Neighbors

Seaford scribe now an award-winning writer

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When Scott Kaplan isn’t helping people get into shape, he often can be found at his computer, working on his next story idea.

A personal trainer by day, Kaplan, of Seaford, spends much of his time writing, and recently won his second award for short story composing. In July, he took first place in the Midlife Collage writing contest for “Activity Boy,” a story about his solo vacation to Cancun.

His first short story, “Irene Street,” is about the trials and tribulations he faced after the August 2011 Tropical Storm damaged his home. Kaplan spent months living with other family members, and skipped Thanksgiving that year when inspiration for the story struck.

“Irene Street” was about 1,000 words, and Kaplan said writing it was cathartic. “I interjected some humor into a very painful experience,” he said. “I tried to take a negative and turn it into a positive.”

Kaplan’s home again was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and after going through the recovery process once before, he said the second time was easier and was back home 92 days later.

In “Activity Boy,” Kaplan writes about his vacation, and his initial fears about going away alone. But on the trip, he made a lot of new friends and ventured to new heights — literally as he climbed to the top of the pyramid, which not coincidentally is the climax of the story.

He recently wrote a sequel to “Irene Street,” which is a fictional crime story centered around Hurricane Sandy. A past story relates to a road trip he took in 2003 with a friend to a Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park. Kaplan says inspiration for story ideas comes from many places, and even his non-fiction pieces often take creative liberties.

Kaplan’s writing scope goes beyond short stories, of which he has completed seven including a mix of fiction and non-fiction pieces. He has penned two screenplays and is in the process of a third. Writing a screenplay requires a much greater time commitment than a short story, he noted.

He has also made a movie short, which takes about three hours to film.

Kaplan, 45, is a native of Merrick and a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore. He has a degree in psychology from Hofstra University and has spent almost 20 years a personal trainer, but, “Writing is my biggest passion,” he said.

Many of his pieces won’t be found under his name, as Kaplan often writes under the pen name S.D. Thomas.

Kaplan’s advice to aspiring writers is to move past fear, a natural feeling for even the most accomplished of authors. “You just have to overcome your fear of failures,” he said, “because if you don’t try, you’re not going to have an opportunity for success.”

With a rejection file that’s been building for years, Kaplan said it feels good to get the recognition from Midlife Collage, an online site for writers 40 and older with weekly and quarterly competitions. He learned about the contests from a writer’s magazine he subscribes to. “It’s gratifying and validating to be published,” he said.

In the future, Kaplan wants to finish his third screenplay and would also like to pen a novel. He added that he avoids the popular trends and tells the stories that he wants.

“Writing is a journey,” he said. “It’s something I want to do for the rest of my life. I have enough ideas to last me two lifetimes.”