Beyond the Challenges: Melissa Sheridan's Triumph

In this episode of Faith and Family Filmmakers podcast, hosts Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt talk with songwriter and Screenwriter Melissa Sheridan. In this Candid interview, Melissa shares her inspiring journey battling Lyme disease, dealing with personal trauma, and overcoming challenges. She discusses how these experiences influenced her work and led to personal growth. She shares insights about her creative process in songwriting and screenwriting, highlighting the unique approach she takes for each. The importance of balancing work, creativity, and family is discussed, highlighting how she manages her time. The discussion also touches on dealing with PTSD. Melissa emphasizes the importance of rest, setting boundaries, and listening to your body. She also talks about her current projects and where to find her work.

• Introduction
• Health Struggles and Impact on Personal Life
• Overcoming Health Challenges, and Spiritual Growth
• Career Beginnings and Working with Nashville Youth for Christ
• Becoming a Mother and Balancing Family Life
• Dealing with PTSD and Personal Trauma
• Influence of Personal Experiences on Creative Work
• Time Management and Work-Life Balance
• Approach to Songwriting and Screenwriting
• Current Projects and Conclusion

High Performance Habits Melissa's Book Recommendation

Melissa Sheridan is a wife and mom of two. Melissa has worked in ministry for 13+ years. She is currently the communications director for Nashville Youth for Christ. Melissa’s writing career originated with a love for songwriting. She's had songs featured in multiple television shows like “19 kids and Counting,” Pureflix’s “Saved By Grace,” and feature films: Skipstone Pictures, “F.R.E.D.I.,” “Max Winslow and the House of Secrets,” and most recently wrote the soundtrack for “God’s Country Song,” a Pureflix original. Over the past 4 years, her love for screenwriting and music have collided. She has written multiple screenplays with her co-writer Amy Traurig. These scripts have gone on to win a handful of film festivals. Most recently, she filmed a proof of concept for her Christmas movie musical which has also been doing well in festivals.

Melissa's Facebook page

@melissasheridan on Instagram

The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

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Jaclyn: 00:00:00

Alright, Melissa Sheridan, I would like for you to get into some of your personal life and, you know, share as many details as you feel comfortable, but I know that not only do you do amazing things, but you are working through a lot of things in your life.

Jaclyn: 00:00:15

So go ahead and start wherever you want to start and share with us, uh, what all you do.

Melissa: 00:00:21

Sure.

Melissa: 00:00:22

so I could start with my health battle, because when I moved to Nashville is kind of where that all, unleashed, in 2008.

Melissa: 00:00:31

So I got married in 2010.

Melissa: 00:00:34

I was already not feeling great.

Melissa: 00:00:36

but just I was not getting better.

Melissa: 00:00:38

And slowly something in my body was attacking my hands and my motor functions, to the point where I could not walk, and I just felt like I had the flu every day for about two years.

Melissa: 00:00:52

So I went from doctor to doctor.

Melissa: 00:00:55

I mean, I went everywhere.

Melissa: 00:00:56

I would just, I would check myself in and say, please just find something.

Melissa: 00:01:01

Please just find something, because I was so sick.

Melissa: 00:01:04

But it took them about two and a half years to figure out and diagnose me with Lyme disease.

Melissa: 00:01:10

Which is a, it's a tick borne illness.

Melissa: 00:01:13

Uh, you can get it different ways transmitted through bugs like mosquitoes, things like that, but most people get it from ticks.

Melissa: 00:01:21

But I was very sick, and that was the very...

Melissa: 00:01:23

My husband and I got married in 2010.

Melissa: 00:01:25

So, you know, you say those vows, In sickness and health and you repeat those vows to each other, and then you're like living it.

Melissa: 00:01:33

And I was like, I wasn't going to think that was going to be at the beginning, of the marriage where my husband is brushing my hair and taking care of me and helping me put my clothes on.

Melissa: 00:01:44

So it was a very trying time and I will say that it helped us...

