Month: December 2015

This fall, I finally listened to the voice in my head that told me I should give TV Writing a try. I’ve always heard the voice but didn’t think I was capable of actually writing my own show. The TV writing omens came to me a few times in my life, some of which I list below:

• I’ve watched TV all my life, why wouldn’t I want to know the mechanics of writing an actual show?
• I’ll never forget when my sister (she might not remember this) told me that a then 23-year old Lena Dunham created the hit show on HBO called Girls. She was only a few years older than me; I was so intrigued by her accomplishment.
• Reserved. I was challenged one day by one of the hosts who didn’t understand how we could have a talk show without a script. Well unbeknownst to me at the time, I thought on talk shows you just talked freely. Didn’t the script make it scripted? What I would soon learn is everything including talk shows have scripts.
• My friend Stephen sent me his script to review that he co-wrote with a friend from college. Tribeca Film Festival was very interested in the script as well. He probably doesn’t know but after reading his script, I wanted to write my own. His bravery and talent inspired me.
• The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) this year made me realize I can write for TV.  I honestly went to the film festival blindly and had no intention of scriptwriting but I left feeling inspired by the stories of Mara Brock Akil and the writers of Empire. I knew after that fruitful weekend that I needed to start my own TV writing journey, so I did.

While at ABFF, I kept hearing people talk about Spec Scripts. What the heck was a Spec Script?  I googled it and learned that a spec script was something you need to break into the industry. It’s a script that allows you to speculate what might happen on a TV show that’s currently running. I realized that I needed to figure out how to write one. During her panel, Mara Brock Akil also mentioned if you want to write, you have to go to LA. So two weeks later, I packed my bags up and went to LA. I told my friend who I was staying with to drop me off at a place where I could write and she dropped me off at a cute writing cafe in NOHO called Republic of Pie.

I wrote in LA, but I did not write my Spec Script. I wrote ideas for a script but I didn’t have the slightest idea how to write a script. I put my TV Writing dreams on the back burner for the rest of the summer.

Around October, I was going through a lot of changes at work and in life. So I took a break from social media and from watching TV just to clear my head a bit. I was literally in my room sitting in silence, reading my bible when something told me to google Script Writing Classes. Gotham was one of the first options that came up on the list, but they seemed a bit pricey, so I continued looking but soon realized that Gotham was the best bet, the other options were either too expensive or not as extensive. I decided to invest in my future and let me tell you, it felt awesome but I didn’t purchase my seat in the Gotham class just yet. I was still going back and forth about the price. I would have to take out of my savings to do this class…was it worth it? I asked God to give me confirmation that I was making the right decision and sure enough he did.

The next day at work, my cell phone, which has a picture of me at Runyon Canyon in LA, with my exercising clothes on was sitting on my desk. Now you know how tight and provocative exercising clothes tend to be, but on top of that my pose was very…i’ll leave the picture below so you can see for yourself. My boss passed by my desk and picked up my phone to see the picture. I grabbed the phone before he was able to see too much, mortified at the prospects of him seeing me in that light, he made light of the situation by saying “What were you doing…yoga?” and walked away. I wanted to crawl under a rock. Why does these awkward moments always have to happen to me? It’s really unbelievable how weird my life is. At that moment I knew my wildly awkward life experiences could serve as inspiration for a character I could create. That was all the confirmation I needed. Three minutes later I dug into my savings account and signed up for my first TV Writing course.

The Gotham class was amazing. I am so impressed with everything that I learned and all the advice I received. I also learned how to write a Spec Script (finally) and handed in my first draft last week. I felt so accomplished. The class gave me amazing feedback and now I have to make the script better and resubmit it. The work doesn’t end at the end of the class. It will probably take me a year to create a portfolio for TV Writing but I am excited. I juggled this class while juggling many changes at work. I followed my heart, not knowing where it would lead me but I am happy it’s led me in the right direction. I feel peace when I’m at my TV Writing class. I feel like I have an outlet to be me, and I am surrounded by other people just like me. I truly believe the moral of this story is to follow your passions. Discover what you love. I know this may or may not be my career path, but I don’t care, I am content in knowing that I’ve learned a new craft and fell in love with it. I thank Mara Brock Akil for giving me the inspiration at ABFF. I thank Shonda Rhimes for running Thursdays on ABC and paving the way for up and coming writers like myself. I thank God for having his hand on my life and leading me to discover my purpose each day.

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