Putting Your Money

I have been a very adamant proponent of getting out and starting your own project and it's about time I came up with some rock solid ideas of just exactly how to do that.

Anyone can have an idea it's the few who follow through on it who make the difference.

Many years ago, a short time after dirt was discovered, a man invited me to a conference. I went unsure about the whole thing, I had heard about the whole pig in a poke story and was necessarily concerned. Turns out the guy wanted writers.

Now write I could do.

So he brought together three likely prospects, a salesman with a background in the arts, a college professor with a proven track record at the scholastic writing game and me. At the time, I was a third watch dispatcher for the police and hadn't some much as gotten box-tops for writing.

Our patron asked for a hundred page script for a murder-mystery type play which had ten or less characters and could be staged anywhere. Sounded good to me, so off I went.

Three weeks later I had a good draft and I went back for a second meeting only to discover I was by myself. The salesman and the professor dropped out and I sold my first play by default.

Turns out I was good at writing the little murder mystery thingies and I did a bunch of them eventually writing for every company doing the thing in Dallas. I got so good at it I started my own theater troop and for better than ten years Poison Pen Murder Mysteries traveled all over Texas and the mid-west doing those plays.

I still sell the license when someone asks nicely.

The point is I did it.

When I retired to Coos Bay I was thinking maybe murder mystery might be a good thing for the coast, but then I remembered working with actors and said, no. I went to work for the museum and found the lively art scene on the South Coast and it seemed to be a good fit so I worked my way in from scratch.

It's not a bad thing to change directions and start all over again, you find skills you never knew you had and some that are so rusty they need to be sharpened and cleaned before they can be used. (Think pitiful drawing skills and you'll get the idea.)

So I am not making idle suggestions. The only way to do it is to start.

And I ran across a great article which will save you a ton of work and a bucket of cold sweat and all you have to do it take a look. Use the link, I have thoughtfully provided and go see for yourself.

http://www.digitalphotopro.com/business/kickstarting-your-project.html

Now that you've read all about it, here's the link to the Kickstarter site.

http://www.kickstarter.com/

I don't know that any of you are crazy enough to start writing without any sort of credentials, but if you have a more reasonable idea, maybe this will provide the funds for you to get it up and running.

And if you decide working with actors is simpler, I have a drawer full of plays I could license for your use. Think about it.