| Dare to Dare Dare Kent's Column |
| The Birth of Policy N by Dare Kent |
In my last article, I wrote about the 5Ws of Creativity (hyperlink to article). And
one of the questions I received was could I give a real life example of the process.
one of the questions I received was could I give a real life example of the process.
“The 5 Ws are:
| Wander (creativity is nonlinear) |
| Wonder (embrace appreciation, play and curiosity) |
| Wish (dare to dream) |
| Whisper (listen to the supportive voice) |
| Walk (take small steps towards your goal). |
Foreplay
I was scared of writing comedies. I never considered myself a funny writer. I
could write action, horror and epics – you know the genre stuff - but comedies?
Well, you had to be funny to do that.
I had a tough few years. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and for the last
two years of my life seemed to be drowning in hospitals and worry. Finally, my
mom got better and I listened to the whisper that said it was time to treat myself.
I decided to go to Austin, Texas and attend the screenwriting conference that
happens there every year in October. This was quite the vacation for me, because
up until this time I’d written in solitary confinement - I’d never gone someplace to
mingle with other writers.
That was scary too. Social settings with lots of people were never my strength.
Now, I was flying into the unknown. Oh well, you only live once right? I embraced
the wandering spirit and went off on my merry way to experience new places and
people.
There were some bumps along the way. I got to the hotel and locked myself out
of my room. Once I got that issue sorted out I walked over a few blocks to
register for the conference.
The first day was okay, I mingled with people and I ended up sitting with two other
writers. I do not have a strong accent, but I do have one when I am in Austin,
Texas – I’m Canadian. And someone very seriously asked me why Canadians are
so nice?
And in very serious voice I answered, “Canadians are nice, because if they are not
nice they are thrown into jail and rehabilitated into polite zombies.” I experienced
wonder at the question and let a whisper of intuition answer.
The next day I wandered into a pitch fest. Have you ever pitched a story? You
know, you get in front of a few people—or at a conference a few hundred—and
convince someone that your story, your script, is the one they should check out
over all the other hundreds pouring down like rain.
Crashed and burned at the pitch fest. I was so nervous my mouth went dry. I
stumbled through my pitch like a drunken elephant, trampling on everything good
in my path. Yeah, it really was that bad. Wandering does not mean you will
experience success, sometimes wandering means falling down and getting hurt.
One good thing happened at that pitch fest. I made my first industry connection.
After the pitch fest I thanked the judges for participating. I couldn’t look any more
the fool so I asked for a business card. Yes, it was a simple dream. And wow, he
gave it to me.
After four glorious days of screenwriting, seminars and enjoying the happy hour
parties I went home tired, over budget but having survived my first screenwriting
event, with 3 new screenwriting friends and 1 industry connection in my pocket.
Wandering often seems aimless at the time. But wandering often leads to rewards
never expected.
Once I got home I wrote to the industry connection to thank him for his time and
mentioned something that resonated with me that he had said at one of the
sessions. This is about daring to dream that a connection could be built and
sustained with the individual I had met.
Conception
Okay, now the title of this piece implies I’m going to talk about how my script
“Policy N” came to be. And up until now I haven’t mentioned anything about
scripts. And this is because ideas come from everywhere: an article, a snippet of
dialogue, a moment in your life.
Policy N was conceived at that Austin Screenwriting Festival. I just didn’t know it
then. A few months after I got home I started thinking about the person who’d
asked me that question – why are Canadians so nice? And, my flippant response –
the Canadian government turns bad citizens into polite zombies.
I turn and twisted that moment of my life around in my head playing what if?
What if I made this into a script? Was there enough of an idea there? Could this
moment be turned into a full fledged story? My answer was yes!
I experienced wonder as I played with the idea. I wished there was enough there
to build a script from. And I listened to the whisper inside that said the idea had
potential.
I was afraid, very afraid to write a comedy script. To me comedy is the hardest
art form to write. What is funny to one person, is not necessarily funny to another
person.
I went to an online writing message board called “The Writer’s Building” and asked
if someone wanted to collaborate on the script with me. I’d always written alone,
so this was a good chance to give working with another writer a try. That was the
original dream.
The response I got was positive, just not the positive I expected. A few really
special people encouraged me to write it on my own. I listened to their whispers
of support. And I took their faith and let it inspire me and off I went to write my
first comedy script.
Next comes the part where you get out the hiking boots and prepare for a long
stroll through the creativity forest. I opened up my notebook, and I wrote ideas
and brainstormed.
For the next few weeks I thought and plotted and considered. Various thoughts
and scene ideas ended up on 3X5 cards and I moved them around until I had an
outline of the script.
I took a break and did some wandering research. I posted a question on a
Zoetrope website, a place where writers communicate over the internet. I asked
them what they thought Canadians where like? And I got some interesting
answers. Canadians like hockey, beer and wear plaid.
