Inside the Mind of a Writer

My 28- year-old cousin, Gabriella, is a writer. I asked her through email correspondence if she would be willing to take the time to have an interview with me. Through the email correspondence, we both came up with the interview that you are about to read. Enjoy!

What kind of stories appeal to you? Stories that are real, and by that I don't mean bio-pics or docudrama. Stories that are incredible yet plausible. Horror can be real, sci-fi can be real, if you approach them in the right way. Stephen King, Michael Crichton...Their work is always very real. They take something very ordinary, like insomnia or something established as fact or at least possible, like cloning dinosaurs, and they sort of turn up the volume on it, make it extreme in a way that touches people, thrills them, scares them. I find stories that take real emotion, character, or experiences, and turn them up notch by notch very appealing.

Where do you get your story ideas? Everywhere... News programs, books, the History Channel. I'm always on the look-out for ideas. Probably the most influential sources have been music and places. I always listen to music when I write, soundtracks for as yet unproduced film if you will. It helped a lot as I learned pacing and dialogue rhythm and such in the beginning, and now music will frequently stimulate a scene, clarifying it and sometimes creating it from nothing. Location is always a big part of my scripts. All the places I've used so far are places I've been to at least once, and I use supplemental research to flesh-out the picture.

TV writing versus film writing -- which do you prefer? Film scripts are a long-time commitment, frequently show to get started, ninety plus pages, and the rewrites and revisions never seem to end. But the feeling of getting a good review or a contest placement makes it all worth it. TV writing is an easier format for me. The structure is very confined, yet you can create a world of characters whose stories are not confined, not finite. It's great to see that the TV world is starting to open up a bit, making some opportunities available to new writers, and I think it can only get better. As the cable channels keep coming out with new original dramas and comedies, the demand for fresh ideas and new blood will keep increasing. I'm looking forward to it.

How old were you when you first started writing? About twenty-two. Up to that point, I'd dabbled a bit, you know, making up movies with my own casting choices, but I started actually doing scripts then.

How did you get started writing? I had to do a lot of writing in school, and even later in college, but after I left, I started to actually put work into making those play movies a reality. It's funny to look at some of the notes and stuff I took back then... I was so green!

Did you always want to? Writing professionally was never something I really thought about doing. When I was little, I wanted to be marine biologist. I had seen JAWS, and I guess some part of me felt that I could, I don't know, reason with that shark. I eventually dismissed that ambition... I can't swim, and I didn't want to spend all my time in a lab studying ick in petrie dishes. That's when I decided acting was the direction I wanted to go. I'd always done it, in an informal sense, and felt it would be perfect for me. And I still do. The writing began during a lull/crisis period in the acting... I wasn't getting roles at school and I was beginning to think maybe I could do it. Started thinking about other ways to get into the business, other things I was good at, and writing just kind of came naturally.

There are a lot of writing boards out there -- are they worth exploring? Utilizing? I've had some good and bad experiences. It's a great idea to explore the boards, read posts, glean all the information you can. As to utilizing it, be careful. While most of the sourced information is at least dependable, some of the advice from posters may not be. Don't be afraid to ask about the posters' credits, and don't be surprised if most of them won't tell you. If I were to recommend a site, it would be zoetrope (www. zoetrope.com). The main board can get way off-topic, but some of the private offices are loaded with great information and other writers who are truly interested in success, not just for themselves but for other writers as well.

Have you taken any writing classes? One. But by the time I'd taken it, I'd already been writing for a couple of years, so it wasn't a huge help, but I did learn some valuable bits that I still use to this day.

Have you had any of your writing produced? Not yet. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback in various forms for my work so far. One of my film scripts placed third in the Big Apple Film Festival screenplay competition. Never expected that to happen... Certainly not on the first try. I've since then done some fairly major revising and I'm hoping to send the script out again to contests late summer/ early fall. I'm also revising a pilot I have with the same purpose. The response I've gotten to this pilot has been so overwhelming and encouraging. I really have a great feeling about it, I think it has a great chance to get picked up eventually.

Do you have an example of your writing anywhere where interested people could read it? Well, I have the first thirty pages of THE DEVIL INSIDE up on my myspace blog... If I get more reads and comments, I may put up the rest. As for the YARD WORK pilot, I'm actually considering trying to film, at the very least, a trailer for it. No definite time frame on that one, but I'm always open for ideas.

What do you do when you experience the dreaded "writer's block"? It is so frustrating. I'm pretty much useless in the morning, and often most of the afternoon. If I get anything done, it's at night. Some of my best bits of dialogue have been written at one o'clock in the morning. I think the best thing to do when writer's block arrives, at least for me, is to stop working. Period. At least for awhile. It cuts the stress in half.

Have you ever had a muse to use for your writing? All the time. Usually it's an actor or actress that I picture in a particular character's role. It helps me to visualize the character, flesh-out details.

Who are the people that have inspired you the most when it comes to writing? Joss Whedon, definitely. Snappy dialogue, drama and angst with smatterings of comedy as well. The characters he creates are always rich and dimensional, good balances between strength and weakness, male and female. And his character interactions always feel very authentic. I can't think of anything Andrew Davies has written that I haven't enjoyed. His original works are always well done, and his adaptations of novels are just brilliant. I'm a particular fan of his adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the one that starred Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat... I'm grouping them together because most of my experience of them has been through their work on DOCTOR WHO, which I love, though have also seen their individual work... Always excellent.

Any advice for anyone interested in exploring screenwriting? Don't be discouraged. Tens of thousands of screenplays are copyrighted or registered with the Writer's Guild of America every year. It is a difficult business to get into, and the likelihood of becoming successful is slim. And no matter how good you are, no matter how well-received your work is, people will never cease to remind you of these things. Take a chance, tell your story in whatever way it needs to be told, and never be discouraged.