Why We Write: Jessica Genao

It’s Why We Write Wednesday once again and we’re sharing a new essay from screenwriter Jessica Genao — check out her feature MADRE, SOLO UNA on blcklst.com now.

Take it away, Jessica!

I keep writing about people who feel invisible in rooms filled with people who love them. Who are friends with loneliness. Who feel like they have lived an adjacent life instead of their own life because closeness to family has to be honored. I keep writing about people whose voice is loud on paper but a whisper out loud, people who can’t say no; for people who keep thinking writing isn’t for them.

I keep writing because if I stop it feels like betrayal — it feels like I’m waterboarding my own voice. I write because there’s always a story. Because there’s always a comfortable silence, especially among writers. There’s a stillness. I write because if the story isn’t told, loneliness will ask me about as if she’s some sort of therapist. I write because I have to. I write about people who feel lost in their own craft. Who have a story to tell but don’t know how. I write because I can personify a feeling — depression is a mom, loneliness is your best friend when you’re having the worst day of your life, silence is the loudest person in the room when you are quiet.

I write because I don’t know what I’d do without it. I would become the loudest person in the room without saying a single word; my voice would go mute and loneliness would laugh. I write for the story. I write for the why. I write because I have a vision. I enjoy silence, I have lived with loneliness but I have also visualized it all. I see the world as this bright production — and I’m in the back letting you know when to cut.

I am a whirlwind of emotions at times. Storytelling can convince you you’re not alone with a single sentence, a sound, a silence. Storytelling teaches you to be comfortable with vulnerability. To trust an audience, to trust YOUR audience. Storytelling lets me be free. It gives me my own freedom of speech — it lets me be in control, it lets me take up as much space as I want and still save space for my silence. Storytelling lets you see yourself as the most powerful person in the room, even if for a moment. And that’s why I write. That’s why I want to tell stories. That’s why I want to develop my craft and refine it, and make it gold. I want my work to speak for itself — for its integrity, for its power, for its stillness. For its ability to make background characters significant even if it has nothing to do with the central message of a film.

I want to make movies people can feel seen in. I want to write scripts people feel connected to and can cry to — even the non-criers. I want to make films people feel they have to tell others about not for fame, but for recognition of the self. I want my work to live in the same neighborhood as loneliness so she doesn’t feel abandoned. As a reminder that I’m still here, even on my good days. That is why I write.

Jessica Genao is a Dominican American writer focused on character driven stories. Jessica focuses on family, identity, feeling seen, interior conflicts, relationships, and quietness across cultures.

If you’re not already a member of the Black List website, here you go:

Writers: Create a free Writer Profile and whenever you’re ready (and only then) upload your project, order professional feedback, and explore the various opportunities we have from time to time.

I'm a writer. Sign me up.

Industry Professionals Register for an Industry Membership to discover new material before everyone else.

I'm an industry pro. Sign me up.

See you in the comments.