I get the hockey and the beer answers. But where the heck did the plaid come
from? I live in Canada and I can’t say plaid is a common fashion choice. A
whisper of intuition told me this was all good stuff and all of these answers
eventually ended up in the story.
I am also part of a message board called “Done Deal Pro” used to talk about
screenwriting. I posted the first few pages of my script for critique. Every one
was polite, but the overwhelming response was not compelling or interesting.
Ouch!
At this point I wanted to give up, to walk away from the project. I didn’t want to
waste my time on a project that wasn’t going anywhere. And I felt that way for a
good few days.
Then I made a choice. I decided that I was going to finish writing the script. So
what if other people didn’t like the story? I was going to write it anyway. And I did.
This was about following my dream, to write the story that interests me, that feeds
my creative soul. I listed to the whisper inside that said the idea had potential.
Pregnancy
Normally, I write a few pages or maybe a few scenes everyday. I start out writing
the story full of enthusiasm. Then somewhere in the middle of the project the
enthusiasm dies. And out comes the fog, a dark, dank fog that smells like I am
never going to finish the project.
At this moment being creative is a struggle. I don’t want to write. I don’t want to
be creative. I want to run away, hide with the monster under my bed! Maybe I’d
get lucky and that monster will eat me. Then I won’t have the sharp failure of a
half finished project hanging over my head.
This is where you forget about soaring. You simply focus on the next small step
you can take. That’s it, just one small step.
Sometimes I take time off and give myself permission to walk away from the
project and give the creative juices time to rejuvenate. Other times I write for five
minutes a day.
I sit at the computer, open the project file and write maybe only a sentence or
two. Then I can walk away from the computer knowing I did my best for that day
at being creative. I give myself credit for the small steps forward I am making.
Other times I sit down, stumble for a few minutes and then I’m off and running,
the story flowing through my typing hands. And the real pain is I never know what
type of day it’s going to be when I sit down.
Creativity is such a surprise – you need to be open when inspiration strikes, to be
able to hear the whisper of possibility and follow its lead. Other times you plod
along hoping you’ll find the creative speck of gold in the sand you’re panning.
Once I get to the 80% mark of completing my manuscript, I find enthusiasm
again. I can hear the internal applause that will be mine if I can reach the end. I
can see the ribbon at the end of a marathon and I usually rush across the finish line
within the week.
Birth
The pregnancy is over, I’d given birth to a script called “Policy N”. Yay! I did it. I
wrote my first comedy script.
Now I can rest and put the script away for a few months. In a few months I’ll
come back to my baby and beat it. I know, not a nice thing to do. But it’s
required. Now, it’s about cutting and pruning and editing. More walking, more
steps forward to achieve the new dream of selling the script and seeing it on the
silver screen.
When I write the first draft I am in explorer mode. I go with the flow and see
what happens as I write. I allow myself to feel wonder and to listen to the whisper
of intuition.
In editing mode it’s about asking questions. Does this make sense? Would this
character do that? How can I make this scene interesting while keeping it
organic?
So I rewrote “Policy N” and I was ready to post it for feedback. It was back to the
Zoetrope site. Got a few reviews. Some were good, some weren’t so nice. The
interesting thing about reviews is they will often contradict each other. One person
will say “that Bob character sucked,” and another person will say, “that Bob
character was wonderful.”
When it comes to reviews, feedback and comments you listen to the whisper
inside. You listen to what you think will work for the creative project you want to
share with the world.
Once the script goes through a few reviews, I’m ready to send it out to contests.
This script, “Policy N,” (the script I was afraid to write) is the script that has done
the best in contests. It’s been the top 3 in the WildSound contest and a
quarterfinalist of the Page International Screenwriting contest.
Sometimes I wonder if that is because when I wrote it I decided I was going to do
it for the adventure of it. I had no high goal of selling or producing it when I
started. I wrote it so I could simply experience writing a comedy script. That is
why play is so important during creativity. Give yourself permission to play,
experiment and explore the wonder of your idea.
Being creative is a journey. I recognize that. And I want the journey to be smooth
and successful. And the reality is that journeys are filled with triumphs and
tragedies. Sometimes creative journeys make you cry and sometimes they bring
joy and adventure into your life.
The 5ws of creativity are a natural part of life. Sometimes you experience all five
at once and other times experience only a few, jumping from one to another in the
eternal dance of discovery.
Embrace your creativity and follow your own authentic journey. What path is right
for you? Only you can answer the question. What I can tell you is that you have
gifts.
At first a gift may be barely noticeable. It may appear as a desire, a curiosity, or
a possibility. The first time you try your hand at the gift you may stumble and yet
you still feel something – a moment of satisfaction, a joy, a spark of interest.
If you enjoy it, if it fills your life with wonder, wander, wishes, whispers and an
intriguing walk, then give yourself permission to explore this talent. Genius isn’t
born, it’s discovered over a lifetime of exploring.
