My name is Joan Erskine.

I am a woman in the daily grind to make ends meet, like most of you. I have many interests – I was an illustrator/painter, studied dance, community organizer, and I have a long professional career helping people, especially children. Twenty five years ago, I fell in love with screenwriting.  This is my story, how I came to create the Screenwriter’s Initial Draft Pad.

For many years I was a closet student of screenwriting, my attention spent more on my work helping families and children including my own. When a screenwriter friend, Eddy Herch, suggested I attend the upcoming 2005 Screenwriters Expo in LA, I was reluctant. My friend would be directing the readings of the finalists in the Expo’s CS Open and he needed help. Since he was on crutches after a bout with cancer, he asked if I would run errands in the vast LA Convention Center for him. He also suggested that it would be an experience I wouldn’t regret.

Attending my first class, I was flooded with ideas listening to some of the world's best screenwriters. I was filled with joy. Desperate for something to write on, I went to the store at the Expo selling screenwriting books and tools. I imagined a special pad of paper designed for handwriting screenplays but found none. Even the internet didn’t show any products.

I couldn’t let the idea go.

Once back in New York, Eddy soon repaid the favor. He was not only a screenwriter but a graphic artist. After undergoing yet another leg surgery, he was confined for months to a nursing home. Day after day, I wheeled him out of the nursing home to a coffee shop where he worked on my computer, turning my graphics and drawings of the paper into a professional design while I wrote and laid out three pages of formatting rules for the book covers.

While at the Expo, I met Eric Bauer, publisher of Creative Screenwriting Magazine, host of the Expo and the CS Open Contest. During ninety minute sessions, over a thousand contestants write six pages of screenwriting in response to a suggested story idea.  I offered to donate the paper, no charge for the contest and when Eric saw the paper, he happily accepted.

As the idea for this book emerged, I began to imagine ways to use this as a tool for helping people. At the Expo, I had been deeply moved hearing people of all ages and cultures discussing the joys and sorrows of life as they expressed themselves in their screenplays. A 12 year old boy, accompanied by his mother was waiting to pitch his second full length screenplay. During one class a 19 year old, African American, with long dreadlocks, chains dangling from his denim pants and jacket sat across from a sixty-something white male executive discussing the meaning of a film. Both shared depth, wisdom and maturity. As I listened to them, it occurred to me that people achieve the same kindness and compassion about humanity from such diverse paths and what a powerful means of exploration, healing and community, writing can be.

An idea emerged about creating a program to teach kid’s screenwriting as a tool to understanding how all cultures (people) share the needs for love, family, and security.  After all, writing screenplays is specifically about understanding characters – that is, people.

Once I’d made the commitment to donate the booklets of the CS Open, I had nine months, to become a publisher, name the products, the company, copyright, file patents, compete the design, how to get the barcodes and ISBN numbers, trademarks, design twelve different booklets for the CS Open which couldn’t be done until last minute due to confidentiality issues, find the right printer, print the books, and finally borrow thousands of dollars to make it all happen.

I was up every day at 5 AM working on my computer, worked my day job until 8 PM and was back on-line until midnight.  Somehow after securing a huge loan, incredible anxiety and stress, months of constant work, tremendous love and help from friends and family. I was ready to go to print.

The Screenwriter’s Initial Draft Pad was born!

I haven’t come close to making this a profitable enterprise (a few people are giving away free PDF’s of the paper as “their” gift to people who visit their website) and that has kept me from creating the writing program for kids that I would like to create. However, I have received heart warming, positive feedback about how the pad has helped hundreds of people turn their stories into screenplays.

I’d like to thank everyone who has purchased the Draft Pad either for themselves or for gifts for their friends and family members. Many of you came back for seconds and even more. I’d also like to invite educators, therapists, counselors and anyone else who is interested in using our Draft Pads as educational tools in writing programs to contact me to discuss how we at Everybody’s Write can be of service to you.

- Joan