All About Writing

What If You Succeed?

July 22, 2017

It’s the weekend and the editing process for book 2 has begun!

I’m once again working with Refine Editing and going through the same three-stage process of manuscript assessment, line edit, and copy edit. What’s different this time around though, as I await the delivery of the manuscript assessment, is that I’m feeling the butterflies of anticipation.

The first time I delivered book 1, I felt calm and was fully prepared for the high level review of the assessment to be devastating. Since that was my first book ever, my expectation was that I’d get torn apart and called out as the fraud I was sure I was for trying to randomly take on this author thing . . .

Alright, that might be exaggerated just a bit 😉

I felt at the time I did have something worth the effort to have edited. But despite this confidence I wasn’t expecting praise of any kind.

When the assessment did arrive, the review for the story itself was glowing. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of technical work to be done. However, I literally cheered and laughed maniacally at all the positives which were pointed out. With Crimson River now published, I’ve also gotten great reviews and feedback thus far.

However, this is the scary part about book 2. The following question burns in my mind: Am I still a fraud?

Again, kind of tongue in cheek, but also kind of not. Basically, what I think it comes down to is a fear of success and living up to that success in the future.

What if book 2 sucks? What if every book/story I ever write in the future sucks?

The answer: It doesn’t matter!

The reason: At the time I started writing on my freshman effort–one measly year ago–my life was just coming back together after a tough period of transition. Getting in the head-space I needed to be in to start something new took time, a move, a bunch of other activities, and a dog. Eventually though, I got there. In a way, maybe at first I was writing for therapy. But from the first minute of it to the last I was taking what I was doing very seriously.

The obstacle was never really what, “they,” would all think of my work. Instead, it was how much I believed in the story I wanted to tell. To create despite the deep fear of how your creative expression will change you as a person. This takes a lot more courage than it does to hit the, “send,” button. The same goes for any other creative process you might be working on too!

All in all, completing the writing for book 2 was a triumph in itself. I learned my passion for story-telling is very much real. Whatever comes of the assessment or any future assessment will come. I loved writing this dark, emotional, gritty, hopeful story. Can’t wait to do it again on book 3 and beyond!

Some side notes and other journey updates:

To the right is the book 2 dedication, which is for the best brother a guy could have. I really like having fun with my dedications. Being a songwriter probably contributes to their rhyme-y and/or poem-y flow.
The episode 1 teaser scene for my first ever screenplay is complete! I am way too excited to be writing the Civilands series in TV screenplay format. Will keep you posted on my experiences with that as they develop.
The season 1 screenplay, publishing book 2, and writing book 3 will be my official goals for the rest of 2017.

As always, thanks so much for reading. I’d love to hear any thoughts you might have below and hope you’re enjoying the Civilands series!

Let’s See Where This Goes – Day 1 of Wattpad

June 16, 2017

Before I talk about my next big social media adventure on Wattpad… I’d just like to say that I’ve had more time to sit down and watching TV shows lately. As such, I plan on posting some of my thoughts on what I’ve seen in the coming days. Fargo definitely hasn’t disappointed this season (Noah Hawley is legend) so I want to talk about that. But also, Better Call Saul FINALLY caught my attention! Praise to come for my lord and savior Vince Gilligan for that as well.

Now to the main event: Wattpad!

I’m hearing many good things about this website/app, so I’m giving it a try today. For those who don’t know it, Wattpad is a place where you can post stories chapter-by-chapter.

In the spirit of all online content nowadays, here’s a list to show you how cool it is!

Wattpad allows you to post stories section by section. As an author who likes his share of twists and turns, I think this is awesome. Readers will either be held in suspense, or will get fed up of waiting and get the book right away. This feels a lot like the structure of a TV show to me. As life goes by, pieces will be revealed and you’ll be living alongside the characters!
It’s FREE! Bottom line: everything is better for free. But that really is great for authors like me too, especially on my first book. My only goal with Crimson River is to tell my story and get as many people to read it as possible. With that in mind, the fewer barriers readers have to beginning the adventure, the better.
It’s so social that you can even leave in-line comments. How cool is it that when you reach the twist you can actually have a discussion with fellow readers about the traumatic experience you’ve just had? Not only that, but this also helps with eliminating spoilers since the comments are made at the point of the action!
Wattpad rewards popular writers. My initial research suggests the company itself has awards for stories and promotes star writers. Overall the most promising thing for me is the idea of my serial story-telling getting noticed. It’s encouraging there’s extra incentive given to do great work.

I’m sure there are more benefits to come for me to provide updates about. For a company with the goal of becoming the, “YouTube for stories,” though, I’d say that they’re on the right track.

Closing notes

I think I might pop a bottle of champagne for two blog posts in two days! 🙂 It kind of hit me last night while working on my second ever vlog with my buddy, Malachi. But damn does it feel good to just spill your guts on a daily basis. Really since the day I released my book I’ve just felt overwhelmingly free. It’s a beautiful thing and I highly recommend documenting your life, even if it’s just in a journal.

For this post today, for any post tomorrow, and/or for the posts of yesterday, thanks so much for reading and hope you’re enjoying the Civilands series!

To see how Crimson River unfolds, check out chapter 1, part 1, on Wattpad here.

How to Prioritize – Book 2, Social Branding, and TV Writing

June 14, 2017

June has been a crazy, busy month so far! What I’m re-learning is how important it is to know how to prioritize when involved in multiple projects. In this post I’ll highlight my strategy as I discuss what’s been filling up my time. Because in the words of YouTube rap icon Jake Paul, “it’s every day, bro!” …Sorry I had to -_-

Task 1: Finish book 2

Chapter 6 is almost finished and it’s really at the point where even I am wondering how this wild ride will come to its conclusion!

