TRACY STREETER
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 PictureTRACY STREETER
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I live in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel?
The Long Wake is a story I have carried in my spirit for many years. I wanted to deal with racial issues in a way that was honest, emotional, and human. The story asks what happens when a man filled with hatred wakes up fifty years later and finds that the world has changed without him. It also asks what it costs the person who survives that hatred and still chooses to build, serve, and care for others. I wrote it as a screenplay because I have always seen this story visually. I could see the two timelines, the woods in 1975, the hospital room, the changed town, and the emotional confrontation between Earl and Isaiah. More than anything, I could see these roles being performed by great actors. This story needed faces, silence, tension, and moments where the audience could feel what the characters were carrying without everything being explained.

How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN?
The idea for The Long Wake has been with me for decades, but the actual writing came in a focused season of my life. My process is a mixture of living with the story for a long time and then writing once the characters begin speaking clearly to me. I usually begin with the heart of the story: the question, the wound, and the transformation. Then I build the major turning points around that. I do outline, but I also leave room for discovery. Sometimes a character will reveal something on the page that changes the direction or deepens the meaning. With The Long Wake, the emotional truth of Earl and Isaiah guided the process. I knew where the story began, I knew the moral confrontation it was moving toward, and I allowed the characters to earn their way there.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
My ultimate ambition is to tell stories that matter—stories that entertain, but also leave people thinking, feeling, and seeing others differently. I want to write work that gives voice to pain, faith, history, family, resilience, and redemption without making the journey easy or false. As a writer, I hope to create films, series, and books that reach people across generations. I want my work to open conversations, especially around the things we sometimes avoid: race, grief, justice, forgiveness, community, and change. If my writing helps someone understand another person better, or gives someone the courage to keep going, then I believe the work has served its purpose.

Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice?
My entry was the full script. I chose to submit the full screenplay because The Long Wake is a story that grows in emotional weight as it unfolds. The first pages introduce the conflict and the hook, but the deeper impact comes from seeing how one night echoes across fifty years and how both men are changed by what they must finally face. I wanted the readers to experience the complete journey—from the violence of the past to the reckoning of the present, and from hatred to the hard possibility of accountability and change.
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What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
My all-time favorite movie is Sneakers. I love the cast, the chemistry, and the way the film blends drama, suspense, intelligence, and humor without losing its entertainment value. Two of my favorite actors, Sidney Poitier and Robert Redford, are in that film, and watching them work alongside such a strong ensemble is a joy. I enjoy movies that are well-acted, smart, engaging, and still fun to watch. Sneakers has all of that for me. It reminds me that a story can address serious stakes while still offering the audience charm, wit, and great character moments.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
My advice is to keep writing, keep learning, and do not quit on the story just because it becomes difficult. Sometimes the idea that stays with you the longest is the one you are meant to write. Be willing to revise. Be willing to listen. But also protect the heart of your story. A contest
placement is a wonderful encouragement, but the deeper reward is knowing that you honored the work and gave it your best. Write with purpose, write with honesty, and do not be afraid to tell the story that only you can tell.

What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I am working on several projects across film, television, and books. One of them is The Straw: That Broke America’s Back, a social thriller about ordinary people trying to hold their community together during a national economic crisis. I also have Never Been A Slave, a historical family drama intended as a series, and Lumi the Little Star: Night Light Adventures, a children’s project about courage, kindness, and growing into your light. I am also writing a memoir titled Cancer Saved My Life: My Body Failed—But God Didn’t. This memoir looks back on my pancreatic cancer diagnosis, the bleak prognosis of three to six months to live in November 2024, and the support of my faith, family, and the unexpected blessing of still being here. Across all of my work, I try to tell stories about people facing hard realities while still finding hope, purpose, and each other.