ichael Croney, an aspiring screenwriter in Denver, is waiting to learn this week if "Ronald's Mom Is Clairvoyant," the script he submitted to an Internet-based screenwriting contest, has been chosen as one of the 50 finalists. But almost as important to him are the critiques that he will get from other screenwriters as part of the contest. Two years ago, in an earlier contest, another screenwriter complained that Ronald's relationship with a woman was too "claustrophobic," causing Mr. Croney to rewrite the script.

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Mr. Croney, 32, lives far from Hollywood, so the Internet is where he turns for constructive criticism and script-polishing tips. He is hoping that this year's reviews will yield a variety of insights. Mr. Croney also had to assess other scripts, some of which he thought bad, and in the writer's traditional lament he said, "It was strange that these same people were reviewing me."

Internet sites for amateur screenwriters are opening faster than James Bond sequels. Like sites devoted to unsigned musical acts and unpublished authors, virtual screenwriting spots like ProjectGreenlight.com and Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope.com promise to use the Internet as a tool to break through industry entry barriers while allowing participants to hone their craft through friendly exchanges.

The newest of these screenwriting sites is TriggerStreet.com, which went online yesterday. The venture is an offshoot of the actor Kevin Spacey's production company. With its heavily animated graphics and Mr. Spacey as a magnet, the site encourages writers to submit their scripts, so that movie executives, who are constantly seeking new talent, might drop by and discover them.

Mr. Spacey said he decided to start his site after realizing that the Internet could act as a source of creative projects that might never be delivered through agents and other traditional channels. He said, "Sometimes the best material you ever see is the stuff that gets chucked over the wall." (For instance Mr. Spacey's 1999 comedy "The Big Kahuna" was written by a chemical engineer with no Hollywood credits.)

Mr. Spacey also said he was committed to giving opportunities to undiscovered talent. Once one has risen high in one's profession, he said, it is time to "send the elevator back down."

In theory the concept is as solid as, say, a Steven Spielberg movie starring Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts. Because the screenwriting sites require the authors to review others' scripts before they can submit their own, producers do not have to dig through a pile of "Spider-Man" knockoffs in the search for a hit. Instead, they can focus on the highest-rated entries.

Dylan Kidd, a writer-director in New York whose independent film "Roger Dodger" was just released, said he could see the value of the screenwriting sites even though he did not visit them. "All you hear is studio executives bemoaning the fact that there is no good product and actors talking about how there are no good roles," Mr. Kidd said. "But I know 20 people in the city who have screenplays that they can't get to anybody. There's got to be a way to use the Web as a pipeline."

So far, though, few have been able to parlay their online experience into an elevator ride. Project Greenlight, which includes the actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, awards its contest winner a $1 million movie budget. The first winner, Pete Jones, beat out 10,000 competitors for the right to direct his script. The process was documented in a Home Box Office series that was better received than the film, "Stolen Summer," itself.

At Zoetrope.com, an offshoot of Mr. Coppola's American Zoetrope studio, about 4,500 scripts have been submitted since June 2000. The studio has optioned three of them, but only one — Ted and Michael Peterson's horror script "Monster" — remains under active consideration.

Michael Hudin, director of the Zoetrope site, said it was only a matter of time before the sites started generating hits. He said, "The minute that one script gets developed and becomes a big moneymaker — or is even just a good film — there will be so many copycats."