I
probably don’t take writing as seriously as some people do. That doesn’t mean I
don’t care about how good my writing is. Since I write for a living (as well as
for pleasure), working for private and corporate clients, I have to be sure my
writing is as good as I can get it and that each assignment is completed by the
deadline set for it. Rather, I mean that
I don’t think of writing as some incredible blessing bestowed only on the
chosen few.
Tom
Clancy died recently and the radio station I listen to did a little piece about
him. I have to admit I never read any of his books, but I did see the film
version of The Hunt for Red October
and I do know that the initial manuscript for the book was published by
Annapolis’ Naval Institute Press, which had never published a novel before,
after all the major publishers turned it down. With a little help from
President Ronald Reagan, who hosted Clancy in the White House, the book became a
hit and thereafter Clancy was published by traditional publishers. The radio
station played a clip of an interview in which Clancy, talking on the subject
of writing, said, “You learn to write the same way you learn to play golf. You
do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. A lot of people think something mystical happens to
you, that maybe the muse kisses you on the ear. But writing isn’t divinely
inspired; it’s hard work.”
Clancy
was an insurance agent before he was a full-time writer. He wrote The Hunt for Red October while he was
still working at his nine-to-five. His rather pedestrian attitude about writing
belies the fact that he was a great storyteller. He had the knack. He learned
the craft. When all else failed and he couldn’t get attention from the big boys
in the industry, he had the chutzpah to go to the naval academy and get them to
publish his book. I don’t know how he got on Reagan’s guest list, but I bet
there’s an impressive story behind that too.
The
point is Clancy had talent, discipline, balls, and luck. Whether we’ve read him
or not, we all know his name. If he had only had talent and discipline, we
might not know who he was. He didn’t want to be put on a pedestal because, as
he knew, no muse had found him on GoogleMaps and showed up to plant a kiss on
his ear. No muse has been to my house either, or at least not that I know of. I
have some talent, a lot of discipline, I’m working on chutzpah, and as for
luck, I do everything I can to attract it. I’ve had some small successes to
date, and I hope to have more in the future. And in the meantime, I keep on
writing. Day after day. Without any regrets.
About
the Author:
Joan
Heartwell makes her living as a pen for hire, writing, editing and ghostwriting
for a variety of private and corporate clients. She has had four novels
published under another name and has a fifth one due out later in 2014.
Purchase
links:
BN.com
OmniLit
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