General Update

While I'm not turning out to be an inveterate diarist by any means, I do wish to keep this up on a semi-regular basis. So, naturally, I aim to throw as many things on my project pile as possible, so I can have a good excuse in case my writing ever peters out.

Interestingly enough, the latest project is a writing project. I know, I know... it's stunning. But after all, I do consider myself a writer by profession, even though I have yet to get any paying gigs. And what do writers do? They write!

Monday was the fifth anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. A couple of the news stations were running coverage of the actual event in real time-- starting at 8:30, they just rolled tape of their coverage starting at 8:30 five years ago. It was an interesting concept, and while I was originally loathe towards the whole idea, thinking it crass and encouraging people to not "let go" (different from moving on), on Sunday I thought different.

Sunday I realized that with all the coverage going on, there was one voice that wasn't being heard: mine. Nowhere were the media talking about young people who were abroad for whatever reason while the attacks occured, stayed abroad for a couple of years afterwards, and thusly came home to a completely different world. There's a disconnect with people like that... with people like me. I always felt that I could never relate to the country, especially people who felt so strongly about the 9/11 attacks, since I only saw maybe 30 seconds of media coverage, and most of it was the year after the attacks.

I decided to make my voice heard. There would be a novel, semi-autobiographical, written: it would chronicle the journey of a young man who was abroad and has that disconnect with the attacks, yet through the years and coming to terms with them, and through other experiences, realizes what it means to be a patriot -- to truly love one's country, and also comes to terms with the attacks and what they truly meant.

The coverage gave me an opportunity I would most likely never get again: the opportunity to relive that day, not walking down a street in France, but rather at work, listening to the news, and waiting with bated breath for the next images and words to come through. I was at a disadvantage, of course: I knew everything that was going to happen in advance, but it was still a good exercise for me. I learned a lot, and it has given me more ideas for the book.

I am interviewing some old friends of mine -- some Americans, some not -- about their experiences with 9/11 and other generally-related concepts. Hopefully I will reap the fruits of those labors soon.

Very good stuff here. Do I think I'm writing the next Great American Novel? No. Am I just selling out to capture a slice of the commercialism pie that has been running rampant for the last five years? Also, no. And thank goodness for that, too... commercialism of certain things really disgusts me. So we'll see. I'm getting an outline together, as well as a cast of characters. I'm pleased with the project.

Other things have happened as well since last Friday, but I want to cover that in a separate post. So, when I get to work, I'll post again.