How to Plan Your Entire Screenwriting Year: A Month-by-Month Guide

The life of a screenwriter isn’t just about writing pages. It’s also about strategy, timing, and planning ahead. To better increase your chances of making your screenwriting dream come true, it helps to learn and understand how the film industry ebbs and flows across a calendar year. 

Hollywood operates in general cycles. 

• Seasons with intense activity in development and acquisitions.
• Time frames where studios, production companies, financiers, and distributors are focused on the marketing that goes on during film festivals like Cannes and Sundance.
• Holiday seasons where most of the power players in the industry mentally and physically check out.   

This month-by-month guide will help you get ahead in the game by planning your entire screenwriting year with strategy, using the natural ebbs and flows of Hollywood to your advantage. 

Here we break a whole year down from Hollywood’s perspective, using month-by-month strategic moves and efforts you can be making to better your productivity, better your odds of success as you try to sell your scripts and use them as samples for potential writing assignments, and streamline your work flow to match the monthly flow of Hollywood. 

The industry isn’t fully awake until the second week of January. Reps and execs describe the week before Thanksgiving through the first week of January as the Hollywood Shutdown. They’re checking emails, but they’re not really acting on anything beyond top priority correspondence. 

The same could be said of any industry, right? 

• People are going on holiday vacations.
• Companies are closing out the fiscal year.
• Profits are being counted and measured.
• Plans for the next year are being finalized. 

The second week of January is when desks and email inboxes are being cleared. Development teams are starting to plan for the year ahead. 

For screenwriters, this means impending chances for opportunity are brewing. But it’s not time to pounce just yet. Instead, it’s time to get your screenwriting affairs in order, and prep for the first window of opportunity on the horizon in the coming months. 

January is all about preparation. It’s the time where you organize your writing process, assess your scripts, and work on your pitch materials (loglines, synopses, and query email content). The game begins in February (see below), but the preparation is done in January. 

• Write down some actionable goals.
• Polish any scripts you plan to submit in February and March.
• Tighten your loglines, synopses, and query email content.
• Build or update your list of potential managers (don’t query agents, they come in when deals are to be made), development executives, producers, production companies to approach (utilize IMDbPro, map out any potential personal or professional industry contacts you already have).
• Find 2-3 new original concepts for new screenplays.
• Create a writing schedule for the year for those new scripts (try to write under Hollywood deadlines, giving yourself just 2-3 months to finish a script).

The Sundance Film Festival isn’t just a time and place where movies are shown and marketed -  it’s one of the premiere networking events where the industry finds and signs new writing voices. 

Because the festival takes place at the end of January and through the beginning of February, January is relatively quiet when it comes to Hollywood responding to cold queries. But once the festival is over, the industry regenerates through the buzz of new writers and filmmakers. Agents and managers are finding new clients. While most of them are coming from hot festival debuts, reps are starting to get into the mode of finding even more new prospects, which is why this offers screenwriters an opportunity to ride that wave. 

This is your first major launch window of the year. If you have a polished script that’s ready to go, February is a great time to put your best work out there for all to see. 

Cold querying works. 

Read: How Screenwriters can Master the Cold Query

• Utilize IMDbPro
• Look up movies similar to yours, find out who wrote them, find out who represents those writers, and cold query them.
• Find out which production companies are making movies like yours, and cold query them.
• Find any connections you have to the film industry, no matter how many times removed (friends, friends of friends, people from your town/state, people from the college you attended, etc.), and cold query them or ask if they know of anyone in the industry looking for scripts and writers.  

But the key thing to remember is that you want to be doing this with scripts that are ready. These cannot be works in progress. These need to be scripts that have either placed very well with previous contest/fellowship submissions, tracked very well as far as submission requests via cold query responses, or ones you feel are ready. 

One last February thing to remember. When you send that strong sample out, be prepared for the most common followup question, “What else do you have?” That question means they like your writing, but the script itself may not be something they want to move on right now. 

Be prepared for that. How? If possible, have a stack of 3-5 strong scripts ready to go. If you don’t have that yet, consider taking a year to write some excellent scripts with very marketable concepts - original concepts that are either highly unique or are different takes on concepts that have been successful recently.  

