Joining a game writing course

I’ve previously mentioned that I took on the task of writing a screenplay. I am still awaiting news of whether I got into my film program or not. In the meantime I figured I would try another avenue and also sign up for a game writing course. I saw it advertised via Instagram and after looking it up the class and the instructor seemed legit.

The course will last two months, so I’ll be done that by the time I know if I got into the film program.

These other writing ventures came about as a result of my frustration with querying novels. I am still working on it but after 10 years, it can get a bit demotivating. I am hoping that one of these other avenues can also provide a way into writing.

This course is geared towards people who wish to enter the industry, so I’m hoping it can help me out.

The film course starts July, if I get in. By the time I hear back, this course will be completed and I will hopefully have graduated successfully with some new info, skills and connections.

 

So close but not quite there

The few readers of this site may know that I’ve been trying to get a book published since I was 18. The first book I tried with was the first draft of “Elseworld.” The first draft, looking back now, had lots of issues. There were lots of info dumps (still working on cutting those down), and too many characters and subplots.

I rewrote Elseworld multiple times, then started on a second book. Then a third, and now have six. The second, “The Garden of Abel” is now on the site. It is the shortest of my works, so I figured I could try to upload it here to see if it gets any traction. The length makes it a tougher sell for traditional publishers.

I recently rewrote my third book, the fourth needs a rewrite. The fifth is my favourite and the first 1,000 words of the sixth became my first published short story.

I’ve been able to get three more short stories and a poem published since, but these works were meant to serve another purpose. Doing short stories was an exercise to help my pacing, which was pointed out as a weakness by three different agents (who read parts of my book but declined taking it on).

So, I got promising feedback on my fifth book recently, and at first, it seemed like I finally cracked the code.

Then, I get feedback I’m more used to getting.

So again, something is not quite right to get it to the next stage. I was pretty livid when I read this. However, I’m trying to look on the bright side. The pacing was “nicely done” according to this agent. That gives me some hope that the book’s pacing doesn’t have to be a roadblock for any agent, and maybe the same could be said for other works. Perhaps there is a chance that I find the right agent, and don’t have to rewrite all of my books (again).

 

Making progress on screenplay

I am nearing the end of converting one of my works to a screenplay. I don’t want to get too excited about this. I am submitting it for a program and will see if I get in. If I don’t, it seems like the odds of the screenplay going anywhere are tougher than the odds of getting a book anywhere.

I remember being at a Writer’s Digest Conference, where another member said the chance of getting a screenplay published is marginally better than books. Maybe that was back then, this was around 2015. The market is much more saturated now and it seems like having connections is key to breaking in for a lot of people.

Then again, I can only keep trying.

Wrong book or wrong agent?

I have previously shared how difficult it was to get my first short story acceptance. It took over fifty submissions before I finally got one yes.

Just one week before I received my first yes from Idle Ink for “Memory Catcher” an editor responded to one of my short stories with some personalized feedback. Typically, the rejection is just a form letter that says “Dear ___, Thank you for sending… It is not right for us.”

Instead, this editor went out of his way to let me know he found the piece dull and stopped reading halfway through (the editor of Idle Ink would later tell me that feedback seems unnecessarily harsh btw).

At that point, I wondered if “Memory Catcher” just didn’t work as a short story. It was the old question of whether I needed to find the right person, or go back to the drawing board.

In that case, I soon found out that I needed to find the right person. J.L. Corbett, the editor of Idle Ink, loved my piece. It was exactly what she was looking for, as we discuss in this podcast episode.

Now, with the struggle of trying to get an agent, I wonder if my books need to be revisited. Do I need to rewrite one of them again, or maybe finally write a new one?

If I don’t have any success by the end of the year, my hand will be forced and I’ll work on a book for “Embers.” I’ll aim to have it done and edited by September, and then start querying.

New published poem – The Undertaker

Maybe not quite new, but “The Undertaker” got published on the 9th.

It’s my first poem and I’m glad I finally gave a poem a try. I actually got an acceptance within my first five submissions, which gives me a bit of a boost getting into the new year. Of course, the acceptances have been slow since then but I’ll keep at it and hope to get at least one other piece published this year.

As I’ve said before, my main goal is to finally get an agent this year.

Idle Ink Podcast

A bit late but here is the Spotify link for my podcast with Idle Ink.

Idle Ink gave me my first published credit when they posted “Memory Catcher” to their site. It was an honour to speak with the editor, J.L. Corbett, about my writing journey and my projects.

It’s a long one (around 45 minutes) but give the last 10 minutes a listen if you’re short on time.

New year goals

I have a poem coming out January 9, as well as my podcast episode with “Idle Ink.”

I’ll be posting both here when they go live.

2022 was a decent writing year. I finished a draft of another book, like I planned. I got another publication acceptance.

However, no agent. I made that a goal for this year and the year before and no luck yet.

This year also saw a huge scare for my writing, with my USB going missing for months. That also slowed down my agent search. I’m hoping I can finally breakthrough in 2023.

Re-reads and edits

Now that I’ve got copies of “Alive” and “Memory Catcher” back I’m working on re-reading them. I still feel like “Hazard” is the strongest work but I’ve exhausted most sci-fi agents so I need to start shopping other works around.

I’m going to try “Memory Catcher” with an agent who I submitted “Elseworld” and “Hazard” too.  Both times she said my writing style is great, but she didn’t like the concept. Hopefully “Memory Catcher” can be the one. The agent reopens to queries in late January so we’ll see what happens then.

Found my USB!

Or more accurately, my girlfriend did.

With Anansi complete, I have seven books in the bank. One is on my site, “The Garden of Abel.” One still needs a rewrite, “Alive:Part II.”  However, I know have five works to query.

I want to focus on querying in 2023 and hope that one of the projects can bear some fruit for an agent.

I f I do any writing next year (aside from editing existing works) it will likely be “Alive:Part II.” However, I also want to explore expanding “Embers” into a novel.

However, it may be time to focus on querying and see if I can get any luck with that. I know that some agents are more likely to take on a client who has a backlog of work so I hope that staying active for the past few years will help.