Yet Another Reason Why I Keep Hosting This Blog

At the end of a trying year, a wonderful grace note to open the door to 2021.

2020 was pretty much a trash year for most everyone. Speaking personally, the last time I ate in a restaurant was March 9th. I have been inside a store a total of three times since for a total of 15 minutes. At DePaul University, we moved all our classes online at the end of the winter quarter and continued through spring and fall. It’s entirely possible I may teach an entire MFA class for three quarters without ever seeing them in person. And that just sucks.

Also, I had some medical issues. When I returned from Sundance, I ended up in the emergency room in early February with major chest pains which no one could diagnose. Perhaps COVID-19?

Then as a result of an accident, I suffered chronic shoulder pain six months until the surgeon was able to take on non-emergency patients in June. As a result of the surgery, I broke my consecutive blogging streak at 4,428 days. That really bummed me out.

Of course, all that pales in comparison to the national and global tragedy of the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Millions of people impacted economically. Health care workers on the front lines exhausted and despairing. Political chaos. Just a really, really tough year.

And yet, we persevered. Even though I couldn’t type for several months due to my surgery, I worked every day on the book I am writing The Protagonist’s Journey. I put in even more hours than usual with my university students, Zoom call after Zoom call to provide feedback and encouragement. Once I could type, I found my way back into blogging…

Which leads me to this nifty anecdote.

Every holiday season since 2012, I have interviewed that year’s Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winners. You can go here to access all 39 interviews. Why? Nobody else was doing it. The Nicholl is the most prestigious and important screenwriting competition, it seemed like somebody should be interviewing them. Plus, I figured it gives me an opportunity to read some fine scripts and talk to the writers in-depth about their stories and creative process.

Also this: While I love interviewing established writers — you can read dozens of those conversations here — talking with Nicholl winners means Go Into The Story readers have the opportunity to peer into the minds of writers who are very much like them: on the front edge of their screenwriting careers. Veterans may tend to forget about what it was like trying to break into the business as it’s been years, sometimes decades since they cut their professional teeth. With Nicholl winners, that’s pretty much top of mind because for most of them, becoming a Fellow is their first step into Hollywood.

This year, I have interviewed four of the five 2020 Nicholl winners. I am scheduled to interview the fifth writer this weekend. So it was yesterday, I had an in-depth conversation with Vanar Jaddou whose script Goodbye, Iraq won the Nicholl award this year. It is an intense, visceral script which Vanar is uniquely suited to write. A first generation citizen of the United States, Vanar’s family hails from northern Iraq. Goodbye, Iraq tells the story of a father and daughter in 1988 desperately attempting to escape from Saddam Hussein’s despotic regime and make their way to the United States.

Vanar and I had a great conversation about his background and the script, and afterward we got to chatting. That’s when he told me this:

“I have to tell you something. I submitted Goodbye, Iraq to the Nicholl in 2019. It only made the quarterfinals. I was disappointed. So I read some of the interviews on your blog that you did with Nicholl winners and actually reached out to some of them. A couple agreed to read my script and provide feedback and suggestions. I incorporated those changes into the script, resubmitted to the Nichol this year… and won. Honestly, I do not think I would have won had it not been for those interviews on your blog."

I have been hosting this blog since May 16, 2008. With the exception of a two-month break due to my surgery, I have posted articles here every day for nearly thirteen years. As much as Go Into The Story is a part of my daily regimen, there have many nights where I’ve asked myself, “Do I really want to keep doing this?”

Almost without exception, that’s when I get an email… or a tweet… or a letter from someone letting me know how valuable the blog has been in their lives. That feedback has served as fuel to keep me going all these years.

When I interviewed Vanar, I was not in a uncertain state about my blog. Perhaps it’s because of the pandemic, but I get an almost daily affirmation from folks about the site and my Twitter feed. But I must say, it was great to hear Vanar share his story with me. It was his talent and his hard work which led to him winning the Nicholl, but maybe the work I do at Go Into The Story may have given him just a little bit of a boost as he rewrote his script.

Thus, yet another reason why I keep hosting this blog.

Welcome, 2021! To everyone reading this post, here is a hefty blast of creative juju to give YOU a boost in the upcoming year!

Forward!