Stand By It

No, I haven't been writing much. I've hit a mental block again. I just have to have one day to sit down and write non stop. And that day could either be Saturday or Sunday, when I usually get a bulk of writing done. I'm trying to stand by it.

But during my dry spells, I often research other aspiring writers. Or just writers in general to see what I can find. Today, you know who I found?

Will Wheaton.

I'll give you 3 seconds to figure out who that is.

1 . . .

2 . . .

Hey! Stop looking on IMDB! Cheater!

If you've waited the 3 seconds and still can't figure it out, I'll just go ahead and tell you. A long time ago, stephen king wrote a short novella called The Body. That story was adapted into the movie Stand By Me. Wil Wheaton played Gordie, the writer of the group of four boys walking on train tracks trying to find a missing person. Well guess what, folks.

He's a writer in real life.

He's written three books so far:

Just A Geek

Dancing Barefoot

Sunken Treasures

Who would've thought that the late great River Pheonix's sage advice, "You're going to be a writer someday, gordie." would actually be true?

I always knew what happened to all the other stars of stand by me. Last I heard river pheonix, deceased at 23, Corey feldmen has just done a return to his character Frog in a Lost Boys Dvd, and Jerry O'connel has gone to star in various movies and shows and was able to swipe up Rebecca Romijn. But what the hell ever happened to Wil Wheaton?

After stand by me he joined the series of Star Trek, which I briefly remember one episode with him in it. (Hey, I am by no means a trekki. It took me 4 days, 3 nights and a couple rockstar energy drinks and the power of time traveling DeLorean to remember that episode. And that was when I was channel surfing at the time.) Sometime in the show, he quit to become a more serious actor. To his dismay, after finishing drama school, all of Hollywood had forgotten about him. His dream of becoming a serious actor faded. It wasn't until he met a teacher from his old high school that he realized 'Hell, I should pick up a pen.'

He started a blog, which then grew to great popularity, which he then wrote the books based on his blog. From listening to an excerpt of him reading Just A Geek to an audience, he sounds like a helluva nice guy and one who will continue writing for a long time. He still writes on his blog. check it out!

http://www.wilwheaton.typepad.com/

Hear Wil Wheaton read first chapter of Just a geek

"Keep a diary and one day it'll keep you." ~Mae West

Update: Wil Wheaton is working with a new publisher and will publish a book entitled The Happiest Days of Our Lives. Here is a video of him reading an exerpt from that book to an audience. Enjoy.

The rustle of Wings

A bookstore is the closest thing to home for me. Walking in to one is as refreshing as falling asleep in front of a fireplace or waking on a rainy afternoon. Today, as I was greeted by the lifelong friend of a bouquet of pages old and new, I stopped to see a stand that read:

Friday, Reading and Signing.
May 8th, 7:00 pm.
Wings by Aprilynne Pike.

I dug my hand inside my coat and checked my cell. It is the eighth. And it was 6 o'clock. I figured, why not, it'll be fun to go to one of these. Plus, it will give me some insight.


This Borders was among my favorites. Located in Lagrange, right next to some railroad tracks. I love how big it is. Upstairs, near the cafe, is where the event would take place.


Had my laptop but the wifi wasn't working, so I decided to read. I got about 40 pages into The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.

Ten minutes to the hour, I sat down, expecting a big crowd. There were only eight of us, myself included. From the front cover there was a blurb from Stephenie Meyer. Could this Aprilynne be the next big thing?

She came out, smiling. She told us of how she loved writing. "In my experience, people say that a writer gets his/her second book that he/she writes published. For me, it was my fourth." She wrote the book while seven months pregnant and finished it in six weeks, which, she laments, "No author should ever do. I don't recommend it. It takes some authors anywhere from one month to ten years to write a book. The average is nine months." She read from page 102, where the strange thing that is happening to Laurel, the main character, is being analyzed by her friend who is helping her with biology. What started as a bump on her back, which Laurel dismissed as a zit, become full-blown petals for wings. The discovery that her friend makes, while looking at her cells under a microscope is that she does not have humans cells . . . she has plant cells. The whole segment puts a new spin on the faerie world. Aprilynne shared with us how her book went through three seperate, vividly different cover designs before settling on the petals. I like the subtlety of it. This book will be part of a series that I'm sure will pick up speed. There will be a book out every May. She closes by saying, "As a first time author, you can't believe that your book turns into print form. You begin to think that it's a big joke. I remember, I went to my borders which is just a couple of blocks away from my house and I saw it sitting on the shelf and thought, ' oh my god. There it is.' But then I thought, 'oh that's just the one that they put close by me, it's probably not anywhere else.'" But it was. She has already done signings in New York and L.A. and plans to stick to the genre that she loves so much.

