After the Process is Done
Finishing the Creative Process feels like post-clarity… Don’t go there, Pat. Sike, I don’t even joke like that. I’m just saying... the process builds anticipation, and then it’s just done. The ending feels anticlimactic...…
Finishing the Creative Process feels like post-clarity…
Don’t go there, Pat.
Sike, I don’t even joke like that.
I’m just saying... the process builds anticipation, and then it’s just done.
The ending feels anticlimactic…
For example:
If you’re a musician, people can stream your music, buy your album, or share your songs on social media.
Or you’re a filmmaker; people go to the theater and watch the movie, or they stream it.
Immediate gratification, or disappointment.
When I finished, it was like, “Cool. Maybe people will check out the website.” Although it was my most challenging and time-consuming project because it was so meticulous. So many layers and so much code. For some people to just look at it and go, “nice, it’s cool.“
That’s an understatement. That’s what makes it anticlimactic.
Trust, I understand that I shouldn’t keep producing free work that people should be paying for.
As for myself, it’s not about continuing to publish more work… It’s the realization that I have enough work to showcase what I have to offer.
I’m at a point in my career and life where I don’t need to do this to sustain myself. I’ve addressed this in The Creative Process.
Yeah, I took several creative writing classes in college, but I also knew not to specialize in it because how was that going to help me land a real job?
Many of my classmates could afford to major in the arts, as they had a fallback. Granted, I attended a PWI… but the other Black students fell into the categories of studying STEM, business, or being student athletes.
Many of my peers pursued degrees they had no real interest in, but felt compelled to because of family or community pressure. Or stigmas around job opportunities.
I recall the push for STEM… Everything STEM, STEM, STEM. Study something in STEM because you’ll get a job; stability and all that.
Look at that job stability in 2026… LAYOFFS, LAYOFFS, LAYOFFS. AI. AI. AI.
Tech companies hired all those engineers and developers at astronomical wages to build systems that later replaced their jobs. That’s crayyyyy. Cold-blooded.
Upfront costs to recoup it on the back end. That’s economics, baby.
“Intertemporal Choice”
Wasn’t there a greater push to slow the acceleration of generative artificial intelligence? I recall conversations with my coworker, Kelly, in 2022 that if the government and tech industry didn’t implement legal guardrails (policies, ethics, laws), then there would be no limit to what AI could do.
Now, how do we reverse-engineer in the age of deepfakes? The technology will keep advancing rapidly, and we can thank our STEM friends for that.
All we needed were parameters… What we can do, or what we shouldn’t do with the technology. It’s all love, though.
– English’s Lit –
My academic discipline and work experience are broad. But much of my education is intellectual. I can analyze professional documentation and ask questions that get closer to a solution or understanding, even if I don’t know the answer. This is called critical thinking… And in 2026, it’s an in-demand skill.
I had to enter the workforce after graduation. Especially in Seattle, where it’s unsustainable to be a full-time creative… Unless your work is based in other cities, or you come from dolla-signs. bling-bling.
As I’ve shared in several instances, my literary foundation helped me navigate my career and society in general. It taught me how to develop a long-term narrative.
So, I didn’t become quiet because I didn’t have anything important to say; nah, it’s likely because I was writing it all in my mind.
WHEN YOU ENTER THE WORKFORCE, PEOPLE DON’T VIEW YOU AS AN ARTIST; THEY SEE YOU AS A PROFESSIONAL.
That’s the conundrum. People think I’m doing this as a hobby. They don’t see me the way my literary peers do.
This website is my platform. My writing samples are here, and I’m not sharing them for fun.
Many current writers and creatives began their careers in other industries. They didn’t study literature or even the visual arts.
Maybe it was an interest, hobby, or passion from their childhood. It was their creative calling, but they took the safer professional route.
Very few people can afford to pursue art and become successful. It’s usually a certain class of people. Or, some are willing to do nefarious things to get into position.
Hella nepotism, as well.
For example, doctors or engineers get book deals. I tell myself that we shouldn’t gatekeep creative opportunities. If people are interested, let them create. I believe there’s room for everyone who’s serious.
