Thirty-four years.
In some ways, I’m miles ahead of where I thought I would be at this point in my life. In other ways, I see things I haven’t accomplished yet that I still want to do. Since I’m in a reflective mood, here’s what I want to accomplish in my life moving forward – at least, one thing I’d like to accomplish.
I’m Starting a Novel.
My collection of books has outgrown my office and has multiplied on every desk, tabletop, and spare space I have between the office and home. I’ve done a lot of reading in my thirty-four years on this earth – and a fair amount of writing. But, so far, I haven’t yet committed myself to writing books. Specifically, I want to write novels. John Steinbeck has become a recent source of inspiration in this department.
My problem with writing novels is: Where do I find the time to write? And so, I keep wishing to write novels, but never come any closer to my goal. All the while, the days of my life keep ticking away. Hopefully, I have many years left in my life – but regardless of how much time I have, it’s limited.
And so, today I commit myself to starting my first novel. I have no clue what I’m doing, but today the “thinking about it” ends and the “doing it” begins.
Returning to John Steinbeck for a moment, he provided a look into what it is to start a writing project such as this.
“The craft or art of writing is the clumsy attempt to find symbols for the wordlessness. In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable. And sometimes if he is very fortunate and if the time is right, a very little of what he is trying to do trickles through – not ever much. And if he is a writer wise enough to know it can’t be done, then he is not a writer at all. A good writer always works at the impossible.” – John Steinbeck in Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters
That final sentence, “A good writer always works at the impossible,” pretty much sums up what I feel about starting and writing a novel.
But I would rather work at the impossible than live with the regret of wondering what was possible.
