The Writer's thread (Authors, Screenwriters, playwrights, etc.)) - Part 1

[Resistance61513]

"It takes a great amount of self-belief to put yourself out there as an artist.
It takes a great amount of courage to take something that you created, that's intimate to you, and throw it out into the world and see what happens." - Trent Reznor​

So I've had this "post" in my head for a very long time. I honestly can't tell you how many times I've started writing it, only to end up deleting the whole thing. I've been a long time "lurker" to this thread. If I had to vaguely recall, I believe I discovered this thread a few years back...when I bravely ventured out from my frequently visited "Spider-Man" and "Sony" section. Over the years it's been a real treat to watch all of you pursue your creative endeavors...to celebrate your successes, as well as, admit your failures and choose to learn/grow from them. It's been very admirable and nothing short of inspiring to say the least.

I've been wanting to join the conversation for awhile, as stated above, but never really felt like throwing my name into the pool. Similar to some of you, I'm hoping to pursue a career in becoming a novelist. It's a career pathway I chose to pursue in 2015 when I was 24 years old. At the time I was writing only one story, a "horror/psychological thriller". If I had to "humbly" try to describe it, I'd like to think it's Thomas Harris' "The Silence of the Lambs" meets Michael Mann's "HEAT".

Writing/storytelling has always been a passion of mine, ever since I was a little kid. I remember I couldn't play with my action figures unless I had a story plotted out. (I never was one to just fly by the seat of their pants/imagination, I needed structure.) I remember being in 5th grade and teaching myself how to write movie scripts because film enticed me when seeing "Spider-Man" was being made into a movie. For the longest time I thought I'd try to make a career in writing movies but then I started seeing video games becoming this intricate storytelling medium. As luck would have it, I started talking to a video game company in 2005 called "Insomniac Games". The relationship progressed from "fan" to being able to call many of the employees friends. I made my mind up that, that was the studio I wanted to work for. I wanted to help elevate the facet of storytelling in their games to "the next level".

After a few years though of trying to get in on the "ground floor" and wanting to work my way up (That's just, in my opinion, the best way to do things sometimes. I like the idea/notion of having knowledge on the various departments and understanding them.) I didn't feel video games were my passion/calling. I loved playing them and have an immense respect for the craft but, for me creatively, there proved to be too many hoops to jump through. I couldn't bring myself to learn coding or the tech side of things. I just wanted to write compelling and original stories. That's when I decided to pursue a career in writing novels. What I find so enticing about this particular medium is, whomever picks up your books...they're essentially the director, the casting director, the cinematographer, costume designer...stories have a grander and broader reach in this particular medium because people pull from their own imaginations and experiences.

I love walking out of movie theaters and hearing people discuss the film. I enjoy hearing things like, "That's not how I imagined it." or "Wow, that's literally what I pictured when reading the story." There's something oddly cool about that in my opinion because everyone read the same words. When I told my parents about my career pursuit, they couldn't have been more supportive. That being said, my dad hit me with the notion, "If you're going to pursue this creative endeavor, you have to be sure you're not a one trick pony." and suddenly I went from writing one novel to writing and planning out 13 different ones.

"You only get to make a first impression once." - Jonah Hill​

I suffer from the same thing all creative minds do: striving for perfection. I understand the concept is subjective and we're never truly satisfied with what we work on. We're always constantly evolving things and hoping to reach that "sweet spot" which allows us to walk away content. I've been refining my one story for almost five years now, making sure no stone goes unturned, and I think this is the year to finally take the next step and start talking about it and getting publishers involved. I know technically there is more money to be made in self publishing but I have that dream, as I'm sure many writers do, where you can walk into a book store and see a greeting table with your newly released book.

I'm currently in the process of looking into various writing contests to build a portfolio, maybe have some works published in magazines, and thinking about attending the annual "Writers Digest" conference held in New York City this coming August. I've been entertaining my friends and family for the past couple years with the stories that are in my head, often met with the same response: "That needs to be a movie. I'd see that day one."

While I still have a ways to go, I figured it's time to finally join this conversation/thread and document my endeavors. Hopefully this bump will spark some life back into this and everyone can talk about what they've been up to.

All the best.

- Adam

 

[Mandon Knight]

Have gone ‘fully independent’ and officially ‘self-employed’ now with my writing. Very proud.

 

[Resistance61513]

Congratulations, that's fantastic news. Where can we check out your work?

 

[Mandon Knight]

Congratulations, that's fantastic news. Where can we check out your work?

