Four days before the Start
(Friday, June 27th, 2014)
Emotions come and go.
What’s in this journal for you?
Well… let me start, please.
Two months ago I decided that I AM A WRITER. I repeat, what’s in this for you? It is nothing more than the fact that you can also be a writer too, and somehow I will prove this to you. However, this ‘nothing more’ is in my opinion one of the most important things in this life.
Yes, I am a writer, a comprehensive writer; even if I haven’t written any books until now. Still, I’ve been writing since I knew myself. Never published, never thinking about this and always writing for others. And do you know what? I really enjoyed writing for others. I don’t intend to write for myself… I already know very well what’s in my mind and heart. So, why write for myself?
As I already said, two months ago I decided that I am a writer. I believe this with all my heart so I am already thinking of quitting my job as an engineer at a well-known company in the country in which I am living now. Yes, I really intend to quit my job but my logical mind decided to postpone this for a while. This is for the only reason that someone has to pay the monthly bills. No, I don’t doubt myself about being a writer. I only doubt that the electric and water providers will give their services to me for free until I start getting paid as a writer.
Once the decision of quitting was made, the cogwheels which form that amorphous thing in my head called a brain started to work with such a speed that even the lightspeed would feel ashamed for being too lazy compared with what’s happened inside my skull.
Each time when this is happening, I mean my internal cogwheels starting to spin like this, suddenly lots of instant miracles take place in my life. For some reason, that Only Force which governs everything that was created, always lets me notice all the miracles around me.
And guess what? These miracles started to take the form of an avalanche of materials about writers, writing, studies and blogging. These subjects, these treasures didn’t cross my path until now. But now it seems that it’s raining with them and all in my way.
For two months I’ve studied this field so hard and realized that writing is a real art. It’s not like I thought, that you are born a genius and whenever you want and feel, you sit in a chair near a desk and the words just start to flow from your brain directly on paper or the screen in front of you. In fact, the words can flow freely; this is not the major problem. The real problem in all this, is that the words must be arranged in such a way that the readers will find something enjoyable inside.
At least in my case, I realized that the natural genius inside me, also needs to study. Maybe you are asking yourself… what must a genius writer study in fact? Well my dearest reader and future writer, I will tell you what I discovered in these two months. Tons and tons of material on how to characterize your main character, on how to always instill a conflict so the reader keeps on with the reading, how to form a dialogue so the reader understands each modulation and not start yawning loudly while staring at your book.
And believe me I found much more study material which I intend to compile in the near future into a book. Of course you can find great books on how to write, but the book which I am thinking about will be organized by an engineer’s brain, like a construction project.
Yes, I am working as an engineer who knows how to design a project starting from the first phase, the primordial phase in which only a vague thought appears in the mind. Step by step you arrive on paper at the phase in which you know how much your investment will cost, keeping in mind that you need construction materials, workers, tools, equipment, transportation and so many more things which will help you to fulfill your project. Moreover, this engineer knows how to transform the two-dimensional transposed thought on the paper and into another reality, which can be tridimensionaly perceived.
Do you think that being a writer is much different than being an engineer? Well… in my opinion it is not different at all. Because no matter what your project is about, a building or a book, the first phase is the same; a unique primordial thought which includes the final product inside it. The last phase is also the same; you will touch with your human hands and you will see with your human eyes, the final result; your building or your book. And the intermediary phases, do you somehow think they are somehow different? No way, believe me.
- To build a house you need to supply the construction materials; to write your book you need to supply the basic information: ideas, studies, and rules to give the readers what they need.
- To build a house you need workers; to write your book and to promote it you need to put yourself to work.
- To build a house you need equipment and tools; to write a book you need paper, pen, keyboard and computer, whatever you prefer to work with.
- To build a house you need to transport whatever is necessary to the job site; to write a book that will delight the reader’s hearts you need to promote it.
The processes are so similar, that I am wondering why am I still an engineer and not a full-time writer.
And you know what? There is another miracle which suddenly appeared. Some days ago, according to my point of view, phenomenal information came my way; an international contest held once a year. The main goal is to see if you are able to write a set number of words in one month. This is the final miracle which my brain was expecting. Because now I can check if I am able to do it and if so, this means that I can always make a living as a writer without any water or electricity supplier being mad at me for unpaid bills.
NaNoWriMo… sounds so beautiful in my ears and amazing in my heart. It’s my chance to prove to myself what I can and cannot do? Of course, until now I never encountered anything I couldn’t do. This is because of my obsession with the idea that if somehow, somewhere, somebody on this planet CAN do anything, this means I CAN do it also! The only condition is to WANT it. Yes, did you remember this? If you really WANT it, you CAN! Well, in my case it is totally true. And I want to… I really want to prove to myself that I can be a finalist in this contest.
In three days from now the preparation camp will start. This camp is held for an entire month in which you fix for yourself a word-target number and see if you can do it. The target is between 10,000 to 999,000 words. Guess what? I will set for myself a target of exactly 50,000 words. My reason is to see if I can do it when the contest starts in November.
So… dear readers… wish me luck, please!
Be near this engineer who wants to be a successful writer.
Are you somehow curious what is the hidden reason for the decision I have taken?
Answer coming soon…
