Scribing Lines
Some people I've met have asked me, "How long did it take you to write your book?"
A natural question but, one that is a little more complicated than just a straight forward answer.
First, I personally don't believe there is a time limit on creation. Creation takes its own time and it evolves as it wants and should so, I would never set a time limit for myself. It is what it is in a very real and meaningful way. I've heard of writers starting a work then putting it down for years before they come back to it.
And so it was... kinda with me and writing Lines in the Sand. I actually began writing the book in 2003 when I was deployed to Iraq and got it into my head that I should chronicle the experience if for nothing else than my own posterity, something to look back on when I was old while sitting on my back porch with the sun setting on my tired grey hairs.
At the time, I never had any intention of actually writing a book from my journals, I never sat down and said, "This is my book. This is the one I'm going to write."
So, I went out to my local Barnes & Noble and bought 5 blank, plain journals and later stuffed them in my duffel bag as I was preparing to leave.
I toted those stupid things around all over the place with me, the one I was currently writing in always nestled in the cargo pocket of my uniform. Every chance I got, I would scribble in them even if it was just a random one line thought. I drew sketches and pictures in them, I wrote down lists of things I had to do, I stuffed newspaper articles and clippings in them, even cards that people sent wishing me well... anything and everything.
I filled them.
When I came home from the war in 2005, to be quite honest, I was so disillusioned from my experiences I wanted to completely forget about them. I told myself I never wanted to look at those journals again and tucked them away in a box, stored it, and promptly forgot about them.
Then in 2008, I decided to find them and read through them. It was mainly because I wanted to reconnect with the experience and I was curious. What I found was that I had forgotten most of what was in them and I found myself amazed at how much I had written, how detailed they were, how intense the experience of war really was for me.
It also began to dawn on me that I had a real story in them. That was the first glimmer I had in my mind that perhaps I should do something with them.
So, I sat down one day and began the long process of transcribing them into the computer. Soon thereafter, I put them down again. I had found that the experience was way too intense for me, that it was constantly triggering my little friend, PTSD, and that I just couldn't live with that. It was overwhelming and I couldn't do it.
In 2010, I began again, this time determined to finish the job. This time it went more smoothly and I was able to focus more clearly and my will to fulfill my dream of becoming an author drove me on down the road. By 2013, I had finished and began the next phases of completing my task, editing and publishing.
So, here we are. Ten years after I came home from Iraq, Lines in the Sand is a reality not just some tattered journals stuffed in a closet.
How long does it take to write a book? Who knows. It depends on you, your experiences, your drive, when you are able to sit back and pat yourself on the back for a good job done. It took me ten years overall but I can say now that I am proud of it, that I wouldn't have it any other way. It is what it is... and I'm glad I didn't rush it.
Goodnight world.
A natural question but, one that is a little more complicated than just a straight forward answer.
First, I personally don't believe there is a time limit on creation. Creation takes its own time and it evolves as it wants and should so, I would never set a time limit for myself. It is what it is in a very real and meaningful way. I've heard of writers starting a work then putting it down for years before they come back to it.
And so it was... kinda with me and writing Lines in the Sand. I actually began writing the book in 2003 when I was deployed to Iraq and got it into my head that I should chronicle the experience if for nothing else than my own posterity, something to look back on when I was old while sitting on my back porch with the sun setting on my tired grey hairs.
At the time, I never had any intention of actually writing a book from my journals, I never sat down and said, "This is my book. This is the one I'm going to write."
So, I went out to my local Barnes & Noble and bought 5 blank, plain journals and later stuffed them in my duffel bag as I was preparing to leave.
I toted those stupid things around all over the place with me, the one I was currently writing in always nestled in the cargo pocket of my uniform. Every chance I got, I would scribble in them even if it was just a random one line thought. I drew sketches and pictures in them, I wrote down lists of things I had to do, I stuffed newspaper articles and clippings in them, even cards that people sent wishing me well... anything and everything.
I filled them.
When I came home from the war in 2005, to be quite honest, I was so disillusioned from my experiences I wanted to completely forget about them. I told myself I never wanted to look at those journals again and tucked them away in a box, stored it, and promptly forgot about them.
Then in 2008, I decided to find them and read through them. It was mainly because I wanted to reconnect with the experience and I was curious. What I found was that I had forgotten most of what was in them and I found myself amazed at how much I had written, how detailed they were, how intense the experience of war really was for me.
It also began to dawn on me that I had a real story in them. That was the first glimmer I had in my mind that perhaps I should do something with them.
So, I sat down one day and began the long process of transcribing them into the computer. Soon thereafter, I put them down again. I had found that the experience was way too intense for me, that it was constantly triggering my little friend, PTSD, and that I just couldn't live with that. It was overwhelming and I couldn't do it.
In 2010, I began again, this time determined to finish the job. This time it went more smoothly and I was able to focus more clearly and my will to fulfill my dream of becoming an author drove me on down the road. By 2013, I had finished and began the next phases of completing my task, editing and publishing.
So, here we are. Ten years after I came home from Iraq, Lines in the Sand is a reality not just some tattered journals stuffed in a closet.
How long does it take to write a book? Who knows. It depends on you, your experiences, your drive, when you are able to sit back and pat yourself on the back for a good job done. It took me ten years overall but I can say now that I am proud of it, that I wouldn't have it any other way. It is what it is... and I'm glad I didn't rush it.
Goodnight world.
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