Sacrifices and Rejection

I’ve more or less given up watching television during the weekdays in order to really get serious about writing. I feel good about this read-aloud edit and cannot wait to send out a more polished version of The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom to literary agents. Thankfully, I have dvr, so whatever I miss, I check out on the weekends.
I wonder about ever truly “making it” as an author. This whole journey has shown me that there are no overnight successes in things like this. How many actors/actresses that have made it faced rejection in auditions and whatnot? I have a whole Excel spreadsheet showing how many times I’ve been rejected by literary agents or didn’t place in short story contests. 
The good thing is that I can’t say that I particularly miss watching television. I’m watching stories unfold on a particular media, but now, I’m writing my own.

The Journey and Making Mistakes

I just got my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt, and it was a long and arduous journey to get there. Mistakes were made, there was a lot of trial-and-error, risks were taking, and it was both physically and mentally draining at times. Sounds a lot like trying to become a published author.

The latest thing that that I discovered with writing was something to do with the editing process. I’ve read The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom, and tried to edit the grammatical errors sentence-by-sentence. However, when I read the first couple pages aloud as part of a free short story reading on my YouTube page, it just didn’t sound right.

When I did my initial edit, it was mainly to look for grammatical errors. Now, I’m doing a read aloud edit where I’m reading entire paragraphs to see how each sentence flows to the next sentence. I’ve taken out many sentences doing this, as I’ve found words and sentences that just didn’t need to be there. I even changed the names of some of the minor characters. There were times that I was trying to be too “cute” with what I was writing, like putting events out of order, but reading it aloud, that was not a good idea.

I’m actually regretting putting this out and sending it to literary agents. Lesson learned, I suppose, but I can’t imagine this journey without mistakes being made.  

Work Versus Passion

I’ve been very busy as of late. I’m everywhere doing MMA Predictions, Post Fight Analysis, and Q &A. I’m also starting to do manga reviews starting with the manga, Rave Master. Finally, I’m doing free readings of my short stories.

Besides YouTube, I’m now using SoundCloud, Twitter, Tumblr and have my own Author’s Page on Facebook. The plan is to be everywhere to build awareness for me as an author, and especially for my works. I’m pretty much doing this every day.

It’s gotten to the point where when I watch television, I’m on my laptop working on these things. At least it’s fun for me, so while I do consider it “work,” it is a “passion.”

Advertising and Marketing

I’m focusing a lot on advertising and marketing my books and short story collections. I found out that this whole time, I was asking the wrong questions. The question I asked was, “How can I market myself and my stories?” The problem is that I needed to narrow down the questions to make them more specific to the book that I wrote and what I’m trying to do.

It’s a tough thing to crack though. So much is done online, and I needed to download programs and learn how to use them. There’s also just how I want to approach certain ideas, and what resources that I can use to make these ideas happen.

I’ve tried to market The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom before, but in hindsight, I focuses my time and energy on the wrong things. I didn’t consider my audience at times, and I wasn’t aware of the resources that are available. I’m hopeful though in that I have some ideas and will implement them soon.

Self-Publishing

I just put The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom on Amazon.com. I really didn’t plan on self-publishing to this extent in hopes that I would be able to get a literary agent and eventually be published through traditional means. I’m still sending query letters out to literary agents, but I have only gotten rejections so far.

Right now, I’m struggling to find a sort of best practices for self-publishing. I have no idea how to get my name out there. Admittedly, it has been frustrating and discouraging getting rejections from literary agents and not feeling that I’m really moving forward with self-publishing. 

I’ll put a lot of content on Amazon like short story collections, The Land of the Wooden Statues, The Wilderness, and if I get around to finishing it this year, The Mustard Prince in the Beverage Kingdom. While I shouldn’t expect things to go quickly right from the start, I’d like to have some sort of gameplan as far as self-publishing goes moving forward.

Characters and Procrastination

I watched Captain America: Civil War the other day, and I thought it was very good. I like the characters, and I’ve always been drawn into characters more than plots. My writing tends to reflect being more character-driven than story-driven as well. I think of the protagonist and imagine what he does and write it down as my general approach to writing stories.

I realize that I keep changing my approach to doing things in regards to writing. For example, I was of the idea to send one query letter to a Literary Agent once every two weeks or so. Now, I think it’s a better idea to send them a bit more frequently. I also have a good amount of short stories completed, but I only submitted to one or two competitions a month. With those especially, instead of letting them sit and do nothing, it is just smarter to send them out to various competitions more frequently.

I actually didn’t finish a short story within a deadline for a short story competition. Procrastination has been my biggest enemy ever since I was in Kindergarten. I’ve been good about getting these stories done before their deadlines, but I waited too long for this one. Hopefully, I can finish the story and submit it somewhere.

