the book

When I started this blog site a few weeks ago, a friend asked me if it was for therapeutic reasons. I told him that it was, but I guess that is only a partial response. The rest of the truth is that I am not exactly sure why I started it. Deep down, I think I am hoping that Oprah or David Letterman or someone in power finds my site, that Hollywood comes knocking on my door asking me to write screenplays, and that agents and book publishers flood me with offers that I can't refuse.

When I was young, I honestly thought the day would come when I would write the Great American Novel. I carried that belief for decades, but truth is I never embarked on the journey because, as I frequently told people, I didn't know what to write about.

In my mind, the great books have to be outlined long before the pen hits the paper (or, in this era, the fingers hit the keyboard). The characters have to be fully developed, the reasons for their existence explained, the plot carefully crafted, and each chapter detailed so that the writer knows which direction he or she is heading when the writing actually begins.

I could never do all that, I told myself. So the dream of writing a book was put off for a later time. But then in the past decade or so, I took notice of a number of nonfiction books written about how to write a book. These books declared that you really didn't need an idea, or characters that were developed, or have an inkling of how the book would unfold as the chapters rolled by. The key, these book claimed, was that all of this would happen naturally.

Still, I have not progressed past the first few pages of writing a book. In November each year, there is an online contest in which countless participants take part in writing their books. There is no prize for writing one, just the personal satisfaction of completing the job. The contest urges people on by offering online support groups, and word-count devices, and forums where chapters of your book can be posted. I have started these writing journeys a few times in the past, but have not gotten beyond a few days, all because I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be writing about. My dream has died during these Novembers, and I haven't even started the contest in the two most recent years because I know how it will end. I just don't have an idea for a book.

Perhaps I should study the classics more and try to emulate the techniques of the masters. There is Twain, Dickens, Joseph Conrad, Ayn Rand, Virginia Wolf, and so many more. The best way to begin is to copy what someone else has done to find success.

"It was a dark and stormy night...."