• Update and polish your script sample package for that single script (logline and short synopsis).
• Send targeted queries to managers, development execs, producers, and production companies who align with the genre of your script.
• Begin development on new scripts (find titles, write loglines, write a synopsis for each, begin developing outlines for them).
• Create a Project History document, detailing your completed scripts you’re ready to submit upon request - Title, Logline, Project History (if they’ve placed well in major contests or fellowships, were picked up in previous deals, etc.). This will help you be prepared to handle that question of whether or not you have anything else. 

Read: The Screenwriter’s Toolbox Part I: Loglines and pitches

March is where everything converges. It’s known by agents and managers as the month of the year to find new clients and send out specs to producers and development execs. 

Everyone is back from Sundance. The Sundance deals have been signed, but the buzz for new talent and scripts is high. Development execs are stocking their Spring reading reading lists.

March is a prime opportunity month - perhaps the best outside of September. If you’re going to try and market a spec script, this is the month to do it. But, remember, this is also a month when you should be gearing up to start a new script (or doing a final polish rewrite on the next-in-line spec you plan on marketing). Marketing current scripts must always go in hand with writing and revamping new ones. 

Screenwriting contest/fellowship deadlines are also starting to pop up for Spring early entry deadlines. The first major one is Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest. It’s always nice to do early entries so you can shift focus back to writing and marketing during the Spring and Summer months as they tally results.   

• Continue to market your best spec script.
• Send follow-ups to anyone who responded to your February queries.
• Do a polish rewrite for your next-in-line script to query.  
• Query that next-in-line script to a new and different set of industry contacts.
• Start to gear up to write the next script after having done the necessary front-end development work (coming up with a title, logline, synopsis, outline).
• Continue any and all correspondence from previous queries.
• Do polish rewrites for potential contest/fellowship scripts and submit them to Final Draft’s Big Break for early entries. 

Read: Big Break Contest Judge Jeff Portnoy On Why You Should Enter

April is the calm before the Cannes Film Festival networking and acquisition storm in late May. Execs and reps are prepping for the trip. They’re still reading spec scripts, but there’s an embedded anticipation for the hectic month of May leading up to Cannes.

April is the final Spring stretch. Get your scripts into inboxes before Cannes fatigue sets in strong. This is the month where you can get your cold queries out there, and work your networking maps for potential connections. 

It’s also the month where you should now be into a new script, hopefully after starting in March. Remember, always be writing. And beyond that, learn how to write on pro deadlines of 2-3 months. 

Lastly, contest and fellowship submission entries begin to open in March and April. It’s a good time to ready any other scripts in your stack that you think could go far in contests.  

• Continue querying and corresponding with any remaining targets from your Spring lists.
• Look for early-bird contest/fellowship submission periods, and prep for any early summer submission deadlines. Don’t wait until the final deadline.
• Keep writing.  

May is a tale of two halves. The first half of the month is still great for cold queries. However, the Spring spec market season is winding down in the wake of the second half of the month of May when everyone in the industry is gearing up for Cannes. Producers, agents, managers, financiers, and distributors are laser-focused on deals, not unknown writers.

This makes May the perfect time to finish that new script - or, at least, get a strong first draft done. 

Use the first week or two in the month to send those last Spring spec market queries and followups. Then transition into work mode, giving full attention to finishing a new script, and perhaps starting further development on the next. 

• Finish your Spring marketing push for one or two strong spec scripts, and get all emails out a week before Cannes starts.
• Finish that new script - at least the first strong draft.
• Start compiling a list of any feedback or responses to your cold queries.
• Track contest/fellowship entry deadlines.
• Keep writing.      

Read: 5 Tips to Starting a Screenplay

By June, you should be on autopilot. You survived your Spring cold querying. You hopefully learned from it. You can now adjust your marketing for those two scripts or put them to the side to focus on new scripts.

The chaos of Cannes is over, and things start to simmer a bit as everyone in the industry begins what many refer to as Summer Development Season. This is a time when readers are reading again, and decisionmakers are starting to develop and greenlight movies.   

June is wide open. It’s a good time to continue writing. You can still market your spec scripts. The lines are more open for you to do that. However, it's the middle of the year with the whole summer to get a lot of writing done.

Hunker down and shift your focus to a summer of writing. Things slow down in summer (see below July and August breakdowns).

• Finish submitting scripts to major contests and fellowships.
• Finish that first new script and start the next one.

Reps and execs are still reading, but things are slowing down on that front as far as correspondence. People are on vacation. 

