There were a few minutes left before I zOOPed back to here, so I managed to get a bit of young Nicole on the record. Here’s the transcript of the audio as I struggle again with tech:

Nicole Now (NN): Okaaay, go.

Silence.

Nicole: What….

NN: [Laughs] Just whatever you want to say to people back home. Where I’m/you’ll be from.

Nicole: For what again?

NN: The newsletter. It’s an email I do twice a monthish.

Nicole: An email?

Silence.

Nicole: Who checks their email?

End of transcript.

Last Year Today

Latest Seven Yrs Later (7YL) piece: Session. For those of you not versed in scripts, I’m proud of you for getting your bearings and reading this out. If you would like to see more pitches and samples, browse my Screenwriting section. And if you’re Kathleen Kennedy, email me for my number. I mean, tweet me.

Since us humans can’t help rounding out the year, here were my favorites of this one: Session (up top!) and First Love and His Wife. Got some good catharses there, but extra shout-outs to reconnecting with my alma mater, making amends with my mental state, and realizing I can imperfectly relax. I didn’t see those coming, but I’m glad they did.

7YL Theme Songs

SUGAR by BROCKHAMPTON (Spotify / YouTube)

For the younger you.

Letting Go by Erika Wennerstrom (Spotify / YouTube)

For now.

And if you missed previous newsletters or want these all in one place, the Seven Yrs Soundtrack is on Spotify and YouTube! The playlist will stay updated as we go along. The titles are generally on the nose, so listen in order to go with Seven Yrs Later.

7YL Theme Media

Up Series (1964- ) – Dir. Michael Apted, Paul Almond (Amazon BritBox / your local library!)

Going back seven years vs. one year, ten years etc. was incidental to just having that many journals when I started this. I originally had this idea long ago and even made a short-lived Twitter called @threeyrsago. For whatever reason, this one stuck. And there’s something magical about the number seven.

The British Up series is a literally long-beloved program as it has documented the lives of fourteen people since their childhood in 1964. Testing the Jesuit maxim, "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man," it’s reality TV starring the friends you grew up with and director Michael Apted returns every seven years to see how they’re doing. I’ve seen 7 through 42 at least, and it hits every life beat and emotion.

Notable Note

“I have a good circle of people around me who I think have problems of their own.” In this old journal entry AKA Notes to Self, I muse on how to help people by helping myself. Turns out I still want to do that, so offer still stands. Let me know what you want to see more of. Hit Reply.

Honorable Tweet

Seven Yrs Ago knows it’s close, but if you want to get naughty:

Good $hit

I’d love to offer screenwriting tips, but have yet to find a resource I would back, so I’ll go with the old standby: Kill your darlings. Gut them.

I wrote the first draft of Session in a perfectly emotional state and was wholly satisfied till the next day. Nothing wrong, but without hesitation, I replaced the middle which made it ten times better. Then it changed, and it changed. Editing is writing. I just deleted a sentence.

One More Thing

Said this to a few friends, so if I haven’t said it here: Yeah, this year sucked, but maybe you extracted something out of it. Without the regularities and distractions, what did you find that you cared about? Who did you care about, and who gave it back?

I’ll keep looking for meaningful change and how to lean into it. It’s not too early to build momentum and not too late to start it. So forward this newsletter on, leave a comment, and rest up. Next year will be better. You can feel it.

Nicole