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In Die By the Pen, Jared Gniewek discusses what feeds his fires as an author of comics, screenplays and radio dramas.

I failed at heavy metal.  I did.   And before you pat my shoulder and tell me “no no, you were great” — let me clarify. I succeeded in performing heavy metal to my standards. I think the old Snaggletooth put on a pretty good show. I succeeded in composing heavy metal. I liked my songs. They were the types of songs that I liked hearing (a touch more vulgar than I would perhaps prefer nowadays but good just the same).  I also succeeded at living a heavy metal lifestyle.  I think I looked the part…still do if you believe the picture above and I can still throw back whiskeys with the best of ’em…for a little while at least and then it’s cab time.

But just the same, I failed at it. It’s true. I know I did it. I never toured, only played a handful of shows outside of Rochester,  stopped writing songs for the last couple years of the band,  never got much radio or label interest.  Off the stage, I never really gave it my all.

I’m sure you’ve never heard of the band. But it wasn’t for lack of wanting. It was for lack of pushing and then settling. Settling on being a local band and being content to stay there. This was how I failed. Through lack of vision and hope.

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In Die By the Pen, Jared Gniewek discusses what feeds his fires as an author of comics, screenplays and radio dramas.

I wrote a short story last week. Short stories were my first passion towards writing. I used to read and re-read the great pieces by O. Henry, Jack London, John Steinbeck, and Ray Bradbury. I still prefer collections of short stories to novels. I guess I have a short attention span. I also like the way they come at you fast and leave a quiet lingering feeling in their wake.

What makes this new short story one of note is that it was conceived in a dream. Ann, my lovely girlfriend, woke me from a dead slumber a couple of weeks ago and it was just as the dream was “ending”.

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In Die By the Pen, Jared Gniewek discusses what feeds his fires as an author of comics, screenplays and radio dramas.

Hopefully, we all  have people in our lives to whom we can say anything. Our parents have forgiven the most only in that we were of an age to speak impulsively the most at that time. In any case, whether its your best drinking buddy, your priest, girlfriend, mentor, or psychiatrist; you need to be able to express yourself without being judged sometimes. The time to NOT speak freely, however, would be when critiquing the work of a friend or colleague. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be honest…far from it. What I’m getting to is that you shouldn’t speak FREELY. You must speak carefully and with even temper.

The internet can be a cold place. I sometimes imagine filmmakers and television actors crying in front of their monitors, wiping their eyes with piles of cash. People are very quick to attack the work that folks—both decent and not—put forth. People are even quicker to be dismissive of all the hard work that goes into a creative endeavor. In their minds, I imagine they must feel that by keeping to such particular standards they are doing their part to stem the tide of poor quality work.

What quite a few people should remember, though (and this is what makes me truly sad) is that most times people enter into a creative endeavor with the best of intentions. What I mean to say is that most times people are trying to create something for which there is a purpose. I was talking to Rick Parker a few months ago and he said something to me which I thought to be a great thing to remember: “All ideas are good.”

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