encouragement

My Book Will Probably Fail … And So Will Yours

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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THERE IS A PRINCIPLE IN the universe called Price’s Law, after Derek J. de Solla Price. It’s a brutal law that doesn’t seem to make sense, but is pretty damn accurate across the board. Why is it that the richest 2% have more than the bottom 98% regardless of the governing body? It’s not a capitalist, or socialist, or communist, or any other ‘ist’ that’s responsible.

No matter how good you are at basketball, only a small percent will make it to the NBA and an even smaller percentage will stand out. Millions of people can fight, but very few will make it to the UFC. And boxing? When it comes to boxing, a tiny portion will make it to the top. Even if you are at the top of your game in boxing, nobody cares that you’re number 9 in the world. This is not just in the sporting world – the majority of scientific papers are published by a handful of scientists. Almost all commercial music is produced by a tiny portion of producers. Think of your classical musicians and who comes to mind …  just a few composers – Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and almost all modern orchestras play their music. Even of those four, no matter how much they composed, only a few select pieces of their music is played. In a business, few sales people will land at the top, and few businesses will stand out in the world of economics.

We can go beyond the mere spectacle of human accomplishments to see this unequal distribution of wealth. In most states, a small number of cities have all the people. There is a vast amount of land in the United States, but in each state, most of the people live in a small area. There are over 170,000 words in the English language, but most of our conversation online or in person consists of the distribution of maybe 500 words, rearranged in regular conversation. In the vastness of space, solar systems take up a small portion of space itself, and even fewer of those heavenly bodies contain all the matter.

Millions of books are published each year, and less than a thousand will sell more than 100,000 copies annually, and even less than that will sell a million copies. As an artist, and someone who writes almost every damn day, I know that because of this principle, my chances of standing out are slim.

I’m a good artist. You might even say I’m a successful artist – I make a living selling art and writing, but I’m not a great artist. I have no international accolades, and beyond my small sphere, I’m relatively unknown.

My chances, and your chances of dominating the market and getting ahead are so slim, but it’s not zero and that’s what makes the journey so entertaining. Someone once said that the past is already completed, the future is unknown, and we’re always trying to fix the present. This is why we’re continually trying to improve ourselves and our situation -to traject ourselves forward. As long as your chance isn’t zero, why not give it all you’ve got? Zero is an interesting number in and of itself. If you have 1% chance of succeeding, at least you have a chance … but if you have zero chance, the game is over. Nothing comes from zero.

So even though I know the chances of my books selling a million copies, or ever getting them turned into a series on Netflix, is so minuscule, at least I have a chance. I have a wonderful support system, strong people in my life, and a drive to make it happen. Regardless of the small percentage of success, I’d rather set my trajectory towards a path that I find fulfillment and that I believe I’m supposed go, than to wander aimlessly in this life. Happiness is in the journey, not in the destination.

Will your book fail? Probably. So might mine. But you have a chance – it’s not zero – and that’s not something to take lightly.

Remember Me?

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

So, I’m getting ready to release ‘Late Night Love with KD’ here in a few weeks, but while getting ready to release one book, I still write other ones. And today, I just finished writing the first draft to another short story that will be released waaaaay down the road called, ‘Remember Me?’ Just thought I’d share 🙂

Waiting …

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

SHE LIT A CANDLE AND looked down. In the dark of the room, the light flickered off her aging skin. She was up in age, barely even able to see, but managed to get around on her own.

“When the candle gets low, would you please blow it out? Last time, you nearly set the damn house on fire,” she said with a chuckle.

Here in the house, all by herself, she’d talk for hours on end. 

“Would you like the fan off?” she asked. “I can leave it on for you if you’d like. I know how hot it can get in there.”

The room was ever so quiet.

“The noise?” she asked. “I wouldn’t concern yourself with the noise. Sooner or later, it’ll be over. Maybe a day or so at the most. If you can get over the scratching sound. That’s the hardest part.

It’s always the hardest part.”

This is the beginning of one of my short stories, ‘The New Gardeners’. Here we see a character, an elderly woman, talking to someone and lighting a candle. At this moment, the audience doesn’t know who she’s talking to or why, but she ends the scene with a statement that if they wait long enough, the scratching eventually stops. But waiting for it to stop, that’s the hard part. 

I think that’s the hardest part of anything we go through in life – whether we’re waiting to see if our resume is accepted, to see if that girl or boy will respond to our text, or if that customer will buy our product. We put our voice out there and hope/wait for it to be accepted. In that timeframe of waiting, I find it’s best to just pick up another story, or another canvas, and keep at it. I don’t have to be in agony while I wait.

