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[0:00] Ken Davenport: Hey, Ken Davenport here. Welcome back to the Producers Perspective Podcast, episode number 241. Today we're going to talk about what I believe is the most important part of creating a new show. The most important part, the hardest part, but I'm gonna tell you how to make it a lot easier right after this.

[0:34] Ken Davenport: You're listening to the Producers Perspective Podcast with your host, Tony Award winner, Ken Davenport. Hey, it's Ken Davenport here. Like I promised in the introduction, we're gonna talk about what is the hardest part of creating a new show. No, it's not raising the money. That was last week's episode. No, it's not marketing. That's an episode coming up. Uh, the most important and hardest part about a new show is the first draft. That's it, right? It's getting from the idea in your head or the idea in your author's head, or a group of actors' heads, like how we put together the awesome 80s prom or getting the band back together, and then getting it to that first draft. It's just hard to like get it all down because you're trying, usually, most of us out there, especially us Virgos, any Virgos in the house or type A personalities or perfectionists.

How many perfectionists are listening? I'd bet a lot, right? Uh, well, there's that great quote that perfectionism, perfectionism is just a form of procrastination. And that's what gets in our way when we are trying to create first drafts.

[1:47] Ken Davenport: So here's my big giant juicy tip for all of you writers out there, screenwriters out there, producers out there who have ideas or thoughts, but want to put them on paper. Just puke it up. This is how you write a first draft. I'm a big believer in what I call the vomit draft, in that you just spit out whatever is in your head and you get something out on paper. Don't go back and rewrite, don't change, just get from beginning to end. So you have something on your desk that you could say, oh, look at that. I got a first draft. I got something. I got the thing out of my head and onto paper. It's there. Because only when it exists as a first draft can you actually make it better. You can't rewrite something that isn't done, right? You can't put something up for a reading and get feedback from friends or peers if it isn't done. Your project will never advance unless you have that first draft.

[2:56] Ken Davenport: So we need to figure out how to make that first draft easier. And the easiest way to do it is to take all the pressure off yourself and just say it with me, puke it up. Just puke it up. Just spit it out. Don't care how ugly it is. Don't think about typos, don't think about formatting, don't think about, don't think about margins, none of it. You don't even have to think about structure if you don't want it. If you don't want to outline beforehand, don't do it. Outlines do sometimes make it easier to write. But whatever is gonna get you to that first draft, that's the most important thing. I just finished a first draft of a screenplay that I vowed to complete during this pandemic. In the first few months, I was like, I gotta have a project, I got the rights to something that I had the idea for years. I got the rights to it, and I said, I'm gonna write a screenplay. I just finished it. I just finished it.

[3:50] Ken Davenport: I can tell you two things about this first draft of this screenplay. Two things. Number one, it's not good. It's not good. First drafts never are good. This is why playwrights and screenwriters don't post the first drafts of their shows. Even like Da Vinci, we found some early sketches of the Mona Lisa, right? But it wasn't like he was like, hey, look at this. Uh, because first drafts are never any good. So the first thing I can tell you about my first draft of this screenplay is it's not good. And that's okay. I don't care. It's done. The second thing I can tell you about this first draft is it's gonna get better. Because they always do. But you have to get to that first draft first, right?

So if you're struggling with finishing something, don't worry about it anymore. Just spit it out. Or if you haven't started something, if you have an idea like this would make a great play, this would make a great musical. I just, oh, if only, if only, if only just write it and don't care about the outcome. Don't care about the outcome.

[5:05] Ken Davenport: We have a great tool. It's actually one of the most popular tools that we've ever come up with. Uh, it's called the 30 Day Play Challenge. The 30 Day Play Challenge. And if you go to 30dayplaychallenge.com, 30dayplaychallenge.com, you will find a system totally free by the way. You can sign up, and this is a system that will teach you how to spit out a first draft that probably won't be any good. It's okay. In 30 days or less, right? The whole goal was to get people to get their ideas out of their head and on paper, because once it's on paper, then can it get to a stage and then can it get to a success? Okay, so go to 30dayplaychallenge.com, sign up today, get that idea out of your head because who knows what can happen next.

We all know what will happen if you don't put that idea on paper. Nothing. But if you do put that idea on paper, if you do, imagine what could happen. Yeah. Go check it out. 30dayplaychallenge.com. Thanks for listening to all the puke talk, and we'll see you on the next episode of the Producers Perspective Podcast.

[6:33] Ken Davenport: If you found this episode informative, educational, inspirational, or just entertaining, do me a favor and share this episode with another theater maker or two in your life.

[6:45] Ken Davenport: My mission is to amplify the conversation about theater because if we get more people talking about it, we'll get more people making it, we'll get more people seeing it.

[6:54] Ken Davenport: It will be great for the industry as a whole.

[6:57] Ken Davenport: If you want more of my daily perspectives on theater and Broadway, check out my blog at theproducersperspective.com, or check out my social media accounts at Ken Davenport Bway on Instagram and at Ken Davenport on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

[7:12] Ken Davenport: We'll see you for the next episode.