5 Things I've learned from writing my first book!

HEY! HEY! HEY!

I missed my weekly post yesterday but I'm back today sharing with you the top 5 things I've learned from writing my first book. Hopefully when I share these personal experiences it can shed some light on what it's like for me writing something from beginning to end and help or relate to what other people who write go through.

1. Social media is distracting BLOCK yourself from it! - As I started writing my book I began to just constantly launch google chrome or safari randomly to check Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr from time to time. I realized that it was taking up WAAAAAAYYYYY too much of my writing time. Every time I read a controversial post on FB and comment on it then get so caught up in the discussion afterward that I totally forgot what I was writing in the first place. It would take time for me to get back into writing my chapter again. So after the first month or so I decided to turn off my wifi on my laptop and open it ONLY to do research. That's it. Same with my phone. I would turn the wifi and data off on that as well. I would only answer phone calls.  Distractions are everywhere and I know sometimes you can't help yourself - heck even I had to take social media breaks from time to time but I rarely did it while I write. I would do it after I write. It's such a great feeling too because you've worked hard on something for the day then as soon as you're burnt out and feel as though you can't write anymore, you can whip out your phone to catch up on things. 

2. NEVER let what others say hinder your decision to write -  I know this maybe a given but this was getting on my nerves as I was writing my book. People were constantly telling me that my type of book wouldn't sell, that it sounds absolutely retarded, no one would read it because it included gay and bisexual characters, that I'm wasting my precious time and money. The best advice to myself was obvious: NOT GIVE A DAMN WHAT THEY THINK. It was extremely rare that I came across someone who understood why I was doing what I do. I'm proud to be an artist through and through. Yes I haven't published anything yet but I'm not going to stop until I do. It's that simple. It was hard for me to write sometimes because of the constant negativity that surrounded me. I feel every writer has their obstacles to overcome especially when it comes to others criticizing you when you have nothing to show. 

3. Being Patient- This has got to be one of the most important lessons I've learned throughout the course of this writing phase. I wanted to write my book as quick as possible so that I can get it out there. In the midst of my speedy writing I looked back at what I had written and none of it made any sense! NONE! It was like I vomited out words on a page that didn't have any meaning what so ever. It was just there as filler. I know a few of writers who do this. They write out their first draft then edit after but I decided not to do that. If I felt something was out of place I deleted it right away. I would spend a week on a chapter and after finishing writing it I would read it out loud. If something was off or it didn't fit the book I would delete and rewrite it over again until it was to my satisfaction. Even though it took awhile to get use to I started seeing the benefits of it. My chapters were more refined and I liked the story I was building. When I got to the editing phase there wasn't that much to edit other than a few grammar mistakes here and there. From here on out I expect to take as much time as I need with my books and try to stay away from vomit drafts. 

4. To be truthful in your writing -  I have to admit when I first started writing I caught on with trends. I would research what do people like to read or watch. What's the most commercial thing I can write so that I can easily sell it and make a lot of money. I didn't have anyone back then to tell me otherwise. In fact I had people tell me it was the right way to think. To steal from highly successful books and shows instead of making your own. However I've learned to not think that way because if I just write for the audience or reader then I wouldn't be writing. I'll just be writing some bullshit story because I know in their minds they would approve of it. (The good guys fight the bad guys and triumph in the end) (She falls in love with him and they live happily ever after) These are the types of things I've read in books and seen in Movies/T.V shows all the time. Was it something that I truly wanted to write about in the beginning? Yeah...but that was because I knew there's a better chance of making money off it. After much thought I decided to write the things I was passionate about and that interested me. Instead of being fake and write something that is not in my league. At this point I feel what matters most is the truthfulness of the story. Not making one person overpowering to the next but finding a balance in between. No one is perfect. Everyone has flaws. People do good and bad things in life. I feel that should be reflected in stories. So what I'm trying to say is that I've learned not to bullshit and if it feels right follow your impulse and go through with it.

5. Completing a book is only half the battle -   I'm learning this one as I type this. So far after fully editing my book, I've been working on my query for the past 2 weeks then spent the past few days looking for an agent who is interested in it. Granted I know some might be hesitant on reading something that has "VAMPIRE PIGS" in the title but all I need is just one person to read it and believe in the project. I'm glad that some of these agents suggest putting your first chapter in the email even though they probably have tons of emails from other people all I can do now is play the waiting game. While I do that I have to start researching on Self-Publishing but I feel that as a writer who has not published anything it's a bad move. I'm trying to sell it as a series, I'm not exactly sure how I can do that when I self publish. There's this feeling of enjoyment when you send out your query and the first few pages of your book. Knowing all that hard work will be read by someone. That in itself is one of the reasons why I write.

