You gotta git to gittin’.
Mark Twain was a journalist before he was a novelist. He wrote short stories before he wrote novels. It is fun read the first chapter of Tom Sawyer knowing he started it to be a play but quickly changed to a novel. Chapter one dialogue reads like a play often complete with stage directions for the actors.
His work started out mostly humorous but ended up full of critical social commentary. It is eventually peppered with science of the day from fingerprinting to electricity. (He was friends with Nicholas Tesla and was filmed by Thomas Edison.)
What does that mean to writers today? First: you will not be the same writer tomorrow that you are today. Second: don’t be discouraged if you start small. Third: not all his work was well received. (Ever hear of The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc?) Fourth: none of us get it all the first time out. It may take several stories or books to reach that place you want to be.
But, as Twain said, first you have to start.
Hit the little X in the top right corner and get started.
I wrote a play once. It was shortly after the High School Musical came out. It was Christmas time so we called the play High School Christmascal. The plot was roughly the same as a movie that came out not too long ago – “To save a life”
But computers.
At some point the computer it was stored on consumed the project. It was no sooner started and finished than it was gone. My hope is to find it someday and maybe see it come to stage.
On my first computer (Commodore 64) I wrote the book for a musical. I had story, lyrics, etc. Unfortunately I had no musical composition talent. Then I met a friend of my son’s who recently won accolades on Broadway (yeah, that Broadway) and I went to find the printout I so wisely saved. Can’t find it. We should start a club.
Oh, tell me about Commodore 64’s. My wife had all her business stuff (Mary Kay) devoured by our Commodore. She about croaked.
I feared the cloud but finally got to trust it.
My early works were on floppy discs and I had to find a machine that could play them.
I had the book and lyrics for about half a musical on hard copy but I haven’t found a musician to put them to music. Ironically I know a Tony winner but he is waaaay too busy to take me on.
I promise to spend more time on this blog next spring. I have two books coming out then and will share where they came from.
Keep writing!