Inspirational Women In Hollywood: How Shauna C Murphy Is Helping To Shake Up The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Guernslye Honoré

I wish I’d known that when you delight in your work, others will too! I wish I had leaned into the things that make my toes curl, because others can feel that excitement, they want to share it. Everything that delights my readers, are things that I’ve felt, too.

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Shauna C. Murphy.

Shauna C. Murphy is a writer and producer. She is a researcher of children’s fiction-based imaginary paradigms and has extensively studied children’s imaginary worlds and the corresponding best practices for storytelling. She is passionate about crafting imaginative media for young people. Her Young Adult fantasy novel, Animalia, is a world fantasy about hope, the power of speaking the truth, and creation. You can learn more about her at shaunacmurphy.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Thank you for having me! I grew up going to about seven different schools throughout my childhood, so I was consistently adapting to different atmospheres and places. I think having to do that, on top of an already very active mind and imagination, pushed me into thinking in different ways and using my mind actively to adjust with my circumstances. I would sit in class and imagine different scenarios based on what was happening. So, for example, everyone else would sit in the classroom, and I would be in the same room, but it would be filled with orange trees. So we were all sitting in an orange grove, instead, with the light shining in, and the smell of citrus, and dirt on the floor and insects buzzing around and everything. Much more pleasant that way. I would see and imagine things like that all the time.

Looking back, I didn’t realize how big that difference was in me. I thought everyone sort of functioned like me and did that type of abstract reasoning. It was, actually, really hard because what I valued was so different, and so I just went about life differently.

Over my childhood, eventually, it evolved from using my mind to understand the world, into a more proactive use where I’m able to visualize and build and use it as a kind of superpower. But there was a learning curve for me in that.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

For the longest time I kept a dream journal, and I would dream consistently and vividly and write down all my ideas the next morning. That’s when I discovered I could create stories, and I fell in love with writing.

Over the years, I really turned a corner with my writing when I realized the importance of media for young people. The stories we write, the worlds we build, can come to define them. The voices we weave into our work and the lessons our characters learn are lessons that they will take into their own lives. Fantasy especially, is about practicing a new paradigm and seeing impossible things as possible. Nothing is more important, I think, than nurturing young people with that kind of empathetic ability, with that hope and deep belief in themselves and their agency to surpass boundaries. The best fantasy stories are about wonderful, fantastic possibilities coming true. If they take that perspective into their lives, they can become unstoppable.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

The start of my YA fantasy novel, Animalia, is probably the most interesting story. I’d had a dream of some of the opening scenes of the novel the night before. I saw everything, the snowy streets, my main characters. When I woke up the next day the biggest snowstorm blew in, the roads froze over and the world stopped and I was delighted. I could stay in and write. It snowed for days and all I did was draft Animalia in real broad, loose strokes. It started out in pieces as these shapes kind of splattered together — snowy village, young girl, little newt… And then developed into this more structured world with the most wonderful opportunities for the characters to become who they truly were. And as I started to write and realize the world of Animalia, the twists and turns would surprise me. And so those few days of snow were like a little cocoon of creativity for me, where I realized my idea. I was so delighted by it.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

You know, I think I made a lot of funny mistakes during one of my early revisions of Animalia. I initially wrote it in a close third-person point of view, but then it became obvious quickly that a deep first-person point of view would actually be fantastic for my main character, for the audience, for everything… So, I had to adjust from third-person to first-person and it’s sort of like trying to run a three-legged race. It’s just awkward at first. You really have to develop these muscles in your mind.

So, for a little while I was in limbo land between the two and I thought that was funny. I think from that I learned the power of voice, and also the leading power and influence of a character’s voice to change everything about a story.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes, I had a fabulous mentor! Years ago, she read a fantasy piece I made, and refined it with me. She was so smart and hilarious and fun. I looked up to her so much. She told me my characters were, “refreshingly weird” and never to change them. She also taught me a lot on technique and form. I loved the appointments we would have in her office, with her pontificating and bantering with me and her sharp humor. People like her make the world wonderful.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

For me, oftentimes confidence and selflessness go hand in hand. So, whenever I feel intimidated by something I try to just focus on the kids. I try to remind myself that they are the reason I do this, and I absolutely love them! It’s not about the critics or naysayers. It’s about making good stories that kids love. So focus on others, and what you love, be generous, and that’s what will build that confidence.

