The Writer Who Is Not An Author, Part 1

To date, I have two finished manuscripts, two partials (of more than 10 chapters), and many story starters.

I finished my first manuscript in August 2011. Message In A Bottle. This is a crime drama revolving around serial murder.

I finished my second manuscript in November 2011. Contagion Protocol. This is a zombie tragedy.

I am currently engrossed in what will be my third manuscript. (I am still working through the title options)

As of today, I have sent out query letters for both of my finished manuscripts. Each manuscript has been pushed to 15 different agents with my first attempt at agent contact in August 2011. Of those thirty queries, I have gotten nine rejections. (I keep a spreadsheet of manuscript activity for a number of reason but mainly to avoid angering agencies by dual submissions.)

I am a member of WeBook, (my user name there is also ScrawledinScars, don't be shy, go ahead and friend request) and I take part in Writer's Market e-mails and activities. I have checked out other writing communities online but have not found any that really stand out for me at this point so if you have recommendations, I'll listen.

I have also just submitted an entry to NPR's All Things Considered for round eight of their Three Minute Fiction contest.

So that's it for now. You and I are still sitting on the outside of these iron gates looking in.

The writer who is not an author (a prologue)

If you have checked in on this blog more than once, then you know that I love writing, which is why this page even exists.

I wrote my first real tragedy when I was eighteen. It was a three page glimpse of a man whose wife dies in child birth. When I did it, I just wanted to get this little story out of my rattling cage and for years after, I only managed to squeak out a couple other shorts.

A few years back, I worked at a horribly dead-end job where I filled a little bit more with scraps of anger. Finally, I had to let my anger out and, rather than walk into work with a semi-automatic weapon, I put the pen to paper for a full length novel. I had a fun plot line developed with an equally irate co-worker so I ironed out some characters and let them loose. By the end of the book, my angry little characters had turned into mass-murderers, eliminating the injustices evident in our world by taking out hypocrites and degenerates, they were fictional purifiers that ended up battling the demons I was carrying inside my head.

Once that book was complete, all my little stories ran to the forefront of my brain and saw their big brother sitting on just shy of five hundred pages. A riot broke loose in my cranium, knocking over the establishment and shaking down ideas I shelved away to forget forever. What was I to do with that mess?

I got it out. Next thing I know, I can't stop the stream of ideas, characters, plots, villains, scenes, and general clutter banging around, waiting for their chance to get out. I tried to push it all back and dam it up by focusing on college but the constant rush broke my fortress and made a bigger, sloppier mess in my skull.

Finally, I let it go. For better or for worse, I let all of that disaster flow from my thick head, through my arms, and out onto the keyboard, spilling letters of profanity into the universe. Was it the right thing to do? Most likely not. Is it going to change the way man exists, I sincerely doubt it.

So, why do it then? Why punish the rest of humanity with the garbage inside my mind? Because it just feels good to let it out, to release this built up pressure against my brain plate. My happiness is other people's pain. Besides, one man's trash is another man's treasure and I hope that someone picks up something my mental diarrhea has dribbled out and finds great value in his findings.

With that said, I know writing is the easy part. I would have told you that was bullshit when I almost quit my first manuscript because I wrote myself straight into an inescapable corner (each time I did it). Even now, right now on my third manuscript, where I sit in another corner of no escape (thus the birth of this blog post). Writing is the easy part, at least, for a writer with no published credits to his name.

That's right, I have no cred in the publishing world and that's where the tough part is. Try breaking into the White House or, worse yet, Hugh Hefner's estate without the reputation needed to walk through the front gate. That's me, sitting outside the iron fence, watching the world on the inside. Hell, even the talentless pool-boy can get inside once a week. Thing is, that talentless pool-boy has some cred somewhere.

So, as I continue to write, as I continue to sit in corners, I will begin chronicling the steps I have taken to build up some street rep with the big dogs of an industry I don't yet belong to. Maybe you can journey with me; laugh while I fall on my face, cry at some of the treasure I try pushing, feel the rush of potential success, chug tediously through the 'behind the scenes' garbage I wade through.

We learn socially, so I am here to make mistakes to help you. Who knows, maybe I'll even stumble upon a little bit of success along the way.

Writer's Challenge #5

Image via Wikipedia

This challenge was one that was posted to me by a friend of a friend (long story) and it was creative enough that I thought I would share it with you.

Go online or hit your local music store to grab a list of 20 Indie rock band names, at random (I recommend a top 20 list for 2008 or have a couple friends go with you and get them to split the task of gathering bands).

Take your 20 band names and create a story using the names. Use all 20 names, they don't have to be in order and you can use other words to enhance but get all 20 band names in.

Writing Challenge #3

Wow, it took some time get back 'round to this blog. My apologies. I would like to make some reason for not posting which fills your heart with pity which causes you to excuse it all away. Unfortunately, I ain't got one! Moving on:

I know today isn't Monday, but...
This week's writing challenge is a simple one. Pick a favorite musical band, favorite movie, video game, comic book, role playing....well, you get the point. Once you have it nestled securely into your forethought, write a haiku (or a series of haiku) discussing it. Heck, you could even write one for each of the various topics I displayed above (or more, if you choose).

Let's see what we can get done eight days from now (July 17th).

Infinite Inkwell Writer's Guild - Challenge #2

This post is the next challenge for the members of the Infinite Inkwell Writer's Guild.
If you are not a member and would like to become a member, please e-mail me from blogspot and we can discuss entry into the guild.

Alright, fellow pensmiths, here is our second challenge! For this challenge, the main object of your short story must be the color blue. Whether it is the color itself or something that is that color. You are a writer, get creative. The criteria should range from three paragraphs to a single page of writing.

The main object is the color blue!

Post as a comment if you please.
Good luck! I will submit my own story on Friday.