The Road to Greatness

I have always loved writing. My mom would regale anyone who would listen with fond memories of my childish literary scraps of writing. A sweet, well written (for a five year old) letter; a roughly penned short (perhaps a page or two) story about talking animals; a dreamy paragraph about space travel. All of these things are points of pride for her, and origin stories for my career ambitions. I have always been a goal-driven individual. I had a 5, 10, 20 and 30 year plan at age 12. At this point in my life I still have plans in place, goals I want to attain at certain points of my life.

Currently my plan looks something like this: get recognition for my work.

That's it. The full extent of my plans all center around this simple concept. In my 5 year plan I have levels to attain this.

1. Write a super glamorous script.
2. Intern with an awesome production company.
3. Sell script idea.
4. Gain recognition in the industry.
5. Start writing for television or film as an actual career and not just write as a hobby.

All of this I want to have completed within the next 5 years. My 10 and 20 year plans are very similar to this one. They mostly consist of items related to success within my chosen industry and, after a LONG time, begin to branch out into the possibility of 'settling down' and 'starting a family.'

Within these goals are smaller (though in some ways much larger) goals I have for personal achievements - a "bucket list" so to speak. I want to work with Joss Whedon - it could be on rewriting the dictionary and I would be content. I also want to work with some of my favorite producers and directors and sit down with some of my favorite novelists - Stephen King, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare to name the top three at the moment.

I read today, on a random Facebook post, that 99% of scripts don't get read. Less than 1% of submitted scripts actually get read and then less than that get purchased. After hearing these odds I have decided to add to my list of goals - EDIT my glamorous script. Editing to ensure that the first few scenes especially are killer and breathtaking, I hope, will help me on my path to success!

Equality in Entertainment

Feminism is quite the hot button issue of late. It seems that people are often confused about what feminist ideology is and how it fits in our society. Many celebrities have been speaking out on equality, two of which are idols of mine - Joss Whedon and Felicia Day. I am a writer by trade but I am also an activist. I don’t call myself a feminist for many reasons but I do believe in equality for everyone. Feminism has had a bright spotlight recently with the Gamergate scandal and Emma Watson’s popular and inclusive speech for the United Nations. Women have long been underrepresented in numerous entertainment industries but that certainly seems to be changing. With successful and popular female writers, producers and directors such as Felicia Day, Julie Plec and others, an entire avenue of positions is being opened.

Joss Whedon recently talked to the Huffington Post about his views on feminism and how he doesn’t understand why this is still even an issue in 2014. Whedon came from a household with a strong female role model who was also a very creative influence in his life also. He has long been known in Hollywood as a feminist figure and his writing portrays his views. Buffy, the take no prisoners protector of humans and killer of the undead is one of his most popular characters.

Felicia Day has also worked to show that women are powerful and can be a creative force in the industry. She writes, directs, stars in and hosts her own web series “The Guild” that has been wildly successful. She recently got together with “Can’t Stop the Serenity” a group that is working with equality for all to spread equality to women across the globe. This organization realizes that the issue of equality reaches far outside the confines of our own country.

I hope to help spread social activism and equality across various mediums through my writing. My goal for as long as I have known Whedon and his work has been to represent the best in humanity, just like he always has.