BARBARA E JOHNS

ALSO ON SITE

1. What is your screenplay about?

"Capitol Girl" centers around Ashley Clark, a sheltered 21 year-old wunderkind who goes to work for a U.S. Senator upon graduating from law school (Ally McBeal meets Doogie Howser on Capitol Hill!)

2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay?

I really liked the idea of a brilliant young prodigy with zero social skills being thrust into the 'real world' of politics, and what that might look like. I wanted to explore how she would navigate work, friendships, family and romance while, for the first time in her life, she's no longer the 'exceptional' person in the room. Having grown up in the Washington, D.C. area, I was also relatively familiar with the political world.

3. How long have you been writing screenplays?

I got my first screenwriting software in 1992 so- shocking even to myself- 16 years!

4. What is you all-time favorite TV SHOW? (name only one)

The Simpsons

5. What artist in the film industry would you love to work with?

Jack Nicholson

6. How many screenplays have you written?

Twelve

7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years?

(If McCain wins- Canada. For Obama, I might stick around.) First of all I hope I'll be healthy and happy and doing something positive for the world. Professionally, I'd love to be able to write for TV and film and have my original ideas be made into actual shows and movies (doesn't everybody, though?). I would also "settle" for consistent jobs writing on other people's shows and movies, as I love to do that, too!

8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing?

Over the years I've definitely fallen into a process that is effective despite it being a result of my natural procrastination tendencies (I seem to go through a lot of 'steps' before script completion): After I come up with an idea, I'll jot down everything that comes to mind for it, whether it be for characters, dialogue, storylines, etc. and throw them into a folder. Once I have a basic idea in my head as to what the story's going to be, I do the 3x5 cards on my living room floor- plot out each act, go through the folder and try to incorporate the best ideas. I create an outline/treatment from the notecards in Final Draft (so it's roughly in script format), then if I like it, I'll write the rough draft from that, do one re-write, and call that the first draft.

I have people I trust give me notes and I then do a couple of more re-writes while getting new people to read subsequent drafts, and as I refine it I just keep sending it along to agents or producers I think might be interested and see where it takes me. This is also when I enter them in contests like WILDsound!!

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Politics, social justice issues and learning new things- especially about other cultures and people of the world. Nothing is as eye-opening and humbling as being in a foreign country where you don't speak the language and you don't know anything (or very little) about the culture.

10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest?

Reading scripts aloud is one of the best things you can do for your writing- there's nothing like it, and it's great to see that somebody recognizes the value in that and works to make it happen for as many writers as possible!

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

I'm not very wise, but I will say that most screenwriters I know(including myself) keep going because they feel frustrated if they don't express themselves this way. Feel lucky that you have a passion at all, because a lot of people don't. More practical advice would be to write every single day, even when you don't feel like it. I try to force myself to write a page per day, even if it's really bad, because the most motivating screenwriting advice I ever heard was "remember- 1 page a day turns into 3 scripts a year (or 6 TV scripts)!" I would also suggest finding writers/actors/other people you trust and listento their feedback.

Barbara E Johns, Barbara E Johns