Why You Should Never Post Your Unfinished Script on Facebook or any other social media.

(or how to piss off a ton of writers just trying to do their best - I still say it's dangerous.)

By Thomas Fenton

Imagine it’s Florence, 1501. A young sculptor named Leonardo da Vinci rolls a massive slab of marble into the town square, wipes the sweat from his brow, and calls out, “Hey everyone! What do you think of my David so far?”

At this point, it’s just a rock. Not a sculpture. Not a masterpiece. Just a rock.

The crowd gathers, confused.“What’s it supposed to be?”“Looks like a tombstone.”“I don’t get it.”“Maybe turn it into a bench?”Discouraged, da Vinci packs up his tools and becomes a baker. This is exactly what happens when screenwriters post raw script pages or undeveloped ideas on Facebook and ask for opinions. You’re not showing a story—you’re showing a slab.

And most people can’t see the statue inside.

Here’s why posting unfinished scripts online is a bad idea:

1. Context Matters: A screenplay is designed to be read as a whole. Pages taken out of context can seem slow, confusing, or flat—especially to people who aren’t trained to read scripts. Facebook isn’t a writers’ room; it’s a mixed crowd that will misread your intention or lose interest entirely.

2. Unqualified Feedback Can Be Dangerous: You’ll get two kinds of responses: vague praise (“Looks cool!”) or gut-level reactions that miss the point. You won’t get useful notes. You’ll get noise. And sometimes that noise can chip away at your confidence or steer you off course.

3. Titles Are Intellectual Property: Sharing a great title online before your script is finished or protected is asking for trouble. Titles are valuable. They’re memorable. And once they’re floating around the internet, they’re fair game. If someone else takes it and gets there first, you’re out of luck.

4. Unfinished Work is Not Ready for Public Consumption: Think of your script like bread dough. Would you pull it from the oven half-baked and ask someone to review it? Of course not. Give your work time to rise. Let it become what it’s meant to be before exposing it to a public audience.

5. Facebook is a Marketing Tool, Not a Workshop: Use social media to promote your finished work—not to develop it. When you have a polished script, a compelling logline, or a trailer-ready concept, then share it. Until then, keep it in the workshop.

So What Should You Do Instead?

Share your pages with trusted peers—people who understand storytelling, know how to give real feedback, and care about helping you improve. Join a screenwriting group. Work with a mentor. Or simply finish the draft, rewrite it, and let it breathe before exposing it to the world.

When da Vinci finally revealed the statue of David, he didn’t ask anyone what they thought before he started chiseling. He just unveiled it—and people were speechless.

You don’t need opinions. You need to finish the statue.