Lakewood Ranch writers come together to critique one another's work

When Lakewood Ranch’s Joe Rendace was a child, he wanted to be a comic book artist or a newspaper cartoonist.

However, one movie — the 2000 film "American Psycho" — inspired him to express himself creatively in a different way.”

“I love that movie, It's so stylish,” Rendace said. ”People don't even understand that movie. It's not some horror slashing movie. It's all in his head. He's nuts.” 

When it comes to adaptions from book form to a movie, Rendace said often you like one or the other, but not both. After loving "American Psycho" the movie, Rendace read the 1991 book by Bret Eston Ellis. That read sparked inspiration for Rendace to begin writing himself.

Rendace, an author of three published novels and nine screenplays, is leading the Novel and Screenplay Critique Group in Lakewood Ranch. Members of the group are asked to read and critique each other’s work. Rendace has led other similar groups in both New York and Atlanta. 

“I find when everybody has skin in the game, they show up to get feedback,” Rendace said. 

When Amber Nelson moved to the area a couple of months ago, she knew no one. She decided to attend the first introductory meeting and said joining the group has meant a lot to her. She said she has gained a personal connection with like-minded individuals through their common thread — writing. 

“It’s an exercise in humility,” Nelson said. “You have to be humble to come to something like this.”

Nelson won “Best Series Pilot Script” for her screenplay “Amberica” at the World Film Festival in Cannes 2025. It is a story that is a combination of real life events and fiction — the story is about a character named Amber whose life is a mess and her Muslim mother is dying. 

“I feel like I was hit by a lightning bolt,” Nelson said. “This lightning bolt said, ‘Thou shall write.’ That's the only explanation I have — I literally woke up and I felt compelled to write a story.” 

Mike McClaskey, a North Port resident who is part of the group, has written various screenplays, commercials and has a published book titled “Mr. President?” which is about a professional wrestler who becomes president of the U.S.

He keeps a notepad by his bed as he has vivid movie-like dreams. 

“It's an expression of my thoughts, whether they're subconscious or whether they're God planted,” McClaskey said.

Before he joined the group, McClaskey only had family members read his work, therefore he now can get unbiased feedback from people with similar backgrounds. He wants to know whether or not his story is good, and if the script is structured properly.

 “I don't want to put out a great structured story that (is bad), and I don't want to put out a great story that's structured wrong. I want to do both,” McClaskey said. 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Sarasota’s Naida Joanides is a retired circus performer who has written seven screenplays and two novels. She has also written two award winning short films at the Sarasota Film Festival — “Katia” (which is available on Amazon) and “Moon Dust.” 

“I think it's imagery and it's words, and it's just remembering those emotions,” Joanides said. “We all have those strong emotions. It's always telling a story, no matter what format. You could do it in painting or poetry or screenwriting, a novel of imagery, it's always a story.”

Joanides is now working on a Christmas screenplay and is always open to critiques. She has been in a similar group before with both writers and actors. 

She said if one person gives a critique you can think about it and not necessarily put it in action. However, if multiple people say the same thing, it’s important to think it through. 

Rendace said that writing is rewriting. He often writes a screenplay and revisits it later and finds it to be “horrible” and completely rebuilds the story. 

“You should take that feedback, you can't be stubborn,” Rendace said. “Your baby might be ugly at a certain point, but you have to take the feedback. Otherwise, it doesn't get any better.”

Rendace said word count often can be a problem. In a previous group, he has been thanked for having the word count be no more than 3,000 words.

“We're just hoping somebody reads it. You have to keep it as short and tight and perfect as possible,” Rendace said. 

Rendace said he wants to keep the group small, around six people, in order to give a good amount of time and discussion for each person’s work. 

“It (writing) is cathartic and it's therapeutic,” Rendace said. “We're usually writing about ourselves in some way. There's always a little bit of us disguised in these characters.”