Screenwriting : A Plan to Succeed in Screenwriting by CJ Walley

"Indulge in Your Passion" is something that seems way counter-intuitive. I heard from some gurus to "not write your passion project" and be more objective and marketable. But then the result is too cold and calculated and feels in authentic. What you feel passionate about it key to art, even if some hard-nosed market and audience calculations are made.

I recently wrote a sci-fi actioner with jet fighters and I totally did it from memories of DOS games and playing with models when I was a kid, so I indulged not only my passion but also nostalgia.

Those "cold calculations" were about format, pacing, and plotting and they weren't all fun. However, the action scenes and worldbuilding the script were a blast. I can't wait to do it all again in another script.

Michael Dzurak, and, as ever, it's wise to look at what kind of careers those gurus have, if any. A lot of people are trying to beat art with logic and it's futile. What they think will give them direction and traction actually just results in dispassion and falling behind.

You can't write good material without motivation, and you can't be motivated without passion.

Putting it in DOS games terms; you've got to get those config.sys and autoexe.bat files right, or you won't have the ram to run in SVGA.

Must-read guide, CJ Walley! Thanks for sharing it. One thing that stood out is "Mass querying is not networking in the slightest and spamming at best." I did mass querying a while back. It hardly ever led anywhere. And my query letters were way too long and boring.

Fantastic blog post CJ Walley. For me, '25 was definitely a year of separating the wheat from the chaff in my personal life. It was tough but good. Most of it happened in a painful but organic way. No regrets.

Just an FYI that I tried clicking on the Agiaki link and got an error msg saying the host had removed it.

Thanks for sharing this. Every screenwriter here should read the post. And if you're ever in Nashville again, holler.

Maurice Vaughan, yeah, I did it when I first started and the response rate was less than 0.5%. Way too much noise to try and cut through, just to get to inboxes that aren't monitored. There are far better ways to network.

Leonardo Ramirez, life often tends to give us what we need rather than what we want, and we typically only see that with hindsight. Sorry to read you've been through some stuff but glad to see it led to a silver lining.

You're right, CJ Walley. There are far better ways to network. I cringe when I read my old query letters. I might make an old query letter vs new query letter Lounge post.

Maurice Vaughan, the positive thing about looking back and cringing is that it's evidence you've improved.

I never thought of it like that, CJ Walley. Great point. Thanks. And thanks for the Lounge post idea.

It did CJ Walley and I'm in a much better place for it. Not everyone is supposed to with us on this journey and that's not a bad thing.

Leonardo Ramirez, a big part of this is not only finding the people we align with and staying with them but also identifying the people we clash with and hold us back. It's amazing how many writers will stay in a toxic dynamic because they believe the pain is worth it. I've been there to some extend myself. I was in a group where two members would routinely rip into people's submitted short stories. I fell foul of making changes that went backward rather than forward as a result, and I let them knock my confidence. Neither of them have gone anywhere in the last decade, and have dragged plenty down with them.

CJ Walley What a great article and so timely for me personally. It is very nice to get direct and actionable advice with personal anecdotes that support the material, those are rare items to find. Over the last few months I have been on Stage 32 I have certainly learned that we are not in competition with each other. But, with some interactions with other creatives it has frequently felt when getting feedback from people that they are trying to obfuscate or 'hide' the information that directly answers a question and replaces it with seemingly helpful bromides and adages that ultimately don't mean a lot and have very little practical application. As if we are all running the same race for the same prize. This is just the opposite so THANK YOU! I will be frequenting your site from now on. I have 4 new projects I hope to execute this year and I have no doubts that your site will be instrumental as I work towards that goal.

Darrell Pennington, thanks so much for those kind words. There's a lot of hot air in many conversations, and that's mainly because people are speculating more than reflecting. Stage 32 really helped me in my early days by allowing me to do some due-diligence on the person giving me advice. I quickly learned that those seeing results and those going in circles had wildly different approaches. The likes of DoneDealPro and Reddit never offered that, and I fell foul of taking dogmatic advice from anonymous people who sounded like the had all the answers while hiding the fact they were failing.

I like your five points on that blog and do like honesty and targeted aggression.

David Taylor, I appreciate it. Chaotic aggression is just a waste of energy LOL!

CJ Walley This is what I needed to hear...I feel and know my own approach and path as a screenwriter, are really becoming more authentic, and lots of other's perspectives have stopped resonating...and that's more than okay : ) Happy 2026

Great blog CJ Walley! This line stood out to me: "Know that you effectively have two key things you’re promoting as a screenwriter: yourself as a creative who can work on assignments and your portfolio of spec scripts ready to be made."

It's truly not only about the material, it's about YOU in a world where everyone has a public persona (thanks to social media). You don't have to play the influencer rat race but how you present yourself online and your competencies is crucial. The FIRST thing all readers /execs /dev people /producers/managers/agents do when they get your script is Google you and see what's out there about you online, whether you like it or not! As a reader for years, I'd do it if I really liked a script and wanted to know who this legend was; or I'd do it if I really hated a script because I wanted to know who this demon was! Either way, you were getting searched!

Your advice "Run your name through Google to see where and how you appear, and try to keep it all in sync." is aces. It's not all about having a million followers or a popular "brand" (although that probably helps a lot), it's just about presenting a consistent, united front creatively, so people can "get" you. People want to know who you are and where you're coming from because when you work with someone on a movie, it's a loooooonnnngggg process and you'll have to spend a lot of time communicating with each other.

Juliana Philippi, absolutely that's more than okay. Authenticity is key and so many go in the opposite direction. Good for you and all the best.

Pat Alexander, yeah, it works both ways. I'm sure most readers Google any producers looking at their work. Personality is a big deal, not only because it suggests what type of person we are like to work with but also where our artistic voice stems from. Ideally, the producers we work with should also be the kind of people we want to drink with. That's where collaboration gets powerful and people aren't pushing against one another.

Faced with a minnive arohtelp of time, I'll check out your site but I just can't go through all these comments. Sorry. Yrros.

Marc Ginsburg, I appreciate you taking a look.