Meet Anna “aj” Johnson

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anna “aj” Johnson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anna “AJ” below.

Anna “AJ”, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

Resilience is the ability of a material to absorb energy, release it, and then bounce back to its original state. It’s been used as a term to describe people who have faced setbacks and still kept going. I think an important part that this description typically misses is the absorbing and releasing of those setbacks. You can’t just deflect every hardship or failure. Ignoring those events is losing out on a learning opportunity.
In 2020, I was going into my senior year of college in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Theatre as we all were used to it was changed. While this was a devastating hit for the senior year I imagined for myself, it was also an opportunity to stretch myself as an artist, and more specifically, as a writer. Working with the technical director for my school, we discussed ways to keep the actors isolated while still telling a compelling story. I landed on the idea of suspects being held in separate interrogation rooms, recounting the same events from their individual perspectives. I got to play off the themes of isolation the pandemic was pushing on all of us. These ideas and concepts ultimately led to my play Evidence! which was later produced in 2023.
In college, I grew frustrated at being told that “that part just isn’t right for you.” I decided that if there were no parts right for me, I would just write my own. As I wrote, though, I discovered that the part I liked best was the writer.
I grew up being told I was stubborn. Eventually, I realized that stubbornness was determination, and that determination is proactive resilience. It is so easy to feel overlooked and unheard. It takes stubborn, determined resilience to persist through every put down, every disappointment, and every failure. When I was younger, I studied ballet. Ballet takes so much discipline and resilience. I faced problems with my ankles, not getting promoted to higher levels, and not being cast. Instead of letting those setbacks defeat me, I worked and trained harder. I realized I might never be a great ballet dancer, but I could be a hardworking dancer. I learned other styles. I trained in other levels. I encouraged my classmates when they got discouraged. In fact, I learned that resilience comes easier when you have support from others. When I got parts, my classmates and friends celebrated with me, because they saw how hard I worked and how supportive I was of their victories. It would have been easy to walk away after I was held back from pointe shoes, or grew too tall for partnering, or any number of other setbacks, but I knew dance was something I loved and wanted to do, so I used that stubborn determination I had been teased for growing up to build a resilient foundation I could fall back on in all aspects of my life, not just dance.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m currently working full time as a Research Coordinator for the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. I facilitate communications, manage schedules, and organize lab operations. While it’s not the arts, it’s a great use for my analytical organization skills. In the afternoons, I teach a variety of theatre classes at Neighborhood Children’s Theatre and Pensacola Little Theatre. It is so much fun to have the opportunity to work with such a variety of ages and demographics. Additionally, I get to assist in the creation of ongoing curriculums for both theatres. Sharing my passion for the arts with a new generation of artists is extremely gratifying and inspiring.
When I’m not working full time, or teaching part time, I’m writing as much as I can. Hopefully one day, I can write as more of a full time career, but for now I grab any time I can: during lunches, stray coffee breaks, early mornings, between loads of laundry. I’ve been lucky to have several of my scripts produced, as well as a community of supportive friends who send me every submission opportunity they find. In the next few months, I have a few productions in the works. In January, two of my 10 minute plays will be a part of PLT’s Short Attention Span Theatre. In April, I will have a staged reading of a brand new script in the Boston Area. In June, my script Crosswords will be produced as part of the Neurodivergent New Play Series in New York. I will also be working full time at IHMC, as well as teaching seven classes between NCT and PLT. A busy, busy couple of months, and I’m still looking for submissions all the time. Additionally, I’m in the process of launching a website to publicize my work better.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Work ethic
I don’t know if it’s genetic or my years of ballet training, but my work ethic absolutely benefitted my journey. When I was a TA for the Springer Opera House one summer, I remember waking up an hour to two hours earlier than I had to get to work so I could go to a coffee shop and write. Anyone who knows me will know how shocking it is for me to wake up early, but I had ideas I had to write and my days were full of teaching classes before planning more classes and rehearsals. I happily waited for the first coffee shop to open so I could write a few scenes over breakfast, before working the student drop off line. I ended up drafting almost an entire full length script that summer. In my experience, it’s a lot easier to maintain a work ethic when you’re working on something you care about. It’s much harder when the work is frustrating, or something you don’t care for. I’ve found finding ways to twist whatever the work is to fit with something you’re passionate about helps. I’m not scooping ice cream in an uncomfortable uniform because I am passionate about ice cream, I’m doing character work for a future story. Or at the very least, I’m earning money so I can write this weekend without fear of not having money for rent.
Write freely, but edit mercilessly.
For a long time, I was very precious with my writing. I didn’t want to share it with anyone who would tear it apart. At the same time, I didn’t want to share it until it was perfect, so I just sat on my drafts like a dragon protecting her hoard. Learning that editing is not only good but crucial to writing was such a valuable lesson. Now I viciously rip through drafts with lots of red ink and no mercy. One thing that helped me get there was being honest with myself about where I was in the process. If it was a new idea that I still was too close to, that’s fine! Just admit it. I also only send these ideas to my hype up readers. I don’t need them to analyze word choice and grammar, just to tell me if they like it or not (usually that they like it hopefully). When I am more confident I like my own work, then I send it to the chop shop readers: my editor friends. They tell me what they liked, what they didn’t, what worked, what could work better—it’s incredible. They point out every comma splice. And there’s usually a lot. I’ve found that this process also lets me write more freely. I can write a less than stellar (or even bad) first draft, because I can edit it into something so much better.
Being Observant
One of the comments I get frequently on my writing is “how did you make this so realistic?” or “how did you come up with something this real?” The answer has always seemed anticlimactic to me: I just write what I see or hear. Sometimes it even feels the opposite of creative. If I want my dialogue to sound like it could happen in a grocery store or a coffee shop, I listen and pay attention to my conversations at the grocery store and coffee shop. If I want my character to be likable, I pay attention to what makes people I know likable to me. It’s also a fun writing exercise I like when I’m traveling. I see a cute restaurant and I think about what scene I would set there. A first date, maybe chosen because one of the pair knows the wait staff so they feel safe? A family business someone is desperate to escape but still deeply cares for? A stakeout of the jewelry store across the street to plan a heist? Then I pick one idea and focus on it. Why does the person on the date feel so strongly the need to feel safe? Maybe they’ve had a string of questionable dates. Maybe this is their first date ever, and they want a support system. Maybe this is their first date after a break up that shook their confidence, and the wait staff here encouraged them to try again. All these ideas from observing a cute little restaurant.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always looking for theatres, producers, or directors to work with. I also have big dreams of writing some musical stories, but an even bigger fear of writing music, so any composers who are looking for someone to help with story, dialogue, or lyrics let me know!
While I think you can collaborate with anyone, I also think to make something great, you have to have compatible collaborators. You need a balance of similar work styles, but complementary opposed strengths.
I am launching a website for my writing, so you can contact me through that!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ajrosewrites.com
• Instagram: @ajrosewrites

Image Credits

Milestones Studios