Thank you. I've been take on as a treatment writer, so nowhere 'official' at the moment. Things in motion, a ‘watch this space’ scenario just currently. However, doing work for a national broadcaster is a major 'shot in the arm'.

 

[ComicChick]

@Resistance61513 thank you for sharing your story with us. that all sounds very cool.

there are lots of pretty big written contests/workshops etc online that you might want to check out.

i know Colleen Hoover built her audience through Wattpadd and got a book deal out of it. Sarah J. Maas kinda did the same and ending up building a pretty big name for herself. I believe she started on Fanfiction.net or An Archive of Her Own.

We even have a fanfiction forum here should you just want to throw some ideas or stuff around.

 

[Resistance61513]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to check in on your endeavors/seeing if there is anything new or "worthwhile" to report. I'm curious, was anyone able to take advantage of quarantine and crank out some of their writing backlog?

Unfortunately, I was unable to. In hindsight it feels like a missed opportunity but I know no matter how hard I would've tried, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere. I've returned back to work and realize just how much I depend on "everyday life" to transition into a creative mindset.

I'm hitting the ground running today and returning back to my endeavors.

I hope you all are well and staying safe. As always, wishing you all, all the best.

 

[Schlosser85]

Sadly I’ve again lost motivation/interest in my sci fi series, so for a creative outlet I’m in a collaborative project with my ex coming up with an ensemble of assassins and associated characters for a ‘verse of storylines, some interconnected and some stand-alone.

We each make up a few characters and then share their profiles that we fill out in the Novel Factory if anyone else uses that (you have to fill out biographical backstory stuff and fill out a questionnaire, it’s a good way of forcing yourself to think of answers to lots of stuff.

Just for examples, he has an MI5 agent, a woman who escaped sex trafficking as a child and is now a vigilante against such people, and a CIA trainee dropout turned rogue agent, and I have an Austrian sniper, a Mossad agent, a hired goon for the Russian Mafia, and a supposed English aristocrat and fake MI5 agent who’s actually a Welsh slum kid who reinvented himself as this James Bond wannabe pulling cons and scams across Europe.

And some of them interconnect, like when his MI5 agent and my Austrian sniper end up getting hired by two shady figures in the Vatican with clashing agendas that leads them to have a run in with each other.

It’s mostly just building a roster of characters at this point, but it’s something creative at least.

 

[thangaran]

I’m writing a personal commentary piece on tumorigenesis in response to the relentless onslaught of injury the body endures. I’ve not written something like this before but in some ways am using it as a broader look at how systems fail, the rinse repeat process of trying to cleanse and improve situations, the seeming cyclical matrix of life

 

[joombo]

tnx for the inspiration guys, I'm workng on my essay right now. Hope I'll finish it in the near future. I'm glad that I found writing service to write my essay for me and save my time. Last time these guys helped me a lot with my writings.

 

[Hellion]

Been a while since I've been in here.
My book was finally released earlier this year.

Currently editing and proofreading a 2nd book, not sequel, but supplemental content to that 1st book. 1st book was originally a script. Working the script to the book, I cut a lot material out. And this 2nd book is that cut content.

Also will eventually revise, I did write the sequel, when I'm done with the above.

 

[Resistance61513]

tnx for the inspiration guys...

I'm glad to hear that posts in here inspire you. That was one of the reasons why I chose to revisit this thread after all these months. I feel it's imperative to essentially "build community". As one of the quotes I referenced above, it takes a great deal of "self-belief" to essentially put out what it is that's intimate/means something to you. I'm wishing you all the best with your endeavors and really hope that they're seen through. Please keep us posted!

Been a while since I've been in here.
My book was finally released earlier this year...

Congratulations on releasing your first book earlier this year, Hellion. I hope you don't mind that I ask lazily rather than dig through the backlog of pages on here...where can I purchase your book? I'm always up for supporting others and their crafts. As I said above, I think that's something that's imperative among the creative community...all it takes is for that one person to believe in you and get the ball rolling. Until then, it's great to have a small community that supports and gives you the drive to keep pushing forward.

I know this thread has kind of unfortunately fizzled out in the time I've finally decided to make my "voice" heard but, regardless, if there's anything you guys need, feel free to ask. If you want something looked over, constructive feedback etc etc I'm definitely willing to help out in any way I can.

