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Creative Process

A writer’s inner voices take physical form during a crucial rewrite, turning his home into a battleground of competing ideas, egos, and self-doubt.

Struggling writer JEFF TREAGAR finally gets the call he has been waiting for: a literary agent is interested in his screenplay. There’s just one problem—the script needs work, and Jeff has only days to deliver a rewrite. He sits down determined to crack it, only for his creative process to literally come alive around him as the characters, ideas and insecurities inside his head begin appearing in his home.

Suddenly Jeff is sharing the room with MAGNUS, his rebellious creative instinct; DUANE, the impossibly confident hero of his screenplay; PAUL, the voice of crippling self-doubt; and ANATOLI, a wildly theatrical villain with ideas of his own. Every rewrite, second thought and piece of feedback threatens to produce another manifestation. When Jeff’s well-meaning father drops by and starts offering his own opinions, even he inadvertently creates a brand-new “improved” leading man, sending Jeff’s increasingly crowded imagination into complete meltdown.

With his characters arguing, his confidence collapsing and reality disappearing beneath an avalanche of competing ideas, Jeff finally reaches breaking point. He must silence everybody else long enough to rediscover what made the screenplay his in the first place. Taking control of his unruly creations, Jeff finishes the rewrite on his own terms—and walks into his follow-up meeting knowing that whether they buy the script or not, he has finally figured out the one part of the creative process nobody else can write for him: his own voice.

Script Excerpt
Written by:
Format:
Short Screenplay
Genres:
In the Vein Of:
Adaptation
Stranger than Fiction
Inside Out
Posted:
08/08/2026
Updated:
08/08/2026
Author Bio:
Ritchie “Stonian” Johnston is a British screenwriter and novelist specialising in high-concept genre storytelling across horror, thriller, action, sci-fi and dark comedy. A former independent filmmaker, he brings a strongly visual, character-driven approach to his work. Ritchie was selected for the ISA Development Slate and named one of ISA’s Top 25 Writers to Watch for 2026. His work has earned recognition across numerous competitions and industry programmes, including two consecutive appearances on the Capital Fund Screenplay Contest Hot 100 with different projects.

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Contest Results:
Wiki Contest (Finalist, May) [2026]
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