Writing has always been one of my passions. I loved writing stories as a kid and still do to this day. Putting my dyslexia aside, writing has always been one of my preferred ways of expressing myself creatively. It’s part of the reason why I joined Her Campus in the first place. I started developing an interest in screenwriting when I was about 17 years-old but never dared to study screenwriting and film. Even though I studied film in Cegep, I am not in a related university programBut I decided not to let that stop me and to try and pursue screenwriting.
When I started university back in 2018, I dream of being a writer to the side because I never thought I would make anything of it. I love writing, but growing up with people telling you that you will never achieve something of the sort is hard and you slowly start to believe it. I so badly wanted to prove them wrong, but as a kid you tend to consider what adults tell you, especially growing up with a learning disability. It’s difficult to prove people wrong when you think they are right.
It wasn’t until this past year that I got back to writing again. When quarantine started I was thinking about my life a lot, which I believe many young adults like myself were experiencing. I was confused about what I wanted to do after school and whether or not I was in the right place to achieve my goals.So, I started writing. First, I wrote random short stories for fun,then I started writing short scripts like I used to do back in Cegep. I did this for about a month or two until I realized how much I truly loved it. It was the best part of my day. I loved using my imagination, just like when I was in elementary school. There is something about writing stories that brings me a lot of joy, and that’s when I knew I wanted to give this a shot professionally.
I did a lot of networking on social media, especially Twitter, to find people who would be willing to give me some advice on pursuing this seriously. By some chance, I became friends with a writer who worked on the new series Ratched that came out on Netflix in September. It takes us on the journey of nurse Mildred Ratched’s past, who is probably one of the most iconic villains in film from the movie The One that Flew Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). We have been contacting each other for a few months now, and he has been helping me tremendously with developing my screenwriting skills to get the attention I need to be successful in the industry.
I have no idea where I am going to end up pursuing this dream. So far, it’s been going surprisingly well and I am already learning quite a bit about screenwriting. Even though I am planning on finishing school, I hope to reach out to more people and make this more of a reality in the future. It just goes to show that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to.