PARKER HUGHES

Blog #3, Oh Yeah I Have A Website - 4/24/2026

Oh yeah, I have a website. I have been navigating a crisis recently, recent being the past three months. I've chipped away at this crisis here and there, sometimes I manage an hour day but most times it seems hardly an hour a week. I fear the script I've worked so dearly on, a pilot that has been buzzing in my brain for the past five years... would work great as a vertical

It's not the end of the world thankfully, I still have a 'finished' script for the pilot after all, but I cannot begin describe the feeling of almost being 'done' with a project only to have inspiration strike for more changes. Stupid inspiration!

It all started when I came across a the TikTok series 'Revival of the Fittest', where the regulars at a record store share conversations about anything. The series is a 'Seinfeld' of sorts, it's only about whatever the characters are talking about; a famous guest could arrive to discuss music or the mundane saga of the need for a couch could continue. The characters featured are genuine, authentic people, I only say 'characters' because of how captivating they are. New York Nico, the recording videographer, ties everything into a bow with his quick camera movements and clever editing.

My jaw dropped on the bathroom floor when I caught this series. Not since my first viewing of Repo Man by Alex Cox back in 2011 have I thought to myself... 'This is what I want to make.'

So, after having promised myself I'd have my pilot ready for shipping by the end of February, here I am in the depths of Spring tinkering and toying with this god forsaken story.

And I haven't had this much fun with a script in a long time.

But why is this a crisis? Well, currently vertical media has a very niche... reputation. Vertical Drama's are the modern soap opera, where exaggerated acting and storylines grip dopamine addicted-

Pardon me, my wife needs to show me Tiktoks. We're finally going to get to see the rich mother-in-law, who's always been nasty to our poor innocent main character, get her comeuppance.

Alright, I am back. The mother-in-law got exactly what she deserved, and more. Good. That whore.

Where was I? Oh right. Currently verticals serve a very niche slice of entertainment which has branded it as 'unserious' by many. Slop, as they say.

But Revival of the Fittest, a show about people sitting around a record store, a show that is not really a 'show', though unserious is not deemed slop. It is authentic. And what is more authentic these days than capturing moments vertically?

Blog #2, Talking to Myself on My Little Island - 1/05/2026

It is a new gregorian year and I have yet to share this website to my socials. 'Socials' meaning those websites where I am supposed to connect with friends, family, and a potential audience instead of scrolling and having my brain tickled by Godzilla memes, AI videos of animals infiltrating Mister Rogers' home, and people moving their hips just right to the catchy last half of VYZEE by SOPHIE.

Not to say this website hasn't been shared with anyone, I can count them on one hand! Two of which gave great feedback on not only the site itself but the stories as well. After commenting about some spelling errors and giving general feedback, what one of them said really stuck with me.

"Make sure what you're posting is polished and the best it can be," they told me, "Because whatever is posted here will be a reflection of you as a writer."

I suddenly felt a pressure I didn't realzie was there before.

When is something the best it can be? Let alone to share it and reflect myself as a writer?

The answer is simple I suppose, it's when I have the confidence to declare it so. "This short story about a little boy stealing pie is the best it can be!" I declare. "The short script about a pop-star forgiving her old friend is the best it can be!"

But when will have have the confidence to declare it so? Common feedback for the pop-star short film was it seemed too easy for the pop-star to forgive her old friend. Too easy? But I thought it was the best it could be!

I had declared it by posting it on this site!

But the feedback was correct. Upon reread, the pop-star is indeed too easy to forgive. How can I have confidence in myself to post something on this site if I couldn't catch something so obvious!

This was supposed to be a website where I could post whatever I wrote without fear! Now I have to get feedback on every story I wish to post? Being a writer was supposed to be easy going God dammit!

Jokes aside; I'm reminding myself the confidence will come, the stories will get better and 'worthy' of sharing, and nothing will ever be 'the best'... but a little feedback never hurts.

I actually love feedback. It might tickle my brain as much as seeing those lions burst through Mister Rogers' front door.

I'd mention you are welcome as a reader to send me feedback through my contacts, but half of me thinks no one is reading this and all of me has no money to pay you.

But that's okay, no one really needs to read this, putting the message in the bottle and tossing it into the sea is the fun part.

Blog #1, I Made A Website - 11/18/2025

Near the end of January earlier this year I submitted a script to an indie production house holding a submission contest looking to produce a short. There was a $15.00 submission fee, I hate submission fees, but the fees were to be used for the short the production house chose to produce, great. But upon submitting my script and giving the production house my contact information I was eventually met with a singular web page asking one prompt.

"Link to your website:"

I did not have a website, and I couldn't proceed with the submission without filling the prompt.

I entered "Don't have one." with deep, deep shame.

What kind of writer doesn't have a website? Well many I suppose, but I didn't want to be like them, I want to be a writer with a website. Not to showcase my writings mind you, but to avoid the deep shame I paid $15.00 for.

So I decided to make a website.

Now this was at the end of January 2025, 11 months since I am writing this post, what took so long? Wix, Squarespace, Wordpress, Substack: with these tools it's never been easier to make a website and share my work. And with AI I can vibecode using a few sentences and the click of a button -BAM- I have a fully functioning website in 10 seconds flat.

I don't like AI and I am a masochist, so I decided to learn to code and publish my website myself. I'm a writer, and coding is just more writing, right? Well, wrong, very wrong. So here I am, 11 months later, finally managing to post my work and write my thoughts on this barren island called parkerhughes.info.

It was a fun process though, I have my own space and now I like to code.

This is my island and I like it here.