I envy Stephen King. For many reasons – most of them probably fairly obvious – but at this specific moment, I envy him for his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I’ve barely dented the opening pages, but it already sings as a commanding retrospective from a writer who has quite literally written more than he can remember writing. King has not retired, and is in fact still a prolific storyteller, reportedly cranking out a daily 10,000 words, including on Christmas and his own Birthday. But it would be hard to deny that, from a career perspective, this is a person who has climbed the mountain, walked through the woods, and is looking back from a place of experience and wisdom. No wonder On Writing reads so effortlessly and vividly. And so, I envy him, because there must be an ease in writing about your own craft having spent a lifetime refining and completing it; an ease that is impossible to conjure from my own point of view – staring into those woods, having barely begun. So, the question is: how do I introduce a website dedicated to a career that does not yet exist? I suppose the only way to start is with…
Hello! I’m Adam Tye. I turned 25 last week; I have a BA in Philosophy, and an MA in Film/TV Production. I believe with absolute certainty that Hot Fuzz is a perfect film, and that if I were to ever write a script even half as good as an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, I could die a happy man. I didn’t think I was interested historical fiction, but Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy is quickly proving me wrong.
And, of course, the reason for telling you all this in the first place: I want to be a writer. I want to be the person who makes it all up.
So why make a website now? Obviously, as with anyone making a career push in the year of our Lord 2021, I tip my hat to the pandemic, which quickly scuttled any potential for practical filmmaking, and really took the wind out of my creative sails (as it did to anyone not called Taylor Swift). But it was a chance for recalibration, too, and a year with which to accumulate a new perspective on myself, and my own trajectory. Simply put: I like writing articles and scripts, but I want to do more, and I want to get better. What better way to showcase this work and motivate more of it than a website with lots of empty space waiting to be filled up?!
As for the site itself, I’ve included a guide below to each section – what you can find there now, and what I hope you will find there later. It’s difficult to talk thoroughly about any project that is so clearly in its state of infancy, but if I were to boil this opening post down to its one essential component, it is that this website is a work in progress – not a trophy case. There will be regular uploads here, and my hope is that it continues evolving, rather than sitting as a static Greatest Hits collection. For now, please check out the guide below, follow me on Letterboxd if that’s your poison, and I hope you enjoy what you find here.
Through the woods, we go...
The Spotter’s Guide:
1. Blog: Articles, Reviews, and any Personal Announcements/Ramblings. There’s some older content I want to upload (brace thyself for Doctor Who), but my hope is to upload at least once a week to this section (again, brace thyself for Doctor Who).
2. Writing: Selected fictional work. This is the biggest ‘Work in Progress’ section of the site, as my background in writing encompasses far more in the way of articles than it does fiction. We’ll kick things off with my MA final project script – a film born amidst a lot of flailing about as I tried to decide what kinds of stories I wanted to tell. It’s a story I would do very differently now, but it was also the lengthiest narrative work I had completed at the time, and marks an important part of my writing history. Hence, up it goes.
3. Filmmaking: When my MA started, I had designs on being a director, and whilst I’ve parked that for the time being, it’s still something I’m intensely interested in. In this section, I’ll link to past short films, as well as any future films that see the Covid-free light of day.
4. About: A shorter, probably more sarcastic version of this article. I’ll throw in my favourite films, too - just for you.
5. Contact: Something that Wix slapped into the site from the beginning, and that I might as well leave up. If you have any questions or requests, I’d be happy to hear them! And if you have any comments disagreeing with a review, my spam inbox is always open!
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