I don’t enter many contests but NYC Midnight puts on this event every year, sponsored by Final Draft, that I enter. I just signed up again, this will be my third time.

It’s not a typical screenwriting contest, here’s how it works.

They assign you to a heat with specific topic and genre for example, Mother & science fiction, and then you have one week to write a 15-page screenplay.

The best few from each heat go to round two (about 30 people) where everyone gets the same topic and genre and you have to write another 15-page screenplay in 24 hours.

The best part about this contest is the forum that you can choose to post your screenplay entry into after the end of each round; mostly it’s amateurs, and mostly everyone is kind.

I have received a lot of good feed back every time I have posted one of my screenplays in the forum.

Here is what I have learned. Most of the good screenplays are expressionist. They try to focus on a single emotion, usually about something real personal.

15 pages isn’t long enough to develop a whole lot of story so if you can convey an emotion, you have done something.

Most of the people who participate in the forum are amateurs. Most of the people who win the contest are not beginners, and they do not participate in the forum, so it seems like most of the winners come out of nowhere.

This is okay.

It’s still a good exercise to force yourself to write on a given topic, and the fee for entering the contest is very low.

Totally worth it, I recommend this contest.

-J Roland Kelly