Monday, July 27, 2009

What World To Explore

Now that I am starting the Query process I will find myself with a lot of creative time on my hands. So naturally I should dive back into writing something, I'm just not sure what the something is. I have a copy of ideas and I'm trying to figure out what interests me more.

1) Caverns Of The Mind
I've actually already started this story about a year or so ago but stopped for various reasons. Like the current finished novel I am shopping around this one came to me from a very creepy dream. My current novel evolved more from a feeling I got from a dream, whilst this story was basically told by my subconscious, all I had to do was wake up and jot some notes.
It is more of a "supernatural" tale that centers around a group of people trapped in a cave with something that is picking them up one by one. It also deals with a man trying to come to terms with a dark event in his past. Ultimately these two struggles merge into one as the creature already knows about this dark event & finds a type of similarity between the man & it's beliefs.

2) Super Twisted Dark Story
Not exactly the official title. This is a story that I have started a few times but have discarded everything b/c I am having a hard time finding the right launching point. It deals with an individual who does very dark things for a good purpose. It also centers around a rookie detective and his old mentor as they attempt to catch him. This is a story that will really allow me to dive into the darkness of the human soul and explore it to my hearts content. My hope is that despite the horrible things the character does the readers will still identify with him in a way, and will make them face the fact the world is a shade of grey & not black & white.

3) My first script
This is something I have had on the back burner for awhile. The inspiration comes from my time working at a video rental store and all the "experiences" I have collected from that. The major "themes" I want to touch on are the inevitability of growing up, the young generations idea of the American Dream, and what it truly means to be successful. Of course I am going to throw in plenty of toilet humor and sex so it should be fun.

I think I am going to go on a nice long walk, then come home, lock myself in my office, and force myself to start writing. Whatever spews from my mind onto the keyboard will be what I am going to write next. The good thing is that I cannot wait to tell the 3 stories I have listed on this page. So despite my grumbling it is a win-win scenario. Yeah?!?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Semblance Of A Plan

Well here I am getting ready to jump into this whole "project". What do I expect? Rejection mostly. I'm not a glass half-empty kind of guy I just understand that even the greatest writers were met with crushing failure before they saw the first glimmer of success. So I expect to get a lot of rejection letters followed by a lot of no response from publishers. And to make things even better I get to share that soul-crushing feeling with all of you, good times.

I am aware that I don't exactly sound enthused but to be honest I am very excited. When I open my first generic rejection letter I will probably be a little excited. The rejection letter means that my Query made it to the desk of an agent or publisher(or at least one of their staff). Sure they may not have read it or even opened it up but it was still there. Now I sound kinda like a glass half-full guy.

I have a finished manuscript that has been transferred from my mind onto my computer and onto various pieces of paper. The plan is to attempt to find myself an agent that believes in my work and will try and find a publisher that is willing to take a chance on me. I have been told by many that the current economic climate will make this nearly impossible task a little bit harder, so I can't wait to get started.

While I am waiting on responses from this task I will be starting a new project. Whether this project be a new novel or possible even a script I am not entirely sure, but I know it will be something.

SO I am going to officially start looking for an AGENT!!!! To help assist me I will be using the 2009 Edition of the Writers Market and of course good ole trusty internet. I would continue this blog but I really should start sifting through countless agent listings and begin to narrow down my possible agent choices. Until next time....

Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Main Character.......me

So I guess this is the part of the story where you are supposed to get to know the main character? The point in the story where the author gives you a reason to be interested in them so that he/she can eventually get you to care about them? Well I will be the first to admit that I am NOT a very interesting main character but since you are reading this blog I might as well give you my motivation.

When I was younger my mother and I didn't always get along. Later in life I came to realize it was because we had so much in common. When I was younger I made a point to do everything she told me not to do, and not to do everything she told me to do. So needless to say we butted heads more often then not. Yet a funny thing happened as I was going through middle school, my mother and I started to read together. I'm not talking the "kid laying in bed, while mommy sits nearby and reads out loud" type of thing, more the book club type of reading together. She would read a great book and tell me all about it & I would quickly pick it up as soon as she was finished and read it as well. Then followed a very excited recap of why we did or did not like the book. Before we knew it the butting of heads subsided and we dove into the same fictional worlds together.

When I began writing seriously in college she was very supportive and openly excited. I will admit that I would give her tidbits of what my story was about but I refused to let her read it until it was completed. I used to day-dream about one day surprising her with a fully bound book, authored by me of course, that had just been published. Inside the cover it would be dedicated to her, she would read it, love it, and then discover that it was already a best seller. I would then go on to inform her that she didn't have to work all the time, could go to college and live the life she had always dreamed.

My mother was killed in a car accident before I graduated college.

To summarize in words what she meant to me is next to impossible. There is a chance that I will one day blog about all the challenges that faced me after that incident, but this blog is about my motivation. I set my book to the side for quite awhile after that. Partly because of the challenges I faced after wards but also because it was a little too painful. I love to tell stories but my biggest motivator was to write a story that my mother would love. To show to her that all the time we spent reading together, all the lessons she taught me, all the sacrifices she made for me, were worth it.

So why do I write now? The desire to tell stories never left, but more importantly because I know she would still want me to. Sure I cannot see the look on her face as she sees that cover or reads that dedication, sure I can't sit down with her and discuss what she did & did not like, and sure I cannot swoop in and give her the opportunity to do all the things that she put off for us; but I can still make her proud. I can still fulfill that part of me that loves to tell stories and share different experiences with others, that same part of me that she helped to create & nurture.

So what is my motivation? Her.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Introductions

Ah, the good ole prologue. ALWAYS my favorite part of the writing process, where you start to transfer that wonderful story you have in your head onto the computer screen (or piece of paper) in front of you. Yet I have to admit that I have no clue on how to start off this blog. Do I dive right into the purpose of this blog? Jump into a story about myself so you can get to know the person behind the keyboard? Or just write a general piece and pretend like I have been here all my life & make you believe that you've just stumbled upon an established blogger?

I think a general overview of who I am and the reason behind this blog is probably the best. Of course I could be wrong and it would not be the first time. My friends & family know me as "T", I am a 27 year old man and I love to write. The entire reason behind why I like to write is a different blog but it is something that I have been doing for quite some time. Now I currently work @ a rather large company. I enjoy my work, it is challenging without being stressful, and it pays enough that I am comfortable. BUT it has very little to do with writing.

I have been writing "seriously" since my freshman year of college and since then I have written two of what I consider to be real books. The type that have the chance to be published and the type I believe people could actually enjoy. I have had a few struggles in my life (A later blog)that have put my hopes for being published on the back-burner, but my hope is that this blog will give me the motivation to do everything I can to get my book(s) published.

So hello and welcome to my blog. For those of you reading I hope that you will stick around as I begin my journey into getting a book published. Hopefully you will be there to congratulate me on my successes, help pick me up when I fall, and kick me in the butt when I need a good kick in the butt.