First off, I'm extremely thankful for MJ and all of the threads on this forum. Chickenhawk's and Held For Ransom's progress threads were like a lightning bolt of inspiration.
A little backstory
My background is in comedy--standup and improv. I got started in college, then moved to Chicago to train/perform at all the big venues there. Then off to LA.
I've worked off-and-on as a writer for the past six years. Either as a hired gun screenwriter for various producers or ghost-writing on random projects. The rest of the time has been working day jobs or quasi-day jobs (acting in commercials, etc) to pay the bills.
After working on other people's projects for so long, I decided to start my own Fastlane project: A movie that I would write and star in. The result is a comedy/mystery that has gotten a lot of great feedback from the people who have read it.
But, as I quickly learned, mounting a movie is no mean feat. A number of directors really liked the script and are interested in making it, but they're recommending I try to attach a name actor as the lead. (Basically, they want to take my script and give it to a movie star. Dude, if I was going to do that, I'd just try and sell the damn thing.)
So right now I'm in the process of raising funds for a microbudget production and attaching a director who's cool with making something from the ground up. But it will be months before we shoot a single scene.
Another Avenue
After reading the Self Publishing threads on the Fastlane Forum, a lightbulb went off.
"Wait, what if I turned this story into a novel?" The thought of being able to tell a story without having to involve investors, directors, or any other strings attached was incredible. A screenplay is just a blueprint---nothing on its own. But it would be a great outline for a novel that I could send to an audience without any middlemen.
Plus, it would be a great way to test the market. If people liked this story as a novel, they'd like it as a movie, right?
And something incredible happened. I was excited to write again. I dug up all of my old short stories and half-novels that had fallen by the wayside. "What's the point?" I used to think, "Nobody will ever read this. I don't have a big-time literary agent. Better just hustle for some writing clients and take the paycheck."
I really LIKED these stories. And they were all in genres that had lots of readers---sci-fi, mystery, fantasy. Why stop with one novel? I could write a hundred of these things---all you need is your imagination and the willingness to put your words on paper.
Now
That was six days ago. I'm 12,000 words into the detective novel. I expect to finish my first draft (40,000 words) by June 19th. Then another couple months of editing and re-writing, with a publication date in September.
My plan is to write 3 books a year. I don't have any pie-in-the-sky projections. I'm in this for the long haul.
And to all of you that post to this board: Thank you. Without you, I'd still be firmly in the Slowlane (really, the Sidewalk) of a struggling artist. I'm not in the Fastlane yet, but there's plenty of gas in my tank and my engine is just warming up.
A little backstory
My background is in comedy--standup and improv. I got started in college, then moved to Chicago to train/perform at all the big venues there. Then off to LA.
I've worked off-and-on as a writer for the past six years. Either as a hired gun screenwriter for various producers or ghost-writing on random projects. The rest of the time has been working day jobs or quasi-day jobs (acting in commercials, etc) to pay the bills.
After working on other people's projects for so long, I decided to start my own Fastlane project: A movie that I would write and star in. The result is a comedy/mystery that has gotten a lot of great feedback from the people who have read it.
But, as I quickly learned, mounting a movie is no mean feat. A number of directors really liked the script and are interested in making it, but they're recommending I try to attach a name actor as the lead. (Basically, they want to take my script and give it to a movie star. Dude, if I was going to do that, I'd just try and sell the damn thing.)
So right now I'm in the process of raising funds for a microbudget production and attaching a director who's cool with making something from the ground up. But it will be months before we shoot a single scene.
Another Avenue
After reading the Self Publishing threads on the Fastlane Forum, a lightbulb went off.
"Wait, what if I turned this story into a novel?" The thought of being able to tell a story without having to involve investors, directors, or any other strings attached was incredible. A screenplay is just a blueprint---nothing on its own. But it would be a great outline for a novel that I could send to an audience without any middlemen.
Plus, it would be a great way to test the market. If people liked this story as a novel, they'd like it as a movie, right?
And something incredible happened. I was excited to write again. I dug up all of my old short stories and half-novels that had fallen by the wayside. "What's the point?" I used to think, "Nobody will ever read this. I don't have a big-time literary agent. Better just hustle for some writing clients and take the paycheck."
I really LIKED these stories. And they were all in genres that had lots of readers---sci-fi, mystery, fantasy. Why stop with one novel? I could write a hundred of these things---all you need is your imagination and the willingness to put your words on paper.
Now
That was six days ago. I'm 12,000 words into the detective novel. I expect to finish my first draft (40,000 words) by June 19th. Then another couple months of editing and re-writing, with a publication date in September.
My plan is to write 3 books a year. I don't have any pie-in-the-sky projections. I'm in this for the long haul.
And to all of you that post to this board: Thank you. Without you, I'd still be firmly in the Slowlane (really, the Sidewalk) of a struggling artist. I'm not in the Fastlane yet, but there's plenty of gas in my tank and my engine is just warming up.
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