Finding Your Inner Writer
For years in secondary school I would have given my right arm to take a written essay exam over a formal test or otherwise. I used to think I could write my way out of not being prepared, never finishing the chapter we were being tested on, or never being sure of myself enough to pick B) over C). I thought I liked the fact that I could bullshit my way through with colorful language, inventive sentences, and personal theories. Years later I’ve come to realize that writing came naturally to me, and I felt comfortable and even excited when I started thinking three sentences ahead.
Falling in love with theater and everything that worked my creative juices as a kid made my BFA in theater studies an easy road to follow. Never having had a writing intensive course past composition one, and other generic run of the mill classes, I didn’t realize I loved writing and wanted to grow into it more until I started leaning into topics and formats that blended with my interests. I recall asking my homeroom teacher to let me add a film critic column in our short term class newsletter printed on the finest 8.5x11 white computer paper middle school could buy. I chose not to keep diaries, but to keep scraps, half empty dollar store journals, and piecemeal digital notes for my ideas and explorations I was still wrestling with. From there following college I used the magical power of google and other online resources for tips and expertise from authors, creators, and other budding writers to help find structure and a path for my concepts and characters. Then I took the hardest step, I put it down on paper.
One liners turned into sketch comedy, embarrassing stories turned into standup monologues, character arcs expanded into screenplays, and conversations that had once only unfolded in my mind were coming to life on page in various inspired formats. Now I write every week if not every day at least a small something to get my next idea into the mix or polish off something that had been waiting for review. For a while it was an avenue to create work as a director and actor in something I thought to be half decent, then I considered it a hobby, before it took its final form; a passion and absolute necessity. This didn’t come from training, or a direct path, or a specific career choice, but from the decision I made to put a new story in my own words for the world to someday experience along with me. Hopefully that is.
While passion is what makes the world go round, I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed writing in the smallest and most unexpected ways on top of it all. Following a jaunt as a social media intern for a visual effects studio, I began working full time with a Film Marketing agency writing copy for ads and social media for various films, brands, and nonprofits. While wildly different from chipping away at a screenplay, I was given creative freedom with the immense challenge of writing a new voice perfectly fit for a new client daily. Sure it wasn’t as glamorous or personally charged as other projects but the improvised shorthand skills in writing copy allowed me to stretch different muscles as a young writer.
Whether it’s an essay, an email, a love letter you never sent to that special someone, or a labor of love you’ve put your whole heart into...there’s a writer behind every innovative thought and creative risk taker. There’s always a voice to be heard and a story to be shared, no matter the context.
Happy Writing.