{"id":11527,"date":"2022-10-31T11:48:24","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T15:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=11527"},"modified":"2022-10-31T16:31:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T20:31:50","slug":"castles-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/10\/castles-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Castles in the air"},"content":{"rendered":"

I knew a writer who wanted to transition from the technical documents that he wrote to pay his bills to fiction. His vision inspired a whole universe; not one novel but a series. He spent what little free time he had as a single dad and technical writer working on his project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I admired his dedication and became his sounding board. I listened as he described the story’s plot line. He kept track of the ever-growing number of dates, places, and other facts in his MySQL database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

The more I learned about his sci-fi series, however, the more uneasy I became. In my friend’s vision, the near-future earth was collapsing under the combined weight of climate change and greedy corporations. In the gentlest manner possible I tried to tell him that his scenario was a hackneyed cliché at this point, but my efforts fell on deaf ears. I guessed then that he had cynically calculated his story for a quick sale. My heart sank when I realized that, no, he actually believed his story was unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was my friend and I continued listening to him as he planned his series. Afterall, he was a talented writer and there was a chance, however small, that he might make something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio—10\/28\/12<\/span><\/a><\/div>

One thing that bothered me was that despite his considerable work, he’d written little–less than fifty pages. That was worrisome but some writers won’t write a single sentence until the entire plot is outlined. I concluded that my friend is in that category. Besides, he’d only been working on this novel a short time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That turned out to not be true. When I discovered he’d already worked on his project for several years, I started looking for the exits. I spent my life around writers, musicians, and other artists. There is no group more given to building castles in the air than creatives. Except for a short period when I was young, I’ve stayed clear of fabulists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>Hurricane Sandy<\/span><\/a><\/div>

The final straw came when my friend decided to learn a programming language. Why? To program the video game that will be licensed from his best-selling novel–his intellectual property. When he asked me to help research the best language for game programming, I begged off and soon disentangled myself from the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people are lazy. My friend isn’t one of them. He’s super busy running down the track to nowhere. The last time I heard from him, he was still working on the video game based on his non-existent novel that he is too busy to write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>Thumbs-up: van Ruisdael; Thumbs-down: Renoir<\/span><\/a><\/div>

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I knew a writer who wanted to transition from the technical documents that he wrote to pay his bills to fiction. His vision inspired a whole universe; not one novel but a series. He spent what little free time he had as a single dad and technical writer working on his project. 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