Moving Forward

I did a little promotion for my film. It’s not enough, of course, but what to say about short films? I made posts on LinkedIn and Instagram, made a website, submitted to festivals. I’m not done but I have a deadline.

There is a contest I’ve been wanting to submit to. It’s been on my to-do list for a while, which is strange, because I have been clear — in this blog at least — about focussing on one project at a time. It’s the only reason I was able to finish Very Happy Skater, because I wouldn’t budge until it was “done”. But as VHS is in the distribution (such a lofty word!) phase, and this contest deadline is coming up, I need to set my sights on the new prize.

Should I have scheduled my efforts a little better? It’s so difficult to chart the seas of the creative process. But now that I’ve finished VHS, maybe that gives me a new experience: completion.

Because I started working on something else yesterday, and it was a disappointing start. I thought about bailing, that this idea was not worth pursuing, but after a few hours of useless thinking, a little voice reminded me:

“You nearly gave up on your film. You stopped working on it for so long. Couldn’t this be a similar start?”

It took me over two years to make VHS. If I had given up, my dull aching would continue. This blog helps me keep going because writing a post is moving forward.

And moving forward is all I can do.