Should I Give Up on My Script?

Welcome to “Ask the Coach.” As a writing coach, I answer questions from writers about making the work of writing happen, tackling craft, business, and personal questions along the way. (Have a question you’d like answered? Check the details at the end of the article about how to submit one.)

Today I’m responding to a writer about whether to give up on a script:

Hi, so glad you wrote in. Congratulations on having a polished script you’re proud to have written, and on the positive feedback you’re receiving from your writing community and trusted allies.

At the same time, you’re not getting the response you anticipated from contests and fellowships, which is both disappointing and frustrating. Let’s look at some possibilities that might be at play here.

Contests and fellowships aren’t the final referendum on your script.

First, be thoughtful about putting excessive stock in contests and fellowships. A handful of readers determining whether something should advance in a contest or fellowship is not the be-all, end-all referendum about the quality of your script. You may be giving them too much credence and power over your choices and belief in your work.

Presumably there’s a wide spectrum of scripts submitted to these contests from terrible to stellar. Given the feedback you’ve mentioned receiving from others, in all likelihood, your script may feel in the middle to the top of the range. Not every script can win — not even all the truly great scripts — that’s a fact of a contest or fellowship.

Another way to frame this is the other screenplays they evaluated landed more in their interest wheelhouse. And while your script may not be for them, that doesn’t mean it’s undeserving of further revision, marketing, or advancement.

Not all contests are created equal.

While you’re at it, take a look at which contests you’re entering to see if they have good outcomes for their contest winners, or not. Not all contests are made equal. Some contests provide feedback, for example, while others do not. Others help their winners advance in the industry, some do not. Some contests are well thought of. Some are not.

Related: How Do I Pick Up The Pieces with Writing After Burning Out?

Contests and fellowships are just one entry point.

Let’s also remember there are other actions writers can take to move their writing careers forward. Contests and fellowships are not the only way.

There are a number of ways for a script or a writer to break into the industry. Networking and querying, for example. Before you throw in the towel on this script, evaluate whether there are other avenues you can and should be pursuing.

Have you built a network of industry professionals, like agents, managers, entertainment lawyers, assistants, and producers? Have you reached out to your network about this script?

Your script may not be as polished as you think it is.

And, at the same time, your script may not be as polished as you believe it is. We all have blinders when it comes to our own writing (in both “good” and “bad” directions), and so may the people who are reading for you. It may be valuable to seek feedback on your script from an experienced reader who doesn’t know you personally, to get some objective feedback. It may turn out you can elevate and improve your script more than you’re currently realizing.

You may want to write something else and come back to this script.

Another way of gaining objectivity on your work is to focus on something else and then come back to the script at hand. My early scripts are objectively less good than I believed they were at the time, and I can see their flaws much more clearly as a result of working on something new.

You’re the one in charge of you and your writing.

Although there are a host of obstacles to breaking into the film industry, it behooves you (and all of us) to remember that you’re in charge of your writing and the beliefs and feelings you hold about it. While you certainly can “throw in the towel,” you might want to think strategically about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and see what you can do to lean into those strengths, and improve weaknesses where you can. You might try taking classes or working with a coach or mentor, for example. You might focus on writing a new script, then coming back to this one, as I mentioned. You might decide to put serious effort into marketing your script directly yourself, rather than leaving it to the whims and fancies of the contest market.

Related: On Marketing Multiple Scripts... Or Not

You get to decide.

At the same time, you get to decide. You can give up on this script, back-burner it, or choose to press on.

Remind yourself what you love about this script and why you wrote it. Those insights may help you decide how you handle it. It’s entirely possible it’s not the right time for this script, as much as anything else. There are forces at play in the marketplace and zeitgeist we aren’t always aware of, too. Sometimes, it’s about trusting the process, yourself, and your writing as much as anything else.

That’s a Wrap

While contests and fellowships can be one way into the film industry, they aren’t the only way. They also have — much in the same way reaching out to individual producers, agents, managers, and other industry professionals has — the disadvantage of being the response to your work from a limited few individuals. In other words, this one reader, producer, agent, or manager may not love your script. But the next one might. That means it’s your responsibility to shepherd your script into the right hands, which will involve research, networking, querying, and more. A fellowship or contest is just one way to do that work.

Warmly,

Jenna

Screenwriters, what questions do you have about writing? What stumbling blocks are you wrestling with? Take our short survey here, submit your question to be answered anonymously via my online form here, or email me directly at askthecoach@calledtowrite.com. Look for answers to selected questions in my monthly “Ask the Coach” column on the third Thursday of the month.

Find me on Bluesky @jennaavery.bsky.social.