Writing, for me, is all about psychology—the human mind and its complexities is my favorite thing to explore in writing. I love creating characters that make the audience feel one way about them, only to have that rug of perspective pulled from underneath them. Even if a character may not be the center of the story or their motives and actions may not be agreeable, being able to step back and appreciate their complexity brings satisfaction unlike any other. Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a classic example of a time when we as the audience may not initially favor the protagonist in a story. Oftentimes we find that to change when we revisit a story when we’re older, or when introduced to a new perspective on how to approach the narrative. That moment of realization, that a character may not what be what we expected them to be, is what excites me most about storytelling. People are complex, and I want my characters to reflect that.

As an English Writing Emphasis graduate, I’ve spent my time not just creating stories but also breaking them down—analyzing literature, picking apart themes, and figuring out what makes writing resonate. Studying psychoanalytic theory, especially Freud’s ideas about the ego, superego, and id, has given me a way to explore the layers of human thought in both my own writing and the stories I love. Understanding how people wrestle with their desires, responsibilities, and inner conflicts helps me shape characters that feel real, flawed, and alive. I hope to continue applying theories and approaches such as these in my own writing to further dive into the complexity and darkness of the human mind.

One of my favorite things to do in writing is to take real-life struggles and place them in unexpected settings. One can find something unique in an unexpected place. A character dealing with loss, guilt, or self-doubt might not always be where you’d expect them to be—but emotions are universal, and I like finding new and fresh ways to explore and display them for the audience. An example of this would be Sally from my script Speed Dating. At a glance, she appears to have standards that change to oppose every man she dates but is shown to have deeper meaning and history that her distrust in men stems from.

At the end of the day, I write because I love exploring the messy, complicated, and often contradictory nature of being human. I want my stories to challenge expectations, make people think, and most of all, feel something real.