[THE MAKING OF] Bookish

So I started writing my first novel. It won’t be part of any future school curriculum. Well, probably not, anyway.  It’s not that kind of novel.

Picture it someday, right there in the back, third shelf from the left.

It’s a fun novel.  An adventure novel. You know, for kids.

While I’m on the subject of what it won’t be, though, I’ll add that it won’t be finished soon. But it will be finished someday, and that’s a beautiful thing.

Conceptually. Theoretically. Eventually.

I think most writers – regardless of their chosen medium – dream of someday writing a novel. But that’a a lot of words. And pages. So the dream and the reality rarely find themselves in the same zip code.

In fact, I started writing a different novel many, many, moons ago. A little after college. It was supposed to be something I did in my spare time (as if there’s such a thing as spare time). My friend, Guy, and I challenged each other to complete our books within a year – two hundred and one pages, minimum.

I didn’t get past page three. I wonder if he ever finished?

My failure wasn’t really surprising. In that long-ago scenario, I had only the loosest of ideas, and was kind of winging it as I went. I guess the results speak for themselves.

This time around, it should be a lot different. After all, I have a well-developed storyline and a clear road map to safely get me from “Once upon a time” to “The End.”

Its called a screenplay.

Seems simple enough (it’s not simple at all)

Yes, my debut novel will be an adaptation of myself. Not a unique (dare I say novel) idea, of course. But an excellent one nevertheless.

It’s kinda poetic, really. When you think about it, a script is essentially a blueprint for the final product of a film. Here, it’ll serve as a blueprint for the final product of a book.

A straight line from my keystrokes to a reader’s imagination.

And ideally, followed up by more. Having been writing for a few decades now, I’ve built up a small library of spec scripts.  And thanks to the new self-publishing world and print-on-demand technology, I can finally give those stories I love a chance to find an audience.

How hard could it be?

Hearing Rhonda Smiley’s war stories for her first novel, Asper, I know it’ll be smooth sailing all the way.

I’m kidding, of course. It sounds like a nightmare.

I should probably get back to work.