Chase Shanafelt – A Writer born out of BOREDOM!

All children must face the strenuous task of finding a way to entertain themselves growing up. For me, the solutions to this dilemma were constantly limited by living in the countryside away from society. Neighborhood kids and online games weren’t an option, so I found myself responsible for passing the time in a meaningful way. Naturally, I turned to my toys. I found creating new storylines with famous characters exhilarating and spent hours exploring the intricate plot and worlds I had created.

To say I outgrew playing with Legos and action figures feels wrong. While I no longer run down to the basement to get out my toys, writing screenplays comes from the same sense of wonder and investment in an idea that accompanied playing with toys. If anything, creative writing is the natural progression that comes from the simple childhood method of entertainment.

Maybe the only remarkable difference between writing professionally and playing with toys is the evolution of taste that results from maturity. As we get older, we start to form new expectations from our entertainment. The simplicity of most children’s shows no longer satisfies us, as people want more from their entertainment. When adults revisit their favorite movies and series from childhood, they often feel that the films no longer hold up, but in reality, the films aren’t the ones that changed.

Although I never filmed myself playing with toys, I distinctly remember some of the plotlines and jokes I had my action figures act out. Specifically, I had this bit in which I would take an iconic character, such as Harry Potter, and reverse some of his character traits. A selfless and humble character become a spoiled and egotistic celebrity figure who harassed his classmates. While younger me thought he was doing this for the sake of humor, subconsciously this may have been a result of my boredom from playing out the same story. I was too familiar with the archetype of the hero saving the day and found a way to satisfy my evolving taste.

Growth isn’t limited to youth and doesn’t solely pertain to maturity. To this day my writing style still changes due to my boredom with what I have previously written. Audiences learn to identify tropes and begin to resent something they once praised for being innovative, as they’ve seen it all before. It’s the human desire to break away from boredom that gave the medium of entertainment life, and when it fails, it’s hard to classify it as real entertainment. So, in a way, going to the movies or writing a story has the same purpose as playing with toys. It may be labeled as childish, but is having actors perform in front of a camera more mature than making figures act out the same thing? At the end of the day both activities strive to do the same thing, regardless of the quality, they suspend boredom when we need it the most.