It’s also important to select work that fills you up. So whatever goal you set out to accomplish, it should be something that inspires you deeply. And that will give you confidence and kindness.

Every industry iterates and seeks improvement. What changes would you like to see in the industry going forward?

I’d like to see a new change in writing for young people, that puts their own imagination in the center. Something I learned through my research was that what we create ultimately serves as vessels for young people to project their own imaginations into. It’s not something we force people to love according to our exact definition, or tell them exactly how to think. As writers we are not dictating their new paradigm. Actually, it’s the opposite. We are partners in play, allowing them space to come to their own conclusions, and our job is to create something wonderful that they can fill with their own heart and mind.

There are a lot of ideas out there about what young people will love, or what they need. And in my opinion, in a lot of those conversations there is an over-emphasis on aesthetics and an under-emphasis on form and mechanics. When looking at commonalities in the types of stories that certain groups of young people love, most of those commonalities had to do with the mechanics of the story, rather than aesthetics typically, or even plot dynamics. That’s why crafting mechanics that allow for wonder, and allow for hope, is so important.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I am working on another Young Adult book, which has some futuristic-feeling elements to it… That’s all I can say… I don’t want to spoil it!

From here, let’s see, I hope to continue to write wonderful stories and that they continue to find their way into the right hands. As someone who has been a producer myself, I’m very hopeful for a film option, and a few little birdies have been chattering about it, which is very exciting.

We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?

Children’s worldbuilding and imagination play is practice for life. So, what children do is incorporate aspects of the fiction they read into their own imaginary worlds, which can ultimately guide how they play with others. Since play is practice for life, fictional paradigms can become the framework in which they feel they are able to test things out, explore aspects of their personality, aspects of life, as well as a safe place for taking risks and exploring consequences. When they play and imagine, they’re asking interesting, big questions. But the frameworks that children play in, the philosophies of those fictional worlds are most important, because I think those set of assumptions can eventually become adopted by children, and they may take them into the rest of their life. That’s why there is a responsibility in writing for young people, not to push assumptions into the work or manipulate a worldview, but rather to allow children to think and imagine for themselves, based on what they find interesting.

My second reason would be that diversity of thought is essential in creating a complete worldview. It’s so important that we have the full range of perspectives and behaviors in media, including voices of dissent. It’s essential because it makes us stronger in our own convictions if we think differently, it increases our awareness that others may have a different perspective, different thoughts, experiences, and that adds value and strength to us as a society. Regarding stories, especially, seeing many different paradigms play out in the various scenes of a story is helpful because we can see in depth how different worldviews can overlap or even contradict each other.

My third reason would be that, regarding children’s media, I think more conversation can be had about cultivation as well, rather than just content alone. A lot of times I’ve seen that the conversation can stop on questions of content, and we forget to talk about cultivation. Diversity is also, and perhaps primarily, about cultivation. Cultivation is very important because together, all those individual stories can come to influence someone’s worldview.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

I wish I’d known that when you delight in your work, others will too! I wish I had leaned into the things that make my toes curl, because others can feel that excitement, they want to share it. Everything that delights my readers, are things that I’ve felt, too.

If I could go back in time and tell myself some things, one of them would be to just let myself be as creative as I wanted. When I think of the times when I’ve done things I’m really proud of, that really surprised me, it was never when I was playing it safe, really, it was always when I wasn’t afraid to go a little off the rails with what I was making.

