I love my life. I really do. I’m incredibly lucky, and that’s something I remind myself of every single day.
But if you peel back a layer or two, you’ll find the kid who used to dream of nothing but the silver screen. I never wanted to be the next Spielberg or Tarantino; I didn’t need my name in giant font on a marquee. I just wanted to be part of the process. The magic. If I could scrape by on a modest living working on film sets, I would have been perfectly content.
Then, the world went digital.
Suddenly, I was watching fellow film students working production assistant and gaffer jobs while shooting their own indie films for practically nothing. I was fascinated. I pivoted, diving headfirst into the technical side of the magic. I started building my own custom PCs capable of handling heavy Adobe Premiere workflows. Powerful processor? Check. Lots of RAM? Check.
Before I knew it, I became the resident tech geek that local indie directors would call for digital editing, audio enhancement, titles, and everything in between.
The Reality Check (and a Lot of Waiting Tables)
I loved the post-production work, but I reached a point where I couldn’t afford rent and one and a half meals a day. To survive, I took a job waiting tables.
Let me be clear: I actually do have the personality for customer service—just not ass-on-the-line customer service. And waiting tables? That is the absolute trenches. Being the human shield for a hangry customer whose steak is two minutes late—No thanks. I absolutely hated it. But those short five-hour shifts left me with a pocket full of tip cash, and my actual paychecks covered my rent. It was a classic case of doing what you hate to survive.
Realizing I needed a sustainable path forward, I enrolled in classes at the city college, gearing myself up for a Computer Science degree.
The Pivot to Tech (and the Return to Writing)
Fast forward to the present. Today, I work in the tech industry. It’s stable, it uses my brain, and it keeps the lights on. But that creative spark never actually left—it just shifted mediums. Along the way, I wrote some screenplays, a couple of novels, and a handful of short stories.
Like so many aspiring writers, I still harbor the dream of making a living solely from my words. Right now, I’m in the thick of querying book one of my sci-fi series.
And let me tell you… the rejection is real.
Anyone who has ever tried to get published knows exactly what I’m talking about. It sucks. There is no sugarcoating it.
Where I Go From Here
But here’s the thing: I truly believe in this series. In fact, I believe in it enough that I’ve already started writing other projects. I suppose I’m doing exactly what the old advice dictates: keep writing through the noise.
Because money has never been my primary driver, I’m starting to look at alternative routes. I’m seriously considering self-publishing, or even just offering my stories for free right here on this site. At the end of the day, I just want to get my stories out into the universe.
I want to hear from you: To all the aspiring writers, creators, and indie artists out there—what has your experience been like? How do you balance the “day job” with the craft, and how do you handle the querying trenches? Drop a comment below, let’s talk shop.