What I Learned by Writing a Screenplay

First things first. I wrote a screenplay.

Yes, you read that correctly. I wrote a screenplay.

What many people don't know about me is that I not only love art, but I am inspired about telling stories through artistic means. Through the years I have created my own comic book characters, wrote short stories and poems, and embarked on a book (in progress) and several screenplays (two in progress). I have finally finished one screenplay that, unfortunately for the other two that I started working on years and years ago, took me just over a year to complete. Despite not being a professional writer, let alone a screenwriter, I am extremely happy and pleased with it knowing that revisions, corrections, and even additions may be a part of its future, whatever future it may have.

That said, its future is less important than what I took from it while writing it.

Telling stories is fun. It's probably why children often venture down the storytelling path regardless of the consequences from their parents when the storytelling is labeled "a lie". To the child, it wasn't necessarily a lie, but rather an adventure of creativity and fun. Funny how as we become adults that tends to get placed second to work, balancing lives of ourselves and our own children, and seeking out needs, rather than wants. Ironically though, despite it being second, we all (as adults) continue to seek it out. We all want something creative and fun in our lives.

Everyone's life is full of difficulties and challenges. If we are successful, we draw on those to motivate us through the problems to find purpose in our lives. When I got divorced some 11 years ago, the difficulties and challenges grew exponentially, but drawing on those was important as I navigated a new life with new relationships (and changed relationships) with everyone around me. Art helped me as I worked to address my own mental health.

Before the divorce, I started two screenplays, but the divorce process derailed those. All of sudden, I was consumed with the difficulties and challenges. Once those were done (or in my case, manageable in this new world), I was able to get back to finding a way to escape and seek out fun. I did, through my creativity. I picked up a pencil and began drawing characters; I sat in front of a computer and began typing stories; I even started using my own real-world experiences as a backdrop to telling a futuristic story. What came about it was my first completed screenplay, entitled "A Dad's Story".

"A Dad's Story" focuses on a father, on the day his oldest daughter is getting married, reminiscing on his life as a divorced dad.  

Telling the story was important to me, but the journey to do so was more important. It helped me focus, see what's important in life, and remember to always find time for me and my wants and needs. I got inspired. And inspiration...well...is in itself, inspiring.

Check out www.scottlmyers.weebly.com for more information on "A Dad's Story" and other works coming. If interested in helping it move down the movie creation process, reach out and connect!