The following interview is part of the six-part series profiling the 2007 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition winners.

To some extent screenwriter Steven Brooks' Apparition developed out of location. "Having lived in Savannah for a few years I always thought it was the perfect setting for either a thriller or a horror movie because of the ambience," Brooks begins. "Also there is a mixture of the old south and (Savannah College of Art and Design) which creates an interesting dichotomy.

"In Savannah they have turned a number of the old houses into apartments. I lived in one for a while, and it could have been haunted. It probably was haunted. So I decided this would be a great location. Then I thought about who would live here, why and proceeded to develop it from there."

Currently in draft six, Apparition follows young couple Sara and Devlin as they move into one of these buildings. Yet, unlike many horror hooks, the conjured hauntings have less to do with the ghosts and more to do with the couple itself. "People create their own reality and often unintentionally," Brooks explains.

Taking time out to share his thoughts about his script, Brooks touches on what it is to work in genre, the evolution of the script and the nature of his writing process.

SM: With Apparition you're working with a lot of the horror standards--the old Victorian house, the visions of the dead and the couple who's tested through this process. How did you go about working with these iconic images in order to make them original?

SB: I wish I could say I have made them original. It’s hard to write in a genre that has been done so often, sometimes poorly, sometimes extremely well. I focused on the characters. I tried to put real people in an unreal situation and see what would happen. To me the best movies, no matter what genre, work because you get invested in the characters. Jaws could have easily been a really bad B-movie but it’s not because of the characters.

SM: What was your [writing] process?

SB: I had a rough plot and just jumped in and started writing the first draft. I got half way through that, realized I was telling the wrong character’s story and started over.

SM: How did you figure that out?

SB: I had a basic plot and started out telling the story from Devlin's point of view. I got about forty pages into it, hit a wall and I realized I wasn't very interested in his story. I was more interested in Sara's story. Which is the story of someone coming to terms with their abilities, accepting themselves and rejecting the fear of being different. Even though it's a ghost story it's really about that theme.

I don't start out with a theme. I usually start out with characters, scene ideas, plot points, but if I don't discover a theme to hang everything on the script usually doesn't make it past the second draft.

SM: Off that, how much did you depend on the first draft or how much on revision?

SB: I tend to do a number of revisions on every script. The draft I submitted to the contest was probably the fifth or sixth one, and it still needs some work.

SM: In terms of finding a rhythm to the piece, did you outline quite a bit or keep to the three-act structure? How did you figure out the cadence?

SB: I’m too impatient to write a complete outline. I like to get the first draft down on paper, then the real writing begins with the second draft. In the first draft I follow wherever the story wants to go. In the second I start picking scenes apart, shifting them around, changing characters, their motivations--anything to make the story flow.

SM: Opening up the discussion a bit, why is it that you write? What drives you to do that?

SB: My main goal like most people was, and still is, directing, but I needed stories to tell so I started writing. Luckily I’ve found that I like it. So it’s really a practical reason--I write so I can make movies.

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