- What is the first story you ever wrote?
Wow, interesting question, as I recall since I was a little kid, I love to think about new stories. One that I remember was called “Heart of Stone” a story that had to do with knights and magic. I think I was about 9 years old when I wrote it (I wish I could read it again as I do not remember it much and unfortunately got lost).
- Growing up, what movies or stories inspired your creative passion?
I loved the TV series “The Twilight Zone”, because the stories were short and very different. Stories that were never predictable. “E. T. “ from Steven Spielberg opened my vision as well in terms of extraterrestrial life and the immense universe that we live in; another film that inspired me was “A
Nightmare On Elm Street”, that helped me to understand more movies of this genre too.
- For an unknown writer, what is the best way to get their screenplay seen?
Perseverance is Key and in addition participating in international Film Festivals; To pitch their story as many times as possible, even in the elevator (smile) and to continue writing. We always need to move forward. To continue the promotion of one script or two is one thing, But to always keep on writing and/or seeking for new ideas that could be developed later is important too.
- What experiences from your life influence your characters?
They play an extremely important role with the aspects of my life or factors around it, they could be very handy for inspiration purposes. The story could be different from real facts, but the key thing is to find the area of my story, or the story could depend entirely on a specific influence or experience which could work many times as well.
- Can you explain your character development process?
Interesting question. What I do, It’s mainly to create the character based on the story or sometimes viceversa. The character will be evolving with the process where I learn more about it. Here my characters could either expand or shrink on their participation, new possible characters could be
introduced during the writing process or some other characters could end up leaving the pages.
- Do you write bios before you start writing?
Not always. This will depend on the character on how well I know. In most cases, I will have this “Bio” in my mind. A flexible bio if the case or participation/ development requires.
- How emotionally involved are you with the characters you create?
I get involved a lot. It is very important to create a bond with them as they are part of your life. It’s key to keep feeding them throughout the process, due that sometimes they could fade away, if they are not fed properly. The characters are there for us to bring them to life. They came to us. We are creating them. But if we do not respect them they will disappear. We need to embrace our characters and give them some TLC (Smile).
- What are your thoughts on structure?
I think this depends on every writer. It is important no questions about it. But mainly for the writer to feel the rhythm with the story and develop the scenarios according to the outline planned.
- Do you outline before you start writing?
Yes indeed. It helps me a lot to see the roadmap of my story, where I could make some adjustments if they are necessary for the story or character. The outline not only is very handy. It has helped me a lot to save time as well.
- What is the most important aspect of building a great character?
I think to be approachable and to be interesting, what I mean with this is that the character should be able to reflect a part of our nature. The Key for us to feel attracted and identified with our characters, this does not mean that we want to be in their shoes. But we enjoy riding along with them on the story.
