Every week, questions about writing float into my inbox. 

Questions like:

What am I writing?

How do you deal with critics?

How do you overcome fear and self-doubt?

How do you write so much?

How did you decide to become a screenwriter?

Here are a few of my answers: 

Q: Melissa, I’m fascinated by your screenwriting career. What are you working on now?

Whew! I’m juggling a lot of writing projects right now. I just finished production on a movie last month, and I’m getting ready to film another movie in Atlanta this October. I also have two other movies that will film in 2023 and contracts for 4 additional films. 

I’m also releasing my debut novel, CONTROL, in early 2023. It’s a New Adult/Upper YA Paranormal Romance. Think Twilight meets Gossip Girl (minus the vamps). I started writing this novel back in 2018 and took a few breaks for things like fear and mental health, and now it’s in final proofing. I can hardly believe it! The novel is part of a trilogy, and I’m already 30,000 words into book #2. I’ve deliberately chosen to self-publishing these novels to retain full control over my creative work. 

Q: I love writing but I’m terrified that other people won’t like my work. How do you deal with negative reviews?

I have a hard boundary around reviews: I don’t read them. For two reasons. #1 – I firmly believe that reviews are a space for readers and viewers, not for creators. I’ve seen this repeatedly happen: a creator (author, screenwriter, etc.) will go into a reviewer’s space and try and justify their work or even lash out at reviewers for their opinions. It never goes well. I think reviewers should have a safe space to share their feelings without the creator getting involved. 

#2 – It’s impossible to know if the reviewer was your intended audience in the first place. For example, I once had a man send me very “intense” feedback about one of my movies because the main character reminded him of his wife. Ha! I also had a particularly critical reviewer track me across multiple platforms, feeling entitled to a response from me. I write for a specific audience and I know my work won’t always reach the people it wasn’t intended for. That’s the writing biz!

That does not mean I don’t take feedback on my work during development. Screenwriting is a pure collaboration which means a lot of voices in the mix, providing feedback with every draft. For my novels, I have a developmental editor and a trusted circle of beta readers. 

I’ve also accepted that not everyone will like my work, even (sometimes) the people it was intended for! I try to live by the motto that if 5 of my closest friends stay up all night to binge-read my book or take time out of their week to watch one of my movies, that’s enough for me. And I truly feel that way!  

I do my best with every project and I care deeply. After I release it into the world, it’s out of my control!

Q: I noticed you write a lot of TV movies. Do you ever want to write other things?

Personally, I am obsessed with soapy, salacious entertainment. Things that some might consider a “guilty pleasure” (though I don’t believe we should ever feel guilty about pleasure!)

I write TV movies because I love watching them. I’m releasing a paranormal romance trilogy because that’s the genre I love to read most. I’m a huge fan of Turkish soap operas and would love to write one, but I don’t speak Turkish. It’s a real problem. Ha! 

I did sell an 8-episode dark comedy TV series a few years ago. Still soapy & salacious but far more twisted than my TV movie work. Unfortunately, the project didn’t make it to air, but there’s always hope for the future! 

Q: How do you know what advice to take about your writing?

I assume this means which “notes” I choose to take on a particular project (but if it means something else, lemme know!) 

As a screenwriter, I always joke that I’m half a writer and half a lawyer. That’s because most of my job is arguing for/justifying what I put on the page. The development of a script before it hits the screen is a lengthy process with many, many revisions. There are things executives like and things they don’t like. It becomes a negotiation process with each project. Some suggestions make things better. Some I need to rally against. Some I need to compromise. 

Self-publishing a novel is much different because the author has complete creative control. I get notes from my developmental editor and beta readers. I can choose to take those notes or not. I usually take every note from my developmental editor because she’s very in tune with what I want on the page. For my beta readers, I look for common criticisms or things more than one person has bumped against and make changes as needed. 

Q: How do you write so much?

I am a huge fan of writing sprints and setting aside dedicated time to get my writing done. I’m even hosting an event soon on this very thing! Stay tuned for more details. 

Q: How did you decide to become a screenwriter?

When I was in 5th grade, I used to write soap operas about my classmates! They were a bit, ahem, edgy for that time, and I got caught by a teacher who told me never to write another one again. 

Fast forward to my mid-30s, I got a random idea one day for a TV show. It was a fantasy premise set in the 1940s with politics, intrigue, and every soapy plot point you can think of. I felt strongly it needed to be a TV show and not a book, so one day at a bookstore, I picked up a book called The Coffee Break Screenwriter. At the time, I was living in Napa and stayed in Los Angeles for a month for work (non-screenwriting-related work). Using that book, I etched out a first draft and wondered if it was any good. I contacted the author of the book, Pilar Alessandra, and hired her to give it a read and some feedback. Turns out, it wasn’t very good (ha!) but was good “enough” to keep trying. I kept writing and learning under Pilar, then through Script Anatomy and other mentors. Eventually, I started making connections and learning more about the business of screenwriting and figured – why not give it a shot? My husband and I moved to Los Angeles for five years so I could pursue things, and the rest is history! 

I hope you enjoyed this little Q&A! I certainly had fun answering your Qs. 

If you have a question for me for a future newsletter, hit reply and ask away! 

Until next time, have a fabulous week.