BS, if the latter is a hobby, you need more fiber. :P
I work on writing in my off time. My son has been with me full time since June, so my priorities have changed, but I still try to find time to be creative.
I've been working on two character-driven action movie scripts on and off for the past few years. Not Shakespeare or anything, but just trying to craft stories that I'd like to see in a theater. Prior to getting a
legit career, I was in college studying screenwriting. So I know what I'm doing format-wise, it's just a matter of finding time to dump the daily stuff out of one ear (so to speak), and finding time to sit down at the keyboard.
For the past few months I've mostly been relegated to finding funny random ideas on the internet or IRL that I know other people can relate to and are great stuff to add depth to an already "okay" scene. If you see some guy feverishly writing down a description of an interaction between two people that you don't even notice, that's me. :D
Basically, I'm good at borrowing from RL and other sources and pooling a bunch of unrelated crap together to make it work. Or that's what others have told me anyway.
I've only had one paying writing gig ($500), and it was to create a script for a small movie that was seen by about 2,000 kids . I had to compose a completely original script that would use nothing but the (albeit talented) drama class and staff of an OC high school. Yikes!!!!!! I ended up combining elements of several popular movies of that year, conducted a bunch of interviews with teachers so that i could include inside jokes that only the students would get, and I and a friend shot and filmed it all in two weeks. In addition to the movie, we included a couple of shorts, including a mock "Cops" episode where one of the teachers pulled over his RL fiance and fucked up the car with his nightstick (my RL beater pos) and a "When Animals Attack" short featuring the teachers damn near being trampled by the emu. Good times...
Anyway, I sat in the back corner in the dark so the students wouldn't wonder why and old creepy dude was sitting near them. And after getting the chills hearing people laugh when they're supposed to laugh and jump when they were supposed to jump, I knew what I ultimately wanted to do for a living.
