Welcome back to Graphically Minded, a (for now) entirely free every-other-Friday publication about writing and storytelling, relating the lessons I’ve learned in a 20-plus-year career as a comic book writer and author.
A quick one this week amidst some travel. I learned this week that my latest short film will be showing at a top film festival. I’ve directed a handful of shorts, and they’ve shown at quite a few festivals. One was a top video on Funny or Die (does anyone even remember Funny or Die?). And I’ve shot a couple of music videos, one of which got so many views that eventually I stopped checking.
Yet, I do not describe myself as a filmmaker. I’m still a novice at it, and I don’t really know what ambition I have for that work. Probably just to shoot an indie feature one day. But I grew up in a family that ran a movie theater, and movies were even more of a part of my life than comic books as I grew up. When I envision stories, I see them, unfolding as if on film in my mind.
I’m sure it would be the smart thing to just write. It’s what I’m best at. I should just stay in my lane. Keep writing comics. Keep building up my skills, building up an audience.
I do a lot of different things. Pursue a lot of different projects. Film is just one example of it. There are so many examples of creators who do the same general thing and build a career out of it, i.e. the novelist who churns out a spy thriller a year. It is, undeniably, the smart way to go.
But I’ve never been able to do that. I don’t stick to one medium, much less one genre.
Maybe this is my own rationalizing, but I see this as a good thing, something that I need to have a richer, fuller life. And I think it makes my writing better.
Kurt Vonnegut once remembered that, as a teenager, an adult had asked what his interests were. Vonnegut listed off several extracurriculars, and then admitted that he was dreadful at all of them. Vonnegut recalled:
He said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: ‘I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.
I saw that a neighbor was giving away a piano recently. I went and picked it up and (with help) got it into our house. I’ve been playing every night. Dreadfully. And I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoy it.
The one piece of advice I’ll add is that when I’ve failed at this artistic meandering, it’s because I pursued an opportunity for purely financial reasons. Now, sometimes you have to do something to put food on the table. But one of the great realizations of adulthood is that there is never a point when you have too much money—it is a void that will never fill. And if you always chase more money, you’ll never allow your vision to lead.
I’m going into this year trying to pare down, to focus on writing (the deadlines are stacked high). I’m not planning to make another film project.
But then, if the right idea comes up…
Stills from THE LISTENER, my short film currently in festivals
As always, I hope this is helpful to you as you write and tell stories. If you’d like to learn more about me and my writing, please visit vanjensen.com. Comments or questions? Please share them below. See you in a couple of weeks.