I was asked to write a guest post about writing over at the Pen & Muse.
I had fun writing this one. Here it is!
‘Where I Write’ -my Guest Post for Poet Mark Stratton’s Blog Series
Interview at Exposure Worthy
I’ve been Exposed!
Fellow poet and blogger Kellie Elmore has deemed me Exposure Worthy. I answered her interview questions late last night, and to my surprise, she notified me this morning that she already had the complete interview up at her site–with links and all! She’s amazing.
Thanks so much for suggesting we do the interview, and for
asking such great questions, Kellie. I thought it was going to be painful (I’m used to being the journalist; the one who asks all the questions) but it was actually a fun trip down memory lane.
Check it out here:
Kellie Elmore interviews me
And please read my favorite poem by Kellie Elmore:
Magic in the Backyard by Kellie Elmore
Have a great week everyone.
Cheers,
Heather
“You Should Write A Movie.”
“It’s him. Why wouldn’t it be him?” my friend Artsy Mommy asked me the day after Mr. Screenwriter signed my blog.
“What’s the big deal?” she wanted to know. “He’s just a writer.”
Just a writer. I laughed out loud. She had clearly expressed what most of the world thinks of my chosen profession. This is one of many reasons why I love Artsy Mommy—for her honesty—and for what came next.
“You should write a movie about this,” she smiled as she helped me toss another load of muddy clothes into my washer.
“About this?”
“Inspired by this. By the people you’ve met on the discussion board, by meeting someone famous online—by you freaking out pretty much all the time about it.”
“It would be pretty funny. A stay-at-home-mom and writer meets someone famous on the Internet. I like it. I could fictionalize it—but people who meet on the Internet—that’s a good starting off point. Something we can all relate to.”
“So get to it.”
“Yeah, right. With what free time? At four in the morning? ” I laughed.
Six months later, I was sitting in front of my computer screen, rereading the first draft of my script, “The Friends I’ve Never Met.”
I glanced at the clock. 4:44 a.m.
I hardly remembered any of the writing process these past few months. I’d been waking up at 4 a.m. instinctively—on the nose, without an alarm clock—and writing in a trance-like-state until my daughter woke up at 8 a.m. every morning.
I’d read a couple screenwriting books, visit Mr. Screenwriter & The Facebook Movie’s discussion board for advice and inspiration, and rework that morning’s write using my cue card system during the three hours she was in preschool. I knew the first draft was done when I woke up at 7 a.m. one morning instead of at 4 am. I’d hit 120 pages.
It was one of those pieces that insisted on being written. And then—like no piece I’ve ever written before— it insisted on me telling the world about it. It’s a very stubborn, persistent child. It won’t give up.
But then, neither do I.
***
Update: I wrote that movie. I shopped the screenplay around for two years, and when I ran out of money doing that, I published it to Kindle, Kobo Nook and iBooks! It has been my best-selling ebook to date! Thanks so much to everyone who believed in me along the way! 🙂
The Friends I’ve Never Met – find it on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Sony, iBooks, Copia, Smashwords and more!
Read the background to how I came to write the screenplay and the many adventures I had around it:
starting here:
“You’re Not Being Punked.”
When I write, “until the day I found a way to speak with Mr. Screenwriter on the phone,” you must remember that I worked from home with a four-year-old tugging at my pant leg every ten minutes.
Therefore, if I wanted my impulsive plan to work (and by impulsive, I mean impulsive—I’d only come up with the idea a half hour before, when my clever four-year-old suggested in a matter-of-fact-tone, “If you want to speak to him, you should call him.”), it was imperative for the Flickering Babysitter to hold her clever attention for at least 10 minutes.
The fact that I also absent-mindedly poured her a bowl of Cheetos bigger than her little blond head while he and I were conversing is not one of my proudest parenting moments. But it did give Mr. Screenwriter and I something else to talk about.
“I just put on Rocky and Bullwinkle for my daughter, so I can get a quiet moment to speak with you. I don’t even know what Rocky and Bullwinkle’s about. Working from home doesn’t always work out for me,” I laughed.
“How old is she again?” he asked.
“Four.”
“She might be a little young, but try Pinky and the Brain,” he said, and he went on to explain why he and his daughter liked the show. We were having a regular conversation. I didn’t think I sounded like a stalker or a bimbo, but apparently I did sound Canadian, because he made a joke about my o’s. I laughed and relaxed a little, catching my breath so I could ask him my next question.
“So, I guess you’re really answering my emails?”
“Yes, Heather, you’re not being punked.”
That’s what it took for me to finally believe. Yes, Virgina, he really was Mr. Screenwriter! I could finally let go and start enjoying my time on his Mr. Screenwriter & The Facebook Movie discussion board. Maybe I’d even stretch my legs a little. Or a lot. It was the best thing that could have happened.
Posting on a public discussion board for the first time helped me find my funny, and reading about his work (and how much he seemed to love doing what he did) inspired me to try to write a screenplay of my own—something I’d never dreamed of trying until I happened upon that discussion board in December 2008.
I suppose my journalism training has made me overly suspicious of everything I read—especially items I read on the Internet—plus, I’ve probably watched Conspiracy Theory a few too many times. But if I weren’t an over-thinking-paranoid-yet-impulsive frosted flake, I wouldn’t have these great stories to share. There is a method to my madness.
I don’t regret much in my life, but I do regret deleting Mr. Screenwriter’s blog comment because, well, it was damn funny. And who doesn’t want to drive traffic to their blog? Who cares how it happens, as long as the readers get there?
Apparently, me. Apparently, I am the freak of nature who cares a little too much about pretty much everything. I wish I’d had Cher near my computer that day, smacking me silly, “Snap out of it, Blondie!” Why did I have to be so perfectly principled? It’s not like I’d posted photos of me pole dancing— “More of this at heathergracestewart.com!” (Besides, I couldn’t possibly have any photos like that, in case you’re wondering).
Luckily, my fits of over-thinking and panic have miraculously failed to scare Mr. Screenwriter out of my life, so I am still treated to his brand of funny from time to time.
Read how this story started:
Prologue: The Fine Line (between persistence and stalking)
1) a-The Fine Line: “Do What You Want”
c-“I”m Afraid To Ask, But What Is Poking?”
Read the NEXT chapter: “You Should Write A Movie”
Heather Grace Stewart 