Bruce Katlin Creates And The Running Artist

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Do 10 Million Characters Make a Book?


©2013-14 Bruce Katlin

Do 10 million characters make a book? I don't know but that's approximately how many key strokes it took me to complete my first novel, Birds Like Us, The Pi Phillecroix Story

What's his name, declared a few years ago that in order to become a professional, one would need to practice at least 10,000 hours to be deemed someone who is really good at what they do. Since "success" in writing and the Arts in general are subjective to the readers'/viewers'/listeners' tastes, the definition of success varies for both artists and their patrons. For this blog's purpose success as determined by its writer is, a task completed that was not alway easy nor pleasant but I did it anyway putting all of my all or, most always my all and taking pride in my efforts knowing that I grew through the effort of the task and confident that at least on reader's life maybe enhanced.

A published author told me years ago that a writer's first novel is usually autobiographical and in some way that's true for this, my first novel. Isn't there a bit of every author in their characters? It's also true that a lot of the characters in this book are based on people or animals that I've know or met over the years while others just came from somewhere and found their way through to my fingers to the keyboard. 

My parents would be surprised that their son, who was affectionately nicknamed Fidget as a child, was able to keep his butt in the writing chair for hours upon hours over the years to write a book. Discipline has beget more of the same and I'm at work on a second novel, a book on my experiences in corporate cube life, a cookbook co-authored with my wife and a blog series on cutting the corporate handcuffs and moving to the mountains of New Mexico.

It's been a great Walk to date and characters like Pi and others in her story have inspired me to press on for at least another 10 million key strokes.

Get the e-book at: SmashwordsAmazon - iTunes - Barnes & Noble  (Paperback version coming soon.)