The bitter pill is that, unlike visual arts, where someone can look at a painting or drawing and recognize its beauty. Or music, where people can sing along to the melody or words, or film, where people are visually experiencing the product; writing and words are different. Most people can read, and many people believe they can write well.
But I don’t think the average person can identify quality writing. Especially in the US, given the current literacy rates and average reading levels.
Hell, I’m not sure if the average reader can distinguish my style of writing and storytelling. These are things we would analyze in my 200- and 300-level courses. The way I shift between formalities and my West Coast/PNW diction. My humor. How I structure sentences and paragraphs. The literary devices that I use. I don’t expect the average reader to comprehend all of it, especially on the first read. Especially now, when so many people are using AI. I feel terrible for teachers and college professors. Yikes.
– Read enough work, and you’ll understand the tone.
I can read something and tell if the author is a writer. And it’s not contingent on their education or their credentials. Certain people are natural storytellers, or they’re self-taught because they put in the work to develop their craft.
Playwrights have their own style. Novelists have their own style. Essayists have their own style. Screenwriters have their own style.
Reporters and journalists have to use AP style.
I just find that people with English degrees tend to be more skilled storytellers. Not all the time, but often. And this notion spans different disciplines. We’ve all seen people who we’ve asked, “Are you formally trained?” And they reply they’re not. Just imagine giving them structure.
My concern with creative writing, or pursuing screenwriting immediately after graduating college, was: how would I tell real stories without real experiences? That’s why I don’t watch many current programs: I can tell the writers haven’t truly engaged with people in society, the workforce, or the community; they’re just using their imagination. The dialogue doesn’t sound realistic; the plot doesn’t feel realistic. They can’t develop original stories; they just adapt them from real events. Maybe it’s entertainment to many, and that’s all production studios care about.
Film, I give grace. TV series is a different pace.
In my academic program, I had to read all types of literature. Several books per week. And I’m not talking about memoirs and self-help books. I’m talking about dense reading. Where you have to read a passage 3-4 times to catch all the references.
Not only that, I took some of the most intellectually challenging courses outside of my major. I didn’t take easy elective courses.
I can simplify a message while keeping the intellectual intent. I don’t need big words to say something deep.
The other day, I came across a clip of a popular creator discussing their creative process, and I thought, “You’ve never created original work.” Everything that individual released has already been done. And yes, almost nothing is original; I get that. But being inspired and copy/pasting ain’t the same thing. You mean, you watch other people’s work and find a way to make it engaging to your audience…
That is why I have to showcase and explain my creative process in detail, sometimes in real time. I don’t use ghostwriters. I don’t use artificial intelligence for creative writing. I write about what’s unique to my experience and how it can relate to others.
Putting my head down and sharpening my craft while building a professional career allowed me to take creative risks and develop work that isn’t trendy or current.
I don’t write for things to go viral. Today, just watch one skit, and you’ll get recommended similar content for hours or days. That’s why we see all these “challenges” on social media. So now people create content wanting to create the next social media “challenge,” or go viral. Those engagement metrics matter more than content quality.
Finding your unique voice and experience takes time. It takes years. That’s why I’m okay with a doctor or engineer who wants to tell their story or narrative based on years of experience. Unless they have a literature background, I’m sure they use ghostwriters. But their experience can resonate with professionals of all disciplines.
Ultimately, I feel like you need a little life seasoning before you start shaping narratives. Again, film is different. It’s 1.5-2 hours.
Toni Morrison really started doing her thing at 39. Maya Angelou’s first published book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, came out in 1969, when she was 41. Ralph Ellison published Invisible Man at 39, and J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit at 45 and Lord of the Flies at 60.
I’m sitting here at 35, understanding that I’m still in act one. Even as I approach my second act. Over the past few months, my mindset has shifted from “is this going to happen?” to “Oh, it’s going to happen, and I’m prepared.”
I’ve let go of the cynicism… Oh, how am I going to find an agent without having a social media presence?
My issue is that I’m chasing the ghosts of classic writers and not contemporaries. I’m stacking my work against Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Geoffrey Chaucer, Mary Shelley, W.E.B. Du Bois, and others because those are the writers whose work I studied and drew my insight & understanding of literature from.
