I've always considered myself a storyteller — and, no, I don't mean a liar. :-)
From a very young age, I loved entertaining a room full of people — crafting a tale to draw them into the world I was creating. I thrived on their responses, whether it was biting their nails in anticipation, recoiling in horror, or screeching in laughter. At the age of 13, I began writing guest columns for our local newspaper, humorous and sarcastic stories in the vein of Erma Bombeck. It feels fantastic to take people on a journey where they can, for a short while, forget everything except the images my words conjure up.
Through the years, things have changed a lot in Hollywood. Do you believe that screenwriting is still about the art of telling a story?
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Hi! I think it absolutely is the art of telling a story! At least, all the good movies and shows in Hollywood tell a story! Of course that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t fall flat on my face trying to tell this story but that’s what Hollywood is at it’s core
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How are you doing, Rhonda Stegall Aycock And Renee Stegall? I wrote my first story at 13! Screenwriting is still the art of telling a story. A big reason people see movies is to experience stories. The film industry is a business, so sometimes that overshadows story, but I think if producers, directors, production companies, and studios focused on telling better stories in movies, more people would want to watch those movies, which means more money for producers, directors, production companies, and studios.
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In so many words - yes. However try this: tell a story to a bunch just using your mouth, and then do it again with gesticulations...see the result...well, good screenwriter is good gesticulator...
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It's called Show business, not Show Art. At one time before 1950's Hollywoodland, writers were in power positions. Eli Kazan trial/McCarthy-era was a big deal in Hollywood (from what I was told by an Oscar winning screenwriter who lived that era). Maybe that and 1980s super agencies deciding what gets made have put Writers and stories on low end. Dunno. Lots of great storytellers today but the volume of average movies & average tv shows make it look like nobody understands art?
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Wonderful enthusiasm.
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Rhonda Stegall Aycock And Renee Stegall Hi, yes it is still about the art of storytelling, but we should be aware that it is also an industry. We need to educate ourselves not only on our craft, but on the business aspect of it, so that we know when we are being played! And yes, I have personal experience of suffering the latter.
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I have 21 grandkids and one is very much interested in telling stories. I gave her a prompt to start a story and we'll see what she comes up with. I write with my two brothers, but we have written with our children and grandchildren. The prompt: An elementary school teacher is at the chalkboard when the school secretary comes in and whispers something to the teacher. The teacher sobs.
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That's a great prompt, Eric Sollars. You could be a "prompt maker" for writers. :)