An introduction - in 1000 Words or Less
- Kevin Lamport
- Aug 8, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 11, 2025
I’ve read that a writer’s blog should concern itself, at least somewhat, on the craft of writing. Makes sense. I’ll keep that advice in mind. However, since I’m a newbie and probably can’t offer much to the writing world, I’m guessing much of what I have to say won’t involve that particular subject.
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I’ll avoid talking about: Trump, gun control, climate change, and the MeToo movement. That alone should keep you coming back with, if not interest, at least huge sighs of relief.
I’ve also read that an author’s blog should look outward rather than inward. In other words, I should discuss topics that are less about me and more about stuff "out there." More good advice. A blog about me would be as interesting as melting snow. So, going forward, we'll avoid the boring stuff…except today. I think blog post 1 should serve as an introduction.
Here goes:
In 1994 I decided to write a novel. I loved books and I loved movies but occasionally, I found myself saying, “If had written that, I would have come up with a better ending.” Or some such nonsense.
How hard could it be?
I didn’t own a personal computer in 1994 - at the time home computers were not as ubiquitous as they are today - so I sat down in front of a typewriter. I flexed my fingers and began creating a novel. 10 minutes later, I realized I was swimming in the deep end. I didn't have a novel in my head. I had a scene I was incapable of putting on paper for lack of skill and knowledge. Turns out, writing is hard.
The cliché is, “You can do anything you want.” To say it another way, if you have the desire, put in the work and focus on the goal, you will ultimately end up at the place you had in mind when you started. This is an unrealistic belief. I’m looking at you, guitar lessons. Eighteen months of lessons and dedicated practice and I still couldn’t play like Brad Paisley?
Possibly, and by “possibly” I mean definitely, setting my personal bar at Brad Paisley’s level was an impossible goal, especially considering I can’t hear the beat to a song unless it’s performed by the Village People. (A “friend” owned one of their LPs in the late seventies). A metronome didn’t help; the clicking sound was distracting. At the end of the eighteen months, when I still couldn’t play a single song in its entirety, I decided enough was enough.
When it came to writing, on the other hand, I had some tools in my tool box: as I mentioned, I read all all the time, I enjoy movies and my interest after several false starts at the typewriter, didn't disappear. I was still willing to put in the work, part of which meant learning the techniques, conventions and rules of writing a publishable, novel.
Somehow, in the age before Internet, I found a novel writing course. I bought a shiny new Dell computer. With a 386 processor and 4 megs of RAM, it was an incredible hot-rod. Most importantly, it had a word processor.
I finished writing an unpublishable first novel. It went into a box. The box went onto a shelf in the closet. I started novel number two. I took more courses, joined critique groups, and attended writer’s conferences. I learned how to type. When novel two was complete, it went into a box. The box went onto a shelf in the closet. Eventually, after several years, I finally had a MS I felt was ready for the world.
And, here we are.
Desire, hard work and effort does not guarantee, “You can do anything you want.” I’ll never play the guitar like Brad Paisley, no matter how much I want to, or how much time I put into practicing. As is always the case however, there is some truth contained within the cliché. I attained my original goal: a publishable novel. Somewhere along the way, I set new goals. Now I’d like to sell a novel every 12 seconds. Lee Child does! That’s probably not attainable but if Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule holds true, and I keep pecking away, maybe novel three will sell more copies than novel two. And, three complete manuscripts is a long way from warming up my fingers in front of a typewriter for the first time.
Kevin
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