Why I Haven't Been Writing
As some of you might have noticed, I haven't been writing a whole lot lately. Sure, last week, I published a few reviews. That was an admirable achievement. However, my usual output of articles is easily one article a day, with some weeks resulting in almost a dozen articles written and published.
If I wanted to give excuses, I could state that I had three wisdom teeth removed in September, then AFI Fest, and now screener season. However, I don't like excuses. They seem cheap and manufactured to give someone the space in which to shuffle things under the rug that they don't feel comfortable dealing with at the current time. I like to challenge myself in my work whenever possible, and those excuses don't even begin to display the problems themselves.
The problems are a doozy. I don't particularly appreciate admitting my faults, but I've made a lot in the past three or four months. The biggest problem I deal with at the current time is overcommitting myself to reviews. One look at the site, and you can see that. At present, I have dozens of films that go unreviewed, some screeners that are expiring this week that I haven't touched. To put that more plainly, I have movies that I watched all the way back in October that I've not reviewed yet. That's a big problem when your work relies on being up-to-date on everything entertainment. There have even been times in the past where a screener expired because I didn't have the time to get to it, which is also a big no-no.
I probably shouldn't even be saying this at the risk of someone prominent in the industry seeing this, but I need to shoot straight. At current, I will be lucky to finish what is on my plate (plus what I've already committed to seeing) by the end of the year.
So, what am I doing to fix that? Well, in short, it starts with this post. From the minute this is posted, I will not be actively seeking out any opportunities for media coverage outside of what I've already committed to until I finish my current workload.
That, and I need to start communicating better with all of you about what I'm doing to reduce that workload, even if it's a short and sweet Instagram Story. You see, up until recently, I think one of the things that's been holding me back creatively is my resistance to share very personal thoughts and feelings with my readers, even though that's what the whole point of Austin B Media is. The reason for this is that I'm not the kind of guy to just tell random strangers on the internet what I feel until I really need to say something. The thing I've come to realize, however, is that you aren't random strangers - sure, I don't know your names - but I know that you like reading what I write, and that should be all the confidence I need to share these things with you.
Thanks to Thomas Stoneham-Judge from Movies For Reel for supporting Austin B Media!