I wrote two zombie pilots and had the ambition to use what I learned at Southern New Hampshire University as a way to connect what I learned to turn it into a television series, but soon I made a shocking discovery that made me change course.

When I was an undergraduate at Southern New Hampshire University, there was an instructor I emailed and asked about the possibility of learning about television format. He declined and gave a scathing warning that it’s a “different world”.

Ultimately, I didn’t listen to that warning and went my own way. While working on a movie script for class, I had a side project of working on a television pilot. It got to the point that I completed the series bible and had three seasons planned.

Even though it gained me some success in television pilot contests for Barnstorm Media, there was still a lot missing that left me unsatisfied. The pacing was fast and it felt like I had a lot of the story to tell, but only so many pages to tell it.

It consisted of a lot of editing, the pages went as high as 67 and as low as 60. The storyline still felt incomplete even with some accolades under the belt and I never understood why. The concept was strong and it’s very marketable, but it didn’t feel complete at all.

The editing process was strong, but it didn’t feel like enough. I sat back and took notice of other writers and saw them achieve their milestones with their work, and I sat there and got frustrated to the point I asked myself: Why?

It hit me like a thousand bolts of lightning, there is always room for a mess-up and the story will feel like it is missing a piece of the puzzle. It’s true when there is an expectation to tell the story thoroughly and leave no stone unturned.

It’s a true craft to be able to do it and it made me admire some of my favorite shows like Walking Dead, The Rookie, and On My Block even more. A combination of telling the story thoroughly and long-term planning to finish a storyline is a skill, frankly, I don’t have that patience.

Even though it was a fun adventure to learn about television writing, I determined that writing movie is my preference as a writer. The story is complete and it paints the full picture of the theme and everything that the writer desires for that movie.

It’s not to say there aren’t people who can’t do both, look at Tyler Perry, the man has mastered both where he could have five different shows releasing new episodes while coming out with another movie.

It’s a craft and truly takes skill to make that happen, but it’s certainly possible. There is no shame in not being able to do both or preferring one over the other. Since making that discovery, it has made things a lot better for me and I learned a lot about my own preference as a writer.

The zombie pilot went from a 60-page pilot to a 112-116 page movie script. Even though there are still some edits and scene adding to get done, the personal satisfaction is truly there for the first time since coming up with the concept.

Find that joy, happiness, and satisfaction with your own writing today. It doesn’t matter if there are certain things we can’t do, after all, we are humans and not machines. Take joy in realizing that there is no other writer like you.

Be sure to subscribe and follow on Twitter and Instagram for more updates.