I've had a passion for animation my whole life, and became interested in the idea of getting involved in the field at age 12. I'm now 27, and though I've been practicing consistently this whole time with both artwork and writing, I'm not sure how to go about getting started at this point.
Though I did attend art school several years ago, it was a rough process, as I generally felt that my work was far inferior compared to most of the other students, and was discouraged as a result and dropped out after failing several classes. I spent the next couple of years working various office and retail jobs, as well as becoming a freelance movie and video game reviewer for some websites, but I've still kept honing my drawing skills and ideas, to a point where I actually am proud of some of my recent work.
At this point, I'm preparing to scale back on the reviews and make an attempt to focus even more time on improving my craft, and I feel that I need to get started on looking for jobs immediately if I want to ever get anywhere. The only problem is that I don't know where I should look or what I should look into. I'm worried that the fact that I didn't finish college will be off-putting to most potential employers, I don't have enough work I'm proud of to make a portfolio yet, and I don't live in an area like L.A. or New York where a lot of studios are. I've also been told by many that I seem naturally better at writing than drawing, but don't know how to break into the scriptwriting field, either.
The plan I've had for a while is to make some shorts in Toon Boom, continue to make more drawings, and build up a portfolio to submit to studios. Is this the right path to take? If not, what should I focus on and where should I go to get involved?
From what I have read in these forums is building a strong portfoilio is always a good idea.