Studying Psychology
I've been learning a lot about psychology this month to help me build the characters in the book, Mr. Reyna’s Journal. So, I would grab anything that was lying around in my house that had to do with psychology, like books, magazines, transcripts from mental health flyers, etc. I even signed up for another psychology class for the fall semester of 2023. It will be about how a person grows and changes from birth to adulthood. I studied in my free time about human behaviors, personality types, characteristic traits, various long-term traumas, or whatever aspects make a human to be human.
During my research, I came across a story on the internet to raise awareness about mental health. It was about an old man with a serious illness with his lungs who’d smoked all day. He would sit in front of his TV, still smoke, and watch TV all day to avoid taking care of himself, or maybe to accept the situation, or to be free from his worries. The story was, in summary, basically that he’s living through his TV to find at least some happiness instead of taking care of himself. And what he would say was, "Why does it seem so easy to breathe through TV?"
But I just want to bring awareness to that story because I reflect on another real-life example of how someone would spend all day behind a screen, typically on a phone, to escape reality, loneliness, or whatever else made them feel bad about themselves. And I am the type of person who stares at his laptop screen all day to write. Even though I love writing, I try to balance my writing time so I can take care of my other responsibilities. So I really, really tried to avoid binge-writing by picking up a new useful hobby that will help me in the long run.
Because I discovered this old gentleman's story, I want to know why people do what they do, such as why a person stays quiet when there are multiple people in the room, what makes a person to cry with an angry expression without changing, why a person values money over life, why someone is allergic to showing sympathy to others, why a parent vents to their child rather than a licensed therapist, what makes a person "fall in love at first sight," etc.
Learning psychology has helped me build fictional characters, boost my creativity skill, and even give me acting techniques by acknowledging my own emotions and struggles to use to act out a fictional character.
Studying Acting
I read two acting books this month: Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part by Michael Shurtleff and MAKING CHOICES for the SUCCESSFUL ACTOR: The Actor's Preparation Guide to Creative Character Development by Price Hall. I learned the perspective from both authors, who were actor coaches. Both authors talked about how to cast a crew through an audition, how to get ready for an audition by giving me lessons or tips to improve my acting, etc. One of the authors even said that roles usually go to actors who are well-behaved, can follow directions, or who are showing that they’re very dedicated to getting the role.
If I ever work on a project that needs actors in the future, they'll likely be beginners who are capable of playing roles between the ages of 16 and 21, and I would end up coaching them on how to act once I have mastered acting for myself. Because I want to be able to tell an actress how to say a line from my script in my way. Even though acting isn't my thing, I still want to learn because it's one of the elements of storytelling.
But I expect anyone other than actors who want to help me on any project of mine to be well-behaved, follow directions, or be very dedicated, but I want to give everyone a fair chance. There is always room at the table for people who want to help out. Whatever they bring me to the table, I will bring something back.
Flashback to My Acting Class in 2022
I remember that when I took this acting class, I met this black young man who was the same age as me at the time, which was 20. He was from the West Side of Chicago, and I'm from the South. We were both new to acting, so we were both nervous, but I think he was the most nervous person in the room.
As time went on, I kept messing up my lines, trying to remember them in front of people because I was nervous and mumbling words that didn't sound right, but he didn't do any of that. He performed his lines beautifully in front of people and played out the scene without making any mistakes. He even told me he would read his lines over and over before bed till he remembered them, then go to bed. He had a natural ability for acting that shocked the room every time he performed.
My biggest impression of him was that he survived a bullet in the leg and was able to stand tall, chin up high, and he still attended the acting class the same week and still did well with his performance. He didn't tell us he was shot; our acting instructor did, and our classmates and I were in shock because he played his role as if he had left all his problems behind to act, something I really respect about him; I applaud his dedication. The strong actor in him makes me want to watch him in the movies.
This also shows me that in populated cities like Chicago, there are people who have the talent but don’t get the recognition for it as they should. So that is something that I will keep in the back of my head while crafting my own writing altogether.
16 Personalities Types: I Created 5 Characters
I've been analyzing fictional characters from other creators and real-life people from school history books, celebrities, and even myself and friends and family. I even studied the minds of criminals, too. I studied and analyzed their personality types, closed-door behavior, backstories, etc.
Because I researched a set of people and learnt about psychology, I have six characters in development. I still want to continue to develop these six characters, including the more characters to come, because I want to know everything about them so I can know and predict how they will act, be portrayed, and interact in the story. Also, I want to get feedback from family and friends on how to improve these fictional characters, gather facts and studies on personality or people's behaviors, and someday draw their appearances on paper to bring them to life.
