The Direction of Intention

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Two years ago Sean said, “I want to write a book.” He had the idea, he had the desire, and he had no belief that he could do it. There is always a first painting, a first strum on the guitar, a first time at the keyboard. Usually, there is a desire to do something and no reality to the dream. There is an image of “how I will be” when the dream is complete, but no image of the hours and hours and hours and hours of pursuit of the dream.

Sean wrote 500 words a day. Sometimes he wrote more and sometimes less. He wrote on his commute to work because a more-than-full-time job, 2 kids, a wife, school activities, in-laws, and all the other demands of a busy American life consumed his energy and his time. On the train to work each day he had some uninterrupted creative space and ample energy to turn the idea into words on a page. He wrote on his blackberry, more than 70,000 words in the only way possible to capture his thoughts given his circumstance.

On the way to a completed manuscript he doubted, he feared that he was not good enough, he wondered if there was an end, whether he was crazy, whether he had anything worth saying, he lost sleep, he rejoiced when ideas expanded, he celebrated milestones, he got to know his characters and their backgrounds (and his characters got to know him). He was full and empty and full and empty. He realized that writing the book was only a part of the journey. He attended classes about publishing, conferences about how to get an agent, seminars about publicity. He made a strategy. He wrote letters to agents. He interviewed editors. He asked a million and one questions and made no pretense about needing to know anything because he didn’t; he wanted to learn.

Somewhere along the way he recognized that the book was going to be written. It was no longer an abstraction but an actual dream being manifest. It was little steps, everyday, that accumulated over time. His first book, Colter’s Hell, will be available to the public in the next few months. He’s about to pull the trigger on his publicity plan and he’s excited to start letting the world know that his book is complete because he’s already chomping at the bit to write his second book. He knows the story; he has the idea. He has the desire. And now he has the belief that he can do it. One step at a time; there is glamour in the fire of creativity, but mostly it’s a slow walk. Sean said, “I’ll get there when I get there.”

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