I was a bit dissapointed that I couldn't buy a book for her to sign, but the experience was well worth the half hour I spent listening to her express her joy of being a published writer. Three of us stayed a while to ask additional questions. One woman couldn't wait to start reading, after just having read the Twilight saga, and another short girl with dark hair and glasses talked to Aprilynne on how she was working on her novel and that she was taking creative writing classes. They talked about a site called www.absolutewrite.com which is a writers forum of some kind. I plan to take a look when I get the chance.


"So, all these writers just go on there to talk?" I asked.

Aprilynne turned to me, "Yeah. It's the greatest. Are you a writer?"

I smirk a little. "Trying to be."

"Well, you'll love it." she says.

With that, I said it was a pleasure to meet her and left. Y'know, I think I'll go to these more often.


"Aprilynne Pike's Wings is a remarkable debut; the ingenuity of the mythology is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds." ~ Stephenie Meyer.

Nearing Completion

Man, it feels great when that familiar muse knocks on my door. In just a few short days I have been able, not only to finish the "clocks" story I was working on, but also my "teacher" story. It veered of in its own direction and took me completely by surprise.


All that is left is to finish my "awake" story and a few others. I'm pretty sure that one day is all I need.


Writing, though a joy, is hard. I always think I'll be able to write a short story that will be ten pages and that'll be it. But it turns out that ten pages will not suffice depending on the story. Either there needs to be more time for structure or I have to make room for three different symbols or ideas within the story. And being the stickler that I am about making a story just right, to entertain you, the reader; I have to add all that stuff to the melting pot. I wish they could all be just two pages. But that's just a pipe dream.


The longest short story I ever wrote: 38 pages


Shortest story I ever wrote: 2 and a half pages


Until we meet again, possibly when I have finally completed the collection, have an audio promo or a video promo. We shall see. Ciao, my fellow writers.


"Even if what you're working on doesn't go anywhere, it will help you with the next thing you're doing. Make yourself available for something to happen. Give it a shot." ~Cormac McCarthy

Round Two: TKO!

We're off. Looks like Roberto got off to a sluggish start, Writer's Block had him on the ropes. There's the bell. The first jab. Wait! Roberto bounces back with a left hook! A right jab! He's got Writer's Block begging for mercy! Yes, yes! He's back into his old rhythm ladies and gentlemen. Writer's Block is down for the count! Total knockout!

You better believe it, baby. For two days straight, I've been writing up a storm. I was able to finish my "clocks" story and am now 5 pages into two other stories. It won't be long now before the stories are finished. Right now the collection is 233 pages. 64,000 words of thrills, chills and a little dark comedy.

Looks like those trips to Barnes and Noble are starting to pay off.

As far as reading goes, it looks like I'm steadily devouring works from Joseph Heller. Just have to pick up a copy of Good as Gold and Picture This when I get a chance. After him I'd really like to go through some of Chuck Palinuk's stuff (already read Choke, saw Fight club) and/or Jodi Piccolt. I think I'm drawn to controversial plots now.

One show that has really helped in beating the crap out of my writer's block is http://www.writingexcuses.com/ hosted by Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler. These guys have round table discussions on the many leaps us writers have to take. Check 'em out.

Until next time, in the words of Billy Crystal, "A writer writes . . . always."

"What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe"

Writer's Block: Round One

I’ve been in a bit of a stump since the last time I wrote something on this here blog of mine.

You guessed it; writer’s block.

Yes, that’s right. The creative juices have clotted. Yesterday showed a pitiful failed attempt at writing. Well, not writing but rather staring at the screen of my laptop inside a Barnes and Noble for two hours straight. To which I finally gave up.

Always easy to start a story.
Soooooooo hard to end it.

Right now I’m looking at 223 pages finished of my first short story collection, which I hope to podcast soon. But six stories remain unfinished. 3 are halfway there, 2 I haven’t even started and one is an adaptation of a previous screenplay I wrote as a teenager. All totaled, the collection holds 20 short stories. Originally it was going to have two additional stories, but I decided to pass those on to the second short story collection. Also, I don’t have the patience for those two stories right now. They piss me off.

I’ve been reading a lot, hoping that dipping into another author’s mind will wake something up in my own head. So far, nothing has really come of it. But here is one I highly recommend.

Talk about writer’s block. This book parodies that very concept. Eugene Pota, an established writer, now seventy, is trying to write his last great book. The only problem is . . . He has nothing to write about. The story is a unique experiment of what a writer goes through and the false starts he attempts. I originally had an idea similar to this, a book consisting of nothing but false starts, but looks like Joseph Heller beat me to the punch. Well played, good sir. I bow out of the project, respectively. It’s a quick read. About 233 pages. Already 100 pages into it. Pick it up, you just might like it.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

"If I'm trying to sleep, the ideas won't stop. If I'm trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness. " ~Carrie Latet