You gotta tell your story!

by Nick Blake

We get lots of interesting mail here at TheScreenplayWriters.com. People all over the world send us story ideas or requests to do stories about their lives. Any story ideas we delete unread (to read them sets us up for liability issues up the ying-yang that are best avoided altogether). We tend to respond to interesting life stories, however — not to write them ourselves, but to encourage people to write their own stories.

Writing is something Pinaki and I both feel passionately about. Though we love taking interesting commission projects, we equally love pushing people with a story to tell their story. Life and art are meant to be shared. If you feel passionately about a project you should pursue it. When acted upon, passion tends to open doors and makes things happen. People respond to passion — that’s what makes good stories GOOD.

Below is an example of a recent exchange. It is by no means unique. We hear stories like this at least once a day. For the sake of urging people to engage creativity in their daily lives, I offer it as an example of the kind of interesting life story that should get written!

I also offer it as an example of the kind of request we can’t do, and what our response will be. If you think you have an interesting story to tell, then tell it! We’d love to take a look at it when you’re done and see if we can’t help craft it into something stronger. At the very least we might be able to point you in the right direction if we can’t do anything with it.

All my best,
nick

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Ms. L wrote:
I was once featured on a short lived reality tv show called three wishes on nbc, which was aslo streamed in some tv options that you can find online. Since that show aired, my hearing got worse and my story is truly better than fiction. I think it would make a great movie. I have begun work on my book, but I am not writer… does anyone take great stories and write them as screenplays…would anyone be interested?

Pinaki wrote:
Dear Ms. L,
Thank you for writing to us. I am sure you have an interesting story to tell.
FYI, we are a professional screenplay writing company. We write screenplays on demand, when a client (usually filmmakers or producers) finance the project. I believe you have to either get in touch with a film production company and convince them to make a film on your life, or finance the screenplay project yourself and then show it to a producer/production company.
Pl feel free to ask questions if any.
Best regards,
Pinaki Ghosh
Co-founder www.TheScreenplayWriters.com

Ms. L wrote:
Pinaki:
Thank you, I thought that may be the answer I would recieve, but thank you for taking the time to respond. I am sure you are very busy… I appreciate your kindness.
Regards,
Ms. L

Nick wrote:
Hi Ms. L,
This is Nick, Pinaki’s business partner. You’re very welcome, thanks for writing! The movie biz, like many creative endeavors, is fueled by passion. My advice: if you truly believe in your story, write it. Shop it around to several movie editing services (relatively inexpensive – generally $200-$250 … there are several good ones out there, including our own. If you’re interested I’ll point you to a variety of online writers). Don’t be afraid to spend time developing the story – years, even. You’ll end up with something beautiful in the end. Then you’ll be in a position to approach agents who might be able to land you a movie deal (or TV, or something). That part takes perseverence and a little luck – but luck tends to favor the bold. 🙂
Writing is extremely difficult – most of the time it feels like a worthless endeavor. But if you fight for it, it will be immensely satisfying!
All my best,
Nick

Ms. L wrote:
Nick,
You and your business partner must be kind men. I do write a little… I have a blog I started several years ago… I am in the process of beginning the long journery of writing a book. I have journals and the blog, so I at least I have a starting point… and I have the story, how many deaf music teachers are there?
Warm regards-
Ms. L