I’ve had many opportunities to speak into the lives of people considering making a profession of visual storytelling (writer, producer, director, actor). Here are the big ideas I like to harp on.
1. Be sure of your calling. The hill is too steep, the road too long, and the discouragements too many. This is not for the faint of heart. And know there are other options (read wisdom from Seth Godin on this).
2. Tell Stories. If you have a true calling, you cannot not tell stories. You will act. As I told Shirin (my sweet wife) ten years ago, “Honey, you know what writers do? They write.” Eventually she stopped talking and started writing (two of her four books were published). If you’re serious as a young person, you should have 5-10 short projects developed by the time you’re 20.
3. Obsess over improving your craft. There is no substitute for excellence. As Christ-followers, we have the greatest Story and the greatest stories. If we cannot tell them well, we steal from the glory of God (not good!).
4. Be a great team player. Visual storytelling is a team sport. People like to work with people they like. If you’re not fun to be with, don’t expect much work. Learn to love people. You’ll always get a great return on your love investments.
5. Develop a network of professional peers. You should have a minimum of 500 names in your professional contact list. Consider various career options as you go.
6. Get your 10,000 hours. If you want to be great at something, you must invest 10,000 hours (read “Outliers”). At 2000 hours per year, that’s five years. At 1000 hours a year that’s 10 years. You have choices.
7. Get training. There are many ways to learn your craft. But training is a must. Here is a link to our vetted list of resources.
8. Learn from those ahead of you. You should have your “favorite 50” samples of work that you draw from. Don’t be ashamed to stand on the shoulders of those who’ve preceded you…there’s no other road to excellence. If you can find a mentor you respect, you will be in a small club.
9. Bootstrap, bootstrap, bootstrap. Do small projects that don’t cost much money to develop your craft. Don’t wait for a fat check to get started. The check won’t arrive (at least not for 5-10 years) and you won’t start.
10. Be deeply rooted in Christ and Scripture every day. You must know the glory of God to reflect it. If you’re not firmly anchored, you will drift.
Clyde Taber, clyde@visualstory.org