Category Archives: Thoughts and Ideas

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January 30, 2017

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Media & Society, Thoughts and Ideas

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The Death of Neutrality and the Assertiveness of Wonder

pexels-photo-27802I’ve learned a hard lesson over the past couple of weeks. It started with a memo I wrote filled with facts that executives could ponder for the sake of future consideration and direction. I thought the neutrality of the topic allowed the leadership team to look at the information as raw data without any preconceived filters biasing their vision. Instead they assumed that because it wasn’t slanted toward their predisposed notion, it must be against their directive. I was condemned with a very angry pushback.

A recent blog post on how to filter out facts from feelings received the same negative pushback. Some who saw the post as an opposing view distorted my neutral stance. The result was several personal attacks on me from people who didn’t even acknowledge my point of separating fact from feelings before we make condemning comments on heated issues. They overlooked the entire point for the sake of falsely leveraging the neutral post to their opposition so they could slam their biased statement in retaliation.

Neutrality is no longer neutral, but instead is a tool for the aggressive to use as a launching point of opposition to spread their ideas. They push back off of the neutral to make an exaggerated contrasting statement—making a middle of the road balanced viewpoint look skewed. They disfigure the neutrality until their distorted viewpoint appears to be normal.

Historical writings reveal civil wars rising within similar polarized societies. The volatile aura created by people who push their ideas before understanding the opposition’s perspective fuels that fire. Battles ensue based on the society’s rights to secure their way of life without regard to the rights of others.

Since neutrality is no longer a safe haven, but a tool for everyone to leverage, we are forced to pick sides. Or, are we?

I’m a firm believer that when people focus on the wonders of our world, they are less likely to participate in the destruction of it. Wonder is a healthy and wholesome emotion that cannot live next to the lust for destruction. When we focus on the awesome and humble, there is little room to consider the angry rampages of distorted thinking. We become focused on the inspiring.

Denise Leverton wrote in her statement on poetics, “Insofar as poetry has a social function it is to awaken sleepers by other means than shock.”

The darker films, television and books are filled with story elements that shock audiences to consider new viewpoints, the more we need art to explore wonders within our world that shifts our focus back to balanced views. The only thing that can bring balance back to society is the illumination of the wonders that we’ve overlooked.

When we as a people are faced with the ugly and painful for an extended period of time, we begin to think hope no longer exists. A recent song by Zayn and Taylor Swift for Fifty Shades Darker reveals the distorted perspective in its lyrics, “I don’t wanna live forever, ’cause I know I’ll be living in vain.”

Our society once treasured that living forever was a good thing because it held the hope for a future utopia that was just around the corner. But with the “church” and the arts conforming to our dark society rather than reminding others of the wonders that surround us, people have lost touch of a hope that can unite those with opposing viewpoints.

Therefore, I’m going to look for ways to bring wonder back into society. I want to find new wholesome forms of entertainment that gives a glimpse into what that hope filled life might look like. I want to give people a taste of a future that is fulfilling and fun, taking them away from our dark society for a time of pondering the possibilities.

Copyright © 2017 by CJ Powers

 

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December 26, 2016

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Creativity, Thoughts and Ideas

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Turning Right into Creativity

Security camerasWhen I first met the spy, I thought he was kidding about his occupation. However, his explanations were plausible, so I listened further. It wasn’t until he started teaching me how to escape from a populated area that I knew he was telling the truth. Well, that is except for his name. I’m certain the personal information he shared was not real.

The best way to escape from any arduous state of affairs is to plan alternative routes in advance of a dicey situation. The preplanning process must be nonchalant and atypical of the most efficient route that we all conform to over time. This is true within the creative world, which helped me relate the need to escape with high-pressured creative sessions.

Here are the three spy lessons that have helped my creativity.

TURN RIGHT, NOT LEFT

To draw from your creative instincts during intense circumstances is like the spy who has to shift to his plan “B.” The man told me the first step in creating an alternate route is to turn right at your normal first left turn. This sends you in the opposite direction and forces you to make new decisions in developing a B-route.

During a creative session, at the first observable moment that a story beat is supposed to happen, its time to turn right into a new creative perspective. Coming up with a completely unexpected turning point in a story propels the characters into a mode of exploration. Further development is required to determine what direction or next step they must follow to survive.

Spies like unexpected twists in circumstances since few can guess what their next move might be. Only the well-prepared plan-B can help the spy survive the new reality as it unfolds, losing those who attempt to follow. Due diligence during the exploration phase will empower the spy to move quickly during the execution of the plan.

The search for new routes or creative viewpoints forces us to be alert. We are no longer able to function on autopilot, which helps us to avoid traps hidden within our customary creative reserves. When we lose the ability to rely on our habits to get by, we’re forced to innovate and keep one step ahead of the audience.

SKETCH NOTE NEW SURROUNDINGS

The spy told me to turn right and drive for a block or two, then pullover and sketch note everything I observe. The notes would be like a location scouting report with enough picture detail for strategic planning. Once the sketches are complete, he suggested I drive a couple more blocks, stop and repeat the process.

It was also important to figure out what the common next step might be for the average thinker and establish an unexpected action. This choice would then lead me down a new road for a couple of blocks. I’d then pull over and sketch again. Capturing every detail helps the spy during rapid escapes, and helps me during intense creative sessions.