To see things in the seed, that is genius
~ Lao Tzu.
What are your seeds of possibility? In what ways will you share your genius with
the world? What is one small thing you can do today to grow your seed?
I was scared of writing comedies. I never considered myself a funny writer. I
could write action, horror and epics – you know the genre stuff - but comedies?
Well, you had to be funny to do that.
I had a tough few years. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and for the last
two years of my life seemed to be drowning in hospitals and worry. Finally, my
mom got better and I listened to the whisper that said it was time to treat myself.
I decided to go to Austin, Texas and attend the screenwriting conference that
happens there every year in October. This was quite the vacation for me, because
up until this time I’d written in solitary confinement - I’d never gone someplace to
mingle with other writers.
That was scary too. Social settings with lots of people were never my strength.
Now, I was flying into the unknown. Oh well, you only live once right? I embraced
the wandering spirit and went off on my merry way to experience new places and
people.
There were some bumps along the way. I got to the hotel and locked myself out
of my room. Once I got that issue sorted out I walked over a few blocks to
register for the conference.
The first day was okay, I mingled with people and I ended up sitting with two other
writers. I do not have a strong accent, but I do have one when I am in Austin,
Texas – I’m Canadian. And someone very seriously asked me why Canadians are
so nice?
And in very serious voice I answered, “Canadians are nice, because if they are not
nice they are thrown into jail and rehabilitated into polite zombies.” I experienced
wonder at the question and let a whisper of intuition answer.
The next day I wandered into a pitch fest. Have you ever pitched a story? You
know, you get in front of a few people—or at a conference a few hundred—and
convince someone that your story, your script, is the one they should check out
over all the other hundreds pouring down like rain.
Crashed and burned at the pitch fest. I was so nervous my mouth went dry. I
stumbled through my pitch like a drunken elephant, trampling on everything good
in my path. Yeah, it really was that bad. Wandering does not mean you will
experience success, sometimes wandering means falling down and getting hurt.
One good thing happened at that pitch fest. I made my first industry connection.
After the pitch fest I thanked the judges for participating. I couldn’t look any more
the fool so I asked for a business card. Yes, it was a simple dream. And wow, he
gave it to me.
After four glorious days of screenwriting, seminars and enjoying the happy hour
parties I went home tired, over budget but having survived my first screenwriting
event, with 3 new screenwriting friends and 1 industry connection in my pocket.
Wandering often seems aimless at the time. But wandering often leads to rewards
never expected.
Once I got home I wrote to the industry connection to thank him for his time and
mentioned something that resonated with me that he had said at one of the
sessions. This is about daring to dream that a connection could be built and
sustained with the individual I had met.
Conception
Okay, now the title of this piece implies I’m going to talk about how my script
“Policy N” came to be. And up until now I haven’t mentioned anything about
scripts. And this is because ideas come from everywhere: an article, a snippet of
dialogue, a moment in your life.
Policy N was conceived at that Austin Screenwriting Festival. I just didn’t know it
then. A few months after I got home I started thinking about the person who’d
asked me that question – why are Canadians so nice? And, my flippant response –
the Canadian government turns bad citizens into polite zombies.
I turn and twisted that moment of my life around in my head playing what if?
What if I made this into a script? Was there enough of an idea there? Could this
moment be turned into a full fledged story? My answer was yes!
I experienced wonder as I played with the idea. I wished there was enough there
to build a script from. And I listened to the whisper inside that said the idea had
potential.
I was afraid, very afraid to write a comedy script. To me comedy is the hardest
art form to write. What is funny to one person, is not necessarily funny to another
person.
I went to an online writing message board called “The Writer’s Building” and asked
if someone wanted to collaborate on the script with me. I’d always written alone,
so this was a good chance to give working with another writer a try. That was the
original dream.
The response I got was positive, just not the positive I expected. A few really
special people encouraged me to write it on my own. I listened to their whispers
of support. And I took their faith and let it inspire me and off I went to write my
first comedy script.
Next comes the part where you get out the hiking boots and prepare for a long
stroll through the creativity forest. I opened up my notebook, and I wrote ideas
and brainstormed.
For the next few weeks I thought and plotted and considered. Various thoughts
and scene ideas ended up on 3X5 cards and I moved them around until I had an
outline of the script.
I took a break and did some wandering research. I posted a question on a
Zoetrope website, a place where writers communicate over the internet. I asked
them what they thought Canadians where like? And I got some interesting
answers. Canadians like hockey, beer and wear plaid.
I get the hockey and the beer answers. But where the heck did the plaid come
from? I live in Canada and I can’t say plaid is a common fashion choice. A
whisper of intuition told me this was all good stuff and all of these answers
eventually ended up in the story.
