Screenwriting : What is YOUR journey to becoming a writer? by Arial Burnz

Dear Arial Burnz:

Have you always been a writer?:

Always been a writer? No; Always been a thinker? Yes. So, I have always had the mindset to write, just didn't always put it down to paper.

What happened in your life, if anything, that encouraged / drove you to write?:

If you look at my about section, you will find out how my writing all began.

What aspects of your life do you think / feel contributes to your talents, skills or voice as a writer?:

Observation; In a world of talkers, I think one of the greatest assets people can have is to observe, remain silent, and listen; Not only to what people are saying, but to what the world and life is showing them.

And what else would you like to share about your journey, which you think might help encourage others?:

Writing isn't about age; Writing isn't about gender; It's all about the story, the characters. Whether you are 16 or 86, none of that is going to matter to who ends up reading, and potentially watching what you write.

Since you asked the questions, I think it is only fitting for you to answer them yourself, so that others can understand your journey in writing.

I appreciate your questions to help shed light on peoples journeys in writing.

God Bless.

Sincerely,

John German

I have been writing forever. Since, 4th grade when I won a few short story contests that my private school held. The muse just doesn't "Shut up!" Yes, new ideas spinning like webs in my brain, with all the intricacies of the light on each string sending the vibrations of influence through my fingers and I MUST WRITE. Much Love.

I was first published at age 10. I fell in with a group of reprobates with whom I made the devil's music. We did not get paid. Much of my work has been plagiarized, so I think I got a shot. ;)

I was first published in a magazine out of the UK that revolved around the Hong Kong film industry. I wrote film reviews, articles and then my first interview, which was with Jackie Chan's stunt double, Andy Cheng. I went on to have a book published called "Jackie Chan: The Lo Wei Years," (out of print now). After a while doing that, Andy Cheng asked if I had ever written a screenplay. While I had played around with turning some of my fiction into screenplays, I never really thought I'd do anything with them. He challenged me by asking me to rewrite his script. Long story short he liked my work enough to partner up with me and suggest me to Johnny Martin when he was looking for a writer on Delirium. Now Johnny likes having me write for him, too! Thanks to Johnny, I've just signed a contract with Michael Mendelsohn to write a new one for him, and I have an option for another I wrote, that David Ranes may produce.

Ha! Congrats! I love Jackie Chan. :)

Dan, you said you worked for the FBI? Woow!:)

Dan, you're right! I think Vic is related to Andy Armstrong? He and his crew were in Rochester for Spiderman 2, as well! So far, so good on the project, thanks!

Writing scripts was for me a logical progression from what I was already doing. With a borrowed $700, I had started a poster company which grew like crazy. Soon I was selling in all 50 states and 15 foreign countries. I would pick the models, their wardrobes, the outdoor locations & lighting and find or write a romantic phrase or poem which captured the essence of the scene. So when a friend at San Diego State suggested we write a script and produce a film together, it seemed like an extension of what I was already familiar with. Only instead of models who had no lines, it was gifted actors who actually made my feeble attempts at writing dialogue sound believable.

I started writing in the ninth grade. I continued off and on until my writing life was interrupted by medical educationl that lasted nine years. When that was through, I come to the conclusion that there was no reason not to return to writing as a commitment. I sold a bunch of sf/f stories, and then a friend suggested, in 1987, that we make a low budget horror movie. We cut a gresh deck of cards to see who would direct, and I won. This was the start of my movie addiction. I've written over a dozen scripts (some of which will never see the light of day), had some competition notice, and continue to write. I've made two indie features, It's hard to say what inspires writing. If I get an idea that seems like a movie, I will beat on the outline until it's not getting any better. The I ask myself if I'd buy a ticket to see that movie. If yes, I fire up the screenplay processor and start the path. I have at least one idea for a story that I don't et know how tell. I'm not worried about it; I just let my subconscious figure such things out.

Wow!! Thank you all sooooo much for sharing your unique journeys in writing!! I will definitely share my story, but I've just been able to get to this post and read your comments now...and I'm about to crash for the night. If I stay here and try to write my own response, I'll end up bruising my forehead on my keyboard as I know I'll be nodding off.

I will try to tackle my comments tomorrow. Until then, I want to encourage more people to share! Mwah!!! G'night, all!!