Agents that say that it may take 2 months to get a response, I don’t waste my time with them. They’re obviously busy, and I respect that. I’d prefer to query my work to agents that have time to respond to authors. What’s great is that, as a writer, most agents get back to you in about a week, but dammit, if that ain’t a rough week.

Another Monday … Another Blog

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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I SAT DOWN TO WRITE this morning but was drawing a blank. I generally use Monday to write in my blog. I take a day away from writing my stories, outlines, research, etc., to focus on what to say here. I don’t believe that people are anxiously awaiting my words of wisdom; I’m not some wise guru or motivational speaker by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t have a platform of thousands of followers, nor am I a full time author/writer – so why do it? Why struggle writing a blog that you aren’t getting paid for?

It’s simple, really. 

One of the reasons is because as a writer mainly focused on short stories and novels, I take at least one day to step back from that to write about something else. I believe that no matter how much you love what you do, you should probably take one day at a minimum, to step back and focus on something else. Focus on a different project, focus on yourself, focus on life. I don’t have empirical data to back it up, but I personally believe that if you don’t take at least one day to step back, you’ll burn yourself out. Sure, there are times where you’re going to have to work every single day for weeks on end. But once you get the project started and it’s in full swing, take a day and do … whatever.

I am the worst at staying focused. Okay … let me clarify. When I want to do something, or even need to do something, I’ll get it done. I wanted to write a novel (a good novel, not some bullshit) for NaNoWriMo, and I did it. Yes, I wrapped it up within just a few hours to spare, but I made it happen. I knew I needed to write 1,666 words a day, but knowing me, I knew there were days I wasn’t going to feel like writing, so I wrote ahead. On more than one occasion I cracked out 3,000 words. Were there mistakes in it? You bet your sweet ass there were, but it was a first draft and I murdered it. When I have a portrait to do or an art project to complete, I make that shit happen like a motherfucking boss. 

That being said, in the process of creating, I get sidetracked like a boss. If there’s a degree to be gained in getting sidetracked and losing focus, I most likely have an honorary PhD in that shit. 

The other reason I write in my blog is because it not only helps me to stay on track, but it forces me to stay disciplined. “How does that even make sense?” you ask? Simple. Let’s say you have $1000 in your bank. When you spend money, do you track it? If you do, you probably have better spending habits than those who don’t. Whether you use a spreadsheet (you know who I’m talking to) a checkbook, or even a simple piece of paper, writing it down lets you know where your money is going. This applies to writing in my blog. When you write something down, (in my opinion anyway) it forces you to keep your shit together. 

People say they want to lose weight but that’s all they do … they say they want to do it. However, if they put that shit on Facebook, all of a sudden they feel compelled to actually go through with it. Fear of embarrassment keeps people from accomplishing their goals. What if people laugh at me? What if people think I’m weird? What if people talk about you? I GUARANTEE those things are going to happen. But are you going to let that shit hold you back? 

I put it out on WordPress and social media because it keeps me in check. It forces me to keep pushing forward. It shows progress, motivation and discipline. I think the moment you put your goals/dreams/desires out into the universe it makes it more relevant than if you bottle it up and keep it inside. 

No, I’m not on some mystic bullshit, but I do think there’s something to be said for when people are bold enough to not only voice their dreams, but write them down. Subconsciously, people are rooting for you. People might be jealous dicks sometimes, but when we see someone going for something, we secretly pull for them … damn I hope he makes it … I hope she gets that degree she’s been wanting … they’ve been talking about this for years, it’d be nice if they got it. 

Believe it or not, people do want you to succeed. So while I know people aren’t sitting around every Monday to see what I’m going to talk about, writing the blog is about me … keeping myself disciplined, focused, and on top of things. 

Now … to submit another short story. 

I Got Rejected

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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LAST WEEK, I WENT DOWN my list that I got off of Ralan and emailed my first short story to The Dark, a magazine that publishes short stories about horror and dark fantasy. This was my first time sending anything off to a magazine. Originally, I wanted to send my stories to a literary agent that publishes short stories, but I didn’t know if my query letter should be about each individual story, or just let the literary agent know what I was doing. None of the literary agents had submission guidelines for short stories, so I thought the least I could do was ask. 

None of them responded. 

I thought at least one would respond and say, “here’s how you send us short stories.”

I finally said, “fuck it,” and put the entire list of literary agents aside, and went to my list of magazines. I understand that literary agents have a rough job and are limited on time; many even work part time jobs because they have to sell the book to a publisher before they can get paid, and the time to get a book published traditionally can take up to 2 years. 

