New to this subreddit! Would love some feedback.

Atelephobe has a bunch of glaring beginner mistakes (but easy to fix) right on the first page. They aren't deal breakers, but are potentially off-putting. Just makes sure to reread what you post, because you say "Quinn is the main character" three times on the first page, when you don't need to say it at all. We'll figure out Quinn is the main character.

When you want to say a character is saying something, though we can't see him, it's (V.O.) for voice over. It's a black screen, so you don't need to tell us we don't see him.

The little monologue in the beginning is useless anyway. You're very cheaply telling us what our character's problem is, which we would've figured out just by the definition of atelophobia. So I recommend taking it all out.

Don't tell us what things are "usually" like. Tell us what we see and hear. Saying he plays "spectacularly as usual" is not different from telling us that we just hear piano playing.

Take out all the parentheticals. You say (excited) for Daniel's line, but we could figure that out by the exclamation marks. You use (unenthusiastic and lazy) for Quinn's line, but we figure that out by the "heh. yeah." and how you've already described him. (interrupts Daniel) is clear because he is saying "that's enough." (turns head) is unnecessary because the actors will be moving during the scene on their own.

A little nitpicking here, but lines like "You haven't come over in such a long time" are very telling. When I go to a friend's house that I haven't seen in a while, I usually notice the difference in furniture. You could have Quinn mention that Daniel got a new piano, but then Daniel says he's had it for a little while now. That implies that Daniel is getting better at piano, and that Quinn hasn't been there in a while. That's just a really quick solution, not necessarily saying it's better.

You are going too in depth with explaining how characters feel in every action line. "Quinn becomes irate." What does that mean? What does he actually do? And in the next line, Quinn "is obviously jealous and feels inferior to Daniel." What we see and what they say should be clear enough that we understand this subtext. Have more confidence that the reader will understand. Reading down, there's more like this. "

I like the burning script. At first, I was thinking "that's not even possible to burn a thick script with a lighter," but then it makes sense as the scene goes on.

/r/Screenwriting Thread