You Knew You Were a Writer When . . .

Every writer has had them . . . those moments when you realize, "I can't believe it. I'm a real writer."

I had one yesterday. I showed up in IMDB for Growing the Big One. The first thing I thought was, "That's me! I'm real writer."

Monumental Moments

It got me thinking about the other moments.

• My first book in 4rd grade.

Of course, it was a book only in the sense that it was a story and it was bound. I wrote the 6-page epic entitled The Silver Knives on notebook paper, drew a cover, and bound it with yarn from a disintegrating sweater. I thought it was pretty dang cool though and I still have it.

• My first sports column in the Eatonville Dispatch.

This was a terrible experience. I didn't know the first thing about journalism — my English teacher just said that writers do this kind of thing, so I applied.

I covered girl's tennis and even though I was on the team, I still managed to spell some of my friends' names wrong. What made this a moment? People came up to me and said, "I didn't know you wrote." That was extremely cool.

• My first rejection letter.

This would be followed by MANY other letters, so many I kept a three-ring binder to catalog my journey of rejection. But that first one was fabulous, because only writers get rejection letters.

• Being a finalist at the Austin Film Festival.

I went to the conference knowing I was a finalist, but for some reason I figured there was loads of them. I had no idea there were only three per category. When people saw my Finalist Badge, they started talking to me like I was a REAL writer. It was incredible.

• Receiving a WGA card. When that card arrived, it looked like a nondescript credit card. To me though, it was tangible, 3D, plastic proof was I was a writer.

What are your moments?

There you go. My big "real writer" moments.

So what are yours? We've all got them!

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Saying Good Bye to Characters

Just got the shooting script of Growing the Big One. For the first time I got to read the changes made to my script since I handed it over. I think I might need a stiff drink or two.

I've been a professional writer for over a decade — writing for a variety of magazines and companies. I know the client writing the check has the final say, so it's dangerous to attach your ego to words that can be (and often are) drastically altered.

I pride myself on being able to shrug off edits with the best of them — it's just part of the business of commercial writing. So why can't I shrug off these edits as easily?

But it's my story

I've always known screenwriting is commercial writing. It's just that this time the client is a studio and/or producer paying me instead of a publisher or corporation.

I knew while I was writing that first draft that if I was profoundly lucky and someone picked up my story, it would lead to story edits.

So, again, why can't I shrug off these edits as easily?

Saying Good-bye

This may sound odd, but I think it's because I had to say good-bye to some people I cared about. Several of the characters I had crafted, loved and lived with for months as I wrote disappeared or were combined with other characters. It's like having someone you're close to vanish into thin air.

I've listened to other writers lament over the changes made to their stories and how their characters have been destroyed. I feel for their pain, but although edits aren't the easiest thing to read, I'm not quite as worked up as some.

Saying Hello

Why? Because I'm a writer! I can write another story and I can populate it with characters I've lost.

Oh sure, they may have a different hair color, be a little older or younger, or hold a different job, but I'll know who they are. They're my buddies — characters too good to be deleted.

We writers may not have the final say when it comes to editing, but we definitely have the power to resurrect.

Doing the Happy Dance!

I'm taking a break from doing the "happy dance". Just got an email from a producer to set up a time for me to come up and see them shoot Growing the Big One in Vancouver, B.C.

If everything goes well, next week at this time I'll be watching actors saying and doing things I dreamed up. (That's if it hasn't been rewritten completely.) It's a surreal thought.

Getting the story to the People

Writing a script is different from writing a book or an article for a number of reasons. The biggest difference for me is that once you've finished a short story, someone reads it and the communication is complete. It might have only been one person, but they enjoyed your story in the form it was intended.

Scripts, however, require producers, actors and a slew of other people to complete the process — communicate the story to the audience in it's correct form. It's frustrating because you may be a great storyteller, but so much of the process is out of your control.

Next week through my story will take on life. I'm actually going to see people walking and talking and doing things I've only imaged. Then, sometime in 2010, those actors will be walking and talking on screens in front of an audience.

I'm so excited. I will FINALLY have finished telling a story.

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