My Writing Journey

I remember being a very creative child. Even though at that time I wanted to go down the acting route I still had a passion for film and the artistry that was part of it. Once I was in secondary school I got a chance to study the film and Tv industry through my school's Media Studies. This was the start of me making more serious steps towards studying it. Going into college was when I took the huge switch from wanting to be an actress to wanting to be part of the media industry. Over the years of being in college, my love for the media industry grew more and more. This was the time I got to dabble in screenwriting and that's when my love for screenwriting started. Once I graduated college I decided I wanted to pursue screenwriting and a writing career.

I was inspired a lot by the media I had grown up with and a big part of this was anime. I loved watching films from different cultures and seeing how they told their stories. I grew up in an amazing time for film and Tv, especially with the shift from physical DVDs to streaming which gave me lots of content to indulge myself in and that could inspire me. I currently take inspiration from a mix of things from music, TV shows, films, my own experiences, and research. I tend to come up with a lot of fantasy ideas because I’ve always found a love for the genre. It helped me feel escapism in the times I really needed it. Fantasy is a hard genre to write for along with Sci-fi. I found it fun to create these characters that interact within these worlds.

(Image credit - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5323662/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia:_Prince_Caspian )

I found that the times I had the best ideas were when I was out on my own whether that be walking or going out to an event. In These moments mind can wander and ponder over ideas that I want to do. One tactic I took on later in my writing journey was to take note of these ideas. This is because if I got writer’s block then I would have a backlog that I could lean upon which means that I can constantly be writing without having to take long breaks to think of a new idea. Creating that backlog was so important because it reminds me of the types of stories that I write and the patterns behind them.

( Image Credit - https://productcoalition.com/8-different-ways-to-organize-your-backlog-to-make-it-more-impactful-a472684d093b )

I loved most forms of writing ( apart from poem writing) but screenwriting was one that I gravitated toward most. I still practice writing books and still have a passion for it however I liked the idea of writing for a visual medium. The idea of the things that I write being adapted visually sounded appealing to me. Collaborating on a bigger idea with other writers sounded amazing to me. Going through university drove me deeper into the medium of screenwriting and this made me want a career in it even more.

What made me so serious about Screenwriting was the idea of being able to see my ideas there visually. Adding to this idea that I would be working as part of a team and how a script can be the start of bringing a team together for a film. It all felt so different from the process of writing a book or a poem. The collaborative aspect of filmmaking was one thing that really brought me into the medium of screenwriting. Even though I had a fascination with the production side as well I felt like my creativity and the way I worked adapted well to screenwriting and so I joined the University which is when I started to take it more seriously.

Being able to study media is a privilege that I do not take for granted because it's one of the things that opened my love for the industry and screenwriting in general and without it, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. Being in that environment working collaboratively was something that not only helped me cultivate my skills but it also helped me share my passion with other writers and filmmakers. Surrounding myself with other creatives and having consistent feedback on my work not only helped me improve my work but also help me share my passion and I think without it I wouldn’t have been able to improve as much as I have now.

In conclusion, there were so many things that drew me to where I am now and that inspired me to write the projects that I have written and am currently writing. Without this journey, I’d gone through I don’t think I’d be in the place where I am now and that is down to my appreciation of film and TV. I’ve always had a passion for writing since I was younger and the journey that I have been through to where I am today has helped me show how much I see that it is meant for me and the skill sets that I have built throughout the years. I am excited to see what the future of my craft and my career will be as it develops for the better as I grow older.

(Image Credit - https://www.ign.com/articles/want-to-write-a-screenplay-learn-how-from-an-award-winning-screenwriter )