It is not a binary decision. As an offical “Old Man” (i have grey hair) it is ultimately a logical fallacy to think so— common when you are a teen— encouraged in part by failures in our school systems and parental pressure (to make sure you are safe/happy).
Personally, I have been a writer, director, film editor, 2d animator, storyboard artist, sculptor, painter, 2d graphic artist, producer, narrative designer, and whole host of other less fun jobs.
In reality, each job you take, generates new skills. Each skill set opens up new possiblities but it does not close off previous ones (at least not until you begin to reach my age and have serious finacial responsibilities). The previous skills give you an advantage with whatever you are currently working on. Case in point I’m writing comics for riot now. My experiance as a screenwriter and a storyboard artist intersects with this task.
If you like game design: study programming, If you like art: practice drawing (or animating or whatever). But in reality these are hyper-competitive fields— so you can study both (double major) and accept you will get less sleep, less free time, and perhaps even give yourself a competive or social edge. (I.e What if youre studying one of these fields and a group of your friends from one field need someone from with the other field’s skill set to make a project— there you are, now suddenly a critical part of that team)
The key is to pursue things you like with 100% effort. Knowing that you must try harder than everyone around you— even if you’re the best in your peer group. No excuses. Hard work. No “after i play a quick game,” No, “after I watch this video,”. No “ I’ll just check social media for a quick second.”
Cheers and good luck
- and yeah it’s probably not a coincidence that I wrote Illaoi.
