The Path

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In trading emails with a writer friend recently, I did the normal writer catch-up thing which was to give a quick summary of what I’ve been working on. I shared that I was still screenwriting, querying agents with my first novel, co-writing a new audio show, and getting some short stories published (like this one!). He commented on how nice it was receiving a message from a fellow writer who seemed to be thriving.

This made me chuckle. Thriving? No, I wouldn’t call it that. If I’m doing anything right now it’s this:

Sustaining.

In case you haven’t heard, the entertainment industry is in a tough spot. Covid hammered the theatrical experience. Followed by dual strikes. Streaming upended all the reliable business models. Tech companies took over the studios with their “cut any cost and sacrifice anything for growth” mentality. AI is a big threat with no sign of going away. And mass consolidation among the surviving studios is just getting started.

What’s that look like on the ground? Most everyone I know isn’t working. Anyone who is working is generally keeping it to themselves. I suspect there’s some survivor’s guilt at play. Or maybe everyone just sees the writing on the wall. “Sure, I’m working but for how long?”

My business model has been pretty consistent. Get as many irons in the fire as possible and hope one or more pays off. But that’s becoming a tougher path to sustain.

I have one script with attachments that could go in the next year or so. I had two other active projects but they’re pretty dead now (how and why is a tale for another post). I have a new script that will go out to producers early next year. I’m co-writing an audio show (the only real paycheck I’ve seen recently). I’m trying to get an agent for my novel but that could take a very long time. And I did get four short stories accepted for publication this year, which is really cool, but those don’t pay anything.

So even though I’m doing this full time, I’m barely earning a living. Sure, there are plenty of irons in the fire. Stuff that could pay off next year. Or the year after. Or never. How can I do this? The answer is I’m very, very lucky. I was able to buy a house when the market was at its lowest, and so we live in a neighborhood I could never afford to buy in today. Past jobs provide occasional residuals and enabled me to build up some savings. And my wife is having a super busy year as a freelance designer.

But I don’t feel like I’m thriving.

I feel like I’m holding onto my career by my fingernails. Waiting for…I don’t know what. Everyone’s wondering when the business will get back to normal. But what if this is the new normal? This feeling that the ground is shaking under our feet and might never stop…what if it never stops? Or when it does stop, we won’t recognize the landscape anymore.

I still love movies. The kind of movies I love to write (mid-budget genre pics) are largely gone. Am I being stubborn? Should I change what I write to match where it seems like the industry’s heading? That’s always a recipe for disaster. By the time you sniff out a new trend, it’s already shifting to something else. And writing into trends often results in really bland work (at least for me).

Should I pivot fully into writing fiction? The publishing industry is having its own existential crisis. And I’ve had some small wins in that world, but nothing that looks like a career. This is definitely a future pivot but not a reliable path today.

So what to do?

Keep showing up. Write new stuff. Ship it. Repeat. Make cool shit with people I love. Keep putting irons in the fire. Maybe nothing will connect. Or maybe something will. I can’t see the future. I can’t really guess where the industry is heading. All I know is that every once in a while, I write something that people like and it changes my life for the better.

That’s the path I’ve bet on for the entirety of my 20 + year career. It may not be perfect, but it’s the only path I know. And for now at least, that’s the one I’m sticking with.

“Essentially, sustaining is about stability, whereas thriving is about flourishing and maximizing potential.”