Melissa: 00:01:49

it helped me grow spiritually because I had a lot of anger in that, because before I was playing the guitar.

Melissa: 00:01:55

I didn't play anymore and that's probably why I write a lot without it, because I got so used to writing without it, uh, for years, when I started picking back up, those creative pieces of my life and putting things back together.

Melissa: 00:02:09

But my health journey and getting better took a lot of time.

Melissa: 00:02:13

It took a lot of time to heal from, uh, the Lyme and it created an autoimmune disease in my body.

Melissa: 00:02:21

So that is managed now.

Melissa: 00:02:24

I manage a lot of the symptoms of that through healthy eating, managing stress, rest.

Melissa: 00:02:30

Rest is so important for your life.

Melissa: 00:02:33

It's, more important than You know, whatever you think you need to write, you really have to rest your body.

Melissa: 00:02:39

And so just listening to your body and, being able to understand when you need to rest, because those were the forced rest years of my life, where I couldn't move.

Melissa: 00:02:50

But it humbled me.

Melissa: 00:02:52

It taught me a lot about, um, asking for help.

Melissa: 00:02:55

I was really bad at that.

Melissa: 00:02:57

Um, so it, it taught me a lot in those seasons, but one thing that, I think writers can gleam from that...

Melissa: 00:03:04

any creatives that might be struggling with health or any struggles in their life is, sometimes the best way to get through pain is to purpose it into, writing or being creative in some way.

Melissa: 00:03:15

And so I really got a lot of emotions out through songwriting and writing other things, um, journaling, stuff like that.

Melissa: 00:03:24

So it really helped me through that time.

Melissa: 00:03:27

But shortly after, after I got better, which is around like 2011, 12, that's when I started working full time for Nashville Youth for Christ.

Melissa: 00:03:38

Before that I had to quit my job cause I couldn't work.

Melissa: 00:03:41

I couldn't do, anything.

Melissa: 00:03:43

Uh, which is just...

Melissa: 00:03:45

if you were a control freak like me, that is just the worst case scenario to not be able to have a job and get around.

Melissa: 00:03:54

It is literally the worst.

Melissa: 00:03:57

But God had a lot to teach me, in that waiting period of my life, um, in that breaking period of my life.

Melissa: 00:04:03

And he was so gracious to me, even in, you know, my anger and my frustration.

Melissa: 00:04:09

So, got better.

Melissa: 00:04:11

I love my job.

Melissa: 00:04:12

That's my day job.

Melissa: 00:04:13

I work for Nashville Youth for Christ.

Melissa: 00:04:16

Uh, we work with teen moms.

Melissa: 00:04:18

We work in the prison with, students, 11 to 19 year olds.

Melissa: 00:04:22

And honestly, a lot of, um, a lot of that stuff is just even more heavy than, any physical battle that I could go through...

Melissa: 00:04:32

what these kids are dealing with.

Melissa: 00:04:33

So, it's a joy to be able to speak into lives and to, be able to minister in that way.

Melissa: 00:04:39

But through that process of getting better, I became a mom.

Melissa: 00:04:43

And so...

Jaclyn: 00:04:45

I was gonna ask, when did the babies come?

Melissa: 00:04:47

Yeah, when did the babies come?

Melissa: 00:04:49

I was definitely better, I was in a healthy place with my sickness, and my autoimmune disease, so it was definitely better and, I will say that, You know, I brought my kids to writing sessions and they wrote songs with me and they're in a lot of voice memos on my phone too.

Melissa: 00:05:07

I think involving your kids in the creative process is fun because they learn how to be creative through you.

Melissa: 00:05:13

I think that's important, but it's also important to know that family should come first.

Melissa: 00:05:18

Like, I know that I am best, like, useful in the kingdom when I am a good Christian believer first a good wife and a good mom.

Melissa: 00:05:31

And then everything else is the overflow from those things, right?

Melissa: 00:05:34

Everything else Is an overflow from me being in alignment with where God wants me to be.

