Today we’d like to introduce you to Will Holcomb.
Hi Will, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I never planned on being a writer. I have a sister who spent years and a lot of effort learning how to become a very skilled writer. I had an idea for a story so, I called her with the idea. She told me she couldn’t write the story but if I gave her an outline she could write it from that. Even in college, if a project required an outline, I wrote the paper first and created the outline from that. I only had a basic concept of what the story I was telling her about was. So, I started writing. About six months later, I had a 140,000-word rough draft. I gave that to my sister who somehow looked past my very poor writing skills and saw there was a story worth telling. We decided the story fell into four distinct parts and she patiently walked me through editing it and teaching me how to write. It took a couple of years for us to finish editing part 1, but we got it to the point we were both happy with it. I decided to put it out into the world just to see if it was worth putting that much effort into editing the other three parts. If people hated part 1, why put the effort into the others. My first review came in with glowing praise and compared me to two best-selling authors, Ted Dekker and Frank E. Peretti. After that, other 5-star reviews started coming in from people who loved it and wanted part 2. I currently have an average rating on Goodreads of 4.77 and over 4.8 on Amazon.
After that, I started to realize something I never paid attention to. For as long as I can remember, I had stories in my head. They annoyed me because they wouldn’t go away. My mind was constantly working and rewriting them. After I wrote “The Infinite Jeff” and got it out of my head by actually writing the story, the next one came along. At the time, I had a two-hour daily commute and my mind used that time to create a story about a boy with a chemical imbalance that was the opposite of depression. The phrase “Clinically Un-Depressed” and a story about that boy was taking over my brain. One weekend, I sat down and wrote the full play. That got it out of my head but also created a play that has wowed audiences. It had two productions at Playhouse Smithville to sold-out audiences and was so successful at Bastrop Opera House that they are bringing it back for a second run.
Since then, I’ve learned the best way to get the stories out of my head is to write them down. I have a one-act play titled “The Puzzler” that has been produced numerous times, and the first production of a rock opera, with twenty original songs, titled “An Unsafe Place: A Love Story” will be produced in May 2022.
I’ve also been working with musicians to write music for my lyrics. We are currently editing a music video for a song I wrote for the town of Smithville Texas.
It has been a long journey to realize, I don’t want to be a writer, I am a writer whether I want to be one or not.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think my main obstacle is the same as most people. For a large number of reasons, I’m my own obstacle. I have an active family, work full time, procrastinate, and find excuses to avoid the things I should be doing. I absolutely love writing. Once I start and get in the flow, it’s next to impossible to stop. Editing is drudgery. I absolutely hate it and will find creative ways to avoid it. Marketing is one of my biggest problems also. Self-promotion is very difficult for me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I earn a living as a software engineer/project manager. I have a master’s in computer science with a minor in psychology. A lot of my creative writing stems from my time as an employee in corporate America. I’ve worked for Motorola, AMD, AT&T, Dell, IBM, and other large companies. They all suffer from the same flawed mindset that makes the movie “Office Space” more of a documentary than a movie. Part 2 of “The Infinite Jeff” takes a very deep dive into that system and offers a different world.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My sister, Jackie Powers, deserves more credit than I could possibly give. For years she has patiently helped me become a writer. At any point, she should have said the wrong words to discourage me and I would have walked away without a second thought. But she didn’t. Little by little, she guided me down the path that she spent years of hard work learning. I can’t even read the first draft of my book now because the writing is so bad. Somehow, she saw an amazing story in the bad writing and has spent years helping me pull that story out of a poorly written first draft to create a story loved by people around the world.
I started this journey about 12 years ago. Although my family loves my writing and supports me, it has taken a lot of family time from them. That is deserving of so much credit.
Pricing:
- The Infinite Jeff – Parts 1-3 $15 each
- Clinically Un-Depressed: $12
- The Puzzler: $10
Contact Info:
- Email: will@willholcombauthor.com
- Website: https://willholcombauthor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/will_holcomb_author/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willholcombauthor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpZmJ8efHyVPdL_Pz3SBBw
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/will-holcomb-446282137
- Other: https://www.reverbnation.com/willholcomb https://www.amazon.com/Will-Holcomb/e/B074F14K6P
Image Credits:
Kathleen Hrna – Artistic Lens
