Friday, November 19, 2010

Breaking The Rules

My Escondido High School music teacher, Albert Krasic, always told me I had to know the rules before I could break them. Of course he was speaking about music composition, or was he? Had I been paying more attention, possible my path to being an author would have be less traumatic.

Here's my point; graduating high school is critical for anyone who wants earn money after graduation. Graduating from college is critical for anyone who wants to make even more money after graduation. Post graduate work is critical for anyone who wants to be an astronaut, scientist, Dr. Phil-type TV host, etc., etc., etc., add nauseous.

What if you don't want to continue your education after high school because you want to be a rock star, Kelly Ripa or whatever? OK, at least you have learned the basic educational rules. Now you have some rules to break, but without a high school education, you have no rules. Therefore, you have none to break. That's not good. The more rules you learn, the more rules you can have fun breaking.

You can do what I did after high school. I began a career in construction and lived the high life and then the low life and then the high life and then.... I was at the mercy of economic conditions and lived like a yo yo on a string. Feast or famine was the norm.

What does this have to do with being a writer? Well, I believe too much education relegates you to technical work that is really boring. Too little education and you might as well stay a construction laborer. The optimum level is a high school education and at least fifteen years of working and maintaining a household. Now you are ready to write! You know the basic rules and you have life experiences in the real world.

I like the unfettered mind. When participating in book festivals, I meet all kinds of writers. The ones who have a stiff upper lip and a head as big as the Goodyear blimp, I avoid like the plague. The writers who sit at their tables with smiles, direct eye contact and a willingness to know what you are thinking excite me. These writers are curious about everyone and everything. They are working wives and mothers who write to keep their sanity in a crazy world. Husbands and fathers who write because they are compelled to do so. Divorced folks who write about their pain so the pain doesn't hurt so much. Everyday people who began writing because their passion to do so was undeniable. These are my kind of writers!

There is no doubt in my mind that in order to start that first novel you must ask yourself one question and answer it truthfully. Is writing my one real passion? If the answer is yes, start that book no matter what is going on in your life. If the answer is no, find your passion and follow it. If the answer is, “I don’t know,” you need to live some more life before you can discover your passion. Your true passion will never have to be decided upon. Either you have it or you don’t!

Writing wasn’t my passion until later in life, but once I recognized it, the passion burnt a hole in my brain and novels started pouring out. I can’t imagine a day without writing being a part of it. My parents always accused me of talking just to hear myself talk. It was true, and now I write to see what I have written, and what I have written always excites me. I say this with modesty and humility. No one on the planet would have guessed that I could or would write two novels with a third on the way.

This blog says one thing that is the God honest truth. If you have the passion to write, fear not and write till the cows come home!

I'm just saying,

Mittster

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