Build Doors, Not Houses
When you're just starting out as a storyteller, it’s tempting to dream of building something grand—an intricate novel, an award-winning screenplay, a life-altering performance, or a viral blog that will change the way people think. You imagine yourself as the architect of a masterpiece, constructing an elaborate house that stands tall and commands admiration. And while ambition is important, this mindset can sometimes lead to frustration, self-doubt, and paralysis.
Why? Because you're focused on the house, but you haven't yet built the door—the opening that invites people in, connects you to your audience, and gives them access to the world you're creating.
If you want to build a lasting career as a professional storyteller, it’s not enough to have talent or vision. You need to create openings—small but meaningful opportunities that allow others to engage with your work, see your voice, and invite you into bigger creative arenas. In this article, we’ll explore what it means to “build doors” in your creative career, and how this simple philosophy can shift your focus from unattainable perfection to actionable progress.
What Does It Mean to Build Doors?
In this metaphor, houses are the grand visions you have for your career. A house is the novel that defines your legacy, the Oscar-winning screenplay, or the best-selling album. These are long-term goals, built with years of work and perseverance. But a door is something smaller, more accessible, and infinitely more immediate. A door is what gets you noticed, what connects you to opportunities, and what invites collaborators, mentors, and audiences to engage with your talent.
A door doesn’t need to be perfect. It can be a short story shared on a free platform, a script submitted to a contest, a video monologue performed in your bedroom and uploaded to YouTube, or a series of poems shared on Instagram. Doors don’t scream, “Here is my masterpiece!” but rather, “Here is my voice. Here is who I am. Will you come inside?”
The Problem with Building Houses First
Too often, new or emerging storytellers focus exclusively on the house. You dream of the day your screenplay is optioned, your novel hits the bestseller list, or your film gets greenlit. You spend months or even years laboring on a project in isolation, refining it to the point of exhaustion, hoping it will be the perfect calling card to launch your career.
But here’s the truth: a house with no doors won’t attract anyone. It may be a masterpiece, but if no one can see it, interact with it, or even find it, it remains invisible. And if you're waiting for perfection before you let anyone see your work, you're closing yourself off from countless opportunities to connect and grow.
By focusing on building doors first, you shift your mindset to creating opportunities—small, achievable steps that showcase your talent and make your work accessible.
How to Build Doors in Your Creative Career
1. Start Small and Stay Consistent
You don’t need a grand project to make an impact. Consistently creating and sharing smaller pieces of work builds momentum and establishes your presence.
Consistency is key. A door that stays closed gathers dust, but one that opens regularly invites traffic.
2. Build Relationships, Not Just Projects
Doors aren’t just about your work—they’re about the connections you build. People open doors for each other in the creative world, and relationships often lead to unexpected opportunities.
Attend workshops, readings, and festivals, and actively engage with others in your field.
Find ways to contribute to someone else’s project—it could be as a script reader, beta reader, or crew member. Collaboration builds trust and opens doors in return.
Reach out to people whose work you admire. A thoughtful email or a kind word on social media can start a dialogue that leads to mentorship or collaboration.
3. Share Your Work Fearlessly
Many emerging talents hesitate to share their work, afraid it’s not “good enough.” But perfection is a myth. What matters is that you put yourself out there.
Share drafts or excerpts on social media to engage with an audience.
Submit to contests, festivals, or local open mics. Even rejection builds resilience and puts your name in front of people.
Create your own opportunities. If you’re not being invited in, build your own stage—a blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel—and invite others to join you.
4. Make Your Doors Reflect Who You Are
A door should give people a glimpse of what they’ll find inside. Your smaller projects should reflect your voice, your sensibilities, and what makes you unique.
Write stories or scripts that showcase the themes you’re passionate about.
Focus on your strengths, whether it’s sharp dialogue, visual storytelling, or poetic language. Let your work be an honest reflection of you, even if it’s not “polished.”
5. Understand That Houses Take Time
Building doors doesn’t mean you abandon your larger goals. It means you recognize that grand achievements come from many smaller, cumulative efforts.
Steven Pressfield, in The War of Art, puts it perfectly:
“Start before you’re ready.”
You don’t need to wait for the perfect conditions, the perfect story, or the perfect opportunity to begin. You build your career step by step, door by door, until the house begins to take shape.
Why Doors Matter More Than Ever
We live in a world where access is more democratized than ever. Platforms like Substack, Medium, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok allow creators to share their work directly with an audience without waiting for permission from gatekeepers. Building doors in this context means leveraging these platforms to create pathways for your work to be seen.
Great opportunities often come not from a single masterpiece but from a body of work—a collection of doors that give others a chance to see who you are and what you can do.
Final Thoughts: Build the Doors, and the House Will Follow
As a storyteller, it’s natural to dream big. You want to write the story that defines your career, create the film that leaves audiences stunned, or perform the role that wins an award. Those dreams are your house, and they’re important. But if you only focus on the house, you may miss the opportunity to get there.
By focusing on building doors—those small, intentional opportunities to share your voice, connect with others, and invite people into your world—you create the foundation for everything else. Every door you build opens to something new: a connection, a lesson, a collaboration, or a chance to grow.
Houses take years to build. Doors take only a fraction of that time, but they can open to endless possibilities. So start small. Build your first door, then your second. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole house—one that’s full of life, creativity, and opportunity.
Your career begins with a single step: what door will you build today?
