Hi guys, I talk about writing on here a lot. I know there are probably many of you thinking "Who the F!@# are you to even talk about it?" That may be true; I'm not a known writer much at all and I certainly don't hold any fame or influence to speak of. I'm one of those guys who's written a ton and only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the world has really seen One thing. When I look up interviews with writers I've actually heard the words "Writing is the hard part, getting it published is easy." For me, it's quite the opposite; writing is the only thing I've ever really been decent at, getting people to look at it is a whole other story.
When I talk about writing on here (I dare not call them Tips as I don't believe I'm in any position to give them) it's mainly because I don't really get to talk about creating (process or other) in my personal life. I'll talk about how writing certain stories changed my outlook on craft and process or about how writing certain genres or even mediums will affect the way I work on others, and I can feel my wife, friends, family, or dog getting bored, no matter my level of excitement.
The only time I've felt I've needed to take a break from writing is when I was completing multiple books (various drafts) at once. I was burnt and just wanted to sit back and watch the dumbest movies imaginable. Every time I've stated "I've just got done doing all THIS and I'm gonna take a week off" my best friend and my wife will both ask me different times "You think you can do that?" And I'm not sure if I've ever been able to do it. Like many of you, I can't STOP. I'll be burnt out and walk away from any computer, laptop, paper & pencil, only to find myself texting myself ideas and random story pieces. It's a strange feeling when you grow up Wanting to create and you get to a point where you Have you create. I feel I'm at my best, personally, when I'm doing so and when I'm not creating something, I feel bad because I know I Should be. Some of you have to feel the same; I hope anyway.
Getting work out and seen is the hardest part for me. I've spoken about rejection on here before (the post "Rejection", original title, I know), and how the most irritating thing to me is not hearing "No" but being completely passed over altogether. I'd rather someone read my work and tell me they hate it than to ignore it in its entirety.
It's a sad feeling when you're practically begging people, "Just READ IIIIIT!" But there's always a creative solution to a problem. Self publishing, blogs, etc, etc. For a long time dealing with publisher issues my friends would tell me that I should self publish but I wasn't ready yet. Once I was published, I felt like I could very well do self publishing. I don't know why, but that was my thought process. It was a foot in the door, that book, now I press forward with future projects.
I was writing scripts for the longest time before realizing they weren't formatted correctly for shit. Along with film scripts I was writing comic book scripts. I knew that comic companies weren't interested in lone scripts from unknown writers without art or an artist attached but I was encouraged "So, just write and send anyway, you never know." And I did so. I've had a lot of artists like scripts of mine and want to work on it only to back out sometime into it. Incidentally, this was the same issue I was having with publishers before; they'd like a project and want to move forward only to change their minds part way in. I know that's the nature of the game but it's no less aggravating.
I've mentioned comic book publishers who claim they want something new and exciting only to tell me they want something similar to what's already famous. Other publishing companies do the same thing. I've seen publishers say they want something new and different. I love reading screenplays, plays, and various projects in script format and would love to see them on shelves more and more widely available in print. I'd sent out scripts only to hear "I like the story, we just don't do scripts of any kind." If they're so closed off to certain things like that, it doesn't really appear that they're looking for something "new" and "different", not to me anyway. If I had a publishing company, which in all honesty isn't a goal of mine, I wouldn't put so many barriers on writing.
But, again, there's always a creative solution to a problem. Along with various short stories and other writings that don't currently have a home, I've started posted comic scripts on here. If anyone is interested about doing artwork for them and getting them going, I'm sure they'll contact me; until then I'm just going to keep posting them on here. I've currently got one comic book in development and that came from a chance online meeting of Dennis Magnant and myself. He wasn't too interested in going with an pre-existing idea (i.e. one of my scripts) and so we built something new from the ground up together in Tourniquet. I haven't found another artist for any other project really. When you're an unknown writer trying to get a comic book going, it can be pretty hard to find an artist. Most I've found want to get paid up front and actually talk more about money than they do the project or art in general. Actually, on the Facebook group where Dennis and I met, I mainly SEE artists talking about money and critiquing others' work but none of their own projects/work. It's sad when money is more interesting to an artist than creation.
Growing up, I was always writing but could very rarely ever actually finish a short story. I'd get part way into it and get dissuaded, thinking it would be another story in my notebook. After awhile I was writing primarily script related things. It wasn't until I was writing screenplays and putting waaaay too much description and novel-like prose pieces that I thought "This is very book-like...I wonder if I could go back and do something like that." I went back to some old unfinished short stories and finished them. I was feeling pretty good about it and kept writing them. My mom kept telling me for years "I know you want to do comics and screenplays but you really should write a book." I had no interest. Now, I'm finding myself with a stack of books to write. It's funny how life works.
Though my publisher, Supposed Crimes, passed on my horror book, I'm still writing a sci-fi book for them and have one to come after it. I have more sci-fi in mind but if they take them or not, I'll have to wait and see.
The problem with writing so much at the same time is when they're all finished then I have to find homes for them all. It's probably counterproductive in many ways but working on many things at once is how I've usually worked; if I get stuck on one, I just move over to the next. It'd be nice to have an assistant to do all the sending out so I can just keep working but I can't afford that and I'm nowhere close to that. It's part of the package but it feels like it gets in the way, having to stop working to send all the other stuff out.
I've talked before about issues such as writer's block. I know people who it's hit and I've never gotten it. Because I'm at home all the time, I just get interrupted like crazy with honey-do lists, along with doctor's appointments and any other normal responsibilities. Other than interruptions, my main issue lies within myself as all of the various projects bump into each other trying to get to the front. I have so much I want to do, so much I'm currently doing, and I only have two hands and one brain; the woes of being human I suppose. A recurring problem of mine is, on several projects anyway, I either have a story and no format, or a format and no story. Such as, I really want to make some silent films and then I'm hit with "Okay, what's it going to be about?" And then I'll have a story that could go in any direction medium-wise and I'm hit with "What do I do with this story? Where does it go?"
I do love how each project comes differently. A tiny idea will hit and would make a great short story. A big idea will hit and would make a great comic or film. But they all come at different times, in different ways. Some start as a joke and then I end up putting serious thought into them and they grow into something else. Some start as something big and end up smaller, while some start small and end up bigger. I love how some ideas start as one but then it doesn't feel right so instead of editing and throwing away, you split them into two. I'm an idea packrat and rarely throw stories away, usually the pieces that don't fit just end up in others or spawning its own thing. I never know when a story will hit and usually the story itself will predict in what format it'll end up. A lot of times something will hit me and I'll be so excited about it but I know that I'm nowhere near writing it at that time BUT I always think/know that what I'm currently working on will help me grow by the time I get to that bigger idea. It's all steps and with each step I want to get closer to what I'm trying to get to.
I told my wife about a sci-fi book that I'm excited to get to someday and she told me I need to get on it quick before someone else does it. But I know through what all I'm doing between now and then that when I get there it'll be better than if I were to do it now. Along with all the things I'm learning on this journey, learning what projects to wait on is one of them.
At one point, I was a bit skeptical about sending so much out for publication in one year; afraid of flooding with my name or what have you to where people don't care - a stupid thought, I'm sure. But I figured my first year of being an actual published writer, as opposed to just working unknown for so long, I might as well make it good and pull out all the stops so this year I'll be getting out as much as I can and I hope you all will join me and stick around for what's to come.
Thanks for putting up with my rambling.
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