The other Frank

It's raining and late. I should be asleep, but I'm not. I love this quiet time of night when I have the house all to myself--no responsibilities (except sometimes writing, which is kinda at the fun end of the responsibility continuum), just "me" time.

So I watched about two hours of "Children of Dune" while I very productively wrapped two birthday presents for my son, and came away with the thought that one of the things Frank Herbert (the creator of Dune) did well was create characters who were so well drawn and sympathetic that I could actually hurt for their pain despite whatever other horrible things they'd caused. To create characters who were simultaneously real to you and yet superhuman.

Another thing I came away with was a desire to read up on him. Two interesting facts popped up in my research: 1) It took him 6 years of research and writing to complete "Dune," which is a very dense read. 2) The "Dune" manuscript--eventually both critically acclaimed and a commercial success--was rejected by publishers nearly 20 times.

Where did he find the perseverence to overcome rejection after rejection? And how did he manage to keep the faith and keep putting in the time and creativity to write something of a type no one seemed interested in? Perhaps some of that would best be answered by his own words.

A man is a fool not to put everything he has, at any given moment, into what he is creating. You're there now doing the thing on paper. You're not killing the goose, you're just producing an egg. So I don't worry about inspiration, or anything like that. It's a matter of just sitting down and working. I have never had the problem of a writing block. I've heard about it. I've felt reluctant to write on some days, for whole weeks, or sometimes even longer. I'd much rather go fishing, for example, or go sharpen pencils, or go swimming, or what not. But, later, coming back and reading what I have produced, I am unable to detect the difference between what came easily and when I had to sit down and say, "Well, now it's writing time and now I'll write." There's no difference on paper between the two. -- Frank Herbert

I think it's funny he mentions seeing no difference between the two. If I'm being honest, I don't normally see much difference either, although my normal mode of writing is to sit and wait for the words to come to me (which also seems to work well when I actually have time to let them come and is much more enjoyable). But it does seem to come down to discipline, persistence, and--did I mention discipline? And probably the ability to not fall asleep while typing, which is what I'm doing now.

Good night to all of you and God bless you!

P.S. In case you were wondering, I mention Frank Herbert as "the other Frank" here because The Frank--Frank Creed--is currently on blog tour with his break-out book Flashpoint (go to www.FrankCreed.com for information and reviews of this 2006 Elfie winner).