Heisserer's professional screenwriting career was launched with the sale of The Dionaea House to Warner Bros. in 2005,[1] based on an online epistolary story of the same name[2] that he wrote from autumn 2004 to winter 2006.

He then developed an original television pilot for Paramount Pictures and CBS, and wrote feature projects for Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Warner Bros.[3] In 2007, he sold a pitch to Regency Enterprises and Fox called Inhuman, a supernatural thriller set in Tokyo that combines live action and anime sequences, as well as a coming-of-age horror script titled Dustycats, about a teenage girl who discovers she transforms into a werecat when aroused.

[4] In December 2008, Heisserer was hired to re-envision and rewrite the script for the franchise reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street, produced by Platinum Dunes.

The script went on to land director Samuel Bayer, actor Jackie Earle Haley, and began filming in May 2009.

[10] Heisserer wrote along with artist Felipe Massafera and Colorist Wes Dzioba, the comic book series Shaper.

In July 2017, Heisserer announced that he was developing a science fiction series based on another Ted Chiang's story, "Liking What You See: A Documentary", for AMC.