I started at the top of my magazine list and sent a short story, Late Night Love with KD to them. Late Night Love with KD starts out like a romance story, but in reality, it’s about toxic masculinity that goes dark. Men can be such entitled cunts sometimes. 

I got the idea years ago when I would listen to Delilah on Lite 98. At night, people would call in with their sappy love stories, stories about heartbreak, and some were just calling to celebrate the love of their life. Sometimes I wondered, whatever happened to that dude who called in and said he had met his forever? Did they make it? I’m sure many of them did make it and are probably still together; or at least I hope they are.

Most of my stories do not have a happy ending, and this one is no different.

What does all this have to do with submitting to The Dark? Not a damn thing; I just wanted to tell you about the story. After submitting to the magazine, I hoped to be accepted by their editors. But they didn’t. 

They sent me a professional response letting me know that it wasn’t what they were looking for but they hoped I’d consider them in the future. I sent them a strongly worded email that they can go fuck themselves.

Just kidding. In reality, I actually smiled. Why? Even though I didn’t get accepted, the fact that they emailed me back and let me know they’d read it was somewhat fulfilling. I was so nervous about submitting my story, but I’m glad I did. 

So what now?

Well … I submit the story to another magazine, finish up another short story, and go from there. At some point, a story that I submit will be accepted and that keeps me going

Moving Forward With My Writing

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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IN MY LAST FEW POSTS, I’ve been publishing chapters from a book I wrote back in November, Three Can Keep A Secret, about Amanda, a woman who has just returned home to go to her father’s funeral. She’s in the small, fictional town of Brooksville, just outside of Richmond, Virginia, and her father was executed in his own home. Amanda is autistic, and the reader is taken on a journey of not only how she finds out who killed her father, but why. Her father has a secret that he shouldn’t have to keep, but in the world they live (and we live in to a certain degree) he lived in fear until the secret took his life.

There are 23 chapters in the book, and is being edited at the moment so that I can write a 3rd and final draft, and send it off to a literary agent. While that is being edited, I have finished another short story, and would like it if you came along on the journey as I begin to send it to literary agents who are in the market to sell the rights to Netflix or Amazon. If you’ve been following along on my blog, you know that my dream is to eventually get my stories turned into a series. Most of them are thrillers with twist endings, some deal in the realm of the supernatural, and others are filled with dark romance. 

We always want answers when we read a book. More or less, we want closure. If the main character is trying to get the girl, when he gets her, is he happy? Our lady is trying to avenge her parent’s murder, does she succeed? We root for the good guy, and want him or her to come out on top. My stories don’t always bring that satisfaction.

In my stories, sometimes the good guy is sidelined by some unforeseen event. I’m probably shooting myself in the foot by saying this, but sometimes the end can piss the reader off. Why would I do that? I’m so glad you asked.

Sometimes, I end my stories that way because that’s how life is. We don’t always come out on top. We push for success in something – going for that new job, getting an education in hopes of a better life, trying to romance the love of our life, etc. – and it falls flat. I try to make my characters relatable to give you the feel of, ‘OMG I can totally see that happening,’ or ‘holy shit, I know someone just like that.’ 

That’s life, and life sometimes fucks us over. 

My stories really tackle that. There are people who get away with crimes, good guys that fail, and characters that don’t succeed at the goals they set for themselves. 

It would be nice if that didn’t happen. It would be great if a character comes out on top and defeats his opponent. But we all know in life, it doesn’t always turn out that way. They’re thrillers with twist endings, and some characters you will hate, and others you will love. Most of them, you’ll never see the end coming, but others, you’ll know how it will end, but you’ll read along just to see how it gets there. 

I am reading a book called Playing the Short Game by Douglas Smith. I’m going to take his advice and take my writing as far as I can go. I appreciate all the feedback people emailed me from the chapters I recently published, and I hope you’ll follow along on this journey with me. 

To Forgive or Not to Forgive

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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SO HERE I AM ON the first post of the year 2020 and I know it’s that time of year where everyone is all about making New Year’s Resolutions and forgiveness, starting over, and so on and so forth. 

I have done my share of New Year’s Resolutions posts in the past and as I’ve said before, your New Year’s Resolutions should be more about goal setting than life changes. Going on a diet is bullshit. Why? Because if you need to lose weight, regardless of how much, the diet should be a life change. Once you’ve lost the weight, are you going to just quit the diet? Once you’ve gotten in shape, are you going to quit the workout you’ve been doing? I’d hope not. 

This post, however, is not about goal setting – that would be too cliched for this time of year. As I wrapped up the year 2019, I kept coming across articles about forgiveness, and even had conversations about the subject. Then, I went to go see A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, the drama film about Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) and the main topic of the film is basically forgiveness … no matter what … forgiveness. 

