UNITED STATES—I have always known for quite some time what I was put on this planet to do. You might say it is your gift, your passion or the dream job that fulfils you in a way that nothing else does. As a kid, at first I thought I would be a surgeon or pediatrician, then I had lingers of a lawyer or teacher, but I would argue around the age of 11 or 12 it was filmmakers.

Some might say how do you go from possibly being a doctor, to a lawyer or teacher, to land on a filmmaker? Well if you want me to be honest, I think I always knew that I was to be a filmmaker, but I did not realize it until I got older. If I reflect on the moments from my childhood that I can recall, I have always been a fan of movies. I mean at the age of four, I begged my father to take me to see a horror movie that thru all accounts is not suitable for a child. What kid do you know who does that? Exactly, it was a sign I just didn’t realize it.

I had always been a fan of cinema. The artistic influence of directors and screenwriters and how a movie can totally flip on its head based on a certain technique used by the person behind the camera. There is a saying in the film industry that you can have a great script turn into a terrible movie with the wrong director, but you can never turn a terrible script into a good movie, even with the best director of all time.

Any great movie, TV show or song starts with an idea or as I call it: the writer. They are the nucleus and that is where the spotlight shines on me. I’m a writer, first and foremost. I can write almost anything, it comes naturally for me, so I know my God-given talent is the ability to write. It sometimes amazes people, how effortlessly I can put something together, while others struggle endlessly. I wouldn’t say it is effortless for me though, there is a lot cranking in my brain, people just never hear about it because I synthesize in my mind. I craft ideas in my head, they wander there and I can formulate an entire narrative in my head before I actually put it onto a piece of paper. Yes, I’m a paper guy, I don’t love the idea of writing everything on the computer. Technology is funky and if it gets damaged or destroyed then what? You’re lost.

I work things out in a process that I cannot explain which brings me to my focus on being a storyteller. That is my dream job that is my focus, I love to tell stories and there are tons of stories that need to be told. I want to be that guy, and for years I have placed it on the backburner. I don’t know why, but it’s a fact people. I got so caught up in life and just worrying about everyone else and hoping things stay in order, I just stopped writing or made excuses not to write.

However, I learned something about myself in 2020, I was not happy with the direction my life was heading and I promised myself at the start of 2021, I was going to make my focus to become a screenwriter/director, a prime focus. It would all start with me getting back to writing and nothing fulfilled me more than repurchasing my Final Draft software. If you’re a screenwriter, you know all about the software, I purchased it so long ago, the software I had was so out of date and I couldn’t use it on the new computer that I purchased, that I swore would ONLY be used for my screenwriting, and I have held true to that promise.

I will admit the thought of having to repurchase software that is quite costly to say the least led to a lot of hesitation, but I knew if I wanted to make something happen I had to cough up the dough people. I cannot tell you the power I felt tremble in my bones when I installed that software and started working on a script, perhaps my most personal to date. I felt I had been depriving myself of something that I should have doing years ago, and something I should have never stopped to begin with. I felt a high that I could not explain with words America, it was the best feeling ever and it left me wondering, “What the hell have you been doing with your life all this time?”

It was almost like I lightbulb went on in my mind: this needs to be your focus. This is your passion, why have you placed it on the backburner? I couldn’t answer those questions, but it became the realization that I need to dedicate time to my craft. I have to stop worrying about everyone else, their needs and their wants, it is time to put me first and because of that I’m making it a mission to focus on my writing more. A daunting task is to write daily, no matter how tired I am if I can get at least 30 minutes in that is better than doing nothing at all people.

There is no point in having a dream if you’re not going to chase after it. In addition, if you chase the dream it simply will run, which means you have to grab it by the horns and don’t let go until it comes to fruition right in front of your eyes.