This blog was written by mentee Amanda Castillo whose mentor Miden Wood started our Entertainment and Scriptwriting Workshop.
At Girls Write Now’s Digital Media and Mentoring Program (DMP) workshop, the room was ecstatic. Or maybe that was just me because I walked in five minutes late to see my mentor Miden Wood standing there kicking off the workshop. I remember her telling me this—more specifically, whispering—before we left our last meet-up: “Yeah, I’m actually starting off the next workshop.” Of course, as an amazing mentee, I didn’t forget. Nonetheless, here she is, leading off the Entertainment and Scriptwriting Workshop with a bang. As a scriptwriter for the Nick Jr. show Blaze and the Monster Machines, she had a lot of great insight into the TV world and just how to effectively write a script. It was more than just write a script and see where it goes kind of thing.
“Changes changes changes…” I remember her saying. No matter how well you wrote your script, there always something a fresh pair of eyes wants to change. Writing a first draft meant that it definitely wasn’t going to look like that for the final draft, she had also noted, showing rough drafts of her own.
There was so much she had to offer, and as she was standing there, I couldn’t help but feel extremely proud. Seeing my mentor up there was really awe inspiring because I know how passionate she is about her job.
She spoke out about her first time she ever wrote a episode and when reviewed, it came out to be something completely different. That’s the thing about script writing, it’s going to go through lots of review. “And as you can see,” she laughed, “ mine definitely went through a lot of work. Especially ‘estalbishing.’”
Looking that whole day over, I realized something amazing about my mentor. It was more than the presentation, more than the amazing advice she gave from script samples to her own anecdotes to what it’s like day in and day out as a scriptwriter. It was after all of that. When everyone clapped as she ended, and when she sat beside Iemi and I. If you had walked any earlier than that you wouldn’t tell how nervous she was. I could see her laughing it off as that way her nerves would settle. She was so natural about it, something I know I’d never pull off.
“Did I do alright?” She asked Iemi. I laughed a little because I knew how awesome she did.