In regards to my own pursuits, I have quite a few projects I'm simultaneously jumping around on. Back in 2016, I began writing a "novella" that I was going to release for free online around the time of Halloween. (I can't remember if I echoed this above but, basically, my philosophy is that you can't just outright ask for people to spend their hard-earned money on your stuff without giving a basis.) This particular novella was essentially my "love letter" to the horror genre. It's not the most original idea and that's why I felt okay with giving it away for free.

That being said, it's kind of grown in size. I feel there's a large story to be told/unearthed and I was doing myself a disservice by trying to paint myself into a corner by giving me a page limit/word count. Until I start making my rounds following through on publishers, I'm thinking about doing a little side project with my writings. As I had said in a different post, I really want to make a name for myself in the "horror" / "psychological/suspense thriller" genre. I created a social media page that I'm going to use to host my various pieces of work. All of them are going to be under the creative umbrella "Palpitating_Productions". I'm going to read a few pages from novella that's now turning into its own novel and host it like an audio book/podcast for people to listen to. It'll give them an idea if my writing style is for them or not.

I also have these little writing prompts I've put together based upon my favorite horror movie "The Strangers". I began those in 2017 and made some traction with them before putting them on the back burner. My friend was kind enough to shoot photos of me in my Halloween costume so I could have visuals to correlate with the story. I'll link below one of my favorite shots.

If you guys have thoughts, opinions, critiques or advice, I'm all ears. I hope to hear more progress from everyone and hear that a lot of your aspirations are coming to fruition.

Remember the famous line, "Everest was not climbed in a day." Be sure to keep climbing and continue sustaining your self-belief.

All the best.

Spoiler

 

[Lobo]

Hellion where can I pick up your book?

 

[Hellion]

I'll send you guys links in message.
Thanks.

 

[Iceman]

Been a while since I've been in here.
My book was finally released earlier this year.

Currently editing and proofreading a 2nd book, not sequel, but supplemental content to that 1st book. 1st book was originally a script. Working the script to the book, I cut a lot material out. And this 2nd book is that cut content.

Also will eventually revise, I did write the sequel, when I'm done with the above.

Congrats on getting your book finished and released! Massive achievement.

 

[Hellion]

Congrats on getting your book finished and released! Massive achievement.

Thanks so much, really appreciate it.

Just nice after so long, having it released.
It really is the greatest feeling, and an achievement in of itself.

 

[Iceman]

Thanks so much, really appreciate it.

Just nice after so long, having it released.
It really is the greatest feeling, and an achievement in of itself.

It must be great. Where is it released? Also how long did it take you to finish from when you started?

I really want to finish mine one day. I have everything structured and just need to fill in the gaps but I've not had much free time for a long time. I plan on self publishing and getting an ebook and audiobook done. I also want some premium format physical copies for myself.

 

[ComicChick]

it's so awesome that hype members are supporting each other. i purchased @JewishHobbit 's book on Kindle years ago to support him. It was called Cicada Song.

 

[ComicChick]

@Resistance61513, i didn't quote your whole post due to length and it being right above, but it sounds like you've got a great plan set out. keep us posted

 

[Hellion]

It must be great. Where is it released? Also how long did it take you to finish from when you started?

I really want to finish mine one day. I have everything structured and just need to fill in the gaps but I've not had much free time for a long time. I plan on self publishing and getting an ebook and audiobook done. I also want some premium format physical copies for myself.

If including when I initially wrote the book as a script and up until I released it, 2013-2020. In February on my bday. Seemed like a good day to release it, lol.

If you're passionate about it, that's all that matters, can take a few months, (and my 2 current books in editing and revising, took a few months to write compared to my 1st book that took years), time doesn't matter, just go for it. At some point, all the pieces will fall in place, just keep at it.

I'm on amazon. I'll send a link in message.

eta:
I think the one thing I'll say to invest in is an editor. It's the one thing I'm happy I did.

 

[Iceman]

If including when I initially wrote the book as a script and up until I released it, 2013-2020. In February on my bday. Seemed like a good day to release it, lol.

If you're passionate about it, that's all that matters, can take a few months, (and my 2 current books in editing and revising, took a few months to write compared to my 1st book that took years), time doesn't matter, just go for it. At some point, all the pieces will fall in place, just keep at it.

I'm on amazon. I'll send a link in message.

eta:
I think the one thing I'll say to invest in is an editor. It's the one thing I'm happy I did.

Oh nice. Yeah I feel like if I had a couple of months free I could finish it, but I wrote the first chapter about 20 years ago haha. Although it has changed a lot since then.

Thanks!

