‘He has written a novel? That’s interesting but I don’t think it would be any good.’
That was the thought inside Uncle Sam’s mind when Aiden had come to him with his manuscript. It was not too thick, coming off as a short novel that might be easier to write for a beginner.
But still, Uncle Sam didn’t feel like it would be good.
After all, he knew that Aiden had never talked about writing before. He read novels but writing was not something he seemed interested in. So, it was very random.
Uncle Sam knew that his nephew was very talented in acting and singing but both these things have been developed through his childhood. Though, he did believe that Aiden had natural talent in acting that he had developed over the years.
As for music, it was only because of his mother that he had gotten into it. Learning how to use instruments and later getting into composing songs.
Luckily, it had worked out pretty well for Aiden as he had learned a lot, eventually earning a lot of fame as a singer and songwriter.
Still, writing was very different.
Uncle Sam himself used to be a part of Hollywood before. He knew writers too and a lot of them would find it hard to come up with a story and later develop it.
In their words, it was harder to continue a story than to develop it.
Even after that, a story would go through several edits before the final version would come out. It was the same for script writing too.
It was too hard of a skill.
‘That’s why, it’s better to think of this novel as a beginner’s attempt.’
Uncle Sam thought, reading up the title of the story.
“<Behind the Scenes>?”.
He raised his head to look at Aiden at the title of the novel.
“Yeah, I thought that it fits the novel a lot. At first, I went with <Extra-ordinary life> but I thought <Behind the scenes> suited it way better.”
“Is this about movies?”
“A background actor.”
Uncle Sam didn’t ask much and nodded. He felt that it was a good choice that Aiden was going for a novel that connects to the movie industry.
It meant that he would have a lot of things to write about.
‘I’m now a bit more curious about the novel.’
Thinking that, Uncle Sam flipped the title page and started reading the story.
***
The story of <Behind the scenes> was obviously about an actor who was obviously based on Harley. Aiden had kept the first name Harley as a nod to him being the inspiration for the novel.
The full name of the main character was Harley Wright.
He was a struggling actor in LA, in the middle of a divorce and the only support being his lazy dog ‘Maxwell’. He does a number of jobs to sustain a living in the City of Angels while trying to do any auditions he could find, working as an extra on sets.
The only time he feels like he’s living is when he sits in an old theatre outside town as they play a random movie every week. One day, a famous actor insults him on the set.
Distressed, he goes to the theatre to watch a movie and meet Rocco Matthews, an old man who claimed to be a movie director. They bond over their love for movies and Rocco invites Harley to a bar where he told him that he has Cancer and was very close to death.
Before dying, he wanted to shoot a last movie.
Rocco asked Harley to audition for the lead role as he didn’t care that he was a nobody when it comes to fame. After he goes home, Harley searched about Rocco and finds out that he was a very acclaimed director who was once on the way to win an Oscar for best director.
But somehow, his career fell through after that as every movie he made after that was a flop and now, he was considered one of the worst directors.
Reading all this, Harley would have a lot of doubts about Rocco but he would eventually go to the audition and somehow bag the role.
The true story of <Behind the scenes> would start there as both Rocco and Harley try to make a movie while gaining a friendship.
There were a lot more plot twists in the novel as secrets and past of the characters get revealed.
‘This… What is this? This story is actually pretty good.’
Uncle Sam thought, flipping a page of the manuscript. He has been engrossed in the novel for quite some time now but it was only halfway done.
At this moment, his hands were trembling a bit as his eyes phased across the words.
He had truly not expected it but <Behind the scenes> was actually written very well. So much so that he doubted that Aiden was the one to write.
“Aiden.” Uncle Sam called him out, raising his head from the manuscript.
“Yeah?”
“You sure you have written it. Just so you know, plagiarism is not something moral and the laws are very strict if found out—”
“What are you saying, Uncle? I have not plagiarised it. It’s my own work.”
Aiden said, squinting his eyes and wondering why his uncle was pushing such allegations on him out of nowhere.
“No, just. Anyway, let me complete the novel then talk.”
Saying that, Uncle Sam took a deep breath and licked his lips. If this story was really written about Aiden, then his nephew might be much more talented than he had thought.
Thinking that, Uncle Sam continued on reading.
Time ticked away as his whole attention was on the manuscript. On the other hand, Aiden just silently sat, feeling a bit nervous and calmly looking at his uncle’s expression, trying to know if he was liking the novel or not.
He was very nervous due to it being his first piece of writing.
He had given his best to complete the novel and if Uncle Sam actually said that it wasnt good, then he would be very disappointed.
“Okay, I’m done.”
When Uncle Sam finally put down the manuscript on the table, he sighed.
Seeing that, Aiden’s heart filled with fear, “So, it’s not good?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then?”
“You shouldn’t have came to me.”
“What?”
“Just go publish it.” Uncle Sam finally said. “It’s good. Way better than I expected. Hollywood and especially LA is described in a great way and it all feels very real. I particularly liked the relationship between Harley and Rocco. It was a good read.”
As Uncle Sam finished his review, Aiden finally took a sigh of relief. Going by his uncle’s expression, he had really liked it.
“I was very scared that you won’t like it.”
“No, it’s good. I have myself struggled in Hollywood in initial days, so I related to Harley’s desperation a lot. It was really to the point.”
Uncle Sam gave out a bright smile. His normal day had become better after reading the novel and at the same time, he was happy that Aiden was venturing out into different fields and if the novel was any indication, then he indeed has a lot of talent.
“Thank you. It seems like I was scared for nothing.”
Aiden thought and leaned against the chair. All the fear and nervousness left him as he finally felt relaxed.
“So, tell me one thing.” Uncle Sam suddenly asked. “Are you going to publish it?”
“Huh?”
Aiden wasn’t able to give any answer when he heard that. The only reason he was writing this novel was because he wanted to test his writing skills.
As for publishing it, he hadn’t thought about it before as the only thought that was swimming in his mind was wether the novel would be good or not.
“If I’m honest, I have not really thought about it.”
“Well, it would be a waste to actually not publish it. With your popularity, the book would get a lot of popularity. You could actually just contact publishers and I’m pretty sure a lot of them would be interested, especially if they read your manuscript.”
“That’s true.”
It was never hard for celebrities to publish a book because no publisher would say no when they have millions of followers.
It was very easy to market books like that and there was almost negligible chances of the book not doing good financially.
The same stood for Aiden.
“Though, before that, I have another idea. First tell me one thing.”
Uncle Sam suddenly said. Reading the manuscript had reminded him of an old friend of his that might be able to help his nephew.
“Are you actually serious about writing? Like in a way that you would continue it alongside acting and singing.”
“I think so. It’s something I enjoyed and I do want to continue it.”
Aiden thought. After talking to Harley and writing a novel inspired by him, he was very interested in writing more stories. Especially those who are inspired by real people.
He felt like there were a lot of stories in the world that needed to be told and at the same time, if his system had given him a skill, he needed to take full advantage of it.
“Okay, then, there’s a friend of mine. He might be able to help you in writing by giving you pointers on your novel. He’s a veteran writer and would be able to guide you. As you are on your break, you should go meet him before you get too busy.”
Uncle Sam explained.
[A/N: Novel names would be in <> bracket.]
….
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