Why I Decided To Write A Novel

Writing a novel is not what I dreamed about and certainly not something that was on my list of careers that I wanted to do. In fact, I am pushing on fifty years old at the time of writing this post, and only now decided to write a book. Could the motivation then be the hope of being the next J.K. Rowling? The idea that I can bring out a seven-book series and retire? Perhaps the dream of having all the time in the world while doing an easy job part-time?

The answer to these questions is mostly, 'No'. Writing a novel is very hard work and not an easy task and the percentage of novelists that can make a living from writing versus the number of new authors entering the market, is extremely low. I do not think one can complete a novel without having the passion or drive to write a good story. Was this then a passion of mine? Well, it is certainly a newfound passion simply because I did not know I had a passion for writing stories. Now that I figured out that I do love story writing, it does sound like a dream to do what I love for a living. Perhaps this will never happen, but even so, it will not deter me from writing. All of this actually started when I was still a child without realizing the obvious.

My Early Years Of Interests Discovery

Having a blast playing these games, gave me so many ideas for making my own. It just always seemed that the game creators were not creative enough. Instead of just blocking, what about counter-attacking or doing a dive-roll out of the way? I so much wanted to turn my ideas into the coolest game ever. It was decided, I would create games for a living.

Since I can remember, we had an organ standing in the house and my sister took up lessons from Auntie Voughs. I loved working out my own tunes but had no interest in learning any music notation. So I declined any organ music lessons, and yet I taught myself how to play by watching my sister when she practiced her lessons. Chopsticks was quite a catchy tune and possibly the first thing I taught myself and then In the mood.

My first lesson was OK. Nothing special. The young teacher showed me three chords: A, D, and E. Together with a song to practice and a strumming rhythm to follow (a waltz), she sent me home only to return the next week. I practiced every evening until my fingers bled. When I went back to show the teacher my progress, she wanted to know if I even took the time to practice. That was it. No more guitar for me. Well, not until a year or two later when my dad bought me an Ibanez electric guitar! All I wanted to do, and did, was write my own songs. No more lessons - ever! I discovered Digital Audio Workstations and created songs and drum loops day on end. It was so exciting. Keeping things simple and using free sound loops was enough for me. Music producer...Nope. Not in this lifetime.

Off-topic, but incidentally I am watching this YouTube video while writing this post. You see. It is easy! Look at her fingers just gliding over the fretboard. No strain, no sweat, no hand cramps. I sometimes think there must be something wrong with me. I play one song with a quick chord progression and my hand starts cramping. Perhaps I am just not playing often enough.

Anyway -Onward and forward.

More Interests - Make It Stop!

There were so many things I was interested in that I did not know what it was I wanted to pursue. With the Commodore 64, calculators that were introduced in school, and radio-controlled cars, I was convinced that I should learn electronics and build my own cool electronic stuff. My parents decided to put me in a technical school mid-way through high school. The only technical school that accepted me did not teach electronics, but electrics. After school, I went to swat electronics, did not get a job, and then somehow ended up in IT.

But through it all, there were many other interests. I took up drawing once and then decided I wanted to be an inventor and came up with the coolest ideas. Patent laws and making a demo of your product, now that was another beast I did not want to tackle. Being a toy maker and working for a company like Mattel was a big interest.

But what does all of this have to do with writing? EXACTLY! That is precisely why I could not figure this out for myself. You see, all of these interests have to do with creating something out of nothing. Bringing ideas to life. None of them have less or more value to me than the other. But none of those creative work areas is what I want to do for a living.

So I read an article one day on how to pinpoint what your true passion in life is. The author suggested many things, but one thing he said made me think. He said, and I am paraphrasing, that why not look back at your school days and see what subjects or activities you were really good in. That is what I did and this is what I found: I pretty much sucked in every subject except for...ding, ding, ding! You guessed it - Essays! I always got good marks for them in Afrikaans and English. (If you did not know this: Afrikaans is my first language and English my second.) I had the ability to come up with a story on the fly and actually get good marks for it and 9 out of 10 times, it would be read by the teacher to the whole class. That is my only Noddy badge though. My grammar was not that good.

I never thought about it, because all I remember was how embarrassing it was when the teachers read my essay to the class and I wished they would stop. 

In writing, you can be as creative as you want. You can invent stuff that does not exist yet, create a story out of nothing, and breathe life into characters that will potentially live forever! Who knows. That character may even become famous one day. Imagine creating a whole world like JRR Tolkien did, complete with races, family trees, and even its own language! Astonishing.

You see. I can combine all of those interests into one exciting journey, called fiction novels.

My New Dream