About My Work

Time for my second ever blog post! Despite the odd feeling of shouting into the void that comes with this, I think creating this blog will be an opportunity to capture a series of fun little snapshots as time goes on. Not only for me, but hopefully for you, too!

With that said, my first post was a very basic, introductory glimpse into me and my page. But now, I’d like to focus the lens a little bit on what may likely be the reason this is worth a read in the first place: writing.

Now, I’m not going to claim to be an expert, or the type of person you should come to for advisement or insight, because I’m in my career infancy, and probably will be for several years. Therefor, I’m not going to be writing a bunch of “How-To’s” or listicles about “writing hacks” or anything like that. Conversely, this is my blog, after all, so if I feel like including any of my own personal takes or opinions about writing – or anything, really – then that’s what I’m gonna do, because, it’s my blog, dammit!

All kidding aside, while some of what I mentioned about myself in my first post is meant to inform readers about myself as a person and a writer, this will lean more heavily towards my writing interests, projects, preferences, influences, etc. Because, like anyone, I consume my fair share of stories. And some of them satisfy my narrative appetite greater than others, which is not to say that they are superior. I refer you to my “flavors of ice cream” metaphor from the previous post. Now, let’s talk about ice cream!

But first, a bit of how my tastebuds have developed so far. I’ve been naturally drawn to creative endeavors since I was maybe five years old. No joke, my first ever “book” was written and drawn with crayon, binded and laminated by my teacher, even. It still sits in a box somewhere in my mom’s basement, I’m sure. As I grew up, I would always try to find any way I could to make projects and assignments creatively enticing, even if it meant really stretching the limits of the box we were told to play in. This meant writing and producing terrible home-videos and presentations, becoming a theater kid, being a practically competitive essayist - even if the only competition was the grading rubric. I heard often from teachers how much they enjoyed my work or thought I showed some kind of talent, but it wasn’t until I got older when I started realizing there was a chance they weren’t just saying that to be nice.

I took all sorts of classes I thought would teach me new ways of scratching that creative itch. Journalism, Mass Media, Poetry, Forensics (speeches and competitions, not crime science), Repertory Theater, Acting, the whole nine yards. After graduating, and those lovely first few years of young adulthood where you have no idea who you are or what you’re doing, not to mention a global pandemic sandwiched in there, I decided to go back to school. Something I never thought I’d consider when I was 18. I decided to join Full Sail University’s online Creative Writing BFA program in 2023. Which pretty much leads us into today, with quite a bit of work and growth to show for it. What I’ve enjoyed most about the program is that you aren’t just learning how to put words together that sound good and tell a story, you’re learning the industry ins and outs of all kinds of media and platforms that are out there that you can use to express your creativity and tell stories. 

But no shilling for my soon-to-be alma mater. Let’s finally get to that ice cream I mentioned earlier! When it comes to what I love to write, I believe in being open-minded to telling stories in any medium, because each one has unique tools and methods specific to them at their disposal. Television can’t tell a story the same way as a book can. The same goes for films and video games, comics, digital media, any method. I know adaptation is all the rage, especially right now, but that’s a whole other conversation we’ll save for later. Personally, my heart and mind naturally gravitate toward screenwriting and novels the most. HOWEVER! Let it be known that I will never dismiss any project or idea off-handedly just because it’s not a book or screenplay!

In terms of literary genres, I’m a fantasy guy, through and through. The sci-fi half of speculative fiction is great, too, don’t get me wrong. This is purely from my writing perspective. However, when it comes to screenplay ideas, they come from any genre. As a consumer, there are plenty of stories or properties beyond sci-fi or fantasy that I also love, of course. But swords and sorcery, imaginative fantastical worlds, dragons and wizards are how the little kid inside me stays alive. Especially when it comes to writing. And I think we all ought to take care of that little kid version of ourselves, no matter how many years it’s been since they were forced to grow up. 

If you’d like, you can take a look at the work I have on my Portfolio page to see some examples of my writing that isn’t fantasy prose or blog posts. There’s also plenty of other work that I don’t have up there that I have saved for various other employment pursuits, should the opportunity to use them arise. Nevertheless, you’re not concerned with any of that. Let me tell you a bit about what I’ve been working on lately!

Currently, I’m sitting on three novel ideas. One that has a complete first draft that I’ve begun the early stages of editing (one that I intend to be the start of a series. Don’t know exactly how long, at least a trilogy), a sequel to said project that’s currently no more than an early outline, and a separate, standalone story within that world that I initially came up with for a Game Writing course that I’m working on adapting. The story resonated with me so much that I felt I just couldn’t leave it alone there. To me, it felt like there was enough in the initial concept to flesh it out more and see about developing it into a larger project.

The draft that I have finished, I put together over the last two years, using various course assignments and projects for worldbuilding (one of my favorite parts) and shaping out the characters and researching, the actual writing I did in my free time. Let me clarify; the first draft is done, but that book is still a LONG way from even getting queried by literary agents yet. I’m new to self-editing, and the editing process as a whole, when it comes to novel-sized projects, and so I’m trying to ensure I go about the process the “right way,” learning as I go. My dream goal for these stories is to get them traditionally published. To, hopefully, do for other book readers what my favorite authors have offered to me in my life through their incredible work. 

Editing is a far more intimidating endeavor, and so I’m sort of ping-ponging between that and drafting my second book, the standalone. Why that and not the sequel? In traditional publishing, it’s a whole lot less risky taking a chance on a debut author with a standalone than the first book of what they intend to be a series, and so it’s more likely to be considered for representation. I’d love to tell you more about these projects themselves, but with the internet and AI and integrity seemingly being thrown to the wayside, I just feel safest waiting for the right time to do so, when I feel my projects are protected and, maybe even more importantly, ready!

I think this is just about enough yapping out of me for one post! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your time, and to see you again down the road. Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow!