from quotefancy.om

To be bold takes a step of courage.  Boldness can come in many different forms, and depending on your current situation, you may find yourself about to take that step of faith and forge forward. Not always easy – in life, there are no guarantees. Fear is our greatest enemy. Be a friend to it…examine your fear… because sometimes we don’t even know what we’re scared of.   Once we have a sense of what that particular fear is, put it in its’ place (or if you want, smack it in the face) and move on with bravery and always with a hint of hope. Hope is your greatest cheerleader and friend. Sometimes it has a hard time being heard. But once you hear it, its’ voice is bold, so grab onto hope and let it lead you.

Today (and for the last 3 months) I’ve been working on a new screenplay called Break Away. I will be submitting it to a Canadian Screenwriting Fellowship called The Daryl Duke Prize at the end of this month.  The writing has consumed much of my time and thoughts.  I started writing the script with such fear and confusion. The summer (and really, the year) has not produced the kind of results I had hoped for. And so naturally that brings on disappointment… along with fear…and a lack of feeling very bold. I struggled for several weeks with this new script and feeling frustrated at the process. But I fought through my nagging uncertainty and finally started writing it one day (after brainstorming for over a month). One day, turned to two, followed by three, four, five…(you get the picture). Everyday, pages were being written. Hope was building, now no longer a hint but a strong force and it was getting stronger as the days went on.

from quotefancy.om

Until finally,  I completed the screenplay, sent it off for coverage notes and I received these notes back recently. I feel encouraged (and relieved) by how this script has turned out and how it was received by this coverage agency. Side note – for those who don’t know, coverage on a script is a critical review done by a reader (usually working for a studio or an agency). This reader gives his/her opinion on several aspects of the script and evaluates different categories like: plot, structure, character, voice, etc.. They provide some solutions to problems and help guide the script to a better/stronger place.

I usually have a sense when I need to work on certain aspects of my script. The notes often are a confirmation of my thoughts. These particular notes were helpful. And now comes the hard part, where another dose of boldness is needed. For any creator out there, it is always a daunting task to begin a new project and see it through to the very end (ie, in my case, the re-writes).   Break Away, about a junior hockey player, his mentally unstable, artistic father and his caring mother who tries to hold it all together, shows some real promise.  I’ve been sitting with the completed draft/notes a couple days now and it’s time to move onto some re-writes. I have less then 2 weeks to accomplish this task, so off I go to the races. No fear here, that was 2 months ago. Now, I’m filled with dogged determination to complete this re-write with some new ideas and then submit it to The Daryl Duke Prize (and likely a few more places when it’s all said and done).

Fight to be bold.   Recognize the fear.   Nip it in the bud.  And then give hope a chance…it’s a stronger force than fear.