 

[Hellion]

Oh nice. Yeah I feel like if I had a couple of months free I could finish it, but I wrote the first chapter about 20 years ago haha. Although it has changed a lot since then.

Thanks!

Good luck, hope it all works out!

Just like @ComicChick mentioned, I've purchased some hypester books, going to have to go digging to remember them, though, try to update and repost if I can.

 

[ComicChick]

it'd be cool if hype members shared their works here to support each other. and/or create a thread in this forum to showcase them?

@Iceman i have stories in my head from easily 20-24 years ago that were recurring dreams throughout my teens years, maybe a little earlier. never really put them down on anything concrete though. there was one or two i tried to write snippets of well over a decade ago, but they're probably cringeworthy, and to be honest, i wonder if i even have the files anymore. i have a harddrive i need to hook up and see what's on it

 

[Schlosser85]

I'd be willing to share some stuff I've written if anyone was interested.

 

[Resistance61513]

Wow, this was honestly such a pleasant surprise logging back into this thread! I'm elated to see some activity/life has been brought back here. As I had stated in my initial post, I've been a longtime lurker...I felt as though I missed my opportunity to converse with a lot of you because posts in here became very few and far between. That being said, I'm happy to see so many "familiar faces" returning. I also appreciate the full transparency/everyone reporting on where their current creative endeavors reside.

Personally, I love the idea of strengthening this community and building better relationships with one another. Whether that's creatively or spawning into acquaintances/friendships, similar to what I said above, I believe "community" is one of the integral elements in ensuring we're able to see our passions through. Loosely echoing what Aunt May says in "Spider-Man 2", "...years later tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who told them to HOLD ON a second longer."

The creative process, as I'm sure many of you can attest to, can sometimes be a long and taxing one. I've been working on various novels/projects for the past five years now. A lot of time and effort has gone into them. I'm looking forward to the day when, hopefully, I'm able to "give back" to the genre I've loved and have been entertained by for so many years.

I just recently read that a Reddit horror story titled "My Wife and I Bought a Ranch" got picked up by Netflix. That's definitely a dream down the road...however, continuing my arsenal of quotes from Trent Reznor...

"When I've sat down to write, I've always tried to have the main criteria to just be honest with myself about how I feel about...whatever it happens to be that I'm writing about. And to try to be as brutally honest and not cater to anything other than what excites me as an artist and as a person. As long as it feels valid and sincere...I would hate to think I'd ever be in a position where I'm faking it to get a paycheck." - Trent Reznor
​

I think the most important thing I can do right now for myself is to be honest with what it is I'm choosing to write and make sure it comes from a sincere place. I believe that if my intention or goal is to make the "next big thing" that's not being honest with my pursuit. Instead, I'm choosing to write stories that cater to my tastes and what I, as a consumer, would want to subject myself to. It's fun to entertain though the ideas of grandeur down the road but, for now, I'd like to stay grounded and hope for the best.

I would wholeheartedly be interested in sharing some of my works/the projects I currently have gestating. Is it possible to make a private group among the individuals who would be interested in doing such a thing? I haven't really used the new layout of this site.

@Hellion - Thanks for linking me to your story. I know I replied to your message but, I'm excited to check out your story! I'll be sure to pick it up tomorrow.

@ComicChick - Thank you for your kind words/support from the moment I posted in this thread. I appreciate them immensely. I'll be sure to see to it that I hold myself accountable for posting updates. I'm hoping to make a big push this week. (Also, here's hoping you're able to link up that hard drive and see what files you have/if you get a second wind to write out the stories you've had in your head.)

@Iceman - I'm a sucker for quotes and right now, lamely, the one that I'm thinking of is Vin Diesel saying in the first Fast and Furious, "It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile...winning's winning." I think the same can be said for completing a creative project. It doesn't matter the length of time it takes for one to complete...so long as it's able to be completed to the best of ones ability/remains true to what it is they set out to achieve with it. In the end, you pass the finish line regardless and that's the most important aspect, seeing something through. I know you had said it comes down to time but, here's hoping you're able to complete your story/share it with us. I'm looking forward to it.

@Schlosser85 - I'd definitely be very interested in checking out whatever you deem appropriate to share. That'd be awesome.

Here's hoping everyone is having a great day/night, wherever you're located, I look forward to seeing what updates everyone has to share. Again, thanks for sharing what you're working on.

All the best.

- Adam

 

[Schlosser85]

This is just a random short I wrote in 2017. Yes I know it has my name on it, meh.