We’ve all heard the old saying that “talk is cheap”, right? It’s one of those evergreen adages we take for granted. We hear it all the time and, well, it’s so true it’s pretty much just a fact by this point.
Why is talk cheap? Because the doing of the thing is hard. Talking about doing the thing is easy. I’ve got plenty of proof of this, all sitting right here on my own blog. I’m inconsistent with my updates, there’s far too much time in between them, but-most egregiously-they’re full of unkept promises. Talk about how I’m starting back to work on books, or I’ve had this new idea, yada, yada. All talk, no action.
All were promises that made me feel like I was doing the actual thing, but really I was just talking about doing it. That kind of talk, talking about plans and not what’s actually been done, signals to one’s brain that you’ve accomplished something when, in actuality, you haven’t done anything at all.
So the new rule is to only talk about what’s actually been done. No more promises or plans.
I’ve been out of the writing game for a long time. The universe had other plans for me and I’m nothing if not a servant of the universe’s divine will. It took me on an eight-year detour that changed my life for the better in ways I could never have predicted, in ways that I could never have predicated and still don’t know if I fully comprehend. I now have experiences I want to convey, lessons I’ve learned the hard way, the only way that really matters.
I’ve had some trouble getting started writing again. I’ve had days where I thought it was over for me. I still sometimes ask myself if I’ve got it left in me to write more books. I’ve had to remind myself after such a long absence why I even started writing in the first place. Like many artistic endeavors that ultimately get monetized, what started as a desire to write the kind of books I’d want to read, got intertwined with the business of selling books. Two very different things.
Selling books can become an obsessive thing, constantly checking sales charts, worrying about exclusivity lock-in, subscriptions services and diminishing royalties, Amazon’s move from a merit-based recommendation system to a payola-style system…the list goes on. While these are all things to consider as a publisher, it don’t mean shit to the guy writing the books.
Considering talk is cheap, what can I talk about? What tangible progress has actually been made? Am I even still in this writing game or is this it for me?
I can say I have plans for the blog, but that’s as far as I’ll go. Again, no more promises. This post is the proof of my renewed interest and that plans are underway, first steps are being taken, but that’s as far as I can take it without feeling like I’m promising things that haven’t been completed. Stay tuned, is all I can say for now.
I’ve dusted off a novel I was working on before I got sick. It’s sitting at the 25% complete mark at the moment as I decided to scrap the last few chapters before pushing “pause” to start work on a brand-new novel.
For this new novel I’ve written the first chapter. Not terribly impressive, only one chapter done, but I only want to talk about what’s actually been done and not what I plan to do. I have the main character pretty well plotted out and the gist of where I think the book will go. I don’t use outlines, so I can’t even tell you where the book will ultimately take me. It’s started though, and that’s what counts.
So that’s one work-in-progress dusted off and prepped for completion later. And one new book started, with a chapter completed. That’s where things are currently for me in terms of tangible items. It’s a good start. Good enough, at least.
For now, I guess I’m back in the writing game. It’s been a long time away for me…most of the folks reading me some years back have likely moved on. Eight years away from the scene will do that. But some will remember and there are new readers being born every day. I built an audience once and I can do it again. This time I have some twenty books in my back-catalog.
Brian J. Jarrett 2.0…I like the sound of that.
If you want to follow me on this journey, this is the place. I don’t cross-post and I don’t do social media. No promises yet on what’s to come here, but know there are concrete plans in action, with steps completed. Consider this one of those first steps on the long road back. Let’s see where it takes us.