First, to talk about the story a little bit… Book 2 dives much deeper into the who the Keagans are and why the brothers are doing what they’re doing. My opinion about reality is that maybe 2.5% of people are just bad and only do bad, 2.5% are just good and only do good, and 95% mean to do well the majority of the time but make mistakes along the way due to greedy instincts and/or bad influences. You will see this concept a lot more as the characters are developed in book 2. For now, that’s all I can say…

As for the writing, I’m seeing tremendous improvements on all fronts. Not only have I written this book much more efficiently time-wise, but the quality is also higher, pre-editing. It’s really been cool to see this development along the way of writing the series.

As of today my expected finish date for the draft is June 30 and scheduled release is still November 1!

Task 2: Social Brand

I originally labeled this section, “marketing,” as I was typing this. However, my friend, Malachi Vargas, has taught me not to use this word. Instead, my current goal is to build a social brand.

The two might not be mutually exclusive, but the key is the way that you think about and approach the process. For me, I dread the idea of being a pushy salesman. I don’t want to think about people enjoying my stories as, “fans,” either. Most of the people I meet daily don’t even find out I’m an author unless it naturally (somehow) comes up in a conversation.

This is what makes the concept of building a social brand so enticing to me. It forces me to instead think about the goal as making friends of similar interests who might also like what I have to offer. In the same way that my hobbies/activities come out only naturally in conversation, and usually only once a trusting friendship has been established, the goal should be the same in building a brand. We should focus on giving first, in order to build the trust of an established brand.

So how have I been working to implement this? The key has been to develop a strategy of using only the outlets that allow me to connect with my future, “friends.” So far, this has involved increasing my blog posting frequency, utilizing Goodreads more effectively, and figuring out which other social networks will, and will not, work best for me.

To follow-up on the shout out to my good friend, Malachi Vargas, I’m also very excited to be working with this guy on our first vlog. I should have links to the videos posted here very soon. For now though I’ll say Malachi has come up with this genius philosophy of creation and brand building you should check out. It personalized branding significantly for me and should for you too!

You can also find more content from Malachi here.

Task 3: TV Writing

Book publishing is thrilling. But learning the TV industry and script writing process is as good or better. To do this I have heavily utilized Masterclass, a website which contains video courses taught by industry icons about how they got to where they are. Some particularly cool ones on there are acting by Kevin Spacey and comedy by Steven Martin! However, for me to have come to this dream at a time when the ridiculously talented Shonda Rhimes (Gray’s Anatomy, Scandal, etc.) is outlining her TV writing journey online for only $90 is almost too good to be true.

I’ve been progressing through the lessons mostly one at a time, but this week I’m working on completing my story bible (easier with a book already written!) and my pitch document. Feedback on the pitch will be very important along the way so I’ll seek out some helpful eyes once finished. Having it mostly drafted though, writing the pitch document has certainly been–after holding my paperback book–the second craziest, “all too real,” moment I’ve experienced thus far on my journey.

And to think… it’s only just beginning! Next week the script writing begins!

Prioritizing

The bottom line is that it isn’t easy, but there are ways to ensure you meet each of your goals in a timely manner.

Strict hourly planning isn’t the way I go about it. Honestly, the process of making a precise schedule stresses me out more for some reason than the thought that I have a lot to do. Things come up and it’s just too hard a lot of the time to produce hour for hour. Now that’s not to say it wouldn’t work for you, but it just isn’t for me.

Instead, what I like to do is to draft weekly goals. As noted above, my actual weekly goals this week are as follows:

Finish first draft of chapters 6 and 7 of book 2
Finish story bible and pitch document for TV series
Draft detailed marketing plan with specific goals and outlets
At least 3 blog posts this week
Work out at least every other day

This leads to much less daily stress in completing tasks, while also providing enough pressure to reach goals that are challenging, but attainable.

And look at that, I might even get some occasional exercise! 😉

Halfway Through May

May 16, 2017

This is a historic day for me. Today is the REAL first day my novel, Crimson River, is available online. This book is my first ever published material of any kind and it’s exciting to say I did it. Even if people may not know it yet (or care), it’s still a beautiful and partially terrifying thing. For me though, it is way more beautiful than terrifying because this story needed to be told. Which brings me to the biggest lesson I’ve learned in writing it:
EVERYONE needs to tell their story in one way or another.

In a recent Instagram post I talked about this feeling of overwhelming freedom I have experienced having been able to write and publish my first book. The thing about it is though, telling your story doesn’t have to be about writing at all. For most it won’t be. Many friends of mine experience the same feeling in other areas entirely. Some examples of things I’ve seen light people’s eyes up include poker, art, and even beer!

So what can you do about it this May and beyond?

I won’t go too much deeper into specific areas of interest for now. However, I will conclude this point by expressing my sincere hope that you will actively search for your passions. Once you do find them, don’t feel bad about investing in them. Whatever it may be that makes you want to shout and cheer like a crazy person while you create, I hope that you find it. I promise it will be worth your time and, if necessary, your money. Also, if you already have found it, please make sure that no matter how busy you get in life, you never suppress it.

The world truly does need what you have to offer, but more importantly, you yourself will benefit in more ways than you can imagine for offering it.

Thanks for reading and hope you are enjoying the beginning of the Civilands series!

What If You Succeed?