The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna 135 | Feeling Your Way Through Early Drafts w/ Kelly Fremon Craig (Are You There God, It's Me Margaret)
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Apr 27, 2023 Kelly Fremon Craig shares how she won Judy Blume’s trust to adapt Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, and how her own upbringing shaped her connection to the story. She talks about finding a project’s emotional core, surviving the nerves of filmmaking, and the surprises that keep writing alive.
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How Kelly Won Judy Blume’s Trust
- Kelly Fremon Craig pursued Judy Blume’s work after months of rejecting assigned projects and wrote Blume a personal email about its impact.
- Blume agreed after reading the letter, seeing The Edge of Seventeen, and learning James L. Brooks would produce.
Adapt The Feeling Not Just The Story
- Kelly adapted the book by protecting its emotional spirit rather than reproducing every detail literally.
- She used her bodily response as a barometer, asking whether each choice made her feel what the novel made her feel.
The Truth That Feels Like Lava
- Personal writing creates fear because complicated feelings may resist accurate expression and invite others to redefine women’s experiences.
- Judy Blume’s bravery comes from saying the intimate, socially unsayable truths directly.