For starters, this is NOT a children’s movie. The subject matter is dark, and I think most parents don’t want to discuss with their children alcoholism, abusive parents and adultery; the main character’s father leaves his dying mother to go be with another woman. This is not a subject for children in my opinion. 

Of course, forgiveness is the key subject in the movie and spoiler alert, the main character forgives his father for being a shitty douchebag. The acting in the movie is superb, and the music is amazing.

That said, while I do believe everyone deserves forgiveness, I also believe people should be held accountable for their actions. Sometimes people hurt us and come to the realization that what they did was wrong and unacceptable. Depending on what that hurt was, (you be the judge of that) sometimes you can forgive and move on from the event. 

However, if someone hurts us, knowing they’re causing hurt, should they truly be forgiven? I often use relationships in my examples because it’s something most of us can relate to, and this time will be no different. Let’s say you are in a relationship with someone and at some point they break up with you (the reason doesn’t matter) but later on they come back, apologizing for leaving. I can see forgiving them – they fucked up, realized they fucked up, and want another chance. But let’s say they do this multiple times, over and over again … 

At some point, there can be no forgiveness for the hurt they’ve caused. A person who does that is a shitty person and in my opinion, should never be forgiven. They’re a narcissist, and they’re taking advantage of someone’s good nature. When you fuck up out of ignorance, yes, forgiveness should be considered.

The above example is obscure and probably happens to 1% of people in relationships, but it does happen and that example can be applied to almost any relationship issue – adultery, overdrawing an account, abuse (both verbal and physical), alcoholism, gambling, addiction, etc. When people hurt you, 9 times out of 10, they know they’re hurting you and are aware of the abuse. They have no respect for you, and they’re wasting your time. You have a finite amount of time on this earth, and once that time is over, it’s over forever. When we give someone our time, we give them a part of us that we can never get back and when they abuse that time, I personally think you cannot forgive that. That doesn’t mean you can’t hang out with that person or go to some obscure social gathering with them. What it means is that your guard is up because you know what they’re capable of doing. Of course, when you keep your guard up, they call it holding a grudge. I call it ‘having boundaries’ but that’s just me. Again, you set those boundaries because you know they’re capable of being a cuntwagon.

When it comes to forgiveness, you pick and choose who you want to forgive and your reason is your business. Continual fuckups that waste your time is unforgivable. A very wise woman once told me that forgiveness is yours to give, not something someone can offer on your behalf or force you into.

As I end this first post of the year, let me just say that when someone is truly repentant (apologetic) for their behavior, it comes in four steps. 

  1. Acknowledging that they’ve done something wrong.
  2. Apologizing (sincerely) for that which they’ve done wrong.
  3. Trying to make amends and make the thing they did wrong, right.
  4. Turning from the behavior, and doing it no more.

Most people stop at number 2. They’ll reach out and acknowledge they’ve done something wrong and even may go so far as to apologize, but numbers 3 and 4? You can forget it. 

Ultimately, it all comes down to forgiving one person – yourself, the awesome person you are. You have to forgive yourself for allowing them to hurt you. Forgiveness has a lot to do with closure – accepting it happened and learning from your mistakes. 

I know, I know, giving reasons why you should not forgive someone is a HORRIBLE post to start 2020 off with but I struggled with how to start off my year with blog posts. The reason I felt that writing about forgiveness was a great way to start out the year is because the word is thrown around as though it’s something you should be required to do for those who hurt you. I think we’re often too quick to forgive when we shouldn’t and nobody should be guilted into doing it.

Fuck that noise. 

For you to start your year off right, forgive yourself, keep your guard up, and move forward like a fucking boss. Starting next week, I will begin pushing my short stories again, and pursuing my goals of being a full time writer. I finished a novel back in November and will begin rewriting and editing it to send off to a publisher. I look forward to sharing it with you.  

Just Get Started

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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THE OPENING SENTENCE OF PRIDE & PREJUDICE —“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”—establishes the centrality of advantageous marriage, a fundamental social value of Regency England. The arrival of Mr. Bingley (and news of his fortune) is the event that sets the novel in motion, but it’s bullshit, and I don’t know of any man who is well of thinks, “goddamn I need a wife.” Well … maybe it was universally accepted in 1813.

So why did I write that above? What would be the purpose of writing about the opening to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? I think the most difficult part of any project, whether it’s art, doing the dishes, writing, or, well … just about anything, is getting started. For me, writing isn’t difficult. I have a ton of ideas when I begin a short story, but it’s beginning the story that is the most difficult; that and the ending. 

