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Jul. 5th, 2022 12:36 amA crossroads on The Great Reset.
I've always been interested in film production, particularly writing. Ever since I was on the set of Honeysuckle Rose at the age of 5 at Willie Nelson's house, and the Raw Deal on Austin's Sabine Street. Growing up, I wanted to write stories. Even more than the comic art, which I only did because I didn't think I was a good enough writer from what I wanted to do.
After high school, I tried getting into comics and then as I entered college, I started to dip my toes into screenwriting. In 1995, though, the Trans-Crisis kicked in and the next 14 years were me just fleeing from place to place trying to rebuild a solid foundation to get my life back on track. I kinda gotr that in 2009 when I started work at Nintendo.
Instead of going into writing, though, I decided a career at Nintendo was most important and chased that rabbit for a decade before I realized that wasn't going to happen. I bounced over to Tableau, and began to turn my eye on screenwriting again, but I ended my time at Tableau and scrambled the next year before finding myself back at Tableau in a much more stable position.
And now I'm at a crossroads.
My foundation from 1995 is finally rebuilt and while Tableau is not the easiest job in the world, I could move on finally fulfilling my dreams. Thing is, back then, I was 21. I'm 47 now.
I could absolutely move into screenwriting. There are a ton of hoops to jump through, a lot of dues I should have paid twenty years ago before I'm in a position to write what I want, versus what I need to to get there. That's not necessarily a bad thing - I love writing, period. I did have one paid writing gig, writing for other characters in Sea of Legends and enjoyed it TREMENDOUSLY. The paycheck was nice, and I'd do it again in a hearbeat if the opportunity presented itself (it actually did, as I was up for Sea of Legends 2, but I had to turn it down because I'd just restarted with Tableau and new I'd need all my marbles to get situated at Tableau). The upside: huge audience. The downside: I don't think I have a lot of time left on the clock to work at getting there.
But I have a ton of stories I want to tell on my own. Closetspace and A Wish for Wings are still being written if slowly (I'm hoping as part of the Great Reset to bring the comic count on those up), but I also have The Many Lives of Genevieve, Voices of Authority, Manpower, Xand, and a host of other stories I want to tell, and I could just throw it up on my website and pass the hat, like I did the comics. I'd like to make money on my writing, sure, but what's more important to me is that I tell the stories. And this way, I can just tell the stories I want, when I want, as I want. The downside is WHO will read these things. I have a core dedicated audience. Will they be enough? The upside: I can write what I want when I want right now. The downside: Will the stories get read?
There's a smaller third option I had, although it's not nearly been successful. I can offer my services as they come up. The BBC did the Trans Comedy Award in 2013, and I wrote a pitch and a pilot script for it. Made at least 80th place out of 320. No money, no production, but it got done. I wrote the '77 musical for Ashley, but the pandemic put the kibosh on that. Again, no money (I deferred any money until the play got produced), no production, but it got done. I've offered to write a pilot script for a friend should he get a production deal for one of his properties. I doubt it'll happen just because if he does get a production deal, they're gonna want a WGA writer, and we're back to hoops to jump through. The upside: I'm doing professional-ish work. The downside: it's professional-ish, not professional.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I would love the first option (Jump the Hoops), but I also think I'd be happy with the second option (do it to do it). The third option is nice (offer your friends your services), but I think is unteneble as a long term goal and only good for jumping those first option hoops.
Advice? Suggestions?
I've always been interested in film production, particularly writing. Ever since I was on the set of Honeysuckle Rose at the age of 5 at Willie Nelson's house, and the Raw Deal on Austin's Sabine Street. Growing up, I wanted to write stories. Even more than the comic art, which I only did because I didn't think I was a good enough writer from what I wanted to do.
After high school, I tried getting into comics and then as I entered college, I started to dip my toes into screenwriting. In 1995, though, the Trans-Crisis kicked in and the next 14 years were me just fleeing from place to place trying to rebuild a solid foundation to get my life back on track. I kinda gotr that in 2009 when I started work at Nintendo.
Instead of going into writing, though, I decided a career at Nintendo was most important and chased that rabbit for a decade before I realized that wasn't going to happen. I bounced over to Tableau, and began to turn my eye on screenwriting again, but I ended my time at Tableau and scrambled the next year before finding myself back at Tableau in a much more stable position.
And now I'm at a crossroads.
My foundation from 1995 is finally rebuilt and while Tableau is not the easiest job in the world, I could move on finally fulfilling my dreams. Thing is, back then, I was 21. I'm 47 now.
I could absolutely move into screenwriting. There are a ton of hoops to jump through, a lot of dues I should have paid twenty years ago before I'm in a position to write what I want, versus what I need to to get there. That's not necessarily a bad thing - I love writing, period. I did have one paid writing gig, writing for other characters in Sea of Legends and enjoyed it TREMENDOUSLY. The paycheck was nice, and I'd do it again in a hearbeat if the opportunity presented itself (it actually did, as I was up for Sea of Legends 2, but I had to turn it down because I'd just restarted with Tableau and new I'd need all my marbles to get situated at Tableau). The upside: huge audience. The downside: I don't think I have a lot of time left on the clock to work at getting there.
But I have a ton of stories I want to tell on my own. Closetspace and A Wish for Wings are still being written if slowly (I'm hoping as part of the Great Reset to bring the comic count on those up), but I also have The Many Lives of Genevieve, Voices of Authority, Manpower, Xand, and a host of other stories I want to tell, and I could just throw it up on my website and pass the hat, like I did the comics. I'd like to make money on my writing, sure, but what's more important to me is that I tell the stories. And this way, I can just tell the stories I want, when I want, as I want. The downside is WHO will read these things. I have a core dedicated audience. Will they be enough? The upside: I can write what I want when I want right now. The downside: Will the stories get read?
There's a smaller third option I had, although it's not nearly been successful. I can offer my services as they come up. The BBC did the Trans Comedy Award in 2013, and I wrote a pitch and a pilot script for it. Made at least 80th place out of 320. No money, no production, but it got done. I wrote the '77 musical for Ashley, but the pandemic put the kibosh on that. Again, no money (I deferred any money until the play got produced), no production, but it got done. I've offered to write a pilot script for a friend should he get a production deal for one of his properties. I doubt it'll happen just because if he does get a production deal, they're gonna want a WGA writer, and we're back to hoops to jump through. The upside: I'm doing professional-ish work. The downside: it's professional-ish, not professional.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I would love the first option (Jump the Hoops), but I also think I'd be happy with the second option (do it to do it). The third option is nice (offer your friends your services), but I think is unteneble as a long term goal and only good for jumping those first option hoops.
Advice? Suggestions?
