Introduce Yourself : Hiya, Folks! by Dionne Knapp

Hello, all! I'm Dionne --well, today I'm D'yonce -- I get a new nickname every few weeks from my co-workers. Anywhoo, I just dropped in to introduce myself. I'm a writer ... meaning I love to write. I've been doing it since I was seven. I've wanted to be a screenwriter since career day in the fourth grade when my teacher told me such an occupation existed. But I made the mistake of "over-researching" screenwriting , and what it takes to become a screenwriter. I read every blog, message board, book, and article I could. Here's what I learned: "YOU CAN'T DO IT! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME, NOBODY LIKES YOU! KILL YOURSELF NOW! AND TAKE YOUR CRAPPY IDEAS WITH YOU!" So that kinda discouraged me from ever attempting to do what I love professionally. I wandered in the proverbial desert for decades; life happened. I settled for the half- a$$ed career as a Staff writer for a very , very small studio. Blah blah. Lemme tell you... when something nags at you, stays with you, wakes you up in the middle of the night, and has you talking to yourself...YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING IT!! A screenwriting class in college re-awakened my blood-lust. A 20-page assignment turned into a 114 page feature. I was like a recovering alcoholic with a wine cooler after two decades of sobriety. It felt like releasing years of pent up creativity; the words just slid out like afterbirth. An the story came just as naturally; unsolicited, like any really good story does. Sitting on a park bench at Disney World, watching the resident ducks strut fearlessly through the throngs of people, and wondering "Do they know how lucky they are"? Suddenly I had to answer that question. So I did...in the form of my first feature screenplay. I frigging LOVE that story! I love every character in it - especially the protagonist -- he's one bad a$$ muth'a! And the Pigeon not only directly mirrors my brand of humor but also my intense loathing of those particular birds. (If you want to know how I view Pigeons... ask to read my script, haha!) But the main thing is that I had FUN writing it. I don't know if some big shot producer or some bitter script reader would love the story and characters as much as I do, or wipe their a$$ with the pages - what MATTERS is that I LIKE it, and I had so MUCH fun writing it. I have read that script a dozen times - just because I friggin' love it so much! THAT'S what writing should be. THAT'S what it should feel like. Not competition. Not chasing a prize. Not "work". Not selling out your soul or censoring yourself to get an "atta boy" from some stranger. If you CAN make a living doing- awesome! Personally, I want to screen write because I LOVE WRITING! I don't want to be rich, or famous or recognized. I just want write for a living ; walking into the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank every day and being part of a creative TEAM; having a part- no matter how small- in creating inspiring stories and seeing those stories come to life...THAT'S a vision that puts me to sleep with a smile every night. So, I've decided to write again. Because it fulfills me and makes ME feel good. And stay away from anything that tells me anything other than how to format. Because writing should be FUN. And when it stops being FUN, I don't want to to it. Well, that's my story, and pretty much sums me up. I'm a little, "Danny Thomas spit-take" crazy, but I'm told that's a requirement of writers so I should fit "write" in. (see what I did, there?) Okay, bye.