By the way...how does one BOLD in these comments? I've learned the asterisk (*) creates italics. Help!

DUUUUUUDE!!! You ROCK! Thank you!

My family exposed me to opera when I was a toddler & took me to Broadway shows beginning at age 4. Age 9 I wrote my 1st play. Age 10 my one-act play ran in NYC for several months. I had the experience of writing a 50-minute play, casting, doing the costumes, directing, and hearing the applause. That started my journey. Growing up without a TV & going to a library once a week were also helpful in molding the type of writer I wished to be..

After reading the first couple of chapters of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, in school, I took the book home and finished it that evening. Since then, I've always written. Whether it be short-stories, poems, film-reviews, interviews with the famous or full novels, I've always loved the putting together of words to describe something in a specific way. I was fortunate enough to meet and interview Clive Barker, Terry Pratchett, James Herbert and many other writers and their responses when I asked them what advice they'd give to an aspiring writer was consistent. "Don't give up. Keep writing. You will get better and better" they all said. Clive Barker, and his horror work in particular, was inspiring to me and so I wrote. I was published in film magazines such as Samhain and Starburst along with articles and stories for various fanzines, but it wasn't until I put into words the telling of a personal tragedy that things really kicked off for me. Access Denied, the true story of an emotional trauma and the subsequent battle I had with corrupt and despicable organisations, was self-published as my first book. It met with immediate success - to date, it has 100% positive reviews! People who read it told me I had a real talent for writing with many of them telling me that once they started reading it that they couldn't stop. "I couldn't put it down." several have said. I was humbled but ecstatic. The self-publishing boom enabled me to look at some things I'd been working on, revise and complete them and publish them. I write fiction primarily, loving the short-story form and poems, and the responses to my horror books has been phenomenal. It's a hard slog though. The writing bit is easy. But getting people to buy your books and marketing them is a massive struggle in a world that's saturated with talent (and non-talent). It's very difficult to get people to try something new. There seems to be no end of competitions which appear to be nothing but exercises in making someone else money, so I tend to only enter those that are free or cheap. I have already won several awards but real success (to the point - as Arthur C. Clarke did - where his book sales earned more than his day job so he could give up the day job) eludes me presently. I clearly have something of worth on those pages. What I write is not to everyone's taste, but a lot out there really like it. If only they'd leave reviews and tell all their friends, I might make a few more pennies. Despite all this, I soldier on, hoping for that big break, to get my stories in front of the right people, living in anticipation that the word-of-mouth explosion will occur. As Clive, James and Terry suggested, I've never given up. I've come close but my love of creating stories and visions for people is something I'm passionate about and I'm always drawn back to those ideas, some of which come in dreams. Expanding upon them to create a world and characters which people love and enjoy taking the journey with is very rewarding, even if it's not financially enriching. Getting that finished book in my hands, all those months or years of effort coming to fruition, is a feeling like no other. And, one day, I'm sure I'll be on a train or in a park somewhere and see someone reading one of my books. When that happens, I know I'll be humbled but ecstatic once more. Something to look forward to. You can follow my blog at www.davidegates.com or my author page on Facebook @davidegatesauthor where you can find details of all of my books and free short-stories to download too. Thank you.

I've been writing screenplays now for over 25 years. Although I started by making short films for class projects in high school, I didn't begin screenwriting until undergraduate film school. Then I moved to LA, worked as an intern in development and wrote and produced a short film. I continued to write screenplays throughout graduate film school, winning and placing in a few contests, getting some reads in Hollywood. Then documentary films, commercials, and video work for museums pushed aside my fiction screenwriting and filmmaking, even as I taught screenwriting classes to college students.

Do all these years writing screenplays, creating films, television, and videos make me an expert? I've certainly clocked my 10,000 hours telling stories and making content for screens. My work has been seen by at least a million sets of eyes. But none of this really matters when I sit down to work each day. Every screenplay and every film is a new beginning, a fresh start, a new challenge. Experience doesn't make it much easier when it comes to putting words on the page. Every day, I am a beginner again.

It is tempting to look for a straight path, a system, a winning strategy to success as a screenwriter, filmmaker, or in any creative profession. But, I've learned there are many side roads, back alleys, and scenic byways that lead to unexpected rewards, even as they seem to take me away from what I might see as an ideal destination. I have been fortunate in my career so far and I hope for another fun, exciting, and rewarding 25 years!

actually, I wanted to be a Cinematographer and follow the path of Ernest Dickerson & Tom DiCillo.

