Is Your Script Competition-Ready? Learn the Secrets

[Script Magazine]

Prepping Your Screenplays to Win Competitions Intensive

Script Online | The Writer's Store | Online Education Winning or placing in a screenplay competition is a great way to propel your writing career forward. Since the major writing competitions all receive thousands of entries, it’s crucial to make yours stand out. Many contests hire readers (script analysts) to first score the submissions and they choose which ones will advance to the judges. This course will teach you specific ways to drastically increase the readability of your pages, make your dialogue and description sing, and improve the clarity and structure of your script so you can have a better shot at advancing to the next round. You’ll also learn common pitfalls to sidestep that will help your chances of success. Finally, you’ll be introduced to which writing competitions are most beneficial to enter, and other resources to make the most of each contest season. Competitions can be expensive and time-consuming to enter but can open doors if approached in the right way. Rather than leaving it to chance, make sure you have a contest strategy and that your script is in the best shape it can be. What screenplay competitions look for in scripts Examples of categories used for scoring How to help make your script a “fast read” Ways to make your narration brief yet descriptive How to decrease your page count Tips to make your dialogue sound more authentic Places in a script where you can best show off your unique voice Proper script format and adhering to contest requirements Common pitfalls to avoid when submitting to contests Which contests could be most helpful to a screenwriter’s career The value of feedback and script coverage services Why it’s valuable to submit to contests even if you don’t win April 16 - 23, 2026 Start Your Contest Strategy Meet the Instructor: Rebecca Norris Resnick Rebecca Norris Resnick is a screenwriter, filmmaker, instructor for Writer’s Digest University, and columnist for Script Magazine. Distributed features include Cloudy With a Chance of Sunshine (Indie Rights and House Lights Media) and short films On Becoming a Man (Shorts International) and Toasted, which won the Canadian Film Centre’s ShortsNonStop competition. Rebecca’s films have screened in festivals worldwide including Cannes, Dances With Films, Hollyshorts, Manhattan Film Festival, Breckenridge Film Festival, and the Julien Dubuque Film Festival, and have won and been nominated for numerous awards. Rebecca is also an alumna of the ABC/Disney Television Discovers program, where her script Misfortune Cookies was performed in both New York and Los Angeles. When not working on her newest project, Rebecca stays on her toes chasing both her adorable daughter and her tuxedo cat, Sox. Active Interest Media 2143 Grand Ave Des Moines, IA 50312 USA View online You received this email because you are subscribed to emails from Script Magazine Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive.