Oh, I’ve been a very bad blogger! It’s been almost a month since I’ve written a post thanks to life/mid-terms/new rescue puppy getting in the way. The dust is settling now, thankfully, and I promised I’d make a recap about the Emails to a Young Screenwriter blog series by Darlene Craviotto, so here it goes!
As I’ve said before, it all started with a contest held by Jennifer Owenby, which I found randomly thanks to a Facebook group for indie authors. I entered with some reluctance and, to my surprise, I won. It was awesome and scary at the same time. The contest was for a copy of Darlene Craviotto’s book An Agoraphobic’s Guide to Hollywood and a Q&A about screenwriting session with her. Of course, her being a professional screenwriter I didn’t want to fall into the silly questions gutter, nor did I want her to feel like I was some novice that had no idea whatsoever about what she was asking. I did take a screenwriting class during my bachelors and have kept myself busy reading everything I can put my hand on that has to do with screenwriting as well as creative writing in general, not counting the scripts I had written and filled the rubbish bin with in the meantime. We had Christmas right around the corner and I had finals, that gave me time to read her book in its entirety, think on it, and then ask my questions.
I recommend her book not only for people interested in screenwriting, but readers who are looking for a well written, appealing story. Darlene’s journey isn’t for the faint of heart. She’s persistent. She’s a fighter. She’s an extraordinary woman with a beautiful soul and an even more beautiful story to tell. One of the things that struck me about her when I read her book was that, not only did she have to fight the agoraphobia to keep up with the stressing job screenwriting is, she never stopped being a wife to her husband and a mother to her two children. Hollywood is known for destroying relationships and families, heck, writing itself has been base for many marital disputes, but she never faltered and that makes her a hero worthy of a thousand books. Also, the fact that she’s not afraid to share her knowledge with everyone willing to learn, of what her blog is proof. Nothing to do with the heartless monsters one thinks Hollywood is filled with, all holding some gold ring in their hands and whispering “my preciousssss” to themselves.
But my extraordinary adventure didn’t end in the anonymity of our email exchange. When Darlene asked me if I was okay with the idea of her making a series of blog posts about our session I was flattered to no end (what did I tell you about her sharing knowledge?). Her answers where so detailed and full of wisdom it was a crime to keep them hidden from the rest of the world. And then she went and talked so nicely of me in her posts I couldn’t stop blushing.
Thank you for the opportunity of a lifetime to both Jennifer and Darlene. This will be the foundation to many of my future projects and it’s a damn solid one!
Now let Darlene herself guide you the links to all the blog posts so you can read and enjoy them as much as I did (only I got to do it twice, haha!):
So You Want To Be A Screenwriter?
It All Begins With A Screenwriter
Emails To A Young Screenwriter
If It’s Screenwriting, What’s Acting Got To Do With It?
8 Rules For Surviving Screenwriting
Go get her book, I know you’ll love it!
Artistikem Writes 