Write What Only You Can Write...Or Don't Write Yet!

Written by Lynch Rivera.

Pause. Think about where you come from—your family, your neighborhood, your quirks, and your experiences. Think about your highs and lows, your roots, and the paths that brought you here, reading this. How did these threads lead you to storytelling? Why do you feel the pull to
create films, to share what you know with the world?

We’ll ask questions that may just change the way you see your own story. By the end, you'll be equipped with the right questions to shape a film that could only come from you.

1. Purpose Check: Why This Story, Why Now?

What’s the point? Seriously. What’s your story saying about the world, and why does it matter right now? Does it hold a truth, a take, or a gut punch that feels timely? And here’s the kicker: why does it have to be told by YOU? If you can’t answer these questions, you’re just taking up
space. But if you can, if you have that burning “why,” your audience will feel it. Your story needs a heartbeat, and that heartbeat has to be yours.

2. Real Talk: Are You Writing from Experience?

There’s a difference between crafting a story you think people want and sharing one that only you can tell. Are you pulling from experiences that hit close to home? Or are you just playing it safe, hoping for a thumbs-up from the masses? Spoiler alert: the safe route never works. Your best stories are the ones that leave something raw on the table—the things you know and feel deeply. The real, hot stuff.

3. Audience and Perspective

When the lights go down, and your story plays, who’s on the other side of that screen? Why them? How will they see themselves, or learn, or laugh, or ache from watching? Are you showing them a new perspective or breathing fresh air into one they’ve seen before? Think: why
would this audience care about this story? Are you showing them a perspective only you can offer? Own that voice. Don’t be afraid to center your film on your own unique way of seeing.

4. Voice

Now, what makes this yours? In the end, your story is you. It’s your unique background, your culture, your identity, your loves, and your pain. Every frame, every line of dialogue, every choice in a story that feels like yours is a part of who you are and your unique perspective. You’re putting something in the mix that’s never been there before. The more you lean into your unique voice, the stronger your story will be.

So ask yourself these questions. Go deep and get specific. Bring out the truths that only you can reveal, and let them fuel your stories. When you’re ready, when your answers are clear, your story will be too. Only you can create it.