|
Mack and Muff.
See Mack run. See Muff run.
Run Mack run! Run Muff run!
-- From my first grade reading book: 1943
It's almost hard to imagine now that there was a time when I didn't know how to read. But then the words from my first reading book about a dog named Mack and a cat named Muff come to mind and take me back to the beginning. As I made those first efforts I'm sure I was excited to realize that I might one day be able to actually read books but it would be a while before I came to the realization that I might be able to actually write a book.
I have read and continue to read a lot: computer software books, theology, philosophy, language, photography, and the like but, much to the consternation of my former-college-English-professor sister, almost never fiction, which means no novels. I somehow making it through Mr. Snipes' 11th grade English class by reading one of the 12 books we were supposed to read. It's not that I didn't do well in school but I just didn't like to read fiction. I love stories but I'd rather see them than read them, which explains why I've always been a movie fanatic.
I'm a very good technical writer but that doesn't necessarily translate into writing fiction or biography.
When Donna and I took our first trip to Korea in the spring of 1986, the country immediately captured my heart and by the time we had been there a couple of days I was telling Donna I'd like to write a book about Korea. I immediately began collecting information on Korean history and culture and studying the language. When Donna and I adopted three Korean sisters in the winter of 1987, I was even more determined to learn and write about Korea since I now had three daughters with a Korean heritage. But at that time in my life I was too busy writing computer software to have time to write a book on Korea.
When Soon E came, in December of 1990, my focus very quickly changed from a book about Korea to a book about Soon E and, early on, I began to talk to Soon E about the book I planned to write. But, again, I was too busy making a living and kept putting off the book.
As far back as the early 1980s, I have kept detailed diaries first on paper and then, when personal computers became available, in computer files. I now have the thousands of pages detailing the events of almost every day of my life. It's perfect for helping me to reconstruct Soon E's and my story.
Over the past 10 years, I tried to get started on the book a few times but it was tough sledding. As opposed to writing computer software, I found that trying to write the book was pretty boring. It was difficult to know where to start. In some ways it was almost as if I had too much information. And it was somewhat painful to encounter some of the unpleasant memories that have been suppressed, memories that wait in my diaries ready to pounce.
Also I have always preferred doing things that produce quick results. I love to mow grass but I find it hard to get excited about planting new grass and having to wait days before even the most meager results are available.
When I write what will eventually become very complex computer software, I prefer to start with a shell and make it do something useful from the very beginning, adding features and complexity over time.
In the summer of 2006, when I began to wind down my computer software business, I tried to decide how to get started with the book. Whenever I have a significant project that I just can't seem to get going, I will often move to the next project on my list that I feel psychologically able to tackle. There always seems to be something down the chain that I can enjoy doing, helping me not to waste time while i'm putting off the main project.
Since I didn't seem quite ready to tackle the book, I looked for something to do in the meantime. I have thousands of pictures that I took in the days of film photography. I decided that maybe I should use this time to scan them into digital form. That's something I could do that wouldn't involve a lot of concentration.
But then I began to think that maybe this was the time to get back into web development. I had some very powerful web development software, including Adobe Dreamweaver, that I had never used. Either the photo scanning or the web development would help me avoid facing the monumental task of writing a book. And both would be enjoyable.
I finally decided on the web development. I signed up for a 1and1 web hosting package and set to work. I had to come up with a site designation, the name that people will use to access the site. Realizing that I could use the package to host multiple sites, I decided to set up three websites: emassengill.com as my personal website, imsoone.com as a website to tell about Soon E's life in the U.S., and hakkun.com as a website to tell about Soon E's life in Korea.
I began to see this as a way to start writing some short stories that could eventually become part of the book. This could be a relatively painless way to get into writing the book.
In 2008 I received feedback from several people who had read some of my short stories on the websites and said that Soon E's story should be a book and maybe even a movie.
In recent years, Soon E had begun to ask when I was ever going to write the book. She was beginning to think that it was all talk. I kept telling her that I had a plan and that it was on schedule. But while the website results made me feel that I was making progress, I knew that I needed to make a more concentrated effort.
It was hard to move on because the website work was like mowing grass and the book like planting seed and I dreaded getting into a situation where I would have to wait a long time to see the final result.
An additional complication was that the publishing industry has changed radically in the past few years. Writing is now becoming an electronic rather than a printing activity, books more and more destined to be read on e-readers like Amazon's Kindle.
Finally in October of 2008, I made the decision to start writing the book on Soon E's website. This way I could do the writing in the small chunks that I prefer and maybe get feedback from readers as I did the writing. Also, by using the web I could include pictures and videos as well as links to various related items. Life magazine was always very popular because it had pictures.
After I write the story on the web it may be that I will put together a printed version. But at least some people will probably have read some of it which might not be the case if I only wrote a book to be printed.
And, if the truth be told, the websites are first and foremost for Soon E. I'm 15 years older than she is and I want to preserve some of our memories in a form that she can easily access in case I'm no longer around.
Having decided to write the book on the web, there was one more hurdle to jump. I like to either listen to music or have TV on in the background when I work. As a child, I was one of those who listened to the radio when doing homework. I'm a notorious multi-tasker. When I'm watching TV I am usually reading news and comments on the Internet, checking my e-mail, writing in my computer diaries, eating, etc..
But while I'm at my best writing computer software when the TV is on, it doesn't work for the kind of thinking and writing required for a book. And my usual background music these days, Beethoven sonatas, doesn't give me the psychological boost I need to re-live our lives. For that I need a massive dose of dopamine.
I found the psychological push I needed with the music from two of my Rhapsody playlists: Emotional Pop and Nostalgia. This music gets the adrenaline going and I can write for hours as it plays in the background.
|