THANKS FOR READING! I hope this helped if you're trying to write anything!

Sincerely,

James Melville

Editing process

Hey back again! This will be a short one!

Ever since I finished by my book I've been editing it non stop. But I'm constantly thinking about who I should send this too. I've been reading a lot of books in my genre but as I edit my own I start to realize there's a mixture genres in my book. It calms me to know that when I read a YA horror that there's a mix of genres in there too. I know when a lot of people hear or see the title Vampire Pigs there's going to be a sort of skepticism about picking it up and reading it. I'm working hard so that if they do pick it up and read it they will have an enjoyable time doing so. This is where risk and chance come into play. The vampire genre is huge and there's a lot of competition out there but at least when people pick it up to read it they would know what they're getting themselves into.

What I'm trying to say is that at the moment as I edit I find myself trying to figure out the right way to approach this. Writing a book is the easy part. The hardest part is trying to get it out there especially since I'm a new writer. Okay back to editing see you next week!

Sincercely,


James Melville

The reason why I decided to write a book series called Vampire Pigs.

Hey back again with another blog post!

Let me first off say that Vampire Pigs isn't the first series I started to write. It's actually the second. The first series I started to write is called Mixed Identity(I'll share more on this series in a later blog post). Vampire Pigs was something I always wanted to write but never got around to do it. As you know from my previous blog post I've always been scared of Vampires. I remember when I was seven and I watched the old black and white Dracula movie for the first time. I have no clue why but the atmosphere scared the crap out of me. I never watched black and white films before in my life since I was so used to watching things in colour. I had no clue what was going on but when it was done I couldn't even go to sleep. Nothing leaves me shaking in my boots than a good vampire flick. When I was in college I would borrow a copy of Bram Stoker's book version of Dracula from the library and read it on my spare time. I was engrossed. It was clear to me that I would love to someday write a fictional story that contained the vampire element in them but I didn't know what it was going to be about. Ever since I've gone through this vampire phase reading everything from classics like "Interview With The Vampire" to modern vampire books such as the "Twilight" series. No one knew I had an obsession with vampires. No one knew that I wanted to write my own fictional story about them...until now.

Ever since I told people that I'm writing a series called Vampire Pigs people look at me with a raised eyebrow. I may not be a mind reader but I bet they're probably thinking 'How can an idea like that work?" or "Oh my god that sounds so stupid." Well I admit in the beginning it was stupid jumbled idea. But now I've turned it into a solid fluid enjoyable story. It's so surreal that this is my first ever completed book.  As I take time off from editing to type this blog post I'm constantly thinking of new ideas to add to it. Before I even started with the initial concept of this series I searched high and low all over the internet for any books that had animals being vampires as the focal point. There were none! As far as I know of. Oh and if you know of any please feel free to post a link in the comment box! I've read about infected animals but not vampire animals. I felt there was a void that needed filling and I'm the one that has the opportunity to fill it. I'm extremely excited to finish my editing process so that I can send it off to various agents.

Alright! It's time for me to explain why I chose pigs. I felt as though they're the least respected animal. They're dirty and not as intelligent. They're the type of animal no one gives a damn about. I've witnessed first hand how pigs are treated in slaughterhouses and it's not pretty. They're just products to be sold and that's it. No one cares about them. Which made me start to think in depth about my potential idea. If the pigs had some sort of power then they would be able to fight back. *DING* Vampire Pigs. However having Vampire Pigs being focal point wasn't enough. It took me awhile to figure out a way to make the story much more personal. While I was at the slaughterhouse I noticed the people who worked there were all eccentric in their own ways. This is were I started to think about a character that embodies these people. After much time and thought I created the fictional character called Darren Brones. I made him the central focus of the storyline. Here's a brief summary of the book:

"Darren Brones is the owner of the largest slaughterhouse in Texas. He is well known for his relentless brutality against animals, especially pigs. When one day he becomes bitten by a Vampire Pig his whole perspective of his treatment of animals changes. After realizing the pain he has caused he vows to the Vampire Pigs that he will help protect them. By any means necessary."

After I wrote that I had another *DING* moment in my head. Having Darren as my main focus gave the story depth. It gave a reason for the Vampire Pigs to exist and it gives Darren a character arc going from this sadistic pig killer to a man who is sympathizes with them. This however is only one part of the story. I'm so excited for people to read it. Right now I'm going to go back to editing.

