Before I became a full-time writer, I worked in computers for a big super-mongo-huge tech company. I have lots of stories from my days at the company. Here's one that happened right after I left...
The division was making a big push to increase its market visibility in Europe. As a result, a lot of people were being sent to Europe on business trips. But the executives felt that the expense reports that were coming back were excessive. Apparently they believed that the employees were coming back from Europe with extravagant expenses, charging all sorts of expensive things to the company, and the company had to put a stop to it.
So the three top executives sent out a memo that employees were abusing the system. The new SMART EXPENSE POLICY mandated that hotel rooms could not cost more than $200 a night, and they made a big deal out of this when they went for their next big conference in London. It was a big showy event to prove to all the employees that even the executives were going to stick to the rules.
A week later, the executives all came back... with BED BUGS. They missed an extra week of work until everything they owned could be decontaminated from bed bugs they contracted from cheap hotel beds.
And the final kicker? With a fluctuation in the exchange rate, the rooms ended up costing more than $200 a night.
The new smart expense policy was quickly gotten rid of and never spoken of again.
When I first started out, I offered free computer advice to writers I met. Many didn't need my help, but a surprising number did. I helped one writer clear off all the viruses off his computer, I helped another writer set-up her wireless network and recovered a dead hard drive, another writer I advised on buying a laptop. It was a great way to build relationships with them, to get face time with them that I wouldn't ordinarily get, and to prove myself as being a somewhat nice guy to have around.
I know a guy who got his start this way. He met a high-profile writer, exchanged e-mails with him, and then told him, "Hey, I work at a certain
COOL COMPANY, so if you ever want to visit and get a free tour, just let me know." The high-profile writer was like, "HECK YES, I want a free tour." That writer got a tour, the guy got a valuable connection, and it led directly to his spec script getting in the hands of agents and story-editors.
There is a massive volume of scripts being bandied around in Hollywood by aspiring writers. And you always hear stories of people doing crazy and unusual (read: SAD AND DESPERATE) things to get noticed.
So if you're an aspiring writer, here's one way to get noticed. BE YOURSELF. What do you have in your life that could be useful or interesting to others? What makes you stand out? If you have something, that something could be useful in getting a start in your writing career.
If not, don't worry. At the very least, save the experiences from your job. Because God willing, if you're someday lucky enough to sit in front of a computer and make up stories for a living, you will draw upon those weird experiences from your old jobs.
I don't know exactly how I'm going to work bed bugs into a story just yet, but I'm sure inspiration will eventually bite me like a $200 bed bug...