Inspiration

I watched the movie, Rudy, the other day and decided to write a short story inspired by the movie. It’s for a short story contest, and I’ll try to make it twenty-five to thirty pages. I’ve been inconsistent with my writing as of late, so this will be a good way for me to get into the groove again.

Inspiration is a strange thing because you’ll never know where you’ll find it. I created a villain from reading about a drug dealer in a magazine and made characters from looking at condiments while eating lunch. With this new short story, I watched Rudy and wanted to create a medieval version of the story.

Eventually, I’d like to travel more. At the very least, it helps me create settings by visiting new places. It’s another way to find inspiration and get fresh ideas.

What I Have Time For

I just finished a short story that was 1,000 words or less in two days, which was done one hour each day. It was for a short story contest. I have a process of stewing on ideas, writing a general outline and then getting to the actual writing. In this case, with it being so short, I didn’t need an outline.

The story was fun. I wrote a story about a nerdy high school kid who meets a girl through an MMORPG. It’s funny because I base a good amount of my stories on anime and video games, but I haven’t been able to watch anime or play video games lately. I wonder if I’ve outgrown them as I got older. I’m not just participating in watching stories, but now, I’m writing stories. 

It’s also just getting older and not having the time to watch anime or play video games. If I had the time, then I would. It’s not that they aren’t fun, as they are simply different media to create stories.  

Imagery and Glass

With time management, I’ve managed to be on schedule for this short story that I am writing, Shattered Glass. I had a friend read what I’ve written so far, and he said that it was dark and gothic, which is what I was going for. There is blood and violence, but it is more disturbing than just pure gore.

I used a good amount of imagery with this new short story. The imagery used is primarily glass, which connects with the title, but then I went deeper with the ideas of transparency and fragility. Glass is everywhere in the short story, but the ideas are a bit more subtle.

I’ll probably take a week off before participating in another short story contest. Getting older and having a full-time job, it is just so hard to find the time to write and take care of other errands. 

Writing Horror Stories

I’m writing a horror story for a short story contest. I’ve always felt that horror is difficult to write, as it’s something that I feel comes across better visually. I’ve written horror before with my short story, The Disgraceful One, and a gothic horror short story, The Waves of the South Sea, so it’s not totally unfamiliar to me and a good challenge.

This will help me work on being more descriptive and setting up a certain type of mood or atmosphere. I have a general idea of how the story plays out, but creating the mood to emit fear is proving difficult. I also don’t want to resort to horror tropes like haunted houses, abandoned cabins, or hospitals.

I’m not big on horror that resorts to gore and violence, so I’m going to try to refrain from too much of that in this story. I like the horror utilized in Pan’s Labyrinth, where it is indeed scary, but not needlessly bloody. I’m trying to go with something a bit more psychological here, and I hope that it works. 

Subtlety and Nuance

It’s always nice to finish a story, whether it be a novel or short story. A friend asked me what my latest short story is trying to convey, and this time, it’s just a story. I always use short stories to work on something, so with this story, I wanted to focus on making my writing more subtle.

I’m very direct when I write, so my writing really lacks nuance. My characters really can’t “stop and smell the roses” or really take long detours. It’s probably why I’ve struggled with writing a long novel. 

I’ve stopped writing The Mustard Prince in the Beverage Kingdom for now to focus on writing short stories for various contests. I’ll definitely get back to it though, and hopefully, it’ll be sometime this year. 

Settings and Dialogue

I’m almost done with a new short story. I went to the Philippines not too long ago and decided to write a short story for a short story contest that’s set in a small town in the Philippines. I always use these short stories to work on different aspects of writing, and in this case, it’s setting.
I also managed to look into some things that I was doing wrong with my dialogue, as I wasn’t putting the personality of the character into the dialogue. It was nice discovering that since I feel that dialogue is something that I’m weak at. 
I’m particularly busy pretty much every day, so I’m relegated to writing for a half hour to at most an hour every day, if possible. I’m getting into a good habit of doing this consistently, as writing short stories for contests brings about a sense of urgency in me due to them having deadlines.

Short Stories Again

I’m back to entering short story contests which honestly, is fine with me. I was working on the second Mustard Prince novel, but with it having no deadline, I was finding motivation and consistency lacking. Participating in short story contests turns up the sense of urgency that I need to write consistently and makes me conform to a deadline.

I’m still sending query letters out to literary agents at the same time. That hasn’t changed. At the same time that I got back into short stories is the same time that I realized that I need to change up these query letters. If agents have critiques of query letters online somewhere, then that’s the template necessary to write a query letter specifically to a particular literary agent.

Short stories are fun. I like fantasy, but I venture into the mundane as well. I used my travels to the Philippines as inspiration for the setting of a new short story that I’m writing. I like to experiment with different writing techniques or focus with short stories when I can.