I NEVER ever want to create a lead character to be so perfect that they've never made a mistake and don't feel the need to change their ways to grow or that they've always gotten what they wanted. Because that character is very boring, and to be honest, it could also even be a narcissistic character.
(**cough** The Velma Show 2023** cough**)
Because no one's perfect, that's a fact, not an opinion. We live in a world where perfection doesn't exist. We make mistakes and learn from them to change our ways or to find growth to become better people to make an impact on the world. When making a character for a story, every writer should know this: No one is perfect.
I would say in my book, Mr. Reyna's Journal, that I want to include a character of a young guy who loves to travel all over Chicago neighborhoods, from the south side to the north side, just to see new places that he hadn't seen before. He would take pictures from morning to night. Whenever he's happy or in a good mood, he will smile so big that it will cause his two eyelids to squint into two little smiles, which I rarely see in real life. He's actually based on a family member who I never met….
Developing Female Characters
Last year, when I was writing the book, I told my peers that I thought developing a female character would be a challenge. Because I don't know how women think or what certain situations are like for them. I can already tell that the book will have more guys than girls, but the female characters in the book will be very important to the storyline.
In the book, I also want to include this one female character and tell a story about how she went through a traumatic event in her life that caused her to be very empathetic and kinder in the present time. Honestly, I think making that character is going to be interesting and very relatable to me. Although I believe that women tend to be more empathetic and kind, they also need to have their boundaries respected. So I think this female character can relate to most women, including men, once I unfold her story in the book.
Finding out what women go through and how they behave differently from men and getting feedback from my lady friends on the female characters that are going to be in my book will take time and effort, but I look forward to it.
One thing that makes a TV show with a lead female character to fail poorly is when the writers purposely develop the character to be "strong" for the sole purpose of nothing else but competing with men, being aggressively mean from start to finish with no absolute change or growth throughout the story, and try to be "funny" by talking down on her friends or people who’s minding their own business, thinking she knows best and can ever do no wrong, and believing all men are bad.
(**cough again** The Velma Show with a 1.3/5 show rating!! ** cough again** )
Writing Isn't a Secure Job
Something I want to bring to people’s attention is that I love to write, I'm very passionate about it, and I've put a lot of work into it for almost two years now. However, writing is not a secure job, and neither are jobs in the entertainment industry like acting, singing, producing content, modeling, or any other job where you create something for money. It all comes and goes, just like money.
But do you know what doesn’t go away? Your education. Your education will stay with you for the rest of your life. Knowledge is a powerful tool. So I think getting an education is very important. Because if I ever get a job that involves writing for a production company that goes out of business or if I'm still working at my current job that doesn't pay enough to afford my living expenses, I can still use my education to look elsewhere for a job that will support my family.
The SAG strike in Hollywood has shown how hard it is for actors and writers to make a living. The strike has brought light to the financial struggles faced by actors and writers, highlighting the need for fair compensation in the industry. The purpose of the strike is to bring equality to the entertainment industry and ensure they receive fair pay for their work, considering the high cost of living in California. I do think they should get fair pay for writing (especially good) screenplays, playing background characters, and doing other parts of a movie or show because it took a lot of work for which they went to school or studied for years. Because, again, I'm a writer, so I write for about 5–6 hours a day, which is why I fully support the strike.
However, to be very realistic to myself, I don't want to let my passion for writing get in the way of what's important, which is making sure my bills and living costs are paid. Therefore, after college, when I'm financially stable, I dream of buying a two-bedroom home with an office area where I can write all day, all while working at a secure full-time job that will pay the bills because a secure job is what's going to keep me alive.
Still, I am a man who chooses passion over money. Life is more valuable than money, something that money can’t buy. Although money is very meaningless to me, it's important for survival, something that I do understand simultaneously alongside with my passion.
Analysis of a Flop Show: Primos
I went online the other day to see what people on YouTube had to say about this kid show named "Primos." Most of the reviews were bad. One of the things that caused the show to get criticism for it was showing a pair of shoes hanging from an election wireline in a kid's show.
In case you don't know what a pair of shoes hanging from an election wireline is, it's terms of shoe-tossing and can mean a lot of different things. But how do I know it while growing up on the South Side of Chicago, it can mean someone's death or gang paraphernalia.
So it seems like the show's creators didn't do enough research to include that in a kid's show. Even if it was only shown briefly, it's still not appropriate for a kids' show. Parents mostly criticized the show for this. Honestly, I haven't watched the show other than people critiquing it on YouTube, so I can't provide my own review of the show, but I did find it very jaw-dropping to see a pair of shoes dangling from an electrical wire poll featured in a children's television show.
