I am an American living in Canada, so I hope that counts.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I started dating a Canadian woman online (not a dating site) and after my first visit to Canada, I fell in love with the girl and the city. I went back to L.A., sold my belongings and moved to Windsor, Ontario.

I have always wanted to write screenplays but life always seemed to get in the way. My girlfriend, who is now my wife, encouraged me to pursue my goals so I am almost finished with my first script. Scott and his blog Go Into The Story have been an amazing resource for me to be able to quickly learn and understand the craft of screenwriting. Twitter has been an awesome tool for networking with other screenwriters as well.

Come to think of it...I love the Internet...

Dave here, checking in from Toronto. I'm a country boy, living the downtown life.

After a decade of distraction, I'm writing again.

I'm dreaming and scheming how to make a living writing long form entertainment for the screen.

I'm a journalist by trade and training, currently producing documentaries for Canada's national broadcaster.

It's a great job. But also the job of a classic blocked creative. I love hanging out with the DOPs, editors, and directors without taking creative risks myself.

That hand to change. So I've thrown myself into the deep end and set a goal, made a plan and am writing.

This morning I gave my characters their names. They started speaking to me immediately. What a rush!

One of my favourite creative resources is Jeremy Dean's PysBlog- www.spring.org.uk

I'm grateful GITS is around for advice, inspiration and support.

My Brain Hurts: First off, great handle. And hopefully it hurts in the service of writing a great story! I've spent a fair amount of time in Canada and there is certainly a lot of love about the country. And please pass along my praise to your wife for supporting your creative goals. That is truly a blessing and a gift to have that type of support on the home front.

Thanks for posting. Here's to your success on the creative - and life - front!

@D. Ganton Wells: Great to make your acquaintance. I can't even begin to count the number of documentary filmmakers and TV producers I've worked with in various online capacities, as they strove to go the next step as it were by moving into scripted storytelling. I have great admiration for the documentary format, but there is something special to be said for creating a story from scratch out of our own imaginations. And cheers to you that your characters immediately starting talking with / to you. Always a good sign. I'm a huge believer in the character-first approach to screenwriting as who better to lead you into and through the story than your story's characters?

Continued good luck to you in your current profession and here's hoping you find success writing long-form as well!

Hi I live in one of Mexico´s northern cities.
I am a 35 year old CPA (boring isn´t it?) and basically I chose my career and job in a family business based on convenience ($). Never heard my inner voice about wanting to be a writer until a year ago.
Now, in the second act of my life, internet resources and books might just help me recover what I was born to do.
But i´m still not ready to start writing, since I´m learning the basics on my free time. But I already have three or four stories in my mind.
The first one is a buddy-story road trip of two men in personal crisis, who circumstantially have to escape from drug gangs, all the way to beautiful Chiapas jungle. Pretty much an underdog story following the "hero´s journey".
I really think our country needs more optimistic stories making sense of all the violence and fear we are living right now.
Regards to everyone, EAR

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, although I hail from the northern part of this beautiful province.

I'm a soon-to-be-lawyer (will be called to the Bar in August) by trade, and have been interested in writing for as long as I can remember. In fact, I remember writing my school's seventh grade Christmas play, which was basically a rip-off of every Adam Sandler movie released to that point. I didn't start getting serious about screenwriting until 2006, but have been working on comedy specs whenever I get the chance.

Although I must say, ever since becoming an articled student it's been very hard to stay motivated to write, as I spend all day on a computer writing, and the last thing I want to do when I get home is turn on my computer and type some more...

@ear: Thanks for posting and good to hear from you. That first story you mentioned you're interesting in writing, road trips are one of the most reliable narrative archetypes in existence, in part because they mimic most closely The Hero's Journey. Plus they work across genre everything from dramas (Rain Main, Thelma & Louise) to comedies (Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Hangover) to action (2 Fast 2 Furious) and so on.

Speaking of Joseph Campbell, he said the theme of The Hero's Journey is this: "Follow your bliss." It sounds like you're doing just that with your writing. Good for you!

Hi everyone!

Born and raised in Canada, I currently live in London, Ontario (about two hours west of Toronto). Day job is a writer/producer for a local TV station. Evening job is amateur screenwriter!

In 2009 my feature screenplay made the QF of the Nicholls. I used that to approach a few management companies and got the script read. One company wanted to read more, so I sent them another feature. A month later they signed me on! The experience has been amazing. My manager found a director interested in the script, so I did two rewrites for him (we talked notes over Skype) and now they are shopping it to actors and financers. In the meantime they've helped me develop my latest script, and I'm currently diving into rewrites.

I'm not sure ten years ago that I would have been able to break in from little ol' Canada (or at least reach the fringe). But I believe it is true that if you have a strong enough concept, and your writing is at the level you need, someone will give you a chance.

Thanks for this great feature, Scott. Really cool to see so many people from around the world chasing the same dream.

Nick J. Scott

@CanadianNick: As one of my long-time readers and Twitter followers, I'm happy to see your post. And of course, I hope the best for your various feature film projects, especially the one with the director attached and out to money people. Here's some serious Good Luck coming your way. Ka-Boom!

Born in Edmonton, moved to Regina, then to Calgary, then back to Regina then back to Calgary then to Vancouver and now finally in Ottawa.

I was into theatre in my younger days but when kids and life took over, I moved to writing because if nothing else, I felt I could control the schedule.

I've been writing for a few years now, but only in the past 10 months or so decided to get serious about it. I'm fortunate to have a day job that pays the bills but I'm also cursed with a day job that takes all day.

Writing from the fringes. But not just geographically, the fringes of my day. Late nights, early mornings, in the lobby of the dojo while the kids learn to beat each other up.

GITS has been a great source of inspiration and camaraderie. Although I've yet to break in, my focus has shifted from the early naive days thinking of fame and fortune to a much simpler love of good storytelling and appreciation of the craft. Screenwriting has become more like carpentry to me than say, painting. Hopefully the artistry seeps out while I continue to hone the craft.

Peace and kerning,

-brad
stealmyscript

@beingbrad: Had no idea you have traversed Canada as much as you have. Hopefully lots of stories from all those cross country treks. What has been the response to your blog where you post stories for people to 'steal'? Good to hear from you up in beautiful Ottawa and best of luck in all your creative endeavors!