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Everyone should have a chance to live in a bubble for a few months now and then. This summer I had the opportunity to live, breathe, eat and write with a whole roomful of other writers. Our group consisted of writers from Denmark, Italy, Columbia, India, Siberia and Korea. Together, we shaped, rearranged and constructed our stories. We each finished writing a feature length screenplay. Granted, each script will still need many more revisions and modifications, but we did something that most people just talk about. At the end of eight weeks we had all bonded in a unique way and I met some amazing people from all over the globe.
And then—-there was Writer Number Seven.
No words can explain the who, what and why of this woman. She perplexed and annoyed all us to the point of banging heads on laptops, harming innocent sheets of paper, weeping and gnashing of teeth. For starters, her movie was absolutely ludicrous and it made no sense to any of us. She believes she is the next Tarantino. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the talent to back it up. To add to that, she has a fascination with the world of fantasy and I am convinced she is pathological liar. In eight weeks, she made the following statements:
My ex boyfriend used to a titled fighter, My ex husband is rich owns his own oil well, My ex husband is rich so I can do what I want, My ex boyfriend was a gigolo, I got divorced 6 months ago, I’m getting married in three weeks in Las Vegas, He asked me to marry him after three days, I’m marrying a half Indian half Jamaican, We have an open marriage, I was part of the Russian mafia, I was kidnapped when I was 18 by the Russian mafia, I talked my way out of the kidnapping, The mafia asked me how I want to die—Naked? Crucified?, I have a degree in psychology, I had a successful psychology practice for six years and made more money than my oil husband, My ex husband looks like James Bond, I know all about my fiancée because I went to his job as a security manager and saw how he works with people, My fiancée is a big music producer; he just does security on the side., I lived in Thailand and studied prize fighters, I watched this deranged fighting, when rich women watch men fight and then they choose one., I didn’t have any toilet paper growing up., I taught English, I was struck by lightning—twice, I worked in an orphanage., I am a two time cancer survivor—down there, I’m pregnant.
And yes, I did keep a running list and wrote each one as she told us.
All things must come to an end and last week, my screenwriting course came to an end. The bubble burst and reality came rushing in. I start teaching again this week, I have four baskets of laundry looking accusingly at me and the question “what I am making for dinner” has come back to haunt me. Being in a bubble is fun, but reality has its perks too—I’ll have to tell you what they are later.
By the way—I’ve got the plot already worked out for my next story. The main character starts out with a fighter boyfriend, her life follows a series of outrageous events and in the end she finds out she’s pregnant.
It’s summer—long hot days, nights blinking with neon fireflies and the sounds of crickets lulling me to sleep. But it’s also a time to slow down and perhaps tackle a long-ago shelved project. I always try and accomplish something in the summer that teaches me something new. Sometimes it’s a trip to a country I have never seen, other times I read a book that I have been avoiding or I finish a story or rewrite chapters. Last summer I spent the entire summer rewriting my book and sending out queries to literary agents. Finding an agent is a full time job—trust me!
This summer I have an opportunity to take an eight week screenwriting course in NYC at the NY Film Academy. The course is quite intense; I attend class Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM. When I registered for the class, I was told I would be required to produce writing every evening after class. I am looking forward to this not only with great anticipation, but also a healthy amount of anxiety…What if I can’t write on demand? What if my story collapses under scrutiny? What if my characters have no depth? What if I find out I have no writing talent at all? All these ask the real question: What if I fail?
When I was younger, the fear of failing kept me from pursuing my dreams. Age has taught me that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s adage; “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” has never been truer. By pushing through and facing my fears I discovered I could do much more than what I believed. By organizing events and fundraisers, I realized that have excellent organization skills. After I learned that a woman had stolen an entire book from me, I was afraid that I would never be able to write again. I was wrong. Eventually, I forgave her (even though she never asked for it) and started to write once again. For quite some time I believed I was too old to begin a new career and was afraid to take a class to earn my MFA. But I soon learned that age is a distinct advantage and now I take great satisfaction when I am the oldest one in the group.
But most of all, I feared that I would fail at the only thing I wanted to do: Write. For most of my life, I never let anyone read my work because I was afraid of the reaction. When I finally got enough courage to take my first creative writing course, on the day on which my short story was to be read and critiqued, I stayed at home—sick to my stomach. I will never forget when my story was finally read aloud. I received some criticism, but to my joy, I also received accolades! It was a day I will always remember; because it was the moment I faced and conquered one of my greatest fears.
This summer I challenge you to do something that would normally cause you anxiety. Read a influential or classic book you have never read before. Take a course in a subject that is out of your comfort zone. Apologize to someone you have wronged. Take a trip somewhere and avoid anything touristy. Introduce yourself to someone new and make a friend. Spend the summer writing letters instead of emailing or texting. Make a goal to face and conquer something you fear. Without a doubt you will uncover a new talent, skill or passion.
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