Melissa: 00:05:40

And for the longest time I think it was a push and pull between me and God like, I really want to just have songs on the radio, you know, you have these ideas for your life, but did you ask?

Melissa: 00:05:51

Like, is that what God wants for you?

Melissa: 00:05:53

Did you ask?

Melissa: 00:05:55

So I think that I've just done a lot of growing in this last year.

Melissa: 00:06:00

And when you become a mom, you learn so much through your kids.

Melissa: 00:06:04

But I think one thing that it did awaken in me that had been shut off for a while is, um, joy.

Melissa: 00:06:12

I, um, I go to therapy twice a month, but I struggle with PTSD.

Melissa: 00:06:18

And so that has been really hard for me.

Melissa: 00:06:21

One, because I'm not a war veteran, so I felt like a complete fraud, taking on that kind of title or somebody telling me, Oh, you have PTSD, when I've not fought in any wars, like people have, you know, overseas.

Melissa: 00:06:37

And so that was really, really hard for me to like digest that.

Melissa: 00:06:42

But I've had a lot of trauma.

Melissa: 00:06:43

I've had a lot of childhood trauma.

Melissa: 00:06:45

I've had a lot of trauma surrounding, um, most recently we've been working through, which is where, I will say a lot of my inspiration for my last screenplay came from, Let Her Go, which is about a girl who takes a nanny job, with a family and finds out through the story that there aren't any children.

Melissa: 00:07:06

And so that was inspired by some things that I had went through.

Melissa: 00:07:10

I was, when I went on a mission trip to Jamaica, I was taken in broad daylight, and so I think there are parts of your story, right?

Melissa: 00:07:21

There are parts of your pain and things that you go through in your life that can...

Melissa: 00:07:26

they can serve as a prison or they can serve as a catalyst for you to use.

Melissa: 00:07:30

You can use those things to kind of move you into a healing space.

Melissa: 00:07:35

And I've just learned over the years how to be able to do that better, because for a while I was really stuck.

Melissa: 00:07:41

I was stuck in, the fear of lots of things, but I think, my kids have really shifted my perspective and brought out a lot of joy and childlike things inside of me, and grown that.

Jaclyn: 00:07:57

That's amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:07:58

That's, uh, wow.

Jaclyn: 00:07:59

I, I didn't know that about you before.

Jaclyn: 00:08:01

That, that's, um, Yeah, that's a lot to take in.

Jaclyn: 00:08:05

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:08:05

Yeah

Melissa: 00:08:06

Sorry, if it's too much, you

Jaclyn: 00:08:07

No, no.

Jaclyn: 00:08:08

It's all good.

Jaclyn: 00:08:09

It's all good.

Jaclyn: 00:08:09

It's just...Wow.

Melissa: 00:08:10

You can stuff out because like, what should I share, what?

Melissa: 00:08:13

should I not

Jaclyn: 00:08:13

share?

Jaclyn: 00:08:14

I'm not going to cut it out because here's the thing.

Jaclyn: 00:08:16

We all go through stuff.

Jaclyn: 00:08:18

It's just different stuff.

Jaclyn: 00:08:19

And I think like what you were saying before, how you, you felt like a fraud, um, and it was hard to digest, that you could have PTSD.

Jaclyn: 00:08:27

Anybody else that hears about what happened would be like, well of course you have PTSD.

Jaclyn: 00:08:31

But then the things that happen in our own life, we down play, and say Well, yeah, but that's just a thing that happened, and all have a thing, that we have to, you know, trust God for healing and to overcome and to move past in our life and stuff like that.

Jaclyn: 00:08:46

So thank you so much for sharing that.

Jaclyn: 00:08:48

Um, tell us, what does a day or a week, what does it generally look like for you?

Jaclyn: 00:08:57

, dthat discussion, dispite all of what you've dealt with, with regards

Geoff: 00:08:59

to health...

Geoff: 00:09:00

and then when we look at, the work that you're accomplishing, you also threw in there that you have a full time job.

