Every so often, I look back on my days past and mentally kick myself for not getting to this point sooner. I could've written these short stories years ago, save my money better, or sped up the research I put into starting a business. Instead, I "putzed" around until my late thirties, before I finally "got serious" and chased my dream.
But then I take comfort in the fact that I probably wouldn't pulled it off.
It's hard to prove but easy enough to understand, if you think of your own lives. Ever had a situation where the timing was just right and everything fell into place? Like it was meant to be? Where you knew that THIS was the right time, place, thing for you?
My current tales are the culmination of so many experiences (good/bad/odd) that took me this long to gain. Had I pushed it, my stuff would definitely be different. Hell, it might actually have sucked. I take comfort in the fact that I made it this far at all. I could just as easily have let my talent rot, doing something else more "doable" and die a satisfied man someday.
The point of this post? Simple. For every writer who even gets to the point of a finished work (achieveing a state of "ready"), there are so many more who don't. You can rush it. But, if you're anything like me, you'll burn out and quit for a while, then (some day) try it again . . . and again . . . and again. Only the perfect and/or the lucky pull off a polished book in their twenties. The rest of us mortals have a wall between us and our dreams. And we have to bang our heads against that wall until we notice a weak spot, pack it with dynamite, and make a hole.
At age 39, I'm staring at a smoke-filled hole in the wall. I'm about to jump through and I've not a clue what's on the other side. But f*ck the fear . . . I'm jumping anyway.
If you haven't gotten to this point, you have to believe that you will someday. Some suggestions:
1. Believe that you'll make it someday.
2. Finish what you start, unless you can't. I'm not even gonna talk about novels (my particular kryptonite). Sticking with shorter works (poems, short stories, songs, etc.), my advice is to finish them and polish them. Then set them aside for at least month . . . or even a year. Then do it again. That way, when your time comes, you won't have to scramble so much to refine your work. Don't assume these polishes are done until the finished work's on the shelf.
3. Start a library of how-to books. Snatch up books on writing, blogging, business, and/or anything else useful. Even if you don't read every page, keep 'em handy. When (not if, when) your shot comes, you'll have a pile of knowledge at your fingertips.
4. Probably the most important thing of all: keep your options open. This'll be hard for those who are married, raising kids, active in umpteen different social functions, etc. When your time comes, and you start gaining momentum, you're gonna have to make sacrifices or you might make it. As you get deeper into the writing game, you should either keep your commitments light and few (like I do), work harder (like I do), and/or shift more of your leisure time to the writing process (like I do). But folks, don't turn your back on life or the people in it in the pursuit of literary goals.
5. Actually, this one's the most important one to remember:
when your time comes, don't hesitate. Move! Jump! Fly! Whatever you do, don't put it off or delay.
Time never waits, folks.
The bastard never waits.
So, I'm gonna eat a sandwich now.
Take care, write well, and be ready for that opportunity to present itself.
Arm yourself with finished works and a balanced lifestyle that can take on the added burdens of writing.
And once that moment presents itself, you'll be ready.
