End of an Era (BIG Announcement)

Big changes afoot here in Fun Joel territory! Where to begin?

For the last few years I have happily been working as what would liberally be called a "full-time freelancer." I've loved it. I've loved the flexible and erratic schedule. I've loved working from home (largely). I've loved the variety.

However, of late I've been growing a bit fed up with it all, as if I've had enough of this lifestyle. I've been able to make a living, but just barely so. And that would be 100% fine with me, if it meant that I would have the ability to use my other time to work on my own writing. But the truth is that more and more I've seen that it has been taking so much time and energy for me to just (barely) pay my bills, that I'm left with none of either to dedicate to my writing.

So the status quo has been (a) not really making a living, paired with (b) not writing (at least not as much as I want to/should be).

Thus, I started thinking it was time to change the status quo. Time to start looking for a new job. I had few main requirements for this job:

• generally regular hours
• enough pay to cover my expenses (hopefully plus enough to let me save something)
• ideally something that I'd enjoy, and that uses my skills

I wasn't going to take just any old job that came along, but at the same time I was open to considering anything. It certainly did not have to be within "the industry," and was actually more likely to not be, as I think an industry job would be less likely to meet my first two requirements.

I definitely was willing to "think outside the box." Some of the jobs I considered to one degree or another (either for interim part time work or for longer term) included: substitute teacher, notary, screenwriter's assistant, and mailman.

But then a friend mentioned a job at her company to me. She felt that it would be great for me and I agreed. Not important what exactly it is, but I interviewed, was offered, and accepted the job. I will be doing a lot of writing in the job, but not particularly creative stuff. This will certainly use my skill base, and I hope it will help me further hone my use of language, while also not tapping too much of my creativity.

Other pros to the job:

• Good pay. While not an exorbitant amount by any means, the best I've ever made, and about a 75% increase over last year, which was not my best year. (Since I've never made a lot of money, to say that it is not that much, but also more than I've ever made is not an oxymoron. Though it is a lot by my relative standards.)
• Very good benefits.
• Good location. Conveniently located, which is especially important since I am one of those odd people in L.A. who, even after more than 2 1/2 years here, still does not own a car. (Yet. Hopefully after a few months, I'll be able to afford to buy one.)
• Good working atmosphere. Everyone in the department is creative -- other screenwriter and novelist types who, just like me, were looking for some more stability. In fact, there's even a guy there who sits by himself in the break room each day and writes his screenplay for an hour at lunch. Maybe I can use him as my painter. I also have a few friends who work at the company, which is nice as well.
• Regular hours. Which means I will ideally have time to write.

What does this mean for the blog? Absolutely nothing. I will continue to post here regularly, just as I did. If anything, I guess the change will be more posts at night, instead of during the day!

What does this mean for my work? I would like to continue doing some freelancing, and the job actually allows me to do that. I'll still write for scr(i)pt, will still do my own script reading as I've advertised on here, and I hope to still do some reading for the companies I currently read for, just to keep up with things. But of course, that will be the main area that I cut back on.

What does this mean for my career? Ideally, I hope this allows me to really focus on my writing. I hope to finish and/or revise a few scripts, and take my career to the next step. And if not? Well, the way I see things, I'm currently not really making a living and not really writing. So even if I fail to meet my ideal, at least I will have gotten rid of one of those two "nots."

I start the new job after I return from New York and New Jersey, 1st week of July. So as I said, big changes for me and my life. Exciting changes. But hopefully not much that will change the way you and I interact (until, of course, it allows me to take my career to the next level, and you start getting advice from a pro screenwriter!). I'm excited for this next phase in my life's adventure.

Tags: screenwriting, life