by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m a reasonable good singer and often delusional enough to put myself in situations that I probably shouldn’t, so I on a lark was going to attempt to do American Idol. I was, that is, until I discovered the cut off year for participating is 1992.
I’m about 20 years too old to do it.
If you’re an unmarried man without children like I am at the moment, you don’t really have and aging rituals to mark your entry into middle age. Sure, there’s the issue of chatting up a young woman at a bar, only to learn she’s 24, but this American Idol thing has really rattled my cage.
The reason is, it definitely reminds me of the context of the novels I’m developing and writing. By the time I actually finish them — which, I hope, will be in about a year — my age in itself, will be part of the “story” behind the story.
Even if my dreams come true and I successfully sell all four books and they become popular, I may find myself answering the question, “So, how does it feel to be a success later in life,” a lot. Ugh.
And, yet, the whole point of this huge creative project was to give myself a huge creative project to finish before — gulp — I reached a certain age milestone. That has not changed. I had no idea the learning curve for writing a novel, much less four, would be so sharp.
But things are going really well.
I’m changing focus until the end of August — I’m doing more reading and developing than trying to write — and that’s really helping to clear my mind some. Giving myself a few weeks of breathing room to reflect on the saga so when I start writing again in September, things should move extremely fast.
That, at least, is the idea.
Some of what’s going on is I need to get a better handle on the whole thing so I can just go straight through the outline without fear of it collapsing. If I can reach that level of stability with all four outlines, then I will be well on my way to wrapping up the first drafts of the four novels a lot sooner than anyone might expect.
This is a huge fucking project and I love it. The sheer size and scope of this project perfect fits my personality. I’ll put a move on you, no matter how old I may be….