At 22-23 years old, I could put words together and make it sound good, but I didn’t have enough life substance to create something that wasn’t a period piece. Trends come and go. Political and social views consistently shift. Current or trendy content doesn’t age well; it just becomes nostalgic. Yeah, it’s cool when you’re 20 years old, or when it’s 2005. But it’s 2026 now, and the new generation doesn’t understand it.
But if you’re 30 years old, that means you were 18 years old at one point. It means you were once 21, 25, and 29 years. So the earlier you build an understanding and foundation in literature, the more you progress through life, seeing and experiencing things through narrative.
Think about seasoning and marinating your food. Marinate chicken for 30 minutes and then cook it. Get another piece, and marinate it with the same seasoning overnight. Get another piece, and marinate that in the freezer for three or more days, then cook it. Which piece will have the most flavor? Ya’ understand?
That’s literature, baby.
But… Don’t marinate for too long, because what happens?
It spoils. It becomes inedible.
For certain art forms, the younger the better. There’s a reason why most supermodels are young. There’s a reason why, historically, older acts don’t age well in hip-hop.
Hip-hop has always been a young person’s art form because of its cultural influence. But as hip-hop has grown older, and the acts have grown older, so has the audience. Many older rappers rap about things related to their current lives, and it shouldn’t be the same content as when they were in their early 20s.
Literature is similar. I don’t need to write to try and appeal to young people, because they will eventually grow up. They will become the old heads, and they will find entertainment that resonates with them.
I don’t care to write about things that resonate with a 20-year-old. Granted- I do have an affinity for old souls because I was that myself.
I never intended to write Beautiful Trash or FreeSense, because I didn’t think I could write about topics in a way that would command a mass audience. In doing so, I understood the readers would potentially be niche; specifically those who read or write literature. Sure, I would love to invite those who don’t read literature, or read at all, into the fray; however, I didn’t know how many agents or publishing houses would take that gamble.
I wrote BT and FS because I knew the content would set the table for what I’m eventually trying to accomplish. It’s called the foundation.
… Try to build a home or anything without a foundation. Everything will come crashing down.
Isn’t the proverbial saying that it takes ten years to become an overnight success?
Sure, we hear the studio albums, but what about EPs and the mixtapes that only a few listened to?
If you’re reading this right now, and you’ve made it this far, then you’re likely aware that I’ve been grinding for years. And you’re the type of person I will make time and space for.
I’ve already begun making the shift… To being readily available only to certain people, because I tried to get everyone to listen…
People took me for granted- and I stated this on several occasions, often directly to people. Is it arrogance? Of course it is, but what hyper-successful person isn’t? It’s the only way that you can defy the odds.
If you let people humble you, you’ll be where they want you to be.
So yeah, I’m not humble, and I’m not average, and I have the proof.
When I think about the effort that went into developing the persona, StandPat, and more recently, PATCHYp, do I want to write an entire novel with multiple characters and hope more than 100 people read it? If I knew 100 people would read it… I would. Otherwise, at this stage of my career and life. I just checked the box as being a writer by publishing a book. I’m not ruling it out in the future, but I don’t have a strong desire to be an author unless there’s an audience, and I don’t even care about the size; there just has to be an audience.
I’m more George RR Martin than I am Stephen King.
My creative aspirations were always to write for the screen.
I wanna shout out Danny, Ant, Casey, and Dana because I remember visiting them one day in 2009, and they were watching season 2 of The Wire. I never heard of the show.
I remember thinking, “What the hell are y’all watching? Because I never saw anything like it before, but they sold me on the show. So, one day at home, I doubled back and watched it from episode one. Since then, I’ve watched the entire series 6-7 times. I took a college course on it with Dr. Hunter at the University of Washington.
I believe it’s the greatest, if not top-three greatest, television series of all time. I highly recommend it to anyone, especially intellectuals.
The social commentary and discourse are one aspect. But also, how the show is written is the magic. Sorry, that ain’t no amateur writing room. You won’t find social media influencers or content creators with that caliber of writing. That’s the crem-de-la-crem. It’s more than imaginative writing. You need SME (subject matter experts), and you need professional experience to understand how to work with them. I don’t know if there will ever be another show of that caliber, but it’s an unattainable goal worth chasing.
