Does everyone daydream about writing a novel? Or is it something just I do? I've thought about being some sort of writer as far back as I can remember. In second grade I wrote some poetry for class, and my teacher made a big deal about it to my mom. I'm sure it wasn't anything earth shattering... probably just typical rhyming from a 7-year-old. But I remember being so proud of it and trying to write more on my own. When we would go to the library I would check out poetry books along with my Mozart cassettes. Geeky kid? Me? No! I would read my poetry books and dabble, but eventually the desire faded. But I still had it in my head that maybe I could be a writer.
A couple years out of college I took a creative writing class at the community college. I still have my writing. I liked it. It wasn't substantial enough to say I'd started a novel, or even a short story, but there was one short thing I wrote that always stuck with me... that I thought was good. And in my mind I often say "yeah, someday I'll write a book." But there is a funny thing about "someday." It doesn't get here. "Today is all we have" sounds cliche, but it's true. When is it ever anything but now? Yesterday is a memory, and tomorrow is always out of reach. So if someday isn't going to arrive... when will I write my book?
It was pointed out to me recently what a passive person I am. Now being called passive is not an insult. It's just an adjective that accurately describes me. I am passive. Very often in life I just sit around and wait for things to happen to me. And if you wait, good things will happen and so will bad. But honestly very few "great" things will happen... not without some action. One definition describes being passive as "being the object of action rather than causing action (opposed to active)." The problem is I can feel it in me that I am getting tired of being the object of action. The desire to be the cause of action in my life is growing. Life really is a journey and not a destination. And so often I have felt like I'm just watching the scenery pass by.
And this brings me to my plan of action for next month. November is National Novel Writing Month. The purpose is to write without worry... I am not expected to write a publishable, or even good, novel. I am just expected to write 50,000 words in 30 days. There is no prize other than knowing I've accomplished writing a novel. And maybe in the 50,000 words there will be the beginning of something good. No doubt there will be a ton of throwaway material. But it's a beginning. It's action.
I do not expect to suddenly become non-passive in all areas of life. That would be exhausting. I do know I can see the exceptionally positive changes in myself that have come from getting off my lazy ass and changing my physical lifestyle. I can only hope that taking action elsewhere will bring about the same sort of satisfaction.
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