Thursday, November 3, 2011

In Pursuit of a Different Path

I know I haven't posted here in a long time. I know that noone reads this anymore because I don't use it that often. At this point I don't really care if anyone reads this or not. This is for me and that is why I started this blog in the first place. Or maybe I did. It was probably both.

So what have I been up to? Well, I've always wanted to pursue writing and have taken a bunch of writing classes in college and have continued writing on and off since then. It was only until the summer that I realized that I want to pursue a career in screenwriting. Why? Because I feel ike I can express myself better when I'm writing stories rather than drawing some random thing that doesn't mean anything to me. I also have always been fascinated with film and like seeing things visually. I have a bunch of stories to tell and when I'm writing I feel like I am creating my own world. I don't quite feel that way when I'm drawing.

What happened was, I was still working on getting better at my foundation skills in illustration (anatomy, value, light, etc.) and started my own sketchbook on conceptart.org. I was working hard not necessarily because it was something I loved and enjoyed. (I did to a certain extent) but I was mainly doing it for the wrong reasons. Basically, I was doing this so I could get a better job. It was really for getting more work. I kept pushing myself too much to a point where I honestly hated creating art. I felt that I wasn't making any progress and I wasn't improving on my weaknesses no matter how hard I tried. I eventually lost my passion for art. That's when I decided to change directions and actually do something I've always wanted to.

So far I've written two short screenplays. Both are dramas with some comedy thrown into them. I really like how my second short screenplay came out and I'm going to enter it in some contests and see what happens from there. I'm currently writing a feature screenplay called Bicurious. 

I honestly never pictured me doing this in my life but feel I have more of an instict for writing than I do with art. I'm not sure why but it "feels" right to me to be writing rather than drawing.

Will I give up art completely? I can't say no for sure. It has been something I've been doing most of my life and I still doodle occasionally.

The thing is...I don't have all the free time in the world. I'm at a point in my life where I really have to focus on something. I can't focus on more than one thing. Some people can but I can't. I only have around 2-3 hours of free time after work and I need to use my time wisely. Writing has had it's struggles, especially with screenwriting because there are a lot of rules and specific ways of formatting that I had to get used to but I feel like I've been getting the hang of it.

I'm taking baby steps for now. We'll see where this road takes me.

2 comments:

Ripper said...

Have fun, dude!

The good thing is...you can do your own storyboards. If it was a good idea for Kurosawa, and Miyazaki still does it, I don't see any reason why you couldn't too. =]

Ian said...

Thanks! I'll keep you posted on where this journey will take me.