I was very shy as a kid. So I listened and observed everything around me. The only confidence builder I had, and excelled at, was sports. So much so that I garnered both scholastic and athletic scholarships to play baseball at a Division I university. I earned All-America honors there, then played seven years of professional baseball in the minor leagues.

When I got out of baseball, I felt like I was behind compared to my contemporaries. I started three successive businesses, sold two and failed at one. The last business sale allowed me to retire in my mid-fifties.

So enough of the background. One overriding question made me want to write. The question is "Why?". Why did this person do that? Why did this issue work or not? Why is this institution doing what they are doing?

I've written several short stories earlier in life, none were published. But I learned. I wrote two "how-to" books, self-published, and narrow in scope and readership. Both sell well.

Screenwriting intrigued me because it's difficult. Droning prose in novels never interested me. But writing what is seen, and not seen, in a visual format just seemed like a worthy task. So far, I've only written what I know about, my areas of expertise.

I've done no pitches, however I will in the near future.

I was working as a reader and was always frustrated by reading screenplays that had great premises, but no follow through. I found myself coming up with alternative plot lines or simply saying "why wouldn't this character do (blank)?" I had my own stories inside and after reading so many screenplays, I decided to give it a go. I haven't looked back.

I was raised in a bar as a kid, ran my fathers liquor store shelf stocker( other busineses as well) and then spent my teens, twenties bouncing, bartending and observing everything.

Wow!!! Thank you all for sharing and I'd love to see people do MORE sharing. Before I share, I want to be sure if I hit the ENTER key, it WILL create a separate line/paragraph. Ready? Here we go...

Is this in a separate paragraph? (Arial crosses her fingers)

GAAAAHHHHH!

Okay, I don't feel comfortable writing my story in one loooooooooooooong paragraph. I need to figure this out. I'm using MS Edge right now. I originally started on Google Chrome and I've tried Firefox. Nada! Zip! Bupkiss!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

CTRL + ENTER worked this time!

Aaannnd here we go...

Have you always been a writer?Although I can't remember prior to the age of 5, I would say YES. I'm sure I was writing as soon as I could pick up a pen. I wrote and starred in my first play at age 7 - 2nd grade class - about a Possum. (Back then, we called them Opossums, which is still technically correct). And I've been writing ever since!

What happened in your life, if anything, that encouraged you to write?Well, I'm sure I had a lot of influence from my family. EVERYONE in my family read books and I was no exception. And we LOVE movies.

My father dragged my mom, me and my two sisters to Los Angeles to be an actor. You may have seen my father. Raging Bull with Robert DeNiro.

DeNiro is being thrown into solitary confinement by two Florida Sheriffs. My dad's the one with the big mouth, who grabbed DeNiro by his hair and said, "Live it! Live it!"

You can check out my Dad's reel here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6J8I9XgwfmU?list=PL8XrmoVD9zPRwIzqHoIsgvPh99cbma8rA

God rest his selfish soul.

My father wrote screenplays, but I'm not sure he got any produced. I loved my pop when he tried being a father, but he was an asshole and an alcoholic, so he was an expert at burning bridges. However, he was a damn good writer and I'm glad I at least inherited that from him.

What aspects of your life do you feel contributes to your talents, skills or voice as a writer?What hasn't? I've had a rather interesting life.

My family moved from LA to Chicago 3-4 times before I hit high school, and I don't think we stayed in one apartment longer than 2 years in that time. Spent two years in a foster home and went through a lot of nasty abuse.

After high school, I joined the US Air Force and served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Turkey and was there a total of 8 months. Was stationed at Rhein-Main AB in Germany, RAF Alconbury in the UK and had the privilege of visiting several countries during my tour.

Been through two divorces, was a member of a small religious cult (yep...you read that right...I'll give you a moment to digest that) and did some acting before I finally found my true love and soul mate...my husband DeWayne.

All during these years, I never stopped writing. I've been traditionally published with short stories, magazine articles, children's stories and probably written two dozen technical training manuals and a slew of corporate training materials. Had a couple of traditional contracts, which I turned down. Why let someone else get the money for my books when I'm doing all the marketing anyway? TIP: Big Five does not mean big time. But I'll save that lecture for my writers blog.

