Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Dream

Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Dream
by
Mary E. Hjerleid

“It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.” - Erma Bombeck

Like writers in general, romance writers start out in this genre in different ways and from different backgrounds. Although Leslie Ann Sartor began as a romance writer, she has since moved on to screenwriting.

When I asked Leslie what she thought was the main difference between novel writing and screenwriting, she laughed, and said: “I miss using all those words.” Leslie went on to say that, “Screenwriting is like shorthand. You have little room, so every word must do double or triple duty.”

However, there was a long stretch of time when Leslie didn’t know that ‘using all those words’ was a love she’d abandoned. She shared with me a story her mother told her. “Mom was so surprised when I called her and told her I was going to attempt to write a book. She said, “I’d hoped you’d return to writing someday.” Well, after a long surprised pause, I asked her what she meant. Apparently at a Junior High parent-teacher meeting, my folks and I were informed by my English teacher that I would never become a writer. I wasn’t paying attention to the skills part of the class and that I only wanted to dream up stories and write them down. Mom told me that I stopped writing that night.

“Recently, when I was visiting Mom, she handed me a folder of all the stories I’d dictated to her before I could write. I’m hoping that teacher is way wrong.”

Although Leslie has not yet published a novel, she has moved away from commercial fiction to screenplays. Her first contract was to adapt a non-fiction book Mother of the Pound into an epic-sized theatrical romance, retitled Cry of the Dove.

The love story is built around the Jewish struggle in the Middle East during the turmoil of World War II. It literally builds up to her heroine’s brave step through a door into either death or imprisonment, which started her people on an exodus to freedom.

Leslie said she had to very careful and portray the Middle Eastern mentality correctly—both the Jewish and Moslem side. She was able to embellish the plot and add a stronger romance, although the true story is pretty fantastic without her embellishment. “Also one of the problems is that my main characters, the hero and heroine, are still alive,” Leslie said with a gentle laugh.

Leslie’s decision to switch from novel writing to screenplays came from spending part of her childhood in Pacific Palisades, California. “It seemed as if every other person there was in the film industry. When I was older and living in Colorado, I realized that I’d always wanted to be part of such a fantasy world, to make thousands of people laugh, cry, and above all, think.”

After moving to Denver, Leslie had an opportunity to study screenplay structure, and jumped into it feet first.

By this time she was married and had her own business.

Her first introduction to screenplay writing was horrible, she said. The instructor was so egocentric and destructive to the dreams of his students that she once again dropped that desire.

However, another opportunity came up and this time Leslie met a great teacher who became her mentor—Robert Gosnell. Mr. Gosnell still teaches and has over 20 years of practical experience. His “Elements of Screenplay” provides an overview of the screenwriting process from the point of a working screenwriter and provides an overview of Theme, Story, Character, Dialogue, The 3 Act Structure, Format and related elements. He also gives information on trade unions, agents and marketing, with an occasional anecdote thrown in.

A question that plagues all writers today is the use of a pseudonym. She indicated that she actually went through this dilemma. “I was worried that Leslie Ann Sartor wouldn’t be taken seriously for the heavy subject matter of Cry of the Dove. I batted names back and forth and finally decided on Leslie A. Sartor. It could be male or female. A Beverly Hills attorney actually thought I was male. It didn’t hurt my ego one bit. Well, maybe a tad, but I didn’t care as long as he liked my work, and he did.

“I think the trend is fine in the literacy world for the use of pseudonyms and it can give an author different brand names. However, I’m totally against forcing an author to use one.”

When I asked Leslie to share one of her writing secrets, she said, “In romance writing, whether it is film or literature, you must make the viewer or the reader care that the characters reach their goal. In a romance, if you make sure they reach it together, not simply bending to the will of powerful attraction or whims of outlandish circumstances, you’ll have your audience hooked.”

Another secret Leslie shared with me is that “you cannot write to a premise, theme, or goal—unless you know what must be proven at the end of the story.” Leslie said “the premise leads the players to the goal the author wishes them to reach. The goal is what your readers have been waiting for and need, even if it’s not the outcome they desire. It’s not always easy to come up with a premise that can be proven, but it’s vital at some point for the writer to realize that goal. And then rewriting comes in. “Emotion is also vital, but unless you know what kind of forces get the emotion going, you have little momentum to your story. In other words, pick any emotion you want for your character, but make sure that you as a writer know why a character feels that emotion. That’s what moves the story forward and makes the reader/viewer care.”

With hard work, Leslie Sartor has also found that each scene can sparkle, shine, and light the inside of movie theaters and living rooms for years to come, much like a good romance novel.