Discoveries and Progress

Little steps of progress and discovery are what I expect and have actually found this week. After advertising The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom consistently on my MMA Youtube videos, one of the viewers bought a digital copy of the book.

I think that fantasy and reality definitely don’t mesh when it comes to becoming an author. For example, once the book is completed, for the most part, literary agents and publishers are not jumping to sign you even though you might think that your book is the next big hit. I came up with different ideas to promote and ultimately sell The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom, and the results were small at best. At this point, I cannot expect big strides in anything along this journey. 

I finally made a new discovery with the dreaded query letter. My book is a high-action, high-adventure novel, yet in describing it, I was so passive. I can’t reflect what the book is about by being passive, so I’m going to make more of an effort to really dig into the story and make it appear to be extremely exciting.

Why I Don't Quit

Every time that I don’t write on a regular basis, I start to think of what won’t happen to my life. I’ll have a decent, yet mediocre life being another face in the crowd. The potential to be something more pulls me back in and doesn’t allow me to just totally quit trying to be a published author.

I’m pretty hard on myself when I don’t write. There’s a saying that if you aren’t moving forward, then you’re moving backwards. I have acquaintances that tell me that I sometimes need to just take a break every once in a while, but I don’t want to make excuses and just admit to me being lazy and idle.

I have been on-and-off as far as writing consistently is concerned, as of late. In trying to achieve a big goal, one just doesn’t see the end of it in sight, so it’s easy to become lazy or put things off. Focus and discipline are simply necessary, along with the acceptance that this process can just be a grind.

Consistency, Patience, and The Grind

Consistency has been the most difficult thing for me right now. With writing, I still do not have the necessary structure or consistent writing process that would prove to anyone that I’m serious about becoming a professional author. There is something about trying to reach this goal that’s just about proving something to yourself, as well as proving something to others.

Patience is also another thing that is being learned. I would have liked some sort of immediate satisfaction after completely certain aspects of writing. For example, finishing a novel and presenting it to different agents, unless I’m really lucky or know someone, I can’t expect to immediately get an agent just because I have a finished work. Book sales aren’t immediate because no one knows who I am, so I have to really advertise and put myself out there so that people will hopefully give me a chance.

That grind and sticking with something like becoming a professional author is probably the most difficult thing to do. Facing that rejection and just coming back to the grind and having that faith that something good will happen is, right now, the toughest thing to do in reaching a high goal.

Sickness and Writing

Back to the grind of things, or so I thought. I got sick for the last week and haven’t been able to get back in the groove of things. My writing has been suffering terribly because of me being sick, as I just haven’t had the energy or temperament to sit down and just write with no distractions.

I believe that what you put out there, you generally get back just as much if not more. Therefore, when I’m not writing, I feel like I’m just wasting time being idle. Stories just don’t write themselves, and progress doesn’t happen while doing nothing.

Hopefully, I’ll get better this coming week and get back into the swing of things. I’m writing the next Mustard Prince novel, and the characters are at an interesting place right now, but they haven’t been able to progress because I’ve been in the sidelines.

The New Year - 2016

I am looking forward to this New Year. I look back at 2015 as a year for learning, and I am hoping that 2016 will be the year of achievement. My New Year’s resolution is to become a professionally published author.

The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom is out on my website. Finishing it with getting a cover and making a Table of Contents has made the book look professional. I hope that readers like the book, and there is more to come.

As far as looking professional, that is one thing I learned in 2015. I needed an author’s website, and I thought of just making a Wordpress or Blogspot website. I didn’t realize that putting money to look professional was so necessary, as presentation is everything. 

The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom

The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom is coming out this Friday on my website. It’s funny because I never really thought about even having an author’s website, and here I am putting my stories on it. 

To be honest, I was hoping that The Mustard Prince would be professionally published by now. I’ve sent in query letters to literary agents for the book but have only gotten rejections. What I know now and have achieved though is very different than just a couple months ago, so I’m hopeful.

The Mustard Prince in the Condiment Kingdom was a tough task to write despite being a fan of adventures. The process for writing a novel is arduous, but looking back is quite enjoyable. It’s amazing to think that what came from my head can be put into words, and in a sense, the characters and world that was once just an idea in my head is now reality.

Back From Vacation

I came back from the Philippines, and it was a great experience except that I got sick on the last day of the trip. I had an eight hour layover in Korea, and then the flight back to LAX was more than nine hours long, and that was while I was sick. That wasn’t so great.

There is a lot of compare and contrast going on. The way that I viewed relationships was with such a “Western” mentality, and there was a point in my trip where it clashed with the way things were done in the Philippines. Values are a lot different in the Philippines, as I found things to be much simpler there.

Maybe it’s the artistic side of me, but where some would see poor, I saw art. I wanted to just take pictures of everything from the roads, to the houses, to the fields. Maybe the lack of uniformity appealed to my creative side or something.