Natalie Kruijen is an inspiration. She has overcome challenges and has helped to create a masterful piece of storytelling in Homeowner.
The Nerdy Girl Express spoke with Natalie about her writing and Homeowner. Read below to find out what she had to say.
How long have you had an interest in writing?
“I started writing at a very young age. I remember I was about 10 years old, a few schools, mine included, held a writing contest. And I won! This was my first step into writing. Being creative I always came up with stories as a kid and after winning this contest I started writing more. When I got my first computer it really started. Also in high school I joined the school news paper. By that time the school newspaper was…. not that popular. But after my first interview it really got a boost and I loved writing articles for the school newspaper. Because of this I wanted to become a reporter. That didn’t turn out well, but getting older I started to focus more on my stories. Going through a lot of difficult things in my life, writing was always that one thing I could always fall back on. and it really helped me going through some dark times.”
What are your motivations when you write?
“Just normal day life. I always have so many stories and ideas running through my mind. Even the smallest thing can spark ideas for a story. Just walking outside, seeing the smile on a child’s face, or just every day life and nature itself. I’m always interested in the stories behind normal people. Especially when I was homeless, I met so many people who had always been misunderstood. Listening to their stories, making them feel heard, sometimes even for the first time in their lives was really a big inspiration to me.”
How did you come up with the concept for Homeowner?
“I don’t really remember writing the original story of Homeowner anymore. I write so many stories, that sometimes it’s hard to keep track. When Ryan Curtis asked me for some ideas I went through my stories and I sent him the summary of some stories I wrote. Homeowner was one of them. We both liked this and we went from there.”
What challenges did you find in telling the story of Homeowner?
“We had to make some changes to the original story in order to make things work. When writing stories, you don’t have think about things like location, stunts or a certain time you have to tell the story. For Storyhive we only had 10 minutes to tell the story so we had to keep it simple and straight to the point. Also the original story takes place in an old house near a forest. With the budget we had we were not able to do that, so we had to make some big changes to make it work for the budget and time we had to tell this story. But in the end I think things worked out great and we were all really happy with the end result.”
Why do you think audiences will be interested in Homeowner?
“Of course we have an amazing cast and crew! With Briana Buckmaster, Kim Rhodes and Adam Rose all being involved in this project, and an amazing crew we have a great start. But in the end it’s all about the story itself. This story is different than most ghost stories. Briana’s great acting makes the character relatable to people. She’s in a situation that people might find themselves in. Working so hard to reach their goal, that in the end they just get stuck.”
Is there anything else you would like readers to know about the project?
“Homeowner is about life. Don’t focus on your goal, but also enjoy the road that takes you there, or you might lose
yourself.”
For more information:
Storyhive – http://www.storyhive.com/project/show/id/816
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Homeownermovie
Comments? Sound off below. Or tweet @thenerdygirlexp and @stacyamiller85 .
TheNerdyGirlExpress 
Reblogged this on stacyamiller and commented:
My interview for The Nerdy Girl Express.
LikeLike
Great interview,so proud of Natalie. To be able to tell that good of a story in ten minutes is amazing. Hope to read or see what she has coming up next soon.
LikeLike