Interview - Screenwriter Ina Mertesacker

Ina Mertesacker is the writer of thriller screenplay competition winning screenplay, LUCID. Logline: A young woman tries to solve her boyfriend's murder through her lucid dreams, causing dreams and reality to merge and become nearly indistinguishable.

After the competition win, we spoke with Ina about the story and the journey to this win.

How did you first become interested in a career in screenwriting?
I’ve always had a huge fascination for writing. Ever since I started learning how to read and write in kindergarten, I’ve been working on lots of different writing projects, such as my first “books” that I successfully sold to my mum for about 20 cents at age 6, and more serious projects as I grew older, like songs and whole novels.

Movies and filmmaking also sounded very interesting to me, that’s why I made some short parodies of movies when I was a teenager. “Lucid” was originally planned to be a novel, but I quickly realised it would work better as a movie. Hence I decided to learn how to write a screenplay by watching YouTube videos about the basics, especially the formatting and dialogue part. I’m completely self-taught and truly found my passion in screenwriting, whilst before I’ve always thought myself to be more of a novel- writer. I’m still into writing other stuff than screenplays, but there’s something about screenwriting that’s just... for me.

Who or what inspired you to write this particular story?
I originally wanted to write a crime novel, I’d just read a book about how to write one. I had the goal to make it as twisted and intriguing as possible and I quickly realised letting it play out on different meta levels would do a great job in creating a unique and complex storyline.

“Inception” by Christopher Nolan definitely was a huge inspiration for “Lucid”. After watching “Inception” for the first time I wanted to learn how to lucid dream myself and actually succeeded. To me, dreams always were something I wanted to know more about and being able to explore my own dreams consciously was a huge achievement for me. That’s why “Inception” itself holds a special place in my heart.

The novel “Vengeance” by Ruby Braun inspired me a lot as well, even though it was published after I already started outlining “Lucid”. One of the most intriguing parts about the topic of dreams is that I could use my own as research. It also gives you endless possibilities in terms of physics and landscapes, time and time loops, inner thoughts that become visible, visually pleasing cinematics and so on. It’s a very playful topic that allows not only me as a writer but also a future director to be highly creative in execution.

What movies or filmmakers would you consider your greatest influences as a screenwriter?
Christopher Nolan, without doubt. Especially “Inception” and “Interstellar” are the best movies I’ve ever watched since they’re so multi-layered. That fascinates me. Also I’ve just recently watched “The Truman Show” which I absolutely adored. It once again showed me how much I love stories that go beyond the typical day-to-day life, that play out on different meta levels and raise questions about time, perception and consciousness.

How much planning and outlining went into your process of writing this script?
Honestly, I can’t quite remember. I started planning and outlining in the end of 2023. I created different mind-maps, a bio for every character, some “who knows what?”-lists to have an overview about each character’s knowledge throughout the story to make sure to avoid any possible plot holes. I also wrote a detailed chapter plan. Then I began writing the novel in early 2024, but paused after writing eight chapters. In October 2024 I decided to write it as a screenplay instead. I barely had to make any changes to my original plans for the plot, though it was difficult to manage the loss of my protagonist’s inner monologue (which was a huge part in the novel version). Nevertheless I made it work and even changed the whole ending for the screenplay version. In the editing afterwards, I added lots of scenes that in my opinion add even more depth to the story. Whilst the whole panning part took some months, the writing part of the screenplay only took me two months. Actually, the first 30 pages took me two months, then I decided to finish it in one weekend. So I wrote the other 90 pages in one (very exhausting but at the same time very fun) weekend. I was pretty fast with editing, so I completed the script in December 2024. Since entering the Breaking Walls Thriller Competition, I’ve continuously been working on the script to make it the best version possible.

What advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters who are working their first script?
This is my first script, actually. So it feels very weird to be the one giving advice about something that I myself only learned about four months ago. Still, there’s a few things I’ve noticed during that time.

First, spend a lot of time planning the whole storyline. A strong premise, a unique concept is the base of your whole screenplay. You can always fix your writing style, but if the premise itself is underdeveloped, it’s harder to fix the script since every little thing depends on the premise.

Second, don’t micro-manage the actors. I did that myself A LOT in the beginning. A Blacklist reader drew my attention to it in an evaluation and it was true, so I changed it. Don’t give the actors micro-movements, give them emotions to work with. They know how to act out emotions, they don’t need you to tell them how to do it.

Third, don’t be afraid of editing. It’s extremely important to review your whole script multiple times, change, add and delete scenes and take advice or criticism from beta readers. That also includes cutting unnecessary dialogue or filler words. It might seem like a lot of work to do (and it is) but you want your screenplay to be the best it can be. And in the end of the day a script will always be better after editing.

Lastly, when it comes to selling your script, I’d give you one advice: Be confident enough to put your script out there but be humble enough to accept criticism. Your script is worthy to see the light of day, yet it’s totally normal to receive negative responses and feedback. Most of the time, considering and implementing said feedback will crucially elevate your story.

Congratulations to Ina and her winning screenplay, LUCID!