I have the full cinemod from Duclos on my ZF.2 lens kit. It's an incredible mod that's fully reversible. You can add as much of the components as you want though (minus the aperture declick) if you don't feel comfortable having them work on your lens.

That's awesome, man. Congrats. I think you should just follow your heart. Find your spark and build a fire out of it. Don't overthink it.

https://www.ducloslenses.com

Made an account just for this. Stephen had some good suggestions, especially Painting with Light.

I'm a director currently at UCLA for grad school studying screenwriting. I've directed and/or shot several shorts and a feature over the last few years as well, so I hope my experience can help you navigate your path. Up until this point I was on your path. All self-taught and found experience on different set across three states.

Beyond the technical stuff, framing, composition, lighting etc. you're on the money about becoming a good story teller first. So go beyond your chosen field. Pick up books on screenwriting, directing, even acting. You'd be surprised what you can learn about shooting when you're looking at it from an actors point of view. Go see tons of movies. Look at how they cut it. How they frame it. Even how they light it. Ask yourself why. Watch the behind the scenes stuff on them.

Go to museums. Look at art. Study Rembrandt, look at how he frames and lights. Look at the other old masters. Look at photographers old and new. Annie Leibovitz and Martin Schoeller come to mind. Look at the emotion they pull with a single frame. Copy that. Find out how they did it.

Go to the theater. Watch a play. Go see a ballet. How would you shoot it?

Then look back at your own material. What can you do differently? What can you do to make it better? Or worse?

Then start developing your own style. How you frame, how you shoot, how you construct scenes. How you organize a shoot and why?

Some books to look into:

Screenwriting -
Save The Cat - Blake Snyder
Essentials of Screenwriting - Richard Walter

Acting -
Sanford Meisner On Acting - Sanford Meisner
Respect For Acting - Uta Hagen

Misc. Books and other stuff
Anything that has any film you've seen storyboarded.
Watch interviews with Roger Deakins
Listen to music (this helps me. you might be different)

Now I'm rambling. Just keep shooting it and most of all, love the hell out of it.

Kick ass, man.