My husband has encouraged my writing for the ten years we've been together and I've made many accomplishments - I've self-published five novels, currently writing my 6th, published more short stories, was an editor for two small press publishing houses, a cover designer for two publishers, and I train authors on how to market their books and build active review teams using their mailing lists. For those interested in building their review team, visit my article on the topic: http://authorbank.net/how-to-build-a-review-team-quickly-effectively/

And now I'm trying my hand at screenplay writing to adapt my novels and short stories for the screen. I'm also writing a stage play that is semi-autobiographical.

You can bet your tushie I've included a lot of my life's experiences in my novels, and literary revenge is sweet when you get to kill some of the characters in your books who are modeled after the people who abused you . Mwahahahahaa! Don't worry...it's okay. I got the approval of my therapist to do so. Uh...yeah...you don't go through what I did and make it out alive on the other side without a little couch time.

And what else would you like to share about your journey, which you think might encourage others?Never give up! Never surrender! You've all heard that before, but it bears repeating. And I've attached the picture, since this is a visual group. :D

Write what you LOVE, but it doesn't mean you can't keep current market trends in mind. It's not what's being shown today that's trendy. It's what's being bought today that is. Keep your ear to the ground of whatever industry you're in...but don't let that rule your world. If what people are buying matches what you love to write, SCORE!

KEEP WRITING! It's great to have an awesome idea, but it's better to have it ready when someone says, "Have you written the script for that awesome idea?"

Stick together! This shouldn't be a competition between each other/our peers. When one of us succeeds, we can all succeed. What's important are the relationships you build along the way.

Look at the big greats - Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, just to name a few of the current directors. Now look at the credits on their movies and you'll see the same names popping up. Making a movie is a team effort and you can have more than one writer on a film. Two, three, four heads are better than one if you work well together. Aaron Sorkin says to keep good editors close to you. Many studios band together to create a film. Heck, TV Shows are written with a staff! Why can't movies have multiple writers, too? Especially with the new internet TV show opportunities! We can do this!

My point is the rising tide lifts all boats. You writers are not my competition, but my future partners and collaborators. We're all on the same team. Let's all help each other out! We can write as a group...or, as a group, we can beat up those who steal ideas! Eight bats are better than one, right? ;) I am speaking metaphorically, of course. But that is also another way we can join forces.

Case in Point: In the Romance novel industry, when an author plagiarizes another, the ENTIRE writing community bands together to publicly humiliate that author on the internet. Bloggers lend their voices. Readers boycott the sales and write bad reviews. We don't do so lightly and we don't do it without cause. But it certainly taught me that we can all support each other in ways that extend beyond cheerleading.

Let's Make that Change Since my dad dragged me to the movie sets when I was a kid (those days he didn't have a baby sitter), I've seen the cutthroat behavior of people at the studios. Hell, I worked as a corporate trainer for 15 years at Sony Pictures and TCF. The producers, actors and even down to the admin assistants all seem to be out for blood or find ways to leverage power, no matter how small.

Stage32 seems to laugh at the face of the industry by creating a thriving and encouraging environment. Let's be the ones to change movie making by doing something novel...like be professionals. ;)

My best to you all and I look forward to reading more of your stories! I especially look forward to working with many of you in the future!

I have a writing blog if anyone is interested in guest-blogging (just once or regularly). You're welcome to promote your work. It doesn't get much traffic, but I can't name some of the people who read it. :)

Couldn't read as a kid (brain injury). Saw a lot of film. Loved telling stories. Played a lot o role playing games which sharpened my story telling. My brother picked up a TV writing gig. I sent work via him. Went off to a corporate career and decided I had to do what I loved. Made a few shorts to figure out what a script needed. Now write as much as I can.

I played all the RPG growing up. (Starting with D&D first, of course.) :D

We had a few we stuck with. D&D, Traveller, Gamma World & Boot Hill.

https://www.stage32.com/blog/Bullet-Proof-Pages

I loved Gamma World - in fact, I'm using it for research on a project I'm working on. I lost all the notes for it when the other computer was erased, so I have to start over from scratch (common occurrence over here). I also have Traveller, but I have no idea how to play it! That's a complicated bit of gaming, right there. :D