Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Coulthurst
Hi Kayla, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started writing when I was about 6 years old. It always started as cute little journal entries complaining about why my mom wouldn’t let me have ice cream. Sometimes it would be made-up songs I’d create about fun pool parties, and dressing up as a princess. As I had gotten older, around age 12, I discovered Wattpad. A semi-popular free writing platform. I found so many people writing their own stories of all ages, and it inspired me to write my own. I started writing a fiction book about fairies and prophecies. I believe I still have it in a draft somewhere. I never finished it, of course 13,000 words later my terribly short attention span flew to other things. I still wrote poems and songs as the years went by. Over the past 4 years, I’ve been working as a part-time freelance writer and I just recently finished (yes my 12-year-old self would be so surprised) my first script. It’s in the pre-production phase and I’m excited to see what will come from it. As my first screenplay and first time producing it’s going to be a fun challenge seeing what I can do!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some challenges have definitely been constant doubt or that people would care about my work. As a young African-American woman growing up, it was hard believing in myself when I didn’t see a lot of people who looked like me writing and making stories. In grade school, my parents assigned me and my siblings homework to research famous African American artists and political activists to charge our confidence as the new generation. Something I’m now finally grateful for. (at the time extra homework did not sound fun!) I am so happy to have friends and family who support my goals of being creative as a writer and an actress.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When I’m not writing I’m working on my acting career. I’ve been acting for the past 10 years. One of my first plays I believe I was a cow in a kindergarten play, (I’m sure everyone played a farm animal at that age) but the first play where I fell in love was Barbequing Hamlet. I had to take pizza and chips and stuff my face with it and shove the food in my pockets. It’s still one of my favorite roles I’ve gotten to play! Recently I was on Persephone, a short film thriller about a young woman balancing her responsibilities with what she truly desires, and Fighting Chance, a short film drama about a young couple fighting to save the life of their child. Persephone is available on YouTube!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for beginners in writing is to not worry about mistakes. The spelling errors, incorrect phrases, horrible grammar. Just let it out on the page because at least you have the idea down; then you can come back and fix it once you have your first draft. If you worry about it being perfect the first time around, you’ll end up with a blank page.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sourkay612/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=KQDEFowRYg2wHJ0X&v=KuPm-8Pcv48&feature=youtu.be
- Other: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01c29140c1209488c7?mp_source=share
Image Credits
Carmel Studios Photography, Tony Yeh
