CJ Palmisano has written since she could scribble “no” on her mother’s immaculate kitchen wall. She has never stopped writing–a few pages here, an entire story there–but for the majority of her adult life, writing couldn’t be a priority. She raised a family and taught, something she did well (for what it’s worth, in 2006 she was in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers).
In 2010, the moment to write full time arrived. She exchanged a classroom for a tiny, poorly lit storage room destined to become a darkroom. She dragged boxes of STUFF to the garage, rolled in a desk and creaky office chair, and settled into a space with a window that natural light couldn’t seem to find. She was determined to become a Real Writer.
What inspired you to start writing?
(CJP): It’s difficult to point to anything specific. I’ve been a storyteller my entire life. Around 3rd grade I wrote little stories teachers encouraged me to submit to kid magazines like “Jack and Jill.” A couple even gave me a copy of the magazine with submission info highlighted. I’m also the oldest of six kids so grew up babysitting (bossing them around is what they’d tell you). We’d construct blanket tents, crawl inside and I’d tell stories. Neighbor kids gathered in our back yard which abutted a wood we all explored. As the oldest, I’d often suggest a story we’d occasionally play out, or “improvise” (though I didn’t know the word at the time). I’d devise a scenario, tell each kid who s/he was, take the best part myself, then we’d act it out.
You’ve written a lot of work for different categories: mini stories, dark, humorous. Do you have a favorite genre you like to work in?
(CJP): It depends on my mood. Every genre gives me a different satisfaction. I love storytelling overall and narrative fiction edges out script writing. When I imagine a story it nearly always reveals itself in a particular way: I might see it as “pure” narrative–a short story or one that might grow into a novella or novel. At some point I moved away from narrative and began writing stage and then screen plays.
Do you have any goals when it comes to your writing?
(CJP): I currently have four writing goals, the first two are my primary ones:
- Two screenplays are today getting a lot of attention. Some of the twentyish notices I’ve received in the past couple years include: “Best American Screenplay” at the London Film Fest (Jan 2025) and the NY Script Awards (Dec 2024); “Best Feature Screenplay at Staged Film Comp (Jan 2025), at the Berlin Women’s Cinema Fest (Apr 2025), and at Boston Indie Films (Nov 2024); “Best Script” at the LA Indies Fest (Mar 2025); Best Female Screenwriter at the Tokyo Film and Screen Awards (April 2025); “Best Fantasy Screenplay” at Hollywood Indie Screenplay Awards (Feb 2025).
- I have multiple novel drafts, two of which are close to ready for human eyes. For now, I plan to take a standard publishing route (send to a publishing house and cross my fingers for two years), rather than the quick and “easy” self-publish path. It’s an ego thing–as in I need independent, objective confirmation that my writing is print-worthy.
- I have a stage play I wrote ages ago which I believe is the best writing I’ve ever done. No one has seen it except my late husband, and though it’s really completed, every now and then I open and tinker with it. I keep planning to send it off but haven’t yet figured out where.
- I’ve enjoyed writing and publishing on Substack (which I began August 2023) and hope to get back to. I’ve been busy with other projects, but it looks like things will calm down by summer.
You mentioned undergoing a severe writer’s block that spanned years. How did you overcome it and do you have any advice for others?
(CJP): In fall 2014 I stopped writing. I’d open a document, stare into space, then close it. Within months I hated writing and stopped even trying. Then January 2020 I was at the Sundance Film Festival, recruiting people for the newly formed Sundance Collab–an international on-line site for film artists, directors, actors, writers, etc. I signed up to demonstrate how to navigate the site though didn’t expect to join full time. That April, as COVID was heating up, Sundance’s Collab introduced a MWF screenwriting workshop. Largely because I was fed up with myself about not having written a word for 6 years, I committed to joining the Collab for an hour every MWF even if I didn’t do anything other than (perfunctorily) scribble off a paragraph. Yet, within a month I was not only attending every 8:00 write-in but writing on non Collab days. Months later, after I’d stopped writing drivel, I joined London Writers’ Salon (LWS) which met three times a day, Sunday through Friday; I religiously attended at least two session every day. I also began reading my work in (on-line) Open Mics, Prompt Writing Socials, and created a Substack Newsletter. Sorry for another cliché but I felt as though Writer Me had risen from the dead. LWS was a godsend as was the Sundance Collab which got me started.
How have your experiences in theater influenced you as a writer?
(CJP): Theater has been a lifelong passion. I was active in High School (my yearbook includes “future actress” in my bio). I fully intended to move to NYC upon graduation and likely would have become one of the many starving actress/waitresses living in the Big Apple. Life, however, threw me a curveball, though I continued performing regional theater into in my thirties.
I was 16 when I wrote my first play; it’s embarrassingly bad. Years later I decided to rework it but just reading it was torturous, so still it gathers dust. I had minor theater successes in New England (where I lived until 25 years ago), seeing four of my plays staged. I shifted to screenplays when, one day I was hit with a story I envisioned unfolding on screen, instead of on-stage as was typical. I studied a few scripts and drafted the story. Months later I took an intro class in screenwriting. Screenplays are what I primarily wrote for the next couple decades.
And lastly, do you have a favorite piece of writing that you have worked on before?
(CJP): Maybe “How Far to Woodstock,” my first published short story (in Stanford’s 2020 anthology, 166 Palms). Also, the evolution of the actual story carries special meaning to me. I’ve since drafted a companion piece, “State of Grace,’ which was supposed to be another short story to include (with the “Woodstock” story) in a collection of my short writings. But it kept expanding and at 60K words is turning into a novel. I’d also mention A Legend of Persephone, the first screenplay I wrote (and mention above in #5), the first to receive any kind of recognition: quarterfinals in BlueCat Screenplay Competition, and in Francis Coppola’s Zoetrope Screenplay Contest, both the first year I submitted it anywhere. It’s also one of the two scripts getting awards and recognition these days. I’m currently editing the novelized version of it (mentioned in #3B).
Palmisano has a B.A. in English and Art from University and an M.A. in English Lit from Middlebury College (1995). Under list of her jobs, you’ll find university publications editor, admissions officer, and world and dramatic literature teacher. The résumé details her love of learning: classes and workshops–in theater, film, art, writing, and animation. Her passion for collaboration, exchanging ideas and working in community: film festivals and theater companies, as well as sixteen years as an information guru for the Sundance Film Festival.