Schock said just about everyone seems to think he or she can be a screenwriter, and some writers are willing to pay to have their work critiqued so they can improve it.

Schock already has made considerable progress toward making his living by writing scripts.

After he graduated from Norfolk High School in the late 1990s, he attended the University of Southern California Film School, where he received a bachelor’s degree in cinema production in 2006.

He wrote “Borderlands,” which won the SoCal Film Festival in Huntington Beach, Calif. His efforts won in the best screenplay long form category.

He also won the Best Nebraska Play at the Omaha Film Festival in March. At that time, the title of the film was “Drive-By.”

Since then, Schock rewrote the screenplay and renamed it “Borderlands.”

Part of his prize included a scholarship to the Superior Screen Writing Colony, which is held in Superior, Neb., and is designed to help writers develop new script ideas.

The festival is put on by Lew Hunter, a Nebraska native who is recognized as one of the best screenwriting teachers in the United States.

Hunter’s name is well-known in Hollywood for his years of work. Some of his early work included writing episodes for “Batman” and “Bewitched.” He also is chairman emeritus and professor of screenwriting at the UCLA Department of Film and Television.

Hunter said Schock hardly said anything during the first sessions in Superior.

“It’s been my experience since teaching that the people who generally are quiet — and mostly they are the young men — will wind up writing the most extraordinary or brilliant scripts,” Hunter said.

“He very much speaks to the human condition that is far wiser than his years,” Hunter said of Schock. “He has a great chance at being a very, very successful writer.”

Andrea Doe of Denver, who also attended the Superior Screen Writing Colony in Nebraska, said she met Schock through the festival.

“He has good character insight,” Doe said. “His characters are well-developed. His writing is tragic and funny at the same time.”

Doe said Schock is intelligent and has a dry sense of humor.

Doe has written “Saucy Flyer UFO PI,” a film that is a satire. Doe qualified for Hunter’s writing workshop by getting her film into the Denver International Film Festival and earning a midnight showing — a high honor.

Doe said making a living in the film industry is difficult. She has been working to direct films for about 10 years. She also has worked at other jobs, mainly doing video and production work for television stations.

“I think he (Schock) has a good chance at making it,” Doe said. “He’s a great writer.”

Schock does many things “old school.” All his writings are by hand with pen and paper rather than in front of a computer.

Schock said that while in college, he found that he was the only writer who didn’t use a computer. A computer is distracting, he said.

Schock said he first thought about being a screenwriter at 15.

“I tried to write, but I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “It was bad.”

Schock said everything in Hollywood is highly competitive — even analyzing scripts. Schock said he analyzed scripts for free for three companies to get experience.

Now he gets paid, but it isn’t enough to make a living.

So are any of the scripts he reads any good?

“Out of the hundreds of scripts that I have read, only four were good scripts. Most are God-awful,” Schock said.

“Look at ‘American Idol,’ ” he said. “All but about five or six (contestants) are absolutely terrible. In order to write a good screenplay, it takes years and years of training. You have to follow rules and know what you’re doing.”