What motivated you to become a writer?

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. My mom will tell anyone who’ll listen about the time we did book binding as a class project in the second grade. My classmates created picture books about their favorite colors. My opus was called “The Return of Moby Dick,” and I was convinced it was bound for the bestseller list. It did not, ultimately, become a literary sensation, but the encouragement I got from my parents and teacher was enough to feed my pint-sized ego and inspire my future writing ambitions.

Starting on a blank page is not easy- where does your creativity come from?

I used to have a lot of difficulty with writer’s block—my momentum on projects would wax and wane, and I would get stuck on certain scenes or trying to solve one or another plot hole. A while back, I decided to see how many days in a row I could spend writing for three hours every day, no matter what. Five-hundred-and-seventy-nine days later, I’m spending way less time staring at blank screens. Generally speaking, *something* is bound to turn up in three hours’ time—some spark of inspiration or new direction to try. I’m also a big fan of reading screenplays and watching movies in the genre I’m currently writing in to inspire my own take on genre conventions.

Do you write projects knowing that so many other factors need to happen to get it to screen and does that come into your project creation?

For me, writing a great script is my first and most important task. Certainly, there’s tons of factors that need to line up in order to get a script made, but none of those dominos are going to fall without a project that gets all the various people needed to green-light it excited.

What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate?

My script, Dirty Words, is a romantic comedy, a genre that I think is seeing a real resurgence lately, particularly on streaming platforms, with Netflix hits like Set It Up and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I think Dirty Words would be an ideal project for a platform like this because it has a great hook but could be done without a massive budget. In terms of ancillary revenue, I think the world of the script (romance and erotica publishing) is one that is potentially ripe for exploration in a TV series, with this show serving as a springboard.

How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?

Dirty Words has had several successes this year: it won the Grand Prize for Table My Read Screenplay Austin and was a semifinalist for the PAGE Awards. It also got me a development deal with Gidden Media for a feature rom-com and a spot on the ISA’s Development Slate and Top 25 Screenwriters List.

If you could stand in a room full of investor partners looking at many projects what would you like them to know about you and this project?

This project takes place in the world of erotica writing, which is one I’m very familiar with — before I was a screenwriter, I was a writer and editor of smutty romance e-books. I know producers and investors are always looking for personal stories that writers are passionate about, and this is very much one of them!

Do you have any website links for your writing, credits, background, etc that you would like to share?

My ISA page includes a short bio and loglines/synopses for some of the projects in my portfolio — link below!

https://www.networkisa.org/profile/rachel-kempf