From Grateful Inhabitant to Builder

At the beginning of 2021, I set a goal to read fifty books throughout the year. I had read fifty-one books by the end of December, some good, some not so good, and one that changed my life.

“The Map from Here to There” by Emery Lord is among my top five favorite books and the most impactful one I have ever read. It is a sequel to the novel “The Start of Me and You” which focuses on a girl named Paige a year after her boyfriend passed away. She sets out to become a better version of herself and falls in love with screenwriting, thanks to her grandmother.

A Three-Act Moment of Realization

In her personal statement for NYU’s Screenwriting Program, Paige writes about how easy it was for her TV-writing spark to be turned into a fire with the help of classmates, and professors. She mentions that screenwriting is her path because it’s her passion and the creative space she comes home to. Any screenwriter knows that a screenplay is broken up into three acts, and Paige does that with different aspects of her life. She mentions how the first act was her childhood with television as a reprieve from hurt. The second act was learning how to work with pain to turn it into something she can create with. The third act, one that was yet to come, was to become someone that makes television for people like her, for “anyone who needs to live in another world for a while.”

She concludes the essay with the most impactful line I have ever read: “I’ve been a grateful inhabitant. I’m ready to be a builder.” In just eleven words, Emery Lord managed to perfectly capture my whole life. I spent so many years reading and watching stories unfold and finding a place for myself in whatever world I was caught up in at that moment. I, like Paige, have been that grateful inhabitant, taking up space in a story that isn't mine, and I, also like Paige, am more than ready to build those worlds for people like me. Television has always been a safe space for me because I can easily find a place I belong. I know that I watch a lot of TV, but I do it because I love getting to visit new worlds and connect with new characters. I always knew I wanted my career to revolve around stories, but it wasn’t until Paige said she was ready to be a builder that I knew, without a doubt, I wanted to be a screenwriter like her.

An Impact Beyond the Page

The book is incredible and one of my favorites, but no quote has ever hit me as hard as this one did. Stories, especially those on television, shaped and changed my life in a way I can never appreciate enough. I cannot wait to craft stories for people who need to visit other worlds for whatever reasons they have.

My biggest goal as a screenwriter is to write someone’s favorite story. If I write a screenplay and thousands of people love it, then I would consider it a success. If I write a screenplay that one person in the world loves or sees themselves in, I would consider it a success. If I write a screenplay and I am the only person in the world that loves it, I would consider it a success.

I spent so much of my childhood falling in love with different characters and their stories, living in their worlds even just for a little while. I am ready to be the one building and developing those characters, stories, and worlds. My TV-writing spark, similar to Paige, was turned to a fire by this book, this quote, professors and classmates. I can say, without a doubt, that no line of dialogue from a show, book, or movie has ever made more of an impact on my life than this one. “I’ve been a grateful inhabitant. I’m ready to be a builder.” stays in my mind and reminds me of the worlds I used to live in, and the worlds I have yet to build.