Geoff: 00:09:06

So you have a full time day job and some people might be wondering about juggling all of that, and a full time job, and the children, and everything else in your life and still accomplishing what you're doing.

Melissa: 00:09:18

Sure.

Melissa: 00:09:18

So, before I got sick, it was full time.

Melissa: 00:09:20

I'm part time now.

Melissa: 00:09:21

And I will tell you that that happened through setting up good boundaries in my life, and knowing what you're capable of and, what season...

Melissa: 00:09:31

I think it's important to look at, um, are you resting, are you most useful for the kingdom, or are you being, like, used?

Melissa: 00:09:40

And so I was in a position, with Youth for Christ where I was spending a lot of energy and I wasn't very useful for the kingdom, and that was not good for anybody.

Melissa: 00:09:49

So I'm part time with Youth for Christ, which you know in ministry part time...

Melissa: 00:09:54

what does that even mean?

Melissa: 00:09:57

But I try and keep it more part time.

Melissa: 00:10:00

But I I do love my job and I love what I get to do.

Melissa: 00:10:03

I would say that because of health reasons I am more I write the grants I do the communication online.

Melissa: 00:10:09

I do a lot of online stuff because what was happening is my body was taking on the stories and the pain and things of students.

Melissa: 00:10:22

And I was wearing a lot of it physically., and it was making me more sick.

Melissa: 00:10:28

And so just knowing, your limitations and being okay with that...

Melissa: 00:10:32

not everything in front of you is for you, right?

Melissa: 00:10:36

You don't have to say yes to everything.

Melissa: 00:10:38

And so I think what a week looks like for me now is much more healthy than it would have looked even four years ago.

Melissa: 00:10:48

And, um, there's a really great book that maybe you could link people to that really helped me visualize time, and put it into sections.

Melissa: 00:10:57

It's called, um, healthy, healthy habits or something...

Melissa: 00:11:02

it's Brendan Brouchard.

Melissa: 00:11:03

But he talks about time and how you have 168 hours in a week, and really 56 of that needs to be sleep.

Melissa: 00:11:13

He talks so much in that book about rest and how important rest is for your body.

Melissa: 00:11:17

That you don't need to always be thinking and doing and burning energy.

Melissa: 00:11:22

You need to be resting.

Melissa: 00:11:23

And so that doesn't mean like sitting in your bed, scrolling.

Melissa: 00:11:26

That's actual rest.

Melissa: 00:11:28

And so I think that's important to make sure that you're carving out time for that.

Melissa: 00:11:32

So yes, I love to rest.

Melissa: 00:11:35

A good portion of my time is resting, and then the other 56 is your job.

Melissa: 00:11:40

You know, we have our day jobs, and most people that are screenwriters, we have our day jobs.

Melissa: 00:11:45

We have those things that pay the bills, so we have to do those things.

Melissa: 00:11:48

And some are more flexible than others, but those things are important.

Melissa: 00:11:52

And then you have this other 56, and a lot of times, after spend all this energy here, sometimes you don't have, the energy for those other 56, and I wasn't utilizing those well.

Melissa: 00:12:05

And so it was really just figuring out on my schedule, when can I get the best, as far as writing goes?

Melissa: 00:12:14

And so for me, that 5 a.m.

Melissa: 00:12:17

time slot to about 8:30, 9 o'clock is a great time slot for me to write.

Melissa: 00:12:23

Sometimes I'll get up a little bit earlier than that if I wake up with and idea.

Melissa: 00:12:27

But really that 5 a.m.

Melissa: 00:12:29

to 8, before my kids get up is a great time for me to do that.

Melissa: 00:12:33

And then I homeschool them, so on Tuesdays and Thursdays they do a tutorial, and I'm able to get a lot of my work done for my job and then spend a few hours both of those days writing.

Melissa: 00:12:47

And I don't...

Melissa: 00:12:47

it doesn't always work that way, you know?

Melissa: 00:12:50

You have to have room for adapting and leaning into where God might have you somewhere else...

