BURN THE BOATS!
Hi
folks,
This
is going to be a post that some will like—most likely a minority—and some will
dismiss or even hate—most likely a majority. Which suits me just fine. I’m a
contrarian and I like being in the minority.
I’m
a lifelong Notre Dame football fan. I’m relishing the Showtime series currently
playing each week, focusing on Irish football. This week really registered with
me big-time. As is his custom, Coach Brian Kelly brought in a motivational
speaker, this week that person being Joe Plumeri, the CEO of City Group for 32
years. What he had to say gave me chills. It spoke directly to my own personal
philosophy that I’ve lived under almost my entire life.
Since
I was five years old, I’ve been committed to being a writer. Not for a second
have I ever envisioned any other calling. Never under the worst circumstances I
found myself in have I ever wavered from the goal of being a writer.
I
didn’t know there was a rallying cry for this mindset—this philosophy. Now I
do.
BURN
THE BOATS!
This
was the message Mr. Plumeri delivered to the football team.
When
he began talking to the team, he asked them: Are you willing to do whatever you gotta do to win a
national championship?” In unison, they all nodded emphatically that they were.
He then said, “You nod your heads—it’s easy.” He then asked if they knew who
the Vikings were and then related their philosophy. “The Vikings were the conquerors
from the north. When the Vikings landed, the very first thing they did was they
burned their boats. Why do you think they burned their boats? They can’t get
home. They burned their boats because they were committed to win. To win.
“They
didn’t say, ‘well, we landed. We’ll win.. well, maybe we’ll win.’ That’s not commitment.
You gotta ask each other today—are we compelling enough to burn the boats? That’s
commitment.”
That
instantly became the team’s rallying cry and team and individual philosophy. As
probable All-American Sheldon Day said, later on, “Burn the boats is so important
to us. It means to do anything and everything we can to get a win.” One of the
team captains, Joe Schmidt, reiterated the same sentiment: “That full commitment
and burning the boats is something we’re going to lean on all year.”
And,
in looking back on my own life, that’s always been my own committment as far as
writing is concerned. I burned the boats a long, long time ago and I continue
to burn them.
I’ve
walked away from good jobs more than once, simply because it was taking up too
much of my writing time and/or it was changing my goals into more material ones
than writing goals. I’ve left relationships with terrific women for the same
reasons. Married to a person who resented the time I spent writing. It’s what
William Faulkner meant when he said, “An Ode On a Grecian Urn is worth any number
of old ladies.” It’s the mindset I’ve always, always had. Writing comes first.
Always. I’ve never allowed anything to threaten that nor will I ever.
And,
much of society rejects such a philosophy. That’s all right. I’ve never trusted
anything a majority of people are for. Almost always, it’s a compromise. And,
if you want to be a writer, compromise is your enemy.
Has
it cost me? Absolutely. But, whatever the cost was in each particular instance,
it was simply worth that cost to achieve my goal.
Several
years ago, I had a man with whom I’d been working with on his novel, announce
to me that he was quitting his very lucrative job as the manager of a large
hotel, to pursue his writing full-time. He told me his wife was probably going
to divorce him as a result of that decision. At first, I wanted to grab him and
tell him the common wisdom—“Don’t quit your day job, dude! Not until you’re
making a secure income from writing. The odds are against you, man.” I almost
did just that… but I didn’t. I could tell he felt the same as I did and who was
I to deter him from following his own dream? How could I, who’d done exactly
the same thing—several times—as he was proposing to do, tell him not to do so?
I couldn’t. That wasn’t my place nor my job to do so. I’ve lost track of him
and I don’t know if he ever realized his dream, but it doesn’t matter. For at
least one shining moment in his life, he was a Viking. And, people like that
are my heroes. I know what has to be given up and it’s considerable. So, even
if he didn’t make it as a writer, it doesn’t matter. He knows that he stood
tall, at least one time in his life, and that’s something that wealth or even
the love of another person can never take away. I expect heated response and
arguments on that statement and that’s fine. But, all the arguments in the
world won’t sway my own beliefs in what’s best for me.
The
vast majority of those who want to be writers won’t achieve their dream. I
think in at least some cases, it’s because they weren’t willing to burn the
boats. I suspect it’s because a lot of folks want to have their cake and eat it
too. They want to keep their job, concede to their wives’ or husbands' demands to employ
less time behind the computer, bow to other demands… and yet, to somehow crank
out a publishable novel and gain riches and fame. To be fair, there are a great
many writers who don’t burn their boats (or bridges) who do just fine. They
sell tons of books, have lots of fans, win all kinds of awards. And, that’s
great. In fact, that’s ideal. But, for me, if I’d followed that path, I don’t
think I’d have become the writer I am. I would probably have become an author,
but that isn’t the same as becoming a writer. Not the kind of writer I wanted
to be and the kind I am. All in.
There’s
a reason the term “starving artist” is a well-known term that has roots in
antiquity. I’ve more than once been that guy. And, may be again. So be it. I’ve
burned my boats and since I don’t know how to build one, that avenue is not
possible. That’s by choice. There have been many people who have burned their boats
and it didn’t work out as they wanted or even expected it to. That’s all right.
They made a choice and they stuck by it. Even if they didn’t make it, they know
what it feels like to go out on that ledge by themselves and without a net, and
you can’t put a dollar value on that. It’s a priceless feeling. It’s freedom. It’s
living with your own rules and not those of others. When you do away with the
possibility of compromise, you’re free. You either learn to survive on your
own, or you don’t. It’s that simple.
This
won’t be seen as the smartest philosophy in the world by most people. And, I
simply don’t care. It’s mine and I own it.
I
was a presenter at a writer’s conference in Indianapolis many years ago with a
woman writer. At the end of our presentations, we held a Q&A, and the first
question we got was, “What if your husband doesn’t support your writing?” To
which we both spoke in precise unison and without even looking at each other: “I’d
divorce him.” It was just the feeling we both had. We both felt the same—husbands
(and wives, and boyfriends/girlfriends) are fairly easy to get. A book—a good
book—is hard to get. Especially if you’ve got an enemy of that book in the same
room with you. Actually, I’ve achieved Nirvana. I’ve been in several
relationships that interfered with my writing and I severed them. My wife now
is the most supportive person I’ve ever known and I’m a very, very lucky guy.
There aren’t many like her. Probably why we’ve been together for over a quarter
of a century. Trust me—there aren’t very many out there like her.
I
don’t expect many to understand how I feel and that’s fine. A person that
intensely dedicated to something in life is difficult to stomach for many
people who don’t have anything that compelling in their own lives. I suspect it’s
a threatening idea to many.
So
be it. As for me, I say only:
BURN
THE BOATS!
Blue
skies,
Les
P.S. I just know this is going to piss someone off and who will want to take me to task... That's fine--I'll be here all week--remember to tip your waiter or waitress.
Here's a guy who burned his boats to follow his dream as a writer, for sure! One of my heroes, the Honorable Charles Bukowski...
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