WORK PLAN “C”, “D”, AND “E”

When on the run, spies know their pursuer is trying to out guess their every move to get two steps ahead of them. Those with great manpower throw several agents against the half-dozen possibilities with the hope that one will capture the spy or at least learn his next steps.

In the creative world, there are always a few in the audience who try to figure out where the story is headed before it gets there. I’m one of those who can usually guess the ending ten minutes into the film. Few movies startle me with interesting plot points that captivate my attention with surprise. When a director has multiple plans to draw from the audience is typically amazed at the new and fresh ending.

Pixar is known for brainstorming a dozen endings and then throwing them away for the sake of coming up with that one new idea no one thought about. Their productions take extra time to develop because they don’t want anything to seem old. They work every possible plan until they find the one that stirs the audience with both delight and surprise.

Meeting the spy gave me some interesting viewpoints to consider within my realm of communication and creativity. I even learned how to back into parking spaces for quick get-a-ways. But, there was one other thing I learned from the spy that bothered me. He said, “And whatever you do, don’t trust anything a spy says because he’s probably using you as a disposable asset in the moment.”

As the man disappeared from my sight, I realized that he might have lied about being a spy. And if he did lie, could I trust what he taught me? Certainly if he had told the truth, it was clear that I couldn’t trust a single word he had shared. Hmm, maybe the lessons in today’s blog aren’t lessons at all.

Copyright © 2016 by CJ Powers
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September 17, 2016

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Behind the Scenes, Filmmaking, Thoughts and Ideas

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Behind the Writing of Steele Blue

steele_blue_bookcover_72I was recently asked during an interview in the United Kingdom what my passion was for writing. While I later realized he was asking about how story drives my actions, I flashed back to the numerous things that helped birth my new novel Steele Blue.

The initial vision was launched during a chat with my friend and actor, Francine Locke. She was interested in me writing a screenplay that would give her an opportunity to really explore the emotions of a deep character. I shared my desire to write something that allowed me to reminisce about my dad, who was a cop.

Within a few minutes of bouncing around various ideas with a new spin to differentiate the story from anything previously released, we came up with a crime story called The Cop Shoppe. I immediately pictured the lead as Francine and began writing. Since she was nothing like the female officers I knew, I realized that I had to change the character into a composite of women currently on the police force.

Francine didn’t mind a bit and said she’d take any role as long as she could be a part of what we brainstormed. I was free to take the story in a whole new direction and base it on the cops I grew up with and a strong woman who captivated me. And, after watching Francine’s acting on the USA Network and ABC’s Nashville, I better understood her abilities and created a character that one day she could have a lot of fun playing.

By this point I was writing a new draft of the screenplay titled By the Book. Many of the scenes were written to touch the hearts of women, while salting in plenty of action for the men. Lisa England helped me sort through the merging and organizing of those ideas so I could better blend the scenes into one cohesive story.

That’s when the collaboration ended. My life got spun around a few times and I emerged with a new passion. I hacked up the script and started writing more heartfelt scenes and life threatening situations to fit the mood of my recent life experiences. I quickly learned that the screenplay greatly limited my expression, so I shelved the script and started writing the novel.

I had no idea how time consuming it was to write a novel. The worst part was when I finally got to the place where my confidence started to rise and I quickly learned that I was only a fourth of the way finished. Aargh!

Writing a novel is not about writing, but rewriting. I spent hours cutting things that didn’t work and polishing things that did. Entire chapters were birthed in the shower, while some paragraphs took months to fix or drop from the story. My writing vastly improved during the process, causing me to go back and rewrite the finished chapters into something better.

Then something funny happened. I had a few friends read the book and they shared how certain segments were more believable than others. The things I added into the story from true-life events seemed implausible to them and the fiction I made up was soundly accepted. It was a weird moment when I had to make the decision to keep or drop the information I salted in from the real world.

I decided to keep most of it, but turned some of the real-life stuff into a fictional version of the truth. I figured that the book was designed to entertain, not educate the masses on PTSD, which caused the main character’s memory loss. I’d rather have the readers focus on the struggle my maverick detective worked through in balancing her roles and time as a mom, lover and cop.

Steele Blue: The Forgotten Crime is about Diaz, a notorious dealer that’s expanding his cherry meth distribution in Chicago, who desires undercover Detective Steele as his life partner. Fighting to keep her cover intact with plans to bring down the drug kingpin, Cassie spends extra time with Diaz, blurring the lines between justice and her growing love for him.

Realizing her precarious situation, Cassie sees to her son’s safety and works hard to regain her memory from the night of the opera house fire—the night Diaz lost his first love. Feeling slighted, Diaz hunts down everyone involved in the death of his “Carmen.”

Racing against the clock, Cassie tries to find balance between her motherly duties, her infiltration as the kingpin’s girl, and her role as the officer tasked to close the case. Cassie is forced to face her fears in discovering the missing piece of her memory that will bring Diaz down. But will it alter her future?

Please pick up a copy of the book on Amazon.com today and let me know how much you enjoyed the adventure. And, please tell all your friends about the book. Without your help it can’t become a best seller. Thank you and happy reading!

@2016 by CJ Powers