Aren X. Tulchinsky (he/they), the writer formerly known as Karen X. Tulchinsky, is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, story editor, video editor and director and is a graduate of the prestigious Canadian Film Centre. Aren was the 2023 Writer in Residence at the Vancouver Public Library and in 2016, he was the Writer in Residence at the Richmond Cultural Centre. Aren is the author of The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky, winner of the One Book One Vancouver Prize in 2008, was a Toronto Book Award Finalist and has been honoured with a permanent plaque in Christie Pitts Park in Toronto. He’s the author of Love Ruins Everything, Love and Other Ruins and In Her Nature, which won the Vancity Book Prize.
He’s written seven feature screenplays, several in development, including I Shot the Sheriff for acclaimed director Clement Virgo (Book of Negroes). He’s story edited numerous screenplays, working with screenwriters from across Canada to develop their scripts. He has worked as a story editor, video editor, writer and director on many television series, including The Guard, Robson Arms, Queen of the Oil Patch (APTN), The Bachelor Canada and CBC’s The Nature of Things. He recently edited a feature documentary for acclaimed Indigenous director, Jules Koostachin. Aren directed Ms. Thing, a short film which has screened at over 50 film festivals internationally, including screenings in Paris, London, San Francisco, New York, Sicily, Hamburg and Mumbai. It won Audience Choice Award at Queerfruits Australia.
For more info go to www.arenxtulchinsky.com, Instagram: @arenxtulchinsky. LinkedIn: @arenxtulchinsky.
What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you have received?
Keep the hand moving. To write and publish a book, or write and produce a screenplay, requires two key attributes: discipline and tenacity. Writing as often as regularly as you can, keeps your writer’s mind sharp, your creativity flowing and your chops up.
What book, poem or movie has been most inspirational to you?
My all-time favourite film is Moonstruck, written by playwright John Patrick Shanley and directed by Norman Jewison. The characters are unique, the dialogue is brilliant. It’s a classic romantic comedy, with all the requisite story beats of the genre, but written with elegance.
What books do you recommend VMI participants read for additional advice?
Story, by Robert McKee, Screenplay by Syd Field and Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger and Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg.
What are you currently working on?
Currently I am working on a new novel, set in 1930’s Berlin and with a co-writer I am developing a TV series set in the queer community.
What is the most valuable insight or skill that your VMI writers have learned from you?
Screenplays are about structure, structure, structure. A writer must create a solid structure to hang their story on. Without a solid foundation, a screenplay will crumble. Once the writer has crafted a workable structure, the story, characters and dialogue will flow. For writers who are working on a novel, we also start with structure, and then move on to develop complex 3-dimensional characters who each have a unique voice, how to sharpen up your dialogue and how to create vivid fictional locations. Ninety percent of writing is rewriting. Each draft is better than the last one.
What do you gain from the mentoring process?
Usually I remember what I need to practice in my own writing and I love the working relationship I have with emerging writers, as they learn and grow. I feel like I am doing important work in mentoring writers and guiding new talent. Recently, one of my former VMI students published the novel we were working on together. It was an honour to be invited to his book launch and witness how much he had grown as a writer through the VMI six month intensive program.
What will VMI participants gain from the program?
Participants will be on a fast track to learn the art of novel writing or screenwriting and to develop their own novels and scripts. The intensity of the program and the one on one mentorship will carry participants leaps and bounds further in their process than they could get on their own. Participants will have the rare opportunity to learn tricks of the trade and valuable skills, techniques and resources from working writers.
What do you enjoy most about being a VMI mentor?
I love the opportunity to work with new and emerging writers. It’s always inspiring working closely with a writer as new ideas develop and I watch a writer take off with their stories. I love the process of working with a writer as they rewrite their novel or screenplay. It teaches me what I need to remember for my own writing.
What do you wish you knew when writing your first manuscript/screenplay that you know now?
Write the first draft from the heart. Craft the rewrites from the head. This allows a writer to stay true to the passion and the emotional core of the story as they develop their novel or script through the many rewrites it takes to make a good novel or script great.