Those familiar with the series understand that it wasn’t critically acclaimed during its original run. But it’s since been heralded as one of the greatest.
But if you worked in law enforcement, government, labor unions, education, media, or hustled in the streets, you understand how accurate the show was… It wasn’t some creative writing students who imagined how these institutions work.
I started my career in the newsroom. I’ve worked in higher education. I’ve been heavily involved in the community. I’ve worked in workforce development and have networked with government, political, and industry leaders. Also, the underworld isn’t foreign to me…
FreeSense set the table for something greater. Proof in the pudding: Introduction III
I expect that my work will go over most people’s heads. That’s why I don’t write for the masses. I’ve made this clear within the piece and my other work. I’ve said before that I’m willing to build a niche audience. That’s what The Wire was initially. So, I’m not writing for BookTok. I’m writing for HBO, Starz, or whatever network wants to do this thing.
Or, I’ll work on securing funding if we need to do it independently. I’ve outlined in all of the creative processes that I’m willing to do things myself.
For myself, being adjacent to tech. I’ve worked with many aspiring tech professionals who want to work in Cybersecurity or the Cloud.
The Wire writers weren’t traditional television writers. That’s what I took from David Simon and how he approached screenwriting. As showrunner, he didn’t just hire traditional TV writers; nah, he hired journalists, novelists, and subject-matter experts.
“I think what you sense in The Wire is that it is violating a good many of the conventions and tropes of episodic television. It isn’t really structured as episodic television and it instead pursues the form of the modern, multi-POV novel. Why? Primarily because the creators and contributors are not by training or inclination television writers.” -David Simon via TheBeliever (Source)
These are the nuances and intricate details that the average person doesn’t give two shits about. But nerds like me geek out over.
But it’s not about replicating The Wire, since shows have tried and failed in varying degrees. You need the institutional experience, not just an ability to write or put storylines together.
Then, you also need a literature foundation and a journalistic lens. Which I possess.
My ambitions are grandiose. But I will accomplish them. And I have no doubt that opportunities will arrive; Carpe Diem.
Now that the process is done. I have all the writing samples. I have a book’s worth of literature on this website to read and analyze. My next focus is on the screen, and I will not be sharing that work or those ideas on this platform. I will share it only with people who can open the right doors.
So, what’s next?
I’d like to lean back into my journalistic experience. And I’ll share some quick thoughts on current topics here & there…
But the literature? It probably ends here for a while… at least.
This website is a great way to continue sharpening my skills, and I had a lot of fun and frustration designing this. It became part of my daily routine, not just the months spent building this website. Years, that includes time that I spent writing and revising.
Truthfully, I believe I’m the only person who truly believes in me. My desire to be great is insatiable. I won’t stop at anything to achieve the goals that I’ve set for myself. I tried to explain it to people, but it often fell on deaf ears. So, I stopped doing that, and I’ve just committed myself to my goals.
You want to know where Pat’s at? He’s focused. I’m tired of being excited to explain what I’m working towards, only to be met with a blank stare or no words of encouragement. Maybe it’s because I’m not popping on social media… Or they truly don’t understand who’s in front of them.
I’ll be honest, though, I don’t know if I’ll be able to maintain humility when I reach that pinnacle. I definitely will, with the people who’ve poured into me as a person. But I’m not going to lie and give false credit to everyone who didn’t support this work. I’m going to say that I trusted in myself, because it’s the truth.
I encourage everyone with goals who shares my motivation and mindset to move forward and commit. Don’t wait for affirmation. You don’t need others’ approval. Just understand that once you do it, everyone’s going to act like they knew you always had it in you.
Even if they call you crazy or chastise you for it. They’ll say you’re “going through something,” instead of you just being committed. It’s a tale as old as time.
No, I’m not about to explain if you ain’t actually listening, or you don’t care.
Pat’s going to do it. I have zero doubt. I can see success on the horizon. Society’s energy is shifting, and people feel a void. That’s what I’ve been quietly preparing for.
The next process is the one that I’ve been preparing for over 15 years.
PATCHYp
