Up Close With: Kacy Boccumini
Meet the wonderful writers and patrons behind LWS.
Have you ever met a superhero? Take a gander below; you’ll be looking at one. Kacy Boccumini is one of those brave writerly folks who knows how to soar. Kacy understands the power of community, the gift of accountability and the generosity of creativity. By harnessing all this good stuff, a heroic writer emerges with strength to lift us all.
Kacy Boccumini
- Based in Los Angeles.
- Age: 44
- Writes mainly screenplays. All genres. But genres specifically. Love me some rules.
What are you working on right now?
All my current projects are in service of an initiative I am working all called 5/10. I am looking for 5 people who want to be Executive Producers and who will each give me $10 million each to produce 5 films that address a harmful myth about gender. These are myths that have been perpetuated by films and TV shows, and I am working to correct that. The first myth(and I argue is the most harmful) is that men and women cannot be just friends. As much as I love When Harry Met Sally, this divide between men and woman has had disastrous effects on everything from dating to politics. Also, it’s not true. So many of my friends are women. I know so many men with women who are just friends. My current screenplay is called Friends Like These. It’s about two lonely adults, Danny and Nora, who become best friends. I call it a “relationship comedy” because it’s about love and relationships, it’s just not romantic. That is not the most important or singular type of love that exists.
Where and when do you write?
I write from home, during the LA 8am Writers’ Hour. I do my best to make it Monday-Friday. During the summer months, I have my camera off because it’s too hot in my apartment and I have my shirt off. Otherwise, there I am. Me and my turquoise walls behind me, or in my office with my horror posters behind me.
How do you write?
I write on my laptop. I have ADHD, which means that my brain moves much faster than my hands can keep up. With typing, I can see what I was trying to say. Handwriting is hieroglyphics. I have OCD as well as ADHD, which means the order in which I do things is important. I wake up at 7:30, feed my black cat, get my espresso, and do a series of rituals to start my day. This is all before sitting down at 8am to write at the LA hour. If I am delayed or get distracted, I will sign on to the Zoom, do my rituals and then come back to write. It’s the commitment to signing in. Even if I get distracted the entire time, I have committed to clicking that button to sit myself down and write because all of you are with me. You’ve fought different dragons to get there, but you got there. So, I can forgive the imperfection of it, and just have you as my anchor to keep coming back.
Why do you write?
I write because it’s all I ever want to do. I am a storyteller. Visual. Written. All of it. Writing brings me peace, but it also lights me up. It’s how I connect to myself and also one way for me to connect with the world. Do I hope they have impact on the world? Yes. But that no longer drives me. What drives my writing is that I have things to say, and when those things get out of my body and on to a page they impact ME. They change ME. I am my first audience, and my words change how I show up in the world, and that means I am already changing the word. My words are already impacting others. I am better since I’ve started writing everyday. I am better, so I show up better. I am better, so my life is better.
What inspires your creativity?
Literally anything inspires me. Sitting on a train and watching a story unfold. Seeing a funny paper bag that I can anthropomorphize. Listening to a good song. The sound I hear while waiting in line at Target. Hyper-vigilance has become my superpower. There is ALWAYS something to write about if you pay attention. You can never be bored if you just look around.
What’s your favourite book?
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. I wish I had had a chance to meet him.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?
The opposite of work is not play. It’s rest. Our work is play. That’s what we do as writers. Even when we’re ripping out our broken heart and splattering it across the pages of our diaries, we are at play. We are at play in a world where our hurt is the most vital, the deepest, and that we have the most broken of all hearts to have ever been broke. Writing is “work” because it’s hard. Playing is hard, too. Watch a kid build a sandcastle: fighting with the waves, shaping the elusive sand just right, shielding itself from the glare of the sun. Building a sandcastle as a three-year-old is hard work. No one calls that work. The same three-year-old sits in your chair writing: fighting exhaustion, doubt, panic, cats, kids, spouses, trying to shape elusive sentences just right, shielding yourself the glare of your deadline, your ego, your shame, your obligations, your barista. Few people call that play. But it is.
What’s the one thing you would tell other/aspiring writers?
One of the best writing teachers I’ve ever had is Jessica Hinds. She has a saying, “A writer is someone who writes. No more. No Less.” Meaning, if you wrote 10,000 words today, or one word, because you wrote, you’re a writer. Stop keeping score. You’re reading this because you’re a writer. You’re here because you already are the person you want to be. Just allow yourself to be more of it. There is a difference between being a “paid” writer and a writer. That difference is that the former had to be the latter first. Be the writer. Write.
How can we discover more about you and your work?
My website — www.mybestguy.com
My Instagram — @sir_kacy
My Vimeo — https://vimeo.com/mybestguy
