There is a simple answer. Because I think I am damn good at it. Now don't get me wrong, there is no misplaced ego here. I really do think I am pretty damn good at writing. While I have dabbled in other forms of written media, I think fiction is probably my best area. So the answer as to why I choose to be a screenwriter isn't complex to understand. Being a screenwriter is partially a means to make up for the fact that I cannot draw. I have no visible artistic abilities. A stick figure is the best that I can muster on a good day. That was a very hard realization early on. No matter how much I tried, or how much I studied and practiced; I just could not draw. This was hard for me; because I wanted to create comics. A writer for comics is only as good as his artist; and artist are expensive.I bought books on art and stuff, but I just could not do it. So instead I focused on what I was good at...writing. I've always written my own works. Created countless characters, backgrounds, universes; so it was just a natural thing. I've even had artist do work for me, but this became an expensive endeavor and since I didn't know any artist personally; well you can see the problem. I decided from there that I would become a triple threat (comics, author and screenwriter).
I had already written quite a few comic scripts (though none yet to be published due to lack of artistic accompaniment) and I proceeded to write my first novel. I am a big fantasy fiction fan and so I authored a fantasy novel based on a universe I created back in the early nineties. After completed the six hundred and something page opus, I knew that I had the means to become what I was supposed to be. Now before writing a novel, I knew nothing about it. Sure I've read countless books over the years; but as everyone knows reading a book isn't the same as writing one. I started doing my research, buying books and using the web as a tool to fill in the knowledge blanks. It took a while, but I managed it and felt satisfied with what I had created. I wasn't finished yet; and so I charged into the final part of my triple threat plan; writing a screenplay.
Just like with working on a novel, I knew nothing about writing a screenplay. Writing one was going to be a challenge because I didn't understand the rules and such. I only knew that a movie has a beginning, a middle and an end. Things such as sluglines and Ext. were foreign concepts, but if I could write a novel, I could write a screenplay. I managed to get my hands on a little program called Movie Magic Screenwriter. MMS took a lot of the guess work out of the actual writing process, which only left me with the actual understanding and concept of the screenplay itself. I started to read screenplays on the Simply Screenplays website. some of my favorites were The Matrix and Predator. They were good examples that showed me how a movie doesn't always stick to the script, and how some scenes are written and then filmed. Using this as well as a few books such as (Screenplays for Dummies , and How Not To Write A Screenplay) I started working on the first screenplay. This one was a character I created in highschool from a picture that a friend did for me. I knew this character very well as well as all the things that would be make a good transition from comic to screen. There were a lot of extra pieces that I had to add in order to flesh things out, but if there was any story that I could flesh out; well this was definitely the one. It took some time and a few rewrites (mostly because I lost the originial version and had to rewrite from the sections that I had left) but I managed to complete it. After a lengthy editing period (where Denise made the pages bleed with red ink "Pots, Stops, Treetops..yeah hahahaha") It was finished. I had done it. Finishing this one really gave my confidence a major boost. Denise who wasn't into this sort of thing (action movies mostly) really liked it. I knew that my Triple Threat Plan was solid. Somehow I would make this all pay off for me.
Let it be said that me writing is never about money or any real financial gain. While I expect (demand) to make a living from it, I don't have a lofty dream of becoming super rich and driving around in fancy cars (Well a Corvette would be nice). I am a story teller. That is what I do. I see writing as being no different from working a nine to five or even working your own business. You get what you put in. It may take a little more time for the payoff, but there is one. I see a pretty optimistic future, and my writing will be the tool that will take me there. If you think about it, I am no different from a rapper, doctor, actor, director or president for that matter. Will my writing change the world? Who knows? but I sure hope so.
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