Melissa: 00:12:55

like my phone might ring and it might be a kid that really needs me to like, sit with them and talk with them.

Melissa: 00:13:01

And so you just have to be able to adapt and change things when the Lord is leading you in a different direction.

Melissa: 00:13:07

But I think Even if you can carve out just a few hours a week to really create, I wouldn't set these high goals, where it's like, I want to write a whole screenplay, like, in the next three months.

Melissa: 00:13:22

I don't think it should be like that.

Melissa: 00:13:23

I think it's little steps that will get you to where you want to be.

Melissa: 00:13:27

Just focus on those things.

Melissa: 00:13:29

And pray before you go.

Melissa: 00:13:31

Like, pray before you start writing.

Melissa: 00:13:34

Pray over that space that you're in because obviously the enemy doesn't want you to be creative.

Melissa: 00:13:39

He doesn't want you to create, so he's going to try and be in those spaces.

Melissa: 00:13:45

I mean, he hates marriages, he hates children, and he hates creativity, so I think in those spaces, just know that the enemy is going to try and distract you and get you out of those spaces so that you are not in full attention.

Melissa: 00:14:00

But I would say whichever block you're in...

Melissa: 00:14:02

if you're with your children, be with your children.

Melissa: 00:14:06

Sometimes I'll bring my computer if they're at a jumpy place and it's set up that way they'll jump and be fine.

Melissa: 00:14:12

But when I'm with my children, I'm, I'm with my children.

Jaclyn: 00:14:15

mm hmm.

Jaclyn: 00:14:16

That's a really good point because having, you know, raised my kids and having to learn that as well, because when I was spending time with them, I wanted to be like, working on a song.

Jaclyn: 00:14:25

Or, you know, when I was doing something else, then I wanted to be with them.

Jaclyn: 00:14:29

And it was almost like every time I was doing something, I was distracted that I should be doing something else.

Jaclyn: 00:14:34

But that's what you're doing right now, and if that's what you've set aside that that is what this time is for, then be there in the moment, fully doing that thing, instead of thinking, I should be this, or I have to remember to do that, or I wish I could be doing this other thing.

Jaclyn: 00:14:49

When you manage your time, as we're talking about, then you get to do all the things.

Jaclyn: 00:14:55

But if your mind is elsewhere, then you're missing out on, the full, experience of the things that you're planning to do with your life.

Jaclyn: 00:15:04

And I also like what you said about, having the lofty goal of, I want to, you know, write this screenplay within three months or whatever.

Jaclyn: 00:15:10

There definitely are some people that can do that, but the thing is, different seasons in life call for a different pace.

Jaclyn: 00:15:17

And I know when I was raising my kids, I was juggling a whole lot, and so sometimes I only had two hours a week to work on it, but man, I was focused in those two hours, and it adds up.

Melissa: 00:15:28

It really does.

Melissa: 00:15:29

Yeah.

Melissa: 00:15:30

It definitely adds up.

Melissa: 00:15:31

And I would say be kind to yourself.

Melissa: 00:15:34

Like there are days when my physical body says no.

Melissa: 00:15:37

You, you cannot.

Melissa: 00:15:39

Like, if I'm in a flare up of whatever's going on in my body, or, you know, I, I take care of my mom.

Melissa: 00:15:46

She has, dementia, and she's young...

Melissa: 00:15:49

she just turned 60.

Melissa: 00:15:51

And so I drive her around to all her appointments.

Melissa: 00:15:53

So I think it's just, if your body is saying no, or like something in the schedule is pulling you out from it, your faith and your family is always first.

Melissa: 00:16:03

There will be more time to write, and it's okay, just be kind to yourself though.

Melissa: 00:16:08

Like, if you didn't write, don't gang up on yourself and say I'll never write again!

Melissa: 00:16:14

Everything is trash!

Jaclyn: 00:16:16

Yeah, yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:16:17

Like, oh, I'm out of my routine.

