"A Story Can Be Both: An Interview with Toni Ann Johnson" by Sarah Olmedo

Many writers take on their creative careers hoping to publish a novel. But award-winning screenwriter and novelist, Toni Ann Johnson, tackled writing from a different angle. Johnson won the Christopher Award and Humanitas Prize for her screenplay, Ruby Bridges. She also won the Flannery O’Connor Award for short fiction with her collection, Light Skin Gone to Waste. Roxane Gay not only selected the book for that prize, but was also the collection’s editor. This is just a small window into Johnson’s writing talents, but her creativity started long before these awards.
Johnson began her creative career as an actor before she pursued writing. She studied script interpretation with Stella Adler, who had studied with Stanislavski. Adler taught Johnson the importance of understanding the biographies of playwrights and the influence that sociopolitical contexts have on a writer’s work. This, coupled with living in New York City in the 1980s—a time ripe with racial tension—spurred Johnson toward writing about the complexities of race relations. She also began to write things for herself to act in since “I had an ethnically-ambiguous look and there were not a lot of roles for me.” 
Fortunately, a play that Johnson wrote, Gramercy Park is Closed to the Public, got into the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. It was also picked up by a Hollywood agent, who signed Johnson, beginning her career in screenwriting. She stayed in screenwriting for many years before she began pursuing fiction. 
Screenwriting and fiction have some sharp distinctions in how they’re written. However, Johnson doesn’t see this as a limitation. According to Johnson, a story isn’t either a fiction piece or a screenplay: “Sometimes I think a story can be both. It’s not always an either/or.” Still, the flexibility doesn’t stop Johnson from having a preference: “[Screenplays are] a collaborative medium,” she explained. “When I write a book, I have much more control over what is released. I love writing fiction because I’m creating all the elements. I get to ‘direct’ on the page.”
In addition to being able to lead the “production design” in a fiction piece, so to speak, an author can also write much more and offer more explanation: “When you write for the screen, you must rely on what the viewer will see and/or hear, and that’s it,” Johnson said. “Everything in a screenplay is happening now—in the present tense. If a director can’t shoot it, or an actor can’t say it or do it, it doesn’t belong in your script.”
These constraints in screenwriting may be difficult, but they have provided Johnson with many other writing strengths. The struggle with a blank page (or writer’s block) is a common phenomenon for many writers, but Johnson’s experience has taught her methods that streamline her process. She explained, “as a screenwriter, I was trained to outline. I was required to do beat sheets and to come up with the three acts prior to going to script. While I don't do that as rigidly for novels and short stories, I do think through an approximation of where things are going before I start to write.”
Johnson had many valuable pieces of advice and information, but one of the biggest things that struck me was when she told me about the need for a driving force behind my writing: “If you know what you want your ending to be, you can more easily write to that ending. I think that makes the work stronger because everything is intentional, driving to a point that the writer is crafting.”
She also emphasized building a community of writers and making friends to celebrate with and have for support. “It's a tough career and good writer-friends make it so much better,” Johnson shared. Her transparency was admirable, despite how hard it may be. Yet, she pushes through it. Johnson has a strong desire to get her work out in the world and complete many more projects. As she explained, it's community and her own motivation for her work that push her through the tough times and allow her to keep creating. 
Beyond the page, Johnson also emphasized self-love and kindness in writing. An author or artist can often be their own worst critic, but it's best to “find affection for your work. Appreciate it with kindness.” Oftentimes, life can get in the way and make creatives feel worse about their work, but reframing your mindset to one of kindness can often strengthen your writing. As Johnson put it, “Your writing is not fighting you; you're on the same team.”
Toni Ann Johnson’s words are a great inspiration for my own future work. Her experiences and advice have really put writing into a new perspective. She’s offered both technical tips and creative tips that can enhance writing or any creative medium. Johnson’s advice is evident in her own writing, whenever she digs into her personal life experience. Her writing tackles aspects of race, class, identity, and dysfunction in families, topics that aren’t always the easiest to look into. Still, with her perspective to hold affection for her works and to surround herself with a community of writers who are on the same team with her writing, it is no wonder she has become such a successful screenwriter and novelist. 

To learn more about Toni Ann Johnson, please visit her website: https://www.toniannjohnson.com/

Sarah Olmedo

Sarah Olmedo is a Hispanic-Latinx poet, writer, and artist. She is currently studying Professional Writing at Woodbury University in Los Angeles. Her poem “lost in translation” was published in Furrow magazine. When she’s not writing, she spends time doing illustrative character design for future stories and projects. She currently serves as the Technical Editor for MORIA Literary Magazine.