working on my training course work through Hollywood Gate Keepers to become a "popular" screen reader & book scout in the new year. Picking up my writing of short story / deep poetry to publish throughout 2026. "Regal Scale" caught my interest will be looking for it in film or script. I set short term goals instead of resolutions. For the last few years there is one word that catches my attention at the beginning of the new year repeatedly, and I attribute its original meaning as well as its modern usage for the years focus.

That’s awesome, Elle Bolan SHIFT sounds intriguing — congrats on building out the new draft.

Polishing completed features is such an underrated part of the process, but it’s where the real refinement happens.

Wishing you smooth pages as you shape it — excited to see where it leads for you.

@Rose I also prefer short term goals too. I believe in steps. Moving forward always involves steps. What sort of short stories do you write?

And hey, thanks for bringing up THE REGAL SCALE. The spec for the pilot is complete. Pitch deck is ready... Ish. I'm still trying to figure out potential homes for a lot of my projects.

That's something I definitely need to get started on. Research.

You mentioned poetry. I was something of a poet myself at one time. What's your style there?

Thank you Elle Bolan, I love them, too, and Sydney Sweeney reminds me of her a little bit. I'll definitely share the fanart when it's ready lol so far I've just pencilled in the shape I want.

It’s absolutely The Silent PFC War — my very first sci-fi script in English.

Even just thinking that I’m writing in English feels huge.

In my country we focus more on French, and even at university I studied in French, so I developed my English on my own.

I feel so proud to have come this far.

I'm trying to let my comicbook artist Vale Apple draw as many pages of Serial Twins as possible this year. In the process I am trying to let her art increase 250 % in the first 20 pages of the comicbook, which probably will be around 36 pages max. part of those internal pages wil be done by a pro to umpf things up; the trick now is that the gap between the quality of his art (also the cover) and her art isn't to big. I love so called "problems?," they give me oppertunity to solve them in a way that makes the comicbook twice as good The more problems, the better!!!

@Rutger sometimes those struggles are just birthing pains of genius! Love it.

@Meriem I'm so, so proud of your efforts to write this film in English. That's a true labor of love we are all very lucky to witness.

Thank you very much for your encouragement Elle Bolan