JORDAN OAKLEY

 PictureJORDAN OAKLEY
What inspired you to write a script rather than a novel or short story?
Originally, this script was meant to be a novel. But the longer I wrote, the more points of view became necessary to really understand the themes I wanted to explore. I consider television to be a cinematic novel, giving me room to change POV characters and lending a visual language to the story while still keeping the longform format I love.

Was there a specific film, TV show, or personal moment that first made you say, “I want to write like that”?
A series that stuck with me from the moment I started it was Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass. I remember seeing a stray page of my Nana’s newspaper reviewing the series and decided to watch it to fill the time. What captivated me was how unapologetically infused it was with the writer’s DNA. Honestly, any Flanagan project is something I aspire to. His dialogue feels more like prose, and he has a firm grasp on the themes he wants to put out into the world.

What’s your writing routine like? Do you follow a strict schedule, or are you more intuitive about when and how you write?
I always have a deadline. Not set by me, but by a friend. It’s easy to break a promise to yourself, but knowing my friend is expecting a draft keeps me in gear. I can do whatever I want in the allotted time, but it will be done by the deadline.

When you’re starting a new script, how do you shape your ideas? Do you use outlines, beat sheets, or dive right into scenes? What inspires your scripts? Characters? Plot? Theme? Action?
I’m of the belief that character matters more than plot. So, when I have a vague idea for a story, I always start with character outlines. Who are they? What media do they consume? What do they want and why can’t they have it? My favorite question is in a perfect world, who would they be if all these terrible things weren’t happening? From there I decide on a central question and theme and build a plot around them.

How do you handle writer’s block or those inevitable moments of self-doubt?
When I’m creatively blocked, I try to steer into the skid, so to speak. I decide that this draft just has to suck. Once it’s out on the page, I can mine it for anything worth keeping and build it up from there.

What tools—software, methods, rituals—do you consider essential to your writing workflow?
I’d be lost without Final Draft and Spotify. On the technical side, just being able to write as fast as I think keeps me moving. Final Draft let me build in typing habits that speed up my output and gives me little room to go back and edit myself in the moment. One thing I always do when building a character is making a playlist for them. With a mixture of music I think they’d consume and songs that sound like them, I play them while writing out scenes where they’re the central player. I go insane with them, going as far as making particular playlists for certain pairings of characters who share screentime.

Do you write with production realities in mind, or do you let the creative vision lead first and adjust later?
When I’m writing shorts, I write with particular locations in mind. Since they’re often very low budget, I write what is possible to achieve while still making something interesting. But when I’m writing series or features, I like to let the world sprawl out. Reality will come crashing in anyway, I might as well write what I’m imagining and adjust as I go.

When a scene isn’t working, what’s your go-to strategy for fixing it? Rewrite, workshop, walk away—or something else?
I go on a walk and blast music that fits the feeling of the scene. I imagine and reimagine it, jotting down notes on the different ways it could go.

How many scripts have you completed? How many have you started and not completed (we all have those)...and why are they still unfinished?
I have written and completed 3 pilots, 1 graphic novel and 2 features. As far as unfinished work- I have one pilot, one anthology series and two features sitting in my laptop. They remain unfinished because I tend to get very involved in research. All except one are set in a different decade, and I want to have a firm grasp on the history I’m trying to portray.

Have you earned recognition in this or other competitions? What’s your strategy when submitting your scripts, and how has contest feedback shaped your work?
I have. I’m very proud of Wormwood earning places in 4 festivals and 2 screenplay competitions. A feature of mine placed in 2 festivals, and my first play won the Princeton Ten Minute Play Competition. One of my strategies for submitting to competitions is finding my niche. Be that genre or my own demographics, I’m building a base of recognition while I shop around my work. Feedback is always something I welcome. My philosophy on it is eat the meat, but spit out the bones. Meaning I take in what will affect positive change and leave behind what will only keep me bogged down in constant anxiety.
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Have you done anything at this point to promote yourself or your writing (besides entering online contests)? If so, how would you gauge the effectiveness of those efforts?
I’m lucky enough to have met people in the industry who proceed to pass my work around. A particularly interesting introduction was a professional clown setting up a meeting for me with the EP of Better Call Saul. Meeting with professional TV writers and setting up avenues to get a writer’s assistant position is a hustle that I’m always hard at work on.

Have you pitched to producers or taken meetings yet? What have those experiences taught you about the business side of screenwriting?
I’ve met with local producers through projects I’ve acted in and have often produced my own work, though haven’t met with any medium to large production companies. Most of what I’ve learned about the business side has come from professional writers themselves.

What do you see as your greatest strengths as a writer? Your greatest weaknesses?
I believe my greatest strength as a writer is building tension that snaps. If something is meant to hit an audience, you have to trace back to all the things that built it. My greatest weakness is most likely my obsession with details. I spend so much time building up the interior of each world- books, clothes, backstory- that something that seems obvious to me hasn’t made it onto
the page.

How do you balance your writing with your “day job”?
My day job’s schedule changes from week to week, so I needed a way to keep up with ideas that would disappear if I couldn’t mark them down before my shift was over. So, I keep notebooks. Each is color coded to a particular project. I keep them in my bag and in my pockets. If I have an idea but don’t have the correlating notebook, I write it down in the nearest one, rip it out and staple it to the book it belongs in. I’ve ended up with endless collaged notebooks piling on my desk.

What message or emotional response do you hope audiences walk away with after experiencing your work?
My work is for those who feel isolated, like they don’t belong in the world they inhabit. As a queer, nonbinary person raised in Texas, I had to fight hard to claim ownership of my identity and find a community. Stories helped me cultivate that. So, whether my audiences consider themselves monstrous, desperate, angry or tired, I hope they find a kinship in my wild, less-than-perfect characters.

What are you working on right now the world needs to know about?
I’m very excited about a feature I’ve been tinkering with. It’s a dark comedy about a group of queer people who decide to assassinate Ronald Reagan. I’ve been doing copious research on 80s queer culture, political touchstones and the personal histories of the AIDS crisis.

Where do you see yourself five years from now as a screenwriter—and how do you plan to get to that place?
In five years, I plan on being an experienced TV writer as well as having written/directed my first feature. Beyond that, I want to be a showrunner for multiple series I’ve created.

What advice would you give to any aspiring writer hoping to follow in your footsteps?
You can’t expect perfection from a first draft, or even a first project. Write the thing that sucks. Figure out what you like in it and write it again. Start a writers group and get feedback from people you respect. Don’t be afraid of feedback and keep moving forward.