Bust out your Trapper Keepers and get this all down in your calanders!
This year, we’re going to have 11 showdowns at Scriptshadow. If you’re new to the site, a Showdown is when you send me a writing sample, I pick the best entries and post them on the site, then you guys spend the weekend voting on your favorite entry. The winning entry then gets reviewed on the site.
Normally, I’d announce each Showdown the month before. But I want everyone to have that information ahead of time so that you can prepare the best submissions possible.
We’re going to start off with one of my favorite showdowns to run, the LOGLINE SHOWDOWN. Except there’s a little twist! Instead of only submitting one logline, you must submit FIVE loglines. I will choose your best logline. That logline will be officially entered into the competition. I will then choose ten loglines to compete in the showdown.
As a bonus, even if you don’t make the cut, I will tell every single person who enters what their best logline was. The secondary goal of this showdown is to find your next script to write. So, at the very least, I’m going to tell you which of your five ideas you should turn into a script.
JANUARY – 5 LOGLINES SHOWDOWN
What: 5 Loglines Showdown
When: Friday, January 30
Deadline: Thursday, January 31, 11pm Pacific Time
Submit: 5 loglines, each with a title and a genre
Where: carsonreeves3@gmail.com
Okay, let’s move on to the rest of the showdowns
FEBRUARY – FIRST PAGE SHOWDOWN
Not enough writers understand the art of keeping the reader’s attention. They write for themselves rather than placing themselves in the minds of their readers and asking what would entertain them. That first page tells the reader SO MUCH about you. Namely, it poses the question: Would you keep reading? Would we?
MARCH – SCENE SHOWDOWN
Scene-writing is script-writing. You cannot write a script until you first understand how to write a dramatically compelling scene with a beginning, middle, and end. Something that conveys character wants. Something that shows you understand how to inject conflict into a scenario. Most of all, a scene displays whether you know how to be entertaining. This is your chance to prove all that.
APRIL – TWIST ENDING SHOWDOWN
I felt like we needed to have fun with a couple of these showdowns so these next two are, admittedly, different. You will write a short script that MUST HAVE a twist ending. Twist endings are super hard to write but when they work, they turn a script into a must-read.
MAY – CHARACTER INTRO SHOWDOWN
I thought we all knew how important introducing a character was. Yet I continue to read scripts with weak character intros! This is your chance to change that. If I told you that you had to create the best character in cinema history, what kind of first scene would you write for them? I’d imagine it would be amazing. Well, that’s how you should approach every one of your protagonist intros.
JUNE – MEGA-SHOWDOWN RETURNS!!!
Mega-Showdown returns! 10 uninterrupted days of showdown madness on the site. This was my favorite two weeks on Scriptshadow last year so I’m excited to see what happens next. If you haven’t already started on something, you should start the SECOND you get my reply e-mail about which of your five loglines is best.
JULY – HIGH CONCEPT LOGLINE SHOWDOWN
After you finish a script, the very first thing you need to do is COME UP WITH YOUR NEXT IDEA. Hollywood waits for no one. You must keep generating material. This logline competition, however, is going to be high concept only. No sad Alaskan coming-of-age concepts. Only stuff that results in anime eyes from any producer who looks at it.
AUGUST – DIALOGUE SHOWDOWN
Write a scene that is dialogue-driven! I might even impose limitations of allowing a minimal amount of description. The scene’s value must exist solely on the ability to write great dialogue. Better get that Scriptshadow Dialogue book if you hope to stand a chance!
SEPTEMBER – OPEN SHOWDOWN
I’m still not sure what I’m going to do for this month yet. A couple of options are a Second Chance Showdown (for entries that were solid but didn’t make the Mega-Showdown cut). Short Story Showdown. Interpretation Showdown (I post a short script idea and everyone writes their version of it). I’m open to other ideas so feel free to suggest stuff in the comments!
OCTOBER – HORROR SHOWDOWN
It’s been a while since we’ve had a genre-specific showdown and what better month to bring it back than October! When Halloween is in the air. Poe will be thrilled. Scott will be furious. But, in the end, we’ll all be happy if we find a great horror script. :)
NOVEMBER – AI PITCH SHOWDOWN
A part of me doesn’t want to do this showdown but I think it’s necessary if we don’t want to be left behind. By the end of this year, I believe screenwriting will begin to heavily incorporate AI to bring in a more visual element when pitching our stories. So, I want to do a showdown where you pitch your movie idea using the available AI tools out there (image generation, video generation). Whoever wins, I will review their script (yes, this can include scripts that didn’t make the Mega-Showdown). I know there will be a lot of questions about this one. We’ll answer those questions as we get closer to November.
And there we have it. A year’s worth of screenwriting battles. I can’t wait! Can you??