I am also part of a message board called “Done Deal Pro” used to talk about
screenwriting. I posted the first few pages of my script for critique. Every one
was polite, but the overwhelming response was not compelling or interesting.
Ouch!
At this point I wanted to give up, to walk away from the project. I didn’t want to
waste my time on a project that wasn’t going anywhere. And I felt that way for a
good few days.
Then I made a choice. I decided that I was going to finish writing the script. So
what if other people didn’t like the story? I was going to write it anyway. And I did.
This was about following my dream, to write the story that interests me, that feeds
my creative soul. I listed to the whisper inside that said the idea had potential.
Pregnancy
Normally, I write a few pages or maybe a few scenes everyday. I start out writing
the story full of enthusiasm. Then somewhere in the middle of the project the
enthusiasm dies. And out comes the fog, a dark, dank fog that smells like I am
never going to finish the project.
At this moment being creative is a struggle. I don’t want to write. I don’t want to
be creative. I want to run away, hide with the monster under my bed! Maybe I’d
get lucky and that monster will eat me. Then I won’t have the sharp failure of a
half finished project hanging over my head.
This is where you forget about soaring. You simply focus on the next small step
you can take. That’s it, just one small step.
Sometimes I take time off and give myself permission to walk away from the
project and give the creative juices time to rejuvenate. Other times I write for five
minutes a day.
I sit at the computer, open the project file and write maybe only a sentence or
two. Then I can walk away from the computer knowing I did my best for that day
at being creative. I give myself credit for the small steps forward I am making.
Other times I sit down, stumble for a few minutes and then I’m off and running,
the story flowing through my typing hands. And the real pain is I never know what
type of day it’s going to be when I sit down.
Creativity is such a surprise – you need to be open when inspiration strikes, to be
able to hear the whisper of possibility and follow its lead. Other times you plod
along hoping you’ll find the creative speck of gold in the sand you’re panning.
Once I get to the 80% mark of completing my manuscript, I find enthusiasm
again. I can hear the internal applause that will be mine if I can reach the end. I
can see the ribbon at the end of a marathon and I usually rush across the finish line
within the week.
Birth
The pregnancy is over, I’d given birth to a script called “Policy N”. Yay! I did it. I
wrote my first comedy script.
Now I can rest and put the script away for a few months. In a few months I’ll
come back to my baby and beat it. I know, not a nice thing to do. But it’s
required. Now, it’s about cutting and pruning and editing. More walking, more
steps forward to achieve the new dream of selling the script and seeing it on the
silver screen.
When I write the first draft I am in explorer mode. I go with the flow and see
what happens as I write. I allow myself to feel wonder and to listen to the whisper
of intuition.
In editing mode it’s about asking questions. Does this make sense? Would this
character do that? How can I make this scene interesting while keeping it
organic?
So I rewrote “Policy N” and I was ready to post it for feedback. It was back to the
Zoetrope site. Got a few reviews. Some were good, some weren’t so nice. The
interesting thing about reviews is they will often contradict each other. One person
will say “that Bob character sucked,” and another person will say, “that Bob
character was wonderful.”
When it comes to reviews, feedback and comments you listen to the whisper
inside. You listen to what you think will work for the creative project you want to
share with the world.
Once the script goes through a few reviews, I’m ready to send it out to contests.
This script, “Policy N,” (the script I was afraid to write) is the script that has done
the best in contests. It’s been the top 3 in the WildSound contest and a
quarterfinalist of the Page International Screenwriting contest.
Sometimes I wonder if that is because when I wrote it I decided I was going to do
it for the adventure of it. I had no high goal of selling or producing it when I
started. I wrote it so I could simply experience writing a comedy script. That is
why play is so important during creativity. Give yourself permission to play,
experiment and explore the wonder of your idea.
Being creative is a journey. I recognize that. And I want the journey to be smooth
and successful. And the reality is that journeys are filled with triumphs and
tragedies. Sometimes creative journeys make you cry and sometimes they bring
joy and adventure into your life.
The 5ws of creativity are a natural part of life. Sometimes you experience all five
at once and other times experience only a few, jumping from one to another in the
eternal dance of discovery.
Embrace your creativity and follow your own authentic journey. What path is right
for you? Only you can answer the question. What I can tell you is that you have
gifts.
At first a gift may be barely noticeable. It may appear as a desire, a curiosity, or
a possibility. The first time you try your hand at the gift you may stumble and yet
you still feel something – a moment of satisfaction, a joy, a spark of interest.
If you enjoy it, if it fills your life with wonder, wander, wishes, whispers and an
intriguing walk, then give yourself permission to explore this talent. Genius isn’t
born, it’s discovered over a lifetime of exploring.
To see things in the seed, that is genius
~ Lao Tzu.
What are your seeds of possibility? In what ways will you share your genius with
the world? What is one small thing you can do today to grow your seed?