And most of the time, the writers have full power and are aware of every detail they put into a show, that's what they studied for years. So I'm not too sure if the writers wanted their show to be seen as "hip and cool" or "edgy" by the younger generation. Because I find it hard to believe that the show's writers didn't know what that term meant or that at least one adult behind the show didn't grow up in an urban neighborhood and still didn't know what it meant.
But if that was the case where they didn’t know, which I highly doubted, this is why research is every writer’s best friend to avoid misleading information. Research keeps you informed, generates new ideas, and fact-checks your work. One single piece of misleading information can destroy a whole show. Because some screenwriters tend to forget their audiences are smart, since they get paid a lot of money to write a bad script, it doesn't matter to them, which is not okay because lazy writing can send out the wrong message to children.
"Man, why do you have a blog site for?”
One of my friends walked up to me and asked, "Man, why do you have a blog site for?" Don’t you want to be lowkey about what you're doing?” My answer for that is, in one of my blog articles, I talked about this, and I talked about how many people throughout the world have untold stories or may be forgotten.
It always kept me up at nights before bed to think that there are people who want to share their stories but are unable to. Because they want to share about what they went through and how hard things were for them to make people aware, or bring peace to the world or even bring peace to themselves, or make sure a bad history doesn’t repeat itself again.
Because there are people who risk their lives or lose everything just to tell their story, especially if they live in a country with strict regulations and laws. There are also child stars in the entertainment industry who were abused or exploited for their youth and wealth and are now building the courage to speak out someday. It could even be YOU—who wants to tell your story but doesn't know how or when.
Back to why I have this blog: I'm telling my own story of what I'm going through to become an efficient writer someday because I'm living it while limiting it to people who love to write, or are starting to grab interest in writing, or just want to get to know me.
So, if I am unable to get my book published to tell my story, I can at least leave my writing behind to tell my true story of a writer's journey who's working very hard to get his first book published in the publishing world, all while holding down a steady job, going to school full-time as a college student, and surviving the challenges in life that will come his way, so he can call himself an author and fulfill his lifelong dream of having his name printed on a book, the name of Michael David Melero.
Nevertheless, I still hope that this blog can inspire at least one person to use their talent or skill to produce something so amazing and so flat-out outstanding that it stands out tall, gets recognition and praise, and can't be ignored. But still, I want to try for myself because I want to write because I think I can do something with my life.
“As a libra's son of the air, the writing of mine will stay to sway, eternally through the air as glee, forever free, like a gentle breeze, that will flee to those to lead to their true calling.”
Starting My Own Business!
Before ending this article, I'd like to share my writing plans—and introduce my first business as a young businessman!
Since I have a minor in business administration as part of my degree, I want to put my foot in the door of running my own business. So, if you want to buy clothes like sweaters, jeans, collar shirts, etc., you should go to my website, which will have links to the sites. I'm selling mostly used HM-brand clothes, but the sizes are mostly small or slim fit for men. I'm going to be selling a pair of size 8 Jordans I don't want anymore, a pull-up bar that's been collecting dust for months, and other things I don't use as much.
But if selling clothes online doesn't work out, I'm still going to bring my business elsewhere, which is to the public by selling treats near a school where I'm still deciding what to sell, like chips, candy, cold drinks, and elotes/street corn, icy, cotton candy, etc.
So this means I'll have to find at least one employee whom I can trust to share the profit with, likely a business major at my school or a trusted friend. Together, we would likely shop at Costco to get the goods, set fair prices for our very intelligent and little-scholarly customers, and brainstorm ways to improve our small business.
Writing plans: Conducting Interviews, Creating Monologues
My writing soul is telling me that I need to go back to Texas someday to conduct a real-life interview with someone for research purposes. So, in the coming months, I want to go back to my textbook and re-study about conducting interviews. Because creating the questions, recording the voiceover with a tape recorder, and writing the transcript on a document will be my responsibility, and I act like a writer. I also plan to write a lot of monologue scripts and read them aloud to improve my acting and public speaking skills.
I think I'll make a lot of progress on a set of skills that I need to work on to grow before school starts on September 25th as a senior in college. Most of my friends will be excited to go out clubbing or hanging out since we have time to do whatever before school starts, but I'm excited to have more time to work on myself by going to the library (Yes, I'm very geeky and a writer-nerd).
After I say what I have to say, it is also important to tell people to go ahead and have fun before summer ends! You take that nice, long stroll in a park to get some fresh air. Hang out with some friends at a beach to splash in the water. Eat or read outside on a nice sunny day at a park. But, again, most importantly, go have fun—but don’t have too much fun, or else you might end up in the news!
—Signing off,
Michael Melero
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