Write, write, write. Summer months are productivity months for screenwriters, when it becomes less about trying to sell a script, and more about taking what you’ve learned from the first half of the year and applying it to your new scripts.  

• Learn from your failures and successes by tracking feedback (or silence) from submissions.
• Keep correspondence up.
• Feel free to send a few more queries.
• Keep writing. Get that second new script to the end of a strong first draft while writing under pro deadlines.
• You’re preparing for the upcoming Fall season of cold querying. You’ll hopefully have two new strong scripts. 

August is strange. It’s usually fairly quiet. However, script sales spike up historically - likely due to the fact that higher-up decisionmakers have finally gone through their recommended stacks of scripts. 

Spec script sales are very seasonal. However, the writing assignment market is always strong throughout the year. Writing assignments are the true bread and butter for pro screenwriters. The scripts you market and the scripts you’re currently writing are usually used as writing samples for writing assignments.  

But if there’s a month of buying for Hollywood, August (give or take a couple weeks on either end of the month) is historically the strongest. 

Stay consistent. August is quiet, but quiet months favor you, the screenwriter.

• Finish that new second script.
• Take a break from the second script for a couple of weeks, as you go back to the first script and read it cover-to-cover.
• Rewrite that first new script.
• Get feedback on it if you’d like.

Read: Thank You, May I Have Another: How to Receive Notes as a Screenwriter

After Labor Day, Hollywood begins to wake up again. Vacations end. Development reactivates. Many managers state that September is the best month for feature writers. 

September is your second Spring. It’s a massive opportunity window when it comes to cold querying. You can also follow up with connections you made during your Spring run, and pitch them your new scripts. 

• Do what you did February through April, but using the knowledge, wisdom, experience, and contacts you gained.
• Revisit and rewrite that second new script and get it ready for the second half of September. 

Read: 5 Steps to Successful Pitching

The first half of October is much like September. However, the industry is slowly shifting into holiday-mode during the end of the month. Sending anything new out after Halloween isn’t a great idea, unless it’s from previous correspondence and request. 

Early October should be your last marketing push. Perhaps you’ve taken a break from writing after finishing those first and second new scripts. Take the beginning of October to wrap them both up. 

• Finish your Fall marketing push.
• Get those two new scripts to excellent final drafts.
• Start a third script or get ready to take a holiday hiatus of sorts.   

There’s not much going on in Hollywood and most of the industry is slowly shutting down when it comes to development and acquisitions. Studios are gearing up for an Awards Season push. Reps aren’t looking for any new work amidst Thanksgiving week and into the further Holiday Season of December. 

It’s another perfect month to write. However, there’s something to be said about taking a hiatus for yourself and your writing. You can still tweak scripts, but sometimes it’s good to take some time to step away from our work. 

You. Focus on you. Take this month to step back from your work. Watch movies. Watch shows. Spend time with family and friends. 

If you’re the workaholic type, feel free to start a third new script to write during the holiday months. Go for it. But find as much time as you can to just step back and breathe a bit too. 

Read: The Therapist Who Wrote ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’ helps Screenwriters Find Joy In Their Work Again

December is the slowest month of the year when it comes to Hollywood. This offers you the opportunity to take the time to reflect on the year that has gone by so quickly, and then look ahead to the new year on the horizon. 

It’s time to take everything you’ve learned this year and apply it to next year. 

• How can you be better as a screenwriter?
• How can you be more successful in your cold queries?
• How can you expand your industry network?
• How can you choose better and more desirable concepts to develop and write?
• How can you learn from the successes and failures of Hollywood and the movies they’d made?
• How can you better prepare yourself for going back and starting this guide again next January?

December is the month of both reflection and preparation. 

You reflect on your screenwriting journey thus far, and adapt and evolve by learning from your successes and failures. You then prepare for the next year to come. 

This isn’t just a calendar that is useless once a year goes by. You can use this guide each and every month of each and every year. 

If you happen upon this in December, you’re going to see a pathway for the perfect strategy for the year again. 

If you read this in Spring or Fall, you can play catch up and gauge where you are at in your screenwriting journey. 

Lastly, know that there can and will be deviations from this guide for every screenwriter. These are all general breakdowns you can follow to increase your odds of success, based on concrete and historical industry waves, windows, and trends. 

Best of luck to you all!