At the end of 2022’s Scream (otherwise known as Scream 5), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) laments on how she doesn’t want to write a book about the killers. Instead, she says, “I think I’ll write about a man who was once the sheriff of this town.”
Of course, Scream VI revealed that Gale went back on her word and did in fact write a book about the Woodsboro Legacy Killings (in true Gale style, as implied by the dialogue between Gale and the Carpenter sisters).
However, ever since I saw that moment at the end of the fifth film, I always imagined what that book about Dewey would be like to read. And then I started toying with the idea of writing it myself.
After much thought, I’ve decided to make the Dewey book my project for Camp NaNoWriMo for July 2023. I’m tentatively titling it Sheriff Dewey, A Story by Gale Weathers. I pictured Gale writing the book with Dewey’s name as the title and a photo of Dewey on the front cover.
The story will be one of my most unique projects. While I’m familiar with writing in first-person (having done so for my on-going reporter’s memoir), I’ve only ever written in first-person from my own perspective. For this project, I will be writing in first person, but from the perspective of Gale Weathers about her relationship with Dewey Riley (David Arquette).
Sheriff Dewey, A Story by Gale Weathers will focus on the complicated relationship between Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, from Gale’s perspective.
I’m taking on this project because I’ve always thought of the possibility of writing as Gale. She is the character in the Scream films I’ve related to the most. My first career was similar to hers in that I was a reporter who covered the news, including a stint in TV news for two years (though I was a producer and worked behind-the-scenes). I always thought if I were in a Scream movie, I’d partner up with Gale to report on the murders and help to solve them using my journalistic skills.
Through this project, I’ll be revisiting the first five films. I will certainly be recreating moments from the films, especially the moments between Dewey and Gale as portrayed on-screen. However, what I’m most excited for is to fill in the blanks within the films (such as Gale’s thoughts during the more intense moments, including those with Dewey) and to fill in the gaps in between each film. I’ve always wondered what each character went through in between films, and I’m intrigued to come up with what I think happened with Gale in between each film.
I’m excited to try a different style of fanfiction writing for this story and I hope to share it with readers soon!
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