For as long as I can remember, I've been a bookworm who loves to write stories and create worlds where people had to sweat it out in uncomfortable situations and learn from it (or sometimes, not).  Writing has always been a way to expand the boundaries of my daily life: in a society governed by rules and responsibilities, the act of creating presents an intoxicating landscape where the realm of possibilities is wide open.

This is why I still write stories.  Close to five years after graduating college with a Creative Writing degree, and while also balancing the responsibilities of a full time job, I still write, frankly because I have to.  And today marks a milestone in my writing career: I wrote a short story called 'Picking Locks' (152-8) that was recently adapted into a short film called Panofsky’s Complaint.  The process of putting this film together, from adapting the story into a screenplay, to raising money on Indiegogo, to securing an amazing cast and crew, took well over six months, and it was in the process of putting this film together that I learned some valuable life lessons about balancing passion projects with a full time job.  I wanted to share these lessons in the hope that they might inspire you to pursue your own passions.

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Attend the Panofsky’s Complaint screening on Saturday, April 2nd!

1) Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.  

This probably sounds like stereotypical self­-help advice, and maybe it is, but that doesn’t make it any easier to put it into practice.  To raise money for Panofsky’s Complaint, my friend and I put together a campaign where I had to talk, for an extended period of time, in front of a camera.  I felt like such an idiot!  But I went ahead and did it anyway.  Why?  Because this project matters to me, and I refused to let my silly insecurities get in the way.  That mentality paid off, literally; we raised $9,000 to help fund my film!

The other tough part about putting yourself out there is that you are more prone to rejection, which nobody likes.  As a fiction writer, I have been rejected countless times.  And it sucks.  But what’s the alternative?  Never risking anything?  That sucks even more.

2) You’re going to be tired a lot, and that’s okay.

​I had a professor in college who told me if I wanted to be a professional writer, I’d have to get up at 4 in the morning and write for several hours before going in to work.  I think I laughed in his face (with the utmost respect, of course).  Yet he wasn’t too far off.  In reality, I’m more productive at night, so I often come home after work, make myself dinner, write, and go to bed well past midnight.  Do I wish I got more rest?  Yes, but a low­ level caffeine addiction does the trick.

3) Don’t be afraid to ask for your help.

I would have never accomplished any of my passion projects had I not asked for help.  It takes a village of talented, dedicated people to make a movie, and I would never have had any short stories published if wonderful editors in the shape of professors and friends had not stepped up to the plate to review my early drafts and provide invaluable feedback.  I don’t know much about other artistic mediums outside of writing, but I know a few things about life, and one of them is that people need each other.  So ask already.

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In a society governed by rules and responsibilities, the act of creating presents an intoxicating landscape where the realm of possibilities is wide open. 

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4) Follow your bliss.

Whether you want to make a documentary about an obscure food group, learn flamenco dancing, or secure money out of the ether to make an independent short film, pursue whatever it is you are going to do wholeheartedly.  Some people won’t understand; they’ll think you, your wholehearted pursuit of this task, and your ideas, make no sense.  But that’s ok.  All that matters, at the end of the day, is that you know you do.  Everyone else will wise up soon enough.

 

Jackie Berkman is a fiction writer and a filmmaker.  Like the Facebook page for her short film Panofsky’s Complaint. Bay Area folks: if you’re free, please attend our screening on Saturday, April 2 at 8pm at the Ninth Street Independent Film Center.  Read Jacqueline’s short stories at www.jacquelineberkman.com

 

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