Jaclyn: 00:16:18

It'll never happen again.

Melissa: 00:16:20

Yes.

Melissa: 00:16:21

Cause we can do that, too.

Melissa: 00:16:22

Like, when I finish something and then it's done,

Melissa: 00:16:25

And you just kind of get in your head and you, we can be not nice.

Melissa: 00:16:28

The enemy's not nice.

Jaclyn: 00:16:29

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:16:30

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:16:30

And I know even, um, when I was learning to write, screenplays and, you know, I would get feedback that would challenge me where I didn't know how to fix what wasn't working.

Jaclyn: 00:16:42

I knew what wasn't working, but I didn't know how to fix it.

Jaclyn: 00:16:45

And yeah, I had to process a lot of thoughts telling me like, See, you're never going to figure this out.

Jaclyn: 00:16:51

Like this isn't your thing or, you know, it's just for fun.

Jaclyn: 00:16:54

Like, a lot of doubt.

Jaclyn: 00:16:56

I know I struggle with self doubt, but.

Jaclyn: 00:16:59

I think I realized fairly young that I have those thoughts, like that self doubt happens, but that it doesn't need to stop me.

Jaclyn: 00:17:08

If I just keep going, like, trust the process, right?

Jaclyn: 00:17:11

You're never going to be good right away.

Jaclyn: 00:17:12

Like, with your husband writing 300 songs and then only four get cut, some people can be like, oh man, after however many songs I wrote and, you know, I don't have anything cut yet.

Jaclyn: 00:17:23

Well, sometimes it is a bit of a numbers game and you gotta trust that process.

Jaclyn: 00:17:27

You gotta keep working.

Jaclyn: 00:17:28

You gotta keep figuring out what is it that's missing and how do I, you know, overcome that and just keep pushing forward.

Melissa: 00:17:34

Yeah.

Melissa: 00:17:35

And it's not that those are bad songs cause man, there are some really good songs in my husband's phone and I'm like, Oh my gosh, this song is so good.

Melissa: 00:17:45

It needs to be on the radio.

Melissa: 00:17:47

Um, so it's not that too.

Melissa: 00:17:49

It's just knowing that like, That's not the life for that song, you know, and maybe that's not the life for that script, but just knowing and trusting God, has you...

Melissa: 00:17:59

I'm a firm believer when I'm going with like creative ideas or I'm going to write something new, it's definitely from from him first.

Melissa: 00:18:07

It's not for me.

Melissa: 00:18:09

And so if I lead with that, the idea's from him, and then I just kind of roll with it and go.

Melissa: 00:18:17

And then I finish it and it's, for him.

Melissa: 00:18:20

So it's not for me.

Jaclyn: 00:18:22

Do you have any strategies, that you use to either manage your time or to pay attention to your body?

Jaclyn: 00:18:29

Like what are some things that you look for or specifically and intentionally pursue?

Melissa: 00:18:35

Well I intentionally pursue not in groups of people.

Melissa: 00:18:41

No, I know what really, um, flares me up bad is for some reason when I am in big group settings and meetings and stuff like that.

Melissa: 00:18:52

So I'm just really careful with that time.

Melissa: 00:18:54

Even when I go to festivals, it's like, go to a few classes, take a break, and just know your limits.

Melissa: 00:19:01

So my body lets me know really quick.

Melissa: 00:19:04

If it's too much, um, my jaw will start locking.

Melissa: 00:19:08

Like it's, it's pretty bad.

Melissa: 00:19:11

So I'll know right away if it's, not good.

Melissa: 00:19:14

I've just learned more...

Melissa: 00:19:17

I think my whole life, my childhood, I tabled a lot of things that were adult, that I shouldn't have had to table.

Melissa: 00:19:24

And so when you don't have good boundaries as a child, then you start to table things.

Melissa: 00:19:30

As an adult like, people just tell you stuff, or you know, you're in a group and people even come into the room and they don't share stuff, but they're very heavy in emotion or you can feel it.

