Growing up I was surrounded by friends and family that read a lot. For whatever reason, I did not. I do have a library, but is not filled with many fictional works, but more over, instructional or factural histories, architecture, science-based, poetry, art and non-fiction. Whenever I found myself attempting to write, the grammarical climb was too high for me, so manuscription was limited to point form and short sentences to describe what I was thinking. This was the way I could organize my thoughts. Later in life, I began looking into the how to and what motivates authors to write. It was not until I was inspired by Walter Mosley, a novelist, describing his influence from his father who was a storyteller and mother who encouraged him to read classics. He did not start writing until the age of 34 and claims to have written everyday since. This was inspiring for me as I had a lot of stories to tell, but lacked the discipline. Walter Mosley quite elegantly put it, write everyday and you will become a writer, so I began a new journey.
As a father, I would read to my child nightly before their bedtime. I would tell them stories of bear encounters, canoe experiences and living in the woods alone. Eventually, as they became old enough to have a voice of their own, it was time to expand dad’s storytelling into a mutal teamwork of some of the most crazy imaginative fantastical adventures. We would each take turns and feed each other a leading line to follow from. These were the most wonderful memorable times spent with my little narrator and that shared creativity continues to this very day.
In those early years, we developed a story of a quirky intelligent kid named Fred that had a time machine where he and his monkey friend would explore worlds beyond. By flip flopping back and forth, leaving a sentence hanging for the other person to finish, this collaboration lead to extremely interesting results. It was a synergy of significant exploration into each others neocortex.
As I could never quite shelve those stories for too long, I took Mosley’s direction and began transferring, in whole or in part, to paper. This would become the bases for my attempt at a literary work. Although not 34, but 64, it is never too late to start. Those wondrous moments through bedtime stories would take on a new chapter all fuelled from those extraordinary mind melds between my young-in and I.
And so, the writing began. Searching through doorways into my deepest imagination, the words hit the paper in rapid fire, not concerning myself with grammar, but more of a regurgitation. I amassed a great deal of data to eventually knead into crafted sentencing, organizing thoughts and brainstorming a coagulation of short stories that would ultimately formulate a beginning, a middle and an end. This would become Fred and the Time Machine.
I hope you will enjoy the stories of Fred as it unfolds and for all those that question whether you can write about something you believe. Take it from Walter, you can do anything. Start writing daily and you may find that author that is in all of us.
