Hello, you attractive internet strangers!
I'm happy to announce that today is the first anniversary of my 1st book! April 29, 2022, was the day I decided to write my 1st book, "Mr. Reyna's Journal." Although the book isn't finished, I've been working on the book for a full year as of today with full commitment. A day that I will treasure and love endlessly. 🎉
While writing the book taught me so much. It made me put my foot in the door of journalism, creative writing, screenwriting, etc. As a result, I changed my major at the end of my sophomore year to communication and media and my minor to business administration. The exposure to different forms of writing helped me discover my passion for storytelling and communicating with others by understanding that communication don't cost a thing.
I didn't put them in that picture, nor did anyone else I don't know. I found it there unexpectedly in June 2022, and it had my name on it and the words "Happy first anniversary." So I'm pretty sure it was for a couple. I found it on June 4, 2022, just nine months away from the one-year mark of my book. Life is very mysterious. In a way, it almost feels like life is trying to tell me, "Good job."
Manuscript & Editing & The Story’s Setting
I remember writing the manuscript in March 2022; I told myself I wanted to publish the book and get sixty chapters done on a deadline, which would be my birthday month, October 2022, a beautiful month. After writing for eight months, from March to October, that now has 305 pages, I knew in my gut that the book wasn't ready. So before working with a publisher, I want to explore my story ideas and edit my first book independently until I am satisfied with the story; then, I will turn the finalized manuscript over to a publisher.
My manuscript experience:
I'd say that writing the manuscript was easy because it allowed me to be creative and let my emotions out. I’d write whatever comes to mind without thinking about it. Just imagine you’re the painter who paints your feelings on an easel. That's how it feels when I’m typing away. I don’t think I can last a day without writing because I have grown accustomed to it.
My editing of the book experience:
The editing process, as I mentioned, it’s work. This is the process where I go back to the book to edit, which involves removing scenes that I didn’t follow my story directions, adding more scenes that go to the story’s direction, and adding new or removing characters in the book. I’m not going to lie, I loved some scenes because I worked hard on them, but I knew they didn’t follow the story’s direction, so I either removed or revised them.
The book's setting:
The book, a semi-autobiographical story, will take place on the south side of Chicago. The timeline will take place in 2017 between 2020. This will be interesting to me because I'm going to write about the past life of Chicago, especially when the pandemic first started.
My goal for my first book is to get the best scene, which is what every writer wants in their own book. As of right now, the book is still in its editing process, and I'm still adding final touches to the book.
My NY & TX Trip
So, I flew to two states to celebrate my first book's birthday and my total commitment to publishing it! One state was New York, which was terrific, and I went with my college colleagues. I then traveled to Texas on my own to see relatives there.
New York:
I went to Time Square Park, wandered through the city with friends, and drank (very little, though, because I'm not too fond of the taste or smell of alcohol), went on a boat across the ocean to see the Statue of Liberty (♫ ocean—ocean ♫ a small inside joke to my buds).
Texas:
It was fun. While I was there, I went downtown with my aunt, saw my great-grandmother on Easter, and took my little cousin to his first Chuck E. Cheese, creating happy memories. Although it was enjoyable, I got a lot of story ideas and did a lot of writing, particularly screenplay writing.
An real actual photo was captured of a woman trying to throw a punch in the face (♫ ocean—ocean ♫).
Screenwriting for Action
While working on the book, I’ve been working on screenwriting. Screenwriting is known for writing scripts for actors to read and act out the scene for shows or movies. So far, I have written three small samples for practice, and I’m loving it so far!
I met this guy who loves to screenwrite too, and we're about the same age, and he told me that screenwriting is fun but emotional. I agree with him because I realize how emotional it can get while writing these scripts. Whenever I write a screenplay out, I'd mostly use real-life events that happened in parts of the world as story inspiration.
To get some story ideas, I'll be watching the news from other countries, watching documentaries or films based on a true story that doesn't speak the same language as me, and reading world news articles.
Sometimes it gets too real for me whenever I conduct heavy research about various things, such as how human beings interact, how they feel, and what's happening in other parts of the world besides the US. So far, what I know now about the world, is not good. So I'll try not to doom scroll too often by not being online for a few days or even a month.
So far, I've written three samples of screenwriting. I hope to post one of them on my website soon for everyone to see.
Moi Doggie's Military Tag Pendant
This dog's military tag with my dog's name engraved on it, who died last year, means so much to me. It is also my pendant.
Because he was such a courageous little dog with a big soul of a soldier, I bought the pendant with his name after his birthday on January 1st. When people ask about it when they see me wearing it, I usually tell them it's my good luck charm. Not even kidding. Good things tend to happen whenever I wear the pendant.
I remember one of them was when I was writing an article alone on my campus. In the article, I talked about how whenever I wear my pendant, I'll get free food out of nowhere when I'm hungry. While seated alone and writing that article, a school employee approached me with an unopened container of nachos, and he asked me if I wanted it, and I freaked out! And remind you, this is one of the coincidences.
Even after such an end, I learned that a key to success can sometimes be found in your darkest moments.
You guys may be wondering or will ask me, “Oh, Mike, so what's next?"
So here's my answer to the question of What's next. Of course, I got better at writing, I wrote a love song from my heart that I knew would land me in my next obvious career as a super, ultra, mega, pop-star singer (clearly). This way, I would get incredibly rich and famous, and I could finally buy myself a cool white horse.
But I'll be honest with yours. I'm going to hold off on dropping that record for now because dealing with fame and the paparazzi with flashing cameras 24/7 is a big responsibility. And I already have so much on my plate here as a full-time college student and writer.
Because you know, I have to finish my school first, get my degree, publish my book, take care of my family, and reserve a well-deserved long nap after fulfilling my ongoing list of responsibilities. But hey, at least you can always sing your heart out in the shower and pretend to be a pop star! But I still hold onto high hope of owning a cool white horse someday.
So to answer that question of what's next, I'll stick with working on my book. So, let's hope my book sells better than my pop-star career would have.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
To close this article, I wanna say that I know it's been quite some time since I wrote a progress report article, but the book is coming along great! I've just been making many changes and editing the book. So thank you for your time for reading! It really does means so much to me! Thank you!
Most excellent Mikey - love you kiddo!! -Teo