[QCrit] Upmarket | The Meathead Symposium (83k / 2nd attempt + first 300)

Hello Pubtips,

Thank you all in advance for the wonderful advice. All the feedback last time was very helpful! Hopefully I am getting closer.

Dear Agent,

Ian was a star athlete in high school. Colleges were scouting him, and the lacrosse field was his home. All of that changed when his brother overdosed on fentanyl. The fire in Ian’s life was doused with grief and he lost his competitive edge.

Now, as college begins, Ian is looking for a new identity, and he dives face-first into the campus drinking culture. Mingled with the nihilistic ideas he is learning in class, the drinking sends him into a downward spiral. The only thing keeping him afloat is the friendship he has developed with a trio of gym bros. 

When Ian gets into a fist fight with a group of frat guys, a divide is created, and Ian decides to disassociate himself with the larger drinking culture, and lean into his newfound love of powerlifting. The weight of his grief and philosophical doubt is still crushing, but he focuses on lifting heavy barbells instead. He and his friends sign-up for a powerlifting competition and he trains with an intensity and excitement that he hasn’t felt since his brother died. 

Things are looking up for Ian until a video of his fight surfaces at the student life department and he receives disciplinary action. Everything is in jeopardy–his enrollment at the school, and his new dream of starting an official powerlifting group. He is forced to attend anger management counseling, and the root of his pain is exposed. What follows is a journey of healing that traverses intellectual dilemmas, emotional regrets, and even muscle fibers.

The Meathead Symposium, complete at 83,000 words, is a humorous novel about the ideas that plague Ian's mind, the physical and mental gymnastics that he goes through, the friendships that buffer his sanity, and the lessons that he learns along the way. Readers who enjoyed the gritty sports drama of Don’t Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin, and also enjoy the friendly banter and amateur philosophizing in the average Joe Rogan podcast, will appreciate this book. Whether the reader's hands are calloused from lifting weights, or their brains are calloused from thinking heavy thoughts, they will find something of value in this story.  

FIRST 300

One thing about Ian was that he had big triceps. Well, maybe that’s two things, because he has two arms after all. Either way, the triceps are one of the first things you noticed when you met him–I know I did, and I wasn’t even a lifter-bro, or a gym-rat, or whatever. Freshman year, I didn’t know a deltoid from a trapezoid, and I definitely didn’t know how Ian got his triceps to look that big. 

Years later, he taught me how to bench press, push down, and even how to skull-crush, but back then we didn’t talk much, and I certainly didn’t lift much either–not even a beer can to my face. The truth is, Ian and I didn’t have a lot in common during our freshman year. We shared the same English Literature 101 class–that’s where I met him, of course, and we had one long conversation which I will recount to you in due time. Aside from that, we lived our separate lives. He was the kid in class who drank pre-workout or protein shakes while everyone else was drinking frappuccinos or sodas. He was the quiet kid who had a decent thing to say when the teacher called on him, and I was the obnoxious kid who was calling on the teacher the whole semester. 

I never would have imagined lifting weights the way that I do now, and I certainly would have laughed at the idea of competing in a powerlifting competition. My passion was books and my pastime was video games. I considered myself a sophisticated nerd, which is funny, because Ian considered himself a sophisticated meathead. I’ll let you decide. 

The thing that you’re going to have to take my word on, aside from the big triceps, is that the powerlifting group that Ian founded changed my life–big time. But this story isn’t about me, it’s about Ian, and it’s about the crazy freshman year of college that started everything.