Updated the ol’ blog. I’m still alive and kickin’. The busy months are slowing down a bit so I can now get back to writing. Since I last updated, we (meaning me, my wife, and a couple of our friends and business associates) have taken the next step toward filmmaking. It was only a matter of time and we’re now in the script writing and planning stages. We have multiple cameras to work with and should be able to get at least a teaser/trailer worked up by this fall/winter.
For my part, this will mean getting the script(s) done and discussed and all that jazz. Still, I’m giving myself time to finish my novel. Theoretically, if I worked non-stop on just the script, I could have it banged out in a couple weeks or so. However, I have my own irons in the fire and they’re blistering hot, so to speak. I’m not going to drop one for the other. Therein lies the slippery slope of regret. So, I’ll be splitting my time between my personal work goals and those of the production company.
As much as the idea of making films is fun, I am a writer first and foremost. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. If either writing gets me noticed it’s worth pursuing. However, my first love and desire is for the novelist moniker. Sure, the film biz could possibly make me more money overall if we actually make a name for ourselves, but in a market that’s virtually flooded with hopeful filmmakers and script writers, a market that’s also flooded with the occasional bad egg that will put you down to build themselves up in the eyes of the big producers (I’ve seen it before pretty much first hand), it’s a lot more likely that I’ll make a modest living writing novels first. Then again, who knows what the future holds for our fledgling production company?
So, if it comes down to one or the other, I’m pretty confident which of the two paths I will ultimately choose. If my novel writing begins to suffer I’ll have to take a step or two back to get back on track. I love my friends (in that purely platonic way, guys), but I won’t let my own dreams suffer for what other people around me want. I’ve done it for far too long already. I’ll help them achieve their goals, but if it stands in the way of mine I’ll have to bow out, at least temporarily. An editor’s deadline waits for no man or indie film.
The other thing that will make up my mind is that we have to make something of this. We have to make money on it or it’s just a hobby, and my hobbies are now taking a backseat to my goals. This is just the way it is. I’m nearly 40 and I have to start thinking of ways to do things like send our daughter to college when she’s ready, or heck, help pay for her pre-school or music lessons or dance lessons or whatever it is she might want to pursue. Because I don’t want her to not follow her dreams, whatever they may end up being. And in a capitalist economy, that calls for money. Sad, but true.
Anyway, I’m a little over halfway through with revisions and then I’ll be sending the revised manuscript back out to people who’ve expressed an interest in reading it. Then I’ll probably read through it again myself and see if there’s anything I’m not happy with, wait for comments, and if there aren’t any more I’ll start scouring the countryside for an agent. Gotta be someone that’ll take this off my hands and give it a good home in the hands of a publishing company. I’m confident in my abilities. Been writing for far too long not to be.
I’ll be splitting my time with a little one hour long film script that hopefully will turn out to be a nice bit of psychological horror mixed wonderfully with a bit of a noir-ish investigation. If we pull it off it could be the start of a great venture.
Fingers are indeed firmly crossed.
I Was A Middle Aged Writer 