The Ten Most Memorable Events of My Twenties

9. I Write a Screenplay
April-June 2002
Age: 28

In late February/early March 2002, shortly after I began my blog hiatus, I suddenly got my ass in gear. Everything came into focus. I finally knew what I wanted to do: write a movie. So I signed up for a 10-week screenwriting class at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop. I already knew what my script was going to be about — it was a story I’d wanted to tell, and had tried putting into various formats, for almost 10 years.

I was determined to write this thing, and I was determined to finish it by the end of the course. I knew that if I didn’t, I might never finish it at all. So over the next two and a half months, I promised myself I’d write at least two pages of my script per day. It was a number small enough to be nonthreatening, and in fact I often found myself writing more than that self-imposed minimum. But it was that small number that got me to the keyboard every day.

The week after I turned in my first 20 pages, my teacher returned it to me with comments scrawled on the back. They began: “This is terrific. Really terrific.” I was so excited.

On the night of the last class, I came in and told my teacher that I’d finished my first draft. She gaped at me and offered her congratulations. She’d never had a student actually finish a first draft during the 10-week course before. I was the first.

I eventually wrote a second draft of my script, and this fall I entered it in a gay screenplay contest. I didn’t win; I wasn’t even one of the finalists. My script needs work, but I’m not sure how motivated I am to improve it. I’ve become interested in other stuff lately. We’ll see.

At any rate, it’s the first extended creative writing project I’ve ever completed. I’m proud of myself for that. And I did it in my twenties.