When I come up with an idea for a story, I do a quick synopsis – a general idea about the story. I run the idea past a few people to get their feedback. If it’s mostly positive, I begin to work on character development and fleshing the story out. 

I personally think that one of the most important aspects of the story outline is knowing your characters. Knowing their mannerisms and personality helps me set the tone of the story. I try to give my characters flaws and things we can relate to. If the characters aren’t human (with the exception of the story, never really struggle) then nobody can connect with them. 

I struggle with depression – more or less sadness, but I fight with it a lot. Most of it is situational depression, but that’s neither here nor there. Because depression is so common in our society, people who wrestle with it can relate to a character who has the same conflict. Whether it’s alcoholism, gambling, a shady past, money problems, relationship issues, you name it, the reader can find some connection with the characters. Rarely, if ever, will I make a character wealthy, living an upscale life. I think that’s where sitcoms have gone downhill – everyone seems to have a wildly successful lifestyle that is not common to everyday struggles, and it makes the characters unlikable  and un-relatable. That, and the jokes/writing is horrible. 

Once I’ve fleshed out the characters, I’m able to tell the story. Even though I’ve written out a synopsis, and maybe even an outline, knowing the characters helps me know how to set everything. It helps me know how things should flow. 

Still, beginning the story, setting up that initial paragraph is a bitch. What we’ve been taught to do is hook the reader in with the first paragraph, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked to someone who read Pride and Prejudice and said, “yeah, I when I picked it up, I swear to God, that first paragraph made me want to read the entire fucking thing.”

The idea of ‘hooking the reader in with the first paragraph’ is bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, the first paragraph is important in the sense that it sets the tone but if every sentence after the first paragraph needs to be infinitely better, you’re going to kill yourself trying to write a good story. The reason it’s not true is because some parts of a book are better than others, and sometimes, a character contemplating the resolution has more impact than the actual climax of the story.

The important thing is to grab the reader’s attention. For me, I try to start the story in motion – whether there’s dialogue, or someone mulling over a decision that lets the reader know that we’re building up to something. If you struggle with that first sentence, that first paragraph, I would recommend reading How To Write The First Paragraphs Of Your Novel by the Liternauts. https://www.liternauts.com/how-to-write-the-first-paragraphs-of-your-novel/

Liternauts has a ton of articles for writers, from how to come up with ideas, to how to write conflict, exercises and writing workshops. If you struggle with getting started, take a look at what they have there and run with it.

PHOTO CREDIT: Cristofer Jeschke @cristofer

Writing An Entire Novel

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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YESTERDAY WAS THE LAST DAY of the National Novel Writing Month challenge. It was my first time ever doing something like this and I wanted to push the envelope to see what I was capable of doing. I used to write either 600 words or an hour, whichever came first. This challenge made me do upwards of 4,000 words on one day.

November was particularly stressful for me – job shit, moving decisions, losing a dog, and the list goes on and on. However, because I am one epic mofo I was able to crack out a novel just over 50,000 words. There were times I just knew I wasn’t going to be able to make it, but I had a strong support system who believed in me.

The one thing that irked me about the NaNoWriMo team is the consistent requests for donations. I knew that once I completed the challenge, the prize is basically bragging rights that you finished an entire novel in one month. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I also won a badge and downloadable certificate … I know … I was amazed, too.

However, I also won swag … that I had to pay for, and discounts on items. I honestly would’ve preferred they didn’t offer that, considering the excessive emails requesting a donation. Regardless, I plan to do it again next year.

Tomorrow? Back to writing my short stories.

An Update

Posted on by johnpriceauthor

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SO I’VE BEEN DOING THE National Novel Writing Month Challenge since November 1, and let me tell you, this shit is difficult as balls. Not only does it force me to push myself, but it also requires extreme discipline. I’ve just started a new job, and learning the new system is going to be a test in and of itself.

I started this journey writing for the NaNoWriMo challenge with a few other people on some writing sites I frequent, and I’m amazed at the amount of people who are giving it their all, just as much as I’m amazed at the amount of people who have given up. The one thing that people cite as a reason to give up goes back to my last blog – they don’t have time. Sometimes people really don’t have time, they just don’t. Other times, they don’t ‘make’ the time. For those people, well, if you don’t have time, it’s … whatever.

I get it, we’re all busy. Last week I put in 50 hours at the office, not including working on art commissions and personal art projects, smaller writing projects, and making a porn. Okay, that last one isn’t true. I’m not better than anybody else and I get it; it’s an exhausting project.

At this writing, I am sitting on 31,473 words of a 50,000 novel. I am tired, and have every intention of making this happen.