Honing Thy Craft and Expanding

I was watching Markiplier talking to Corridor Crew about how he made the jump to filmmaking from YouTube. Video below:

Basically, Markiplier started out trying to do VFXs but wasn't good at it. He ended up practicing with YouTube before trying his hand at filmmaking, most notably with A Heist with Markiplier and In Space with Markiplier. He's even directing, writing and starring in a feature film, Iron Lung, which is based on a video game he played. In Space with Markiplier was even nominated for an Emmy. For someone who didn't study film and made the jump because he wanted to do an interactive story, that is all very impressive. Nevertheless, Markiplier's worked very hard to get those projects and recognition.

In a way, that's how people often get recognized. Yes, there is a mixture of luck in there, but behind that luck is a lot of work to get to where they are. It's also interesting because, say you are someone who works on multiple aspects, like a director-screenwriter-actor. Usually, they are recognized as one of those aspects first, and then get recognized for the rest. However, they don't spend the rest of their time just working at that one aspect. Usually, they're learning and working on those other aspects before the right opportunity appears for them to apply them.

Honing your craft is one of the best ways to increase your luck and opportunities. Even if you think you can't get better, that's not true. Once you get to a certain level, you can get complacent. One of the problems with being complacent is that you run the risk of getting pigeonholed. Getting out of that is one of the hardest things to do because no one wants to take the risk in case the failure is too big.

Right now, I'm working on a lot of horror projects, but I'm trying to expand what I am comfortable with, including looking at trying some comedy projects (despite being a very dry person) and other avenues. I'm researching and learning new things so that I can utilize them to make sure I don't become complacent. I like to challenge myself and try new things. Whether that is writing short screenplays or working on music or looking into creating worlds. I'm not comfortable being comfortable with one thing. That's just too safe for me.

If you want to expand your skills, more power to you. But if you have found what works for you and want to continue with that, that's also fine. Just know that you can always be better than your current best. Hone your craft to the point where it is second-nature to you. Then you will always succeed.