Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project.
My STEP Signature Project including taking a screenwriting class at The Second City in Chicago, Illinois and creating, developing and writing the first draft of a sitcom pilot script. I stayed in Chicago during the eight-week course, which involved reading existing pilot scripts and watching how they were depicted on screen, workshopping our scripts and a Q & A session with a working screenwriter. The class served as both an educational and motivational boost in the process of writing my pilot.
What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?
During my time in Chicago at Second City, I was able to officially commit to working towards screenwriting as a profession for the first time. I’ve struggled with committing to this dream of screenwriting because of all the classic reasons (it’s not a secure job, I have no guarantees of even breaking into the industry, it takes a lot of time to accomplish things and isn’t always rewarding early-on, etc.). So just the act of traveling to Chicago, as well as each subsequent step out of my comfort zone and into my future, was a scary development that I knew was pushing me in the direction I needed to head in.
Through this project, I was able to take the vague ideas I had in my head regarding not just how to achieve a career in screenwriting, but even simply finishing a script, and come out the other side with a plan for those aspirations, a means of achieving that plan, the confidence/perseverance to go about doing the work and a finished first draft of a script. 🙂
What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?
Though many things across my project impacted me and helped in my transformation, the main factor was definitely my screenwriting class.
In my screenwriting class, I was surrounded by a group of nine other writers who were both eager to write and to help by giving quality notes each week. This group of writers helped motivate me to push through procrastination, mental blocks and any other obstacle in my way. Though I didn’t always complete my pages for the deadline, I was constantly supported and encouraged by others in the class and this pushed me to write more. I wanted my writing to be included in our readthroughs so I could continue to get encouragement and great feedback.
Also, each writer in the room had a unique background, life story and voice. Coming from Ohio and Ohio State, a predominantly-white state and university, respectively, I’ve spent most of my life in rooms with people who look just like me. Being in a room full of voices and stories that have historically been silenced, censored or ignored was such a rewarding experience it’s hard to even quantify the value into words. I was able to experience a room filled with stories that I’ve never heard before, stories that have rarely if ever, been portrayed onscreen. The way the industry is trending, these stories have as good a chance as any to finally be told to a worldwide audience and having the pleasure to listen to and collaborate with these talented writers was one of the greatest parts of my signature project.
Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?
The significance of my transformation lies in the transformation itself. It’s not like I went into this project not a writer and came out a writer. I didn’t go into this project as a slacker and come out as some productivity fiend. I wouldn’t even say I came into this project as some insecure doubter and left it a confident believer.
I didn’t really gain any new skills or learn any new tricks. The one takeaway from all this is that I had it all the whole time. I’ve always been a writer, I just needed to take the time to write. I’ve always been productive, I just needed to recognize the mental blocks for what they were — fear. I’ve always been confident, I just needed to dispel the lie I’ve told myself for years that confidence is arrogance.
I’ve always been who I am, I just had to get out of my own way and give myself permission to be that way.