I think I used to believe that I had to convince or persuade others to understand my work. But now I am a firm believer that there is no hard sell. I don’t believe in bending over backward to try and make someone understand my vision. If they don’t see that value, then they probably aren’t the right fit for my work and really, I want them to pass by anyway. The right people will link up with me. It’s also one of the reasons why I will do almost anything for my friends who believe in me. I’ve left projects that were more ‘glamorous’ but empty, to do work that was far less prestigious, but had substance. It’s important to believe in the integrity of what you’re doing, and who you’re doing it with.

I wish I’d known to be more selective about who I listened to, and who I shared things with and allowed to influence me. It’s something I still try to remember, but I think I listened too much to the perspectives of others when making some of my decisions. I wish I’d learned sooner to care less and be free from a lot of those expectations.

I also wish I’d known how to pick my team, earlier. How to pick the editors I’d work with and what to look for, how to pick beta-readers, how to pick reviewers, how to pick everyone. So many writers don’t think about this as a team sport, they kind of assume that those other essential roles would work for them no matter who it is, but not every person is for every type of project. It’s a very particular thing, and that’s true of production, as well.

Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

You know, I love to laugh, and when I’m around people I feel at home with, I laugh a ton. So, I think it’s important and a refreshing thing, to be able to laugh at yourself, to take life in stride and be lighthearted. That is the most important self-care. Everyone makes mistakes, and I know I don’t take myself that seriously, either. I think I’ve learned over the years, how much I appreciate it when others can love me for myself and appreciate me, and assume positive intent. So I try to extend the same grace to others. I try to assume positive intent, even if there may be a misunderstanding. Laughter helps with all those things.

And I suppose grace, as well, giving kindness to yourself and others is a big part of self-care. And, it’s key in being as creative and inventive as you can be. You have to give yourself grace and space to dream and believe in yourself.

I am also one of those people who journals a lot. Not in a diary type of way, but in a ‘I need to write this thought down’ type of way, even if it is kind of random. Part of my morning time usually involves me sitting in a comfy chair and seeing what I think on paper.

Lifestyle things are that I like to create beauty around me in my living space, however that might look. I am a curious person and I love learning new things or going places that enrich me. I like to get dressed up for events if any are happening. But I’m not religious about my routines or schedule. I am a very easygoing person.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Stan Lee said one of my favorite things, he said “If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good, don’t let some idiot talk you out of it.” And he said that, “You can only do your best work if you’re doing what you want to do, and if you’re doing it the way you think it should be done, and if you take pride in it after you’ve done it, no matter what it is.”

It’s so important for writers and creators to remember to commit to their vision, because actually, there are a ton of confines on writers now to submit to the commercial plot, or to write in a certain kind of way, with a certain style. But in the end, we have to believe in our work. I had a reviewer once tell me to take out an entire chunk of my manuscript, and I was sad to do it, but I did. After some time though, and actually right before it was about to be published, I just felt this little fire inside of me, that this was my work — this was my writing. So, I put the scenes back in. And to this day, those scenes are some of the readers’ favorite scenes, and I almost trashed them because of what someone said.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would inspire a movement that would put young people and their imaginations at the center of their media. If that happened, I think we would be raising up a generation filled with hope, that could see themselves with agency against life’s various obstacles. And I’d hope to inspire, wherever possible, more connection with my own readers.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

I have been so excited about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, I want to be there on opening day. So my dream meeting would be with Mellody Hobson and George Lucas.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

I am on X at @SCMurphy_ and also Instagram @shaunacmurphy_ They can also see my website at: shaunacmurphy.com

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

Thank you!

About the interviewer: Guernslye Honoré, affectionately known as “Gee-Gee”, is an amalgamation of creativity, vision, and endless enthusiasm. She has elegantly twined the worlds of writing, acting, and digital marketing into an inspiring tapestry of achievement. As the creative genius at the heart of Esma Marketing & Publishing, she leads her team to unprecedented heights with her comprehensive understanding of the industry and her innate flair for innovation. Her boundless passion and sense of purpose radiate from every endeavor she undertakes, turning ideas into reality and creating a realm of infinite possibilities. A true dynamo, Gee-Gee’s name has become synonymous with inspirational leadership and the art of creating success.