The 69th Annual WGA Awards will be handed on Sunday, February 19, 2017.

As I have been doing for a few years, as we get into the awards season, I’ll post the fictional ballots for some of the guild awards, showing what my vote would be if I had one. I will, as a rule, abstain from my fictional vote if I haven’t seen at least half of the nominees. And to be perfectly clear, I’m not a member of any of these guilds and organizations.

The list of nominees can be seen here.

Here it goes:

Documentary Screenplay: abstain (Not seen the three nominated films.)

Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea

Manchester by the Sea is a deeply touching film; the story grows in an organic, naturalistic manner. The screenplay smartly withholds information until the right moment. (Not seen: Loving and Moonlight.)

Adapted Screenplay: Eric Heisserer for Arrival

Arrival has a wonderful structure, one that tells its story with maximum emotional impact. It’s also a film of ideas, which are presented and defended in a very beautiful manner.