Too Close to the Heart?
I don't know about other writers, but of all the stories I come up with and set to paper, there is one that will always be closer to my heart than any other. It's the one that first ignited my imagination and opened my eyes to the idea of writing a book. It's the one I think of when my mind is wandering or when I am trying to clear my mind to fall asleep at night. It's the story that I would rather spend the rest of my life writing than get it wrong. It's the story that I want to succeed more than any other, and yet it's the story that I feel will never be as good as it could be... it's the second book in my three part Marcus Saga.
Laying Down Arms is a love story that I think would do well as a stand alone book, but to truly appreciate it you need the history that is provided in the first book and the Swan song that is the third. It's a story that I have been developing ever since my senior year of high school through college and into my life as an adult. I have gotten sidelined from time to time with other story idea, school, work, friends, family, and breaks, but I always come back to it. I sometimes wonder if it is the single story that I am supposed to write and if by finishing it (if that day should ever come) I will have fulfilled some greater purpose. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect to be the next great writer who will top the charts with book after book. In all honesty, I don't even expect for anyone to read this blog (this belief is supported by the fact that I have not made it public...). It's more that I feel in some way it is a story that I am supposed to tell for whatever reason.
This feeling of having to write it might have something to do with a desire to finish the book that started me on this path or with me proving to myself that no matter how much time passes, you can always accomplish what you set your mind to accomplishing or if it has something to do with finishing the only story my Dad ever read of mine before he died. It might have something to do with a dear friend of mine who has asked me to finish what I started so long ago and tell the story that rules my imagination. It might be a combination of all of these things, or it might be something else altogether. Who knows what drives us? All we can ever really home to do is recognize the signs when we feel the drive compelling us to take action.
It's odd how some books can be so much easier to think through and finish than others. I've been thinking about Laying Down Arms and the overall Marcus Saga for nearly a decade and yet have no more than a quarter of the trilogy completed. I thought up and completed Growing Up in the Shade in less than a year. Yes, there have been some revisions here and there, but overall it was finished in the span of less than twelve months. Oddly I feel like there is nothing else I had to say in that story. I wrote everything I felt that was needed, and I was happy with the result. Having that feeling of contentment upon the completion of the final edit was one of the strangest feelings I have ever had in my life. I'm not a perfectionist in most things, but when it comes to drawing or writing I believe I am one of my harshest critics. I always expect more. I always expect better. I'm not saying I think Growing Up in the Shade is one of the best books ever written, but it tells the story I wanted told in the way I wanted to tell it. The world can judge it for its merit beyond that, and I hope against hope that they don't find it wanting.
I don't know if I will ever share the Marcus Saga with anyone because it is so close to my heart, and yet there is no story I would rather share with the world. My shy standoffish personality will be bruised and beaten when I take the step to move my stories/novels from my imagination (aka my computer) to the published page and ultimately to the masses, but I believe I will be able to take it if I feel that I have told the story that I wanted to tell. I'm not sure how long it will take to tell it, but I will never stop trying to tell it until I am content or no longer able to tell it. Here's hoping it will be the former rather than the latter. And here's hoping that it will bring as much enjoyment to others as it has brought to me.
Laying Down Arms is a love story that I think would do well as a stand alone book, but to truly appreciate it you need the history that is provided in the first book and the Swan song that is the third. It's a story that I have been developing ever since my senior year of high school through college and into my life as an adult. I have gotten sidelined from time to time with other story idea, school, work, friends, family, and breaks, but I always come back to it. I sometimes wonder if it is the single story that I am supposed to write and if by finishing it (if that day should ever come) I will have fulfilled some greater purpose. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect to be the next great writer who will top the charts with book after book. In all honesty, I don't even expect for anyone to read this blog (this belief is supported by the fact that I have not made it public...). It's more that I feel in some way it is a story that I am supposed to tell for whatever reason.
This feeling of having to write it might have something to do with a desire to finish the book that started me on this path or with me proving to myself that no matter how much time passes, you can always accomplish what you set your mind to accomplishing or if it has something to do with finishing the only story my Dad ever read of mine before he died. It might have something to do with a dear friend of mine who has asked me to finish what I started so long ago and tell the story that rules my imagination. It might be a combination of all of these things, or it might be something else altogether. Who knows what drives us? All we can ever really home to do is recognize the signs when we feel the drive compelling us to take action.
It's odd how some books can be so much easier to think through and finish than others. I've been thinking about Laying Down Arms and the overall Marcus Saga for nearly a decade and yet have no more than a quarter of the trilogy completed. I thought up and completed Growing Up in the Shade in less than a year. Yes, there have been some revisions here and there, but overall it was finished in the span of less than twelve months. Oddly I feel like there is nothing else I had to say in that story. I wrote everything I felt that was needed, and I was happy with the result. Having that feeling of contentment upon the completion of the final edit was one of the strangest feelings I have ever had in my life. I'm not a perfectionist in most things, but when it comes to drawing or writing I believe I am one of my harshest critics. I always expect more. I always expect better. I'm not saying I think Growing Up in the Shade is one of the best books ever written, but it tells the story I wanted told in the way I wanted to tell it. The world can judge it for its merit beyond that, and I hope against hope that they don't find it wanting.
I don't know if I will ever share the Marcus Saga with anyone because it is so close to my heart, and yet there is no story I would rather share with the world. My shy standoffish personality will be bruised and beaten when I take the step to move my stories/novels from my imagination (aka my computer) to the published page and ultimately to the masses, but I believe I will be able to take it if I feel that I have told the story that I wanted to tell. I'm not sure how long it will take to tell it, but I will never stop trying to tell it until I am content or no longer able to tell it. Here's hoping it will be the former rather than the latter. And here's hoping that it will bring as much enjoyment to others as it has brought to me.
Comments
Post a Comment