Take care and thanks for reading! Check back every Wednesday for an update!

Sincerely,


James

 

My first blog post!

Hi! Welcome to my Blog!

This is my first blog post! Ever! I'm excited! Okay, alright so I guess I should introduce myself. Ahem! My name is James Melville. I'm 25 years old. Born and raised in Ontario, Canada. For as long as I can remember I always loved to write stories. Whether be short or long. It didn't matter to me. I enjoyed it! It was way more easier for me to write fiction than it was to write essays, reports, etc etc. My imagination would always run away with me. Every time I woke up from a dream whether it be pleasant or nightmarish I would write down a brief summary of what I had dreamt of. Sometimes I would write a short story based on them. Despite some of them being hard to write about, I did it anyway. To my dismay I lost majority of them before moving to Vancouver. But I have a lot of recent ones saved and I'm deciding whether or not I should write a full book on them or not.

Speaking of books I'VE WRITTEN ONE! I finished the first volume of it just two days ago. I'm excited to see where this takes me. It's a new series I started writing two years ago called Vampire Pigs. At first I wrote it as a short story. Then I wrote the script. And after much trial and error I finally decided to write it as a book. I also have a few other scripts that I'm turning into a books as well but I'll talk about that another time. You're probably wondering why I decided to write a book called Vampire Pigs. Well for one I always wanted put my own spin on vampires. I have to admit I'm a lot more scared of vampires than I am of zombies and as to why I decided to combine it with pigs...well it's a long drawn out story that I won't get into. Let's just say witnessing a pig slaughtered in front of me just made me feel bad for them. Weaving that factor into the story is one of the main reasons why I wrote it. In any case, I'm just taking a break for a few days before I enter the editing phase. I've already prepared the full character bios and summaries for volumes two, three and four. Right now I'm just getting everything prepped and ready before submitting to various writing agents.

Even though I've been writing my whole life it doesn't mean I was good at it. Before I could write decently I had to go through an EXTREMELY STEEP learning curve. Meaning I had my butt kicked so many times from all types of people (Writing teachers, friends, story editors just a name a few) So I knew I always wanted to do it but my confidence level was at an all time low. Especially when I was in college. My stories were flawed, my sentence structure was terrible and my characters were so flat and unlikeable. I didn't give up completely however. When I realized the college course I was taking wasn't really for me I decided to do something that has always interested me but I never gone through with. ACTING! Which is the main reason why I still reside in Vancouver, B.C and not in Ontario. Applying to the acting course at VanArts really changed how I write. It made me understand proper character development. Subtext. Story structure. Dialog. The proper answers to the questions Who, What, When, Where, How. I would always have a  few *Ding I get it now!* moments in my head during the course. When I graduated two years ago I immediately went back to the drawing board with all the concepts I wrote down, scripts I partially finished, short stories I completed and did a major overhaul. I learned so much from acting that it actually improved my writing. The only way for a person to know that is by reading what I've written. When I told people I was writing a book series called Vampire Pigs they pretty much all laughed in my face. I think it was because they thought it was going to be stupid. But I always told them to read it first then criticize after. Not before. I feel that now that I've finished the first book in the series, the hardest part will be to get someone to read it. Which is why I'll be dedicating a lot of time to prepare and edit.

So that's where I am at the moment. As an artist I've had my share fare of ups and downs. I mean who hasn't right. Like many of us we remain focused and determined. I fully know that success is not guaranteed but will that stop me from trying to do what I want to do in my life...Never. I love acting and I love writing! One of my goals in life is to live off my passion. I feel that now is the time to take a risk and pursue it to the fullest. I'll leave off by revealing what I'm writing and currently working on. I've thought of these projects thoroughly before I decided to pursue them. It may take awhile but I want to write and complete them in my lifetime. Here's the list:

1. Vampire Pigs Volume One (Book Series) (Completed - Editing phase)

2. Mixed Identity Volume One  (Book Series) (Structuring the plot and characters)

3. Spirits And Souls Volume One (Book Series) (Early phase. Building the universe)

4. Queens and Kings Volume One (Book Series) (Early Phase. Building the universe)

5. Bi Bye Volume One (Early phase)

6. Living In A Living Room (Theatre Play) (Working title)

I'll share more about these projects and my experiences with them all right here on my blog as well as many other personal experiences. Thank you all for taking the time to read this. I greatly appreciate it! Take care!

Sincerely,

James Melville