On Becoming A Writer

“Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer.” Ray Bradbury

“I do know that anybody can write, and I know that self-acceptance, self-knowledge, and belief in oneself are necessary to begin the struggle with words on paper. And I know that it takes both trust and courage to continue that struggle.” Roberta Jean Bryant

Becoming a writer, and what I mean by “a writer” is someone who is published, is not easy or for the faint of heart. The road to authorship is littered with the withered remains of those who tried and failed or just gave up. I’ve heard people say, “I don’t have the talent to write" or "That takes a special talent which I don’t have.” Neither could be further from the truth. We all can write it’s just that some people can write better than others and it is easier for some. It is not easy for most writers. Most successful writers will tell you that it is the most difficult thing they do. Many writers will tell you that they are masters of procrastination.So what is the secret? I believe as Ray Bradbury and Roberta Jean Bryant have said that it takes constant hard labor and the courage to keep up the struggle. And by doing so you may accomplish your goal of being published. For some it will be easy. For others, myself included, it will consist of hard constant labor and trust and courage to continue to struggle through the arduous process. Truth is it will be difficult for most of us. As I stated in my last post I am the King of Procrastination. And I am also the King of Unfinished Works to boot. With all these Kingly titles you would think I am some kind of Royalty. I have been called a "royal pain" on occasions now that I think of it. If you are reading this you may be wondering, who is his audience? And what he is talking about? The answer to those questions is simple: My audience is me. And you if you feel you are in the same boat as I am. You see, what I am trying to do is talk myself into writing again by starting a daily writing process and writing about the areas that I have difficulty in my writing. Such as: procrastination and lack of confidence in myself to finish a worthy story. It is my hope and prayers that this will encourage me to write on a daily basis, finish unfinished works and create all the new stories that are locked in my head dying to get out. Join me if you dare. But, be forewarned... I do not have a clue where I am going. Exciting isn't it?

Hey, what are you waiting for?

“I'm a big believer in putting things off, In fact, I even put off procrastinating. -Ella Varner” I have a declaration to make. WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING I AM THE KING OF PROCRASTINATION! You will probably tell me that I am wrong. Tell me that I haven’t seen procrastination till I have seen you procrastinate; that you invented procrastination. And if I looked procrastination up in Webster’s Dictionary I would find your picture. Well, as far as I am concerned we are all Kings and Queens of the art of procrastination. We just have our own special style. Some of us have to walk the dog first or water the plants or do the laundry (for a guy to use that one he is really hurting) or clean the house or do the dishes; the list is endless. In other words anything that you feel you have to do before you sit down to write is a form of procrastination. What’s yours? What makes you the King or Queen of Procrastination? Alan Dean Foster was quoted as saying, “The thing all writers do best is find ways to avoid writing.” At this moment I am trying to defeat one of my famous procrastinations. I am trying to put this blog entry together before 9pm. That is the time that I stop everything at watch TV. It is a cycle in my life. I go to work, fighting traffic to and fro, and when I finish dinner I convince myself that I am too tired to sit and write but not too tired to sit and watch TV. Well, that is going to change. Starting tonight I will not sit down and watch TV until I have written something. I need to spend some serious time writing. I have 4 unfinished short stories, 2 unfinished YA novels and 1 unfinished play. All started none finished. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Am I the only “start but never finish” writer out there? Here is my new model to write by. I will fulfill it to the best of my ability. Today is the first day of the rest of my “writing” life – Charles Dederich founder of Synanon, a self-help community for drug abusers and alcoholics, based in California.  Word in italics added by author.

I am back again

I have been gone for almost 8 months. A lot has happened in that time. Unfortunately, my writing hasn't been one of them. Virtually, nonexistent. Though my daughter, Dustin, has been caring the torch with the difficult task of revising her novel. My desire is to write every day, and log, in this blog, the "Good, the Bad and the Ugly" of it all. My hope is this will be the vehicle to prompt me to write on a daily basic and to, eventually, achieve what I know that I am capable of. To achieve my heart’s desire. And that is to be a writer.

Day 5 NaNoWriMo

This is crazy. It is day 5 and I only have 4007 words. And the worst part of it is that the words are a mess. Misspelling, crappy punctuation, incoherent sentences and thoughts. Tonight was the worst. But I knew I had to stick it out and grind out almost 2000 words or something close to words.
50,000 words in 30 days = 1,667 words a day. Until today I have averaged about 500 at best and 300 at my worst. Last night 300. Right now tonight I should have 8,335 words. As you can see I only have 4007. That means that I am 4328 behind.

Well guess what. I will not only make up the 4328 words that I am behind but I will complete 50,000 words in 30 days and complete NaNoWriMo 2011. WRITE ON!!

Day 1 NaNoWriMo 2011

Well, after working all day I got home and sat down at the computer and as my daughter, Dustin, told me this morning that she was doing, I also just stared at the blank screen. Finally, I started and by 8:20pm about 2 1/2 hours later I managed to crank out 2,026 words. I feel I need to continue on this pace because there is to much happening this month and I know there will be dry day when I will not even stroke a key. The only thing that disturbs me about this process is that I am writing so fast and inaccurately that I feel like I have been writing "goobily goop". Maybe it will get better as I go. Let's hope so, It look and reads terrible right now.

What Point of View to write in?

Well, this is a record for most consecutive day’s blogging…2 in a row. I need to scratch that out because it is not true. I started out good but before I posted this I went down to watch the final game of the World Series and as always I fell asleep before the game was over and woke up, cold, cramped and miserable at midnight.  Maybe this is a start of something promising. I have been toying with my story all day. I know I said yesterday that I was going to write it in the first person point of view but after many failed attempts, in my mind, I have decided that the best way to write the story would be in the third person and have the main character, Johnnie, or whatever name I decide on…I’m still not sure, tell some of the story in diary form. I have also decided that the story will take place at the Battle of Manassas and/or Bull Run. Why? Because I live in Virginia, about 10 to 15 miles from Manassas and if I decide after NaNoWriMo that I want to continue working on this first draft and see if I can get it published I can do all my research close by.

The last time I walked the battle fields of Manassas I was struck by the fact that I could almost feel the history that took place there. It’s hard to explain. I recently had the same feeling at when my wife and I, on a Caribbean Cruise, docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico and toured Fort El Morro. Walking through the different areas of the old fort I could get a sense of how the soldiers of that day worked, eat, slept and tried to enjoy themselves under those conditions.

 OK. 2 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes till NaNoWriMo begins.

No pressure, right?

My NaNoWriMo Story

Well, the countdown clock is now ticking at 4 days, 4 hours and 4 minutes as I write this post. And I am happy to say that I have an idea of what I am going to write about...kinda like a "Novel Idea". My novel is going to take place during the American Civil War and the main character is going to be a 14 year old boy who is Drummer Boy in the Union Army. I am considering writing from the first person. I'm thinking that by writing in the first person I will be able to express, (let's give him a name...Johnny), his feelings better. Stop for a moment and think of when you were 13 years old. What were you doing? Playing baseball and trading baseball cards, skipping school, sneaking your Parents booze, thinking of girls, thinking of boys ( if you are a girl, of course). One thing is for certain; you weren't looking death in the face every day and trying to stay alive.                                               
I know a little about war having served in Viet Nam at the age of 19. That's a 5 year difference. doesn’t seem like much but I think the mind of a 14 year old and that of a 19 year old are quite a bit apart. I'm hoping that there not that far. We'll see. It is going to be a challenge but then so is NaNoWriMo.