Sometimes a good example really is the best teacher. As an Alden Library Student Writing Center tutor, Daryl Davidson helps students polish their literary work every day while cultivating his own creative writing skills off the job.
I find that working with students keeps my writing hip
said Davidson, who graduated from Ohio University in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in specialized studies and is now an aspiring screenwriter. It keeps me on my toes with the expressions.
Davidson plans to enter his co-written screenplay, Hoops and Races, in the Writer's Digest Writing Competition this year. He won an honorable mention for another screenplay, The Blue Devva, last October. Davidson currently is seeking agency representation for The Blue Devva and recently entered it in the Charleston International Film Festival and Script P.I.M.P. writing competitions.
However, Davidson admits there are challenges associated with the marketing and eventual production of a screenplay.
It's so much easier to publish a story as a novel then have a novel adapted into a screenplay for film Davidson said. There's so many people writing screenplays now. The important thing is exposure.
The screenplay Hoops and Races is about a basketball match between black and white teams and addresses racial themes. The Blue Devva is a story about the life and career of Devva, a middle-aged dancer.
Marc Olson, who co-wrote Hoops and Races with Davidson, said his co-worker's writing style is similar to that of classic movies.
He explores relationships and his characters show a lot of depth
Olson said. He's also very good at sprinkling symbols through his work. He has some subtle symbolic touches.
Olson first met Davidson when were volunteers at the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival. While Olson wrote the original copy of Hoops and Races, he said Davidson showed an interest in revising the script into a feature-length piece, and he thinks Davidson will eventually want to cast the screenplay and have it produced.
Candace Stewart, coordinator of the Student Writing Center at Alden Library, has worked with Davidson since September of 2008, when he began his job at Alden Library. She said she is very pleased that he won the honorable mention in the Writer's Digest competition.
He is a wonderful example of how hard work and persistence pays off
Stewart said.
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Culture
Graylyn Roose