Melissa: 00:19:40

I feel it from certain people and then you just become this table.

Melissa: 00:19:45

And I just really had to like undo that and realize like no, that's not my place to be the table.

Melissa: 00:19:51

Christ is the table.

Melissa: 00:19:53

He wants to take those things.

Melissa: 00:19:55

I don't need to be that anymore...

Melissa: 00:19:57

and just unburdening myself from those things.

Melissa: 00:20:01

So I would say there's not a strategy beyond like prayer, and just listening, and being in tune with my body.

Melissa: 00:20:09

But as far as like creativity and that process, I'm not much of like a outliner.

Melissa: 00:20:17

I'm becoming a little bit more like that.

Melissa: 00:20:20

But I think that that probably helps some people to figure out what you want to do first and know where you want to go.

Melissa: 00:20:28

So having, like, a clear picture of where you want the story to go, I think, can help.

Jaclyn: 00:20:33

Yeah, I know when I was writing music, I was not necessarily like a, a planner.

Jaclyn: 00:20:39

It's like there was something that was on my heart or there was something I needed to express.

Jaclyn: 00:20:45

And so I would just sit down and start writing and then voila, a song.

Jaclyn: 00:20:48

But I, I'm not that kind of writer where it's like, okay, I want to write a song today and then I have to think about what I want to write about.

Jaclyn: 00:20:56

find that kind of process very difficult, because there's nothing driving it forward.

Jaclyn: 00:21:02

There's no emotions that are like pushing me to express.

Jaclyn: 00:21:06

So then it's a very different process.

Jaclyn: 00:21:08

The times I've written the most songs is when I've been going through stuff that I need to process, so a lot of my songs are definitely just me either encouraging myself or needing to express, whether it be pain or joy or whatever.

Jaclyn: 00:21:24

but I don't know how to approach it from just the, I'm gonna write a song, kind of thing.

Jaclyn: 00:21:30

I can do it with a script.

Melissa: 00:21:31

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:21:32

works, but...

Melissa: 00:21:33

Well, that's great.

Jaclyn: 00:21:34

So how, does that work for you?

Jaclyn: 00:21:36

Like, whether it be songwriting or screenwriting.

Jaclyn: 00:21:39

do you have a different approach for the two of them?

Melissa: 00:21:42

Yeah, I would say for songwriting, if it's something for a specific scene, it's what do I see in the scene?

Melissa: 00:21:50

What would carry it forward?

Melissa: 00:21:51

Because music is, it's another language in your film.

Melissa: 00:21:55

it's speaking a dialogue on its own.

Melissa: 00:21:58

And so what message do you want that to convey, during that montage scene?

Melissa: 00:22:04

You know, what is going to carry that scene forward?

Melissa: 00:22:06

What are the actors doing?

Melissa: 00:22:08

What do you see?

Melissa: 00:22:08

What do you feel?

Melissa: 00:22:09

What emotion does this song need to feel like, to move that scene forward or like bring it to the top.

Melissa: 00:22:18

And so that's how I would approach it if I was writing specifically for a scene.

Melissa: 00:22:23

And then if you're co writing, if you're in a room where you're writing for an artist, I would say just listen more than you talk and, and be in the room, as like a co writer, like where it is a joint effort and you really are trying to get the best song for that person.

Melissa: 00:22:42

Cause you're writing for the artist.

Melissa: 00:22:44

You want them to love it, not you.

Melissa: 00:22:46

So it definitely needs to be their voice.

Melissa: 00:22:49

You know, it can still be your words and your ideas, but it definitely needs to come under alignment with their voice and what they want to say, or it won't get cut.

Melissa: 00:23:00

So, yeah, that's a hard lesson when you're in the room with people.

Melissa: 00:23:02

But you know, screenplays...

Melissa: 00:23:05

every idea that I've had this far, it was just a knowing.

Melissa: 00:23:09

It was just a knowing.

Melissa: 00:23:10

I know I need to write that.

