False Beginnings

I’ve never been good at introductions. Beginnings always seem patently false to me, as we are all in the process of experiencing the story of life. I usually feel the same way when I introduce characters in the development of a story. I’m taking this imagined human being and pitching them into a story, usually picking up right in the middle of each character’s life. Here I am, suddenly introducing them in the midst of the daily grind, pausing in a normal conversation with coworkers or fellow warriors, people they’ve spent their entire lives with. Their strands are woven together in the tangle of existence, and I suddenly pluck one out and hold it under the microscope for all to see.

So this is my attempt to do the same for Randall Madden, a player on this crazy stage known as life. I have a wife who loves me more than I deserve, a woman who supports my craziness and tolerates my eccentricities. I have a wonderful son who helped to spark the dying flame that was my creativity. He exposed my inner child once more, covered up by scar tissue from years of hurt. It has been a painful process to resume writing, but it has been a worthwhile pain. I’m living in the moment now, drawing my creativity from a wellspring left after years of neglect.

I am an unpublished author, but I have a new desire to see those two ugly letters pulled from the front of that phrase. Currently, I am working on a fantasy novel which I hope to spin into a series. I’m sitting at 40,000 words right now and plan to have the initial draft completed by the end of November. I’m also working on short stories for Writer’s Digest Competitions. I currently have a draft I am somewhat happy with for the Horror entry, and I’m working up drafts for the Fantasy/Sci-Fi entry and the Short Short Story Competition.

This blog, along with the other two I author on a semi-regular basis, is intended to help polish and refine my writing style. It also helps me to work with deadlines and feel a sense of accomplishment as each piece is finished. Writing a novel is a daunting task; whereas blog posts and journal entries can be knocked out quickly and (usually) easily, the novel is a marathon process. The hardest thing to do is to continue pushing forward and moving that word count towards the end.

For now I am content to let this blog be my personal progress report for moving the ball forward. Growing as a writer helps me to grow as a person. It is sometimes a daunting task to balance writing with all the other hats we wear in this life. Through self-discipline and mercy when I fail, I hope to achieve my goal of becoming a professional writer.