I wanted to hop on here and talk about something that has changed my life, especially as a screenwriter. Last December, I was in a car accident. I seemed fine at first, but that quickly changed in the following days. It lead to me seeking treatment.
As I’m going through treatment, I start to realize that there is something very wrong. Words are getting mixed up on the page, I’m skipping entire sentences thinking that I already wrote them… I’m making more mistakes and struggle to think clearly. I think that it’s just my circumstances, but a brain scan reveals that I have less function in the left side of my brain than I should.
I have brain injuries.
These will stay with me for the rest of my life. There might be a chance for some improvement, but I’ll never be the same. And I found myself in this weird position of mourning, well, myself. It felt like the ‘me’ that I knew, that I grew up with, that shared all my traumas and triumphs, was gone.
It’s a weird thing to mourn yourself. For me, it left me wondering who I am. But then, when I asked myself that question, something inside me countered with, “Who do you want to be?”
And instead of thinking in the terms of loss, I began thinking in the terms of rebirth. I’m still discovering who I want to be, and there are some things that I can’t do yet thanks to other injuries, but I’ve been working on what I can do.
What I can do is explore this new world my brain has faced me with. I can write without the inhibitions that held me back before, because I’m not writing in fear of the critic. I’m writing to create a beautiful escape, for myself and for others. I’m writing for the people who need a break, who need to lose themselves for awhile, who look at entertainment not as something to consume, but as a place where they are accepted, welcomed, even loved.
I’m writing for that 23 year old girl who stumbled out of her car in the rain, and had no idea it was the beginning of the rest of her life.
Healing isn’t linear, and there will be days ahead that hurt more than others. But the time will pass, and in the meantime, I’ll be writing.
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I wrote a novel that has generated some interest for the screen. I decided to do a miniseries versus screenplay to keep the integrity of the story (also so the people who loved the book wouldn't hate...
Expand commentI wrote a novel that has generated some interest for the screen. I decided to do a miniseries versus screenplay to keep the integrity of the story (also so the people who loved the book wouldn't hate the movie - because inevitably cuts must be made in a 370 page book to make it fit into a 120 minute screenplay). My question is, when should I try to seek representation? I've been talking with someone from LA who has expressed interest as well as a local director who also has expressed interest but I don't know what questions to ask and have continued to retain the rights to my story.
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I have a question:
What are the criterias that determine if a book can be adapted to film or television?
I've got a great book, a true crime/true story, ready to go. Look, it's right there in my hand. Seriously, I'm not finding a lot here for authors with books that are not already turned to screenplays. Am I missing a great room or special group here?