Melissa: 00:23:12

And then the Lord just gives me ideas for it.

Melissa: 00:23:15

So those, it wasn't, Hey, I have this script idea.

Melissa: 00:23:20

I will say that this latest project I started writing for started that way.

Melissa: 00:23:25

I met them at a networking opportunity.

Melissa: 00:23:28

So I think those are great.

Melissa: 00:23:29

It was ICFF, the International Christian Film Festival, met in Nashville this year, I think sometimes it meets in Florida.

Melissa: 00:23:37

I was sitting next to a guy, I misheard that he does, um, audio books and things for the, Dead Sea.

Melissa: 00:23:45

I thought he said squirrels.

Melissa: 00:23:46

And so I was like, Oh my gosh, my kids love those books.

Melissa: 00:23:49

Like they, they love them.

Melissa: 00:23:50

And he was like, really?

Melissa: 00:23:52

And so he starts talking and we're just chatting.

Melissa: 00:23:54

And I show him my look book for a pitch deck for movie, and we're just chatting away.

Melissa: 00:24:00

And then he's like, I would really love for you to like, maybe write this screenplay idea for what we're working on and I was like, I'd love to do that.

Melissa: 00:24:10

I would love to do that.

Melissa: 00:24:11

Well, I had no idea what I'd get myself into, but um I have been...

Melissa: 00:24:16

the last month I've been writing The Lost Book of Enoch and the Judgment the Watchers.

Melissa: 00:24:22

So he was definitely saying the Dead Sea scrolls...

Jaclyn: 00:24:25

Scrolls, not squirrels.

Melissa: 00:24:27

not squirrels.

Melissa: 00:24:29

but that, that was a lot of fun.

Melissa: 00:24:31

I'm really glad that I misheard him because this has been a lot of fun for me.

Melissa: 00:24:36

I would say that going into any writing assignment with an attitude of learning and gratitude really sets you up to just pour out.

Melissa: 00:24:47

Because when I'm creating from a place of desperation, like, when I'm desperate for something, it doesn't work.

Melissa: 00:24:56

But when I'm creating from a place of adoration for the Lord, and my love for creativity, it's the overflow, right?

Melissa: 00:25:04

And so those ideas, I think they just come together.

Jaclyn: 00:25:07

Amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:25:09

Well, thank you so much for sharing just so much of your personal life, your career experience, all of that.

Jaclyn: 00:25:17

It's been extremely interesting and beneficial, so thank you so much for joining us for the podcast.

Melissa: 00:25:23

Yeah, thank you for having me.

Geoff: 00:25:30

some of the the projects that are out there now, people can find, people can watch - and where?

Melissa: 00:25:33

Okay, great.

Melissa: 00:25:34

Yeah, so God's Country Song is on PureFlix.

Melissa: 00:25:36

It's still available on PureFlix, and you can buy it.

Melissa: 00:25:39

And, uh, our proof of concept is on my Instagram and Facebook, so you can see it on there.

Melissa: 00:25:47

And we...

Melissa: 00:25:48

yes, Christmas one, Back to Christmas.

Melissa: 00:25:51

And, you can follow me on the socials because most of our stuff still lives on paper.

Melissa: 00:25:58

And, um, so I'm going to festivals.

Melissa: 00:26:00

I've got one in February that we're going to because our, proof of concept is up for some awards.

Melissa: 00:26:06

which is exciting because it's a secular festival and I love that.

Melissa: 00:26:09

And then Let Her Go.

Melissa: 00:26:11

The screenplay that I just finished is up for best, horror thriller, which...

Melissa: 00:26:19

never thought I would write anything scary like that, so it just goes to show you that you can do, you can do things through Christ right?

Jaclyn: 00:26:28

Absolutely.

Jaclyn: 00:26:29

Thank you so much for sharing today and, uh, and being so open and it's been insightful and interesting, and just amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:26:39

So thank you so much for being on our podcast.

Geoff: 00:26:41

Melissa Sheridan, thank you.