When it all started

It was just another day of school for me. I was mid-way through my courses, studying my passion of history and film. I'm often embarrassed to admit in a community of writers and authors that my source of inspiration seldom comes from actual novels but on films themselves. Of course most of these films are based on their literary counterparts, but seeing those stories come to life with such vivid detail is always a pleasure.

I had always enjoyed film since I could remember. I owe a lot to my dad plopping me on a chair while he put on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I began to question things like camera angles, locations, wardrobe. Seeing movies like Blade Runner and Apocalypse Now really put visuals and great storytelling into perspective for me.

I grew up as the nerdy guy. Video and board games were a common passage of time. I played golf from time to time. But my passion was always film. It wasn't until my later years in high school when I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could write something?" It was a quick thought and disappeared entirely within a few minutes.

That same thought came back in college. By this time, I was knee deep in Star Wars expanded universe novels. I was playing Mass Effect at the time too, so I was completely submersed in science-fiction-fantasy land. I was working on a final project in one of my film classes. The objective was fairly simple: Make a short film no longer than 15 minutes. Easy, right? And for the most part, it was. Me and my buddy ended up with a neat little horror film that was no longer than 15 minutes. But that's when I realized I was limited in scope of any story I could come up with. 15 minutes? Writing screenplays for other short films was tough for me. I wanted to explore so much more with characters and locations which just wasn't possible when you talk about things such as budget and feasibility.

So, I came up with an idea and one such idea opened a gateway of brainstorming, web-charts, timelines, locations, timelines for those specific locations, names, and technologies. I was hooked on writing at that point. To be honest, whenever I'm writing, immersed in other worlds, I feel as though that is what I'm supposed to be doing in my life.

It's a strange thing, perspective. I don't think any of this would be possible if my dad hadn't plopped me in front of that TV to watch The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly all those years ago.