Writing for the Screen: Behind The Writer’s Desk

When Dada invited me to attend the session “Writing for the Screen: Behind The Writer’s Desk by Wee Li Lin” it took me less than ten minutes to decide on going and booking a ticket online.

Unfortunately for Dada, though, she couldn’t make it to the actual event, which was tonight, so I went by myself. It was held in the sun tent in Esplanade Park, and there were only eight people in the audience, making it more intimate and personal and giving us all a chance to speak up and share our stories.

Wee Li Lin is not only a screenwriter but a director and producer as well. She has made ten short films and one full length feature film (Gone Shopping) with one more currently in the works. Some of them have won awards, including her first ever project, Norman on the Air. Here is her complete portfolio.

She said she was no great student but she loved art. When a friend introduced her to a film class, she pursued it as a course. She writes screenplays based on her real life stories. The upcoming movie, for example, is based on the confessions of an acquaintance that stuck with her all throughout these years. It’s a comedy about a girl who crazy-stalked her ex for three years. Yikes.

She asked each one of us why we had decided to attend, what screenplays we were planning to write or what types of movies we like.

When it was my turn, I explained that I was an accountant who felt like she was a right brain who got stuck in the left brain world and who wanted to know if there was an option to take up writing someday. I explained that I had no particular story lines in mind yet but that, like her, I loved to share real life stories with the world. I said that I felt like if my life would be made into a movie, it would be a comedy.

Then I shared the story of how, while playing dodgeball, I fell into a hole. Everyone laughed and she said, “I can imagine a story line from that now. Normally most people would go ‘why me?’ but you found humor in the situation. So I see the story of a girl who has a lot of mishaps but who will rise above it all.”

At the end of the session, she told us that if we wanted, we could participate as extras in her next feature film so that we would get to experience first hand what it’s like to make a film.

She even took down our numbers and told me, “It’s not 100% sure yet but we’re thinking of getting an actress who is popular in the Philippines… the Malaysian actress Carmen Soo.” Wow, how exciting.

Listening to her talks has inspired me to stop dreaming and start doing, though. Watch out for my stories, world!