# Independent

Do I have key art chock-full of laurels? Sure. Do any of those laurels actually mean anything to anyone? Um … let’s move on.

Let’s find a strategy that works for you so you can go into the world confident and ready to share your story in the way most authentic to you.

I didn’t become a full-time writer because it would support me financially—I did it so I could finally feel alive.

I don’t want to be famous. I don’t want to be the next ‘so-and-so’ anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still on my grind—I still bleed this shit. But I’m just ... enjoying the ride.

When I was nine years old, I handed my parents the synopsis of a then-unwritten book scrawled in my chaotic handwriting. I announced that I was going to write a novel and get it published. My parents believed me. I got to work.

We all have the same $25, so why is my film not receiving accolades? It must be because I’m a failure as an artist and not because I didn’t get $20,000 worth of in-kind loans or volunteer labor offered by a cast and crew with expensive training and access to equipment.

Mark broke down creative struggles into three main stages—the creatively crashed, the creatively frustrated, and the creatively excited (albeit a bit directionless)—before providing ideas on how to push through each stage.

Best practices are not to entirely depend on your friends and family but for your first campaign or two, it’s largely unavoidable. So what can you do if your starting “crowd” is broke?