If you want to build something, create something, bring anything to fruition, it takes work. The adage “Rome wasn't Built in a Day” addresses this fairly strait forward. I've heard it applied to things ranging from a relationship with your son to building a savings account & things far afield from there. I've heard it used as something to remind kids to be patient in their education.
The main thing that I've thought of with it – and unfortunately, I don't recall who said it to me first, or where I read it – was this – Rome wasn't built in a day, but you'd better believe they were laying at least a brick every day.
From there, I've extrapolated a bit mentally. There's also no way that the brick layers didn't have some kind of instruction as to where to lay said bricks. There were doubtless surveys taking place. Digging. Rome was also not built by 1 person. No matter what it is you want to create, you need to look outside of just yourself, unless all you're wanting to create is a bowl for you to eat out of. If you have any kind of big dream, its going to have to involve someone other than just you. Writing a novel in a vacuum means that when you release it, its also released in a vacuum. Some people like Charles Ives were so determined to create things their way, that they devoted themselves entirely to something else to pay the bills, and it wasn't until years after his works were written that they were performed, much less critically acclaimed. Maybe you are the next Charles Ives,
but even he didn't really create in a vacuum. He modeled his music after the music he had heard from his father and other sources & then twisted it to fit his own... Idiom.
If you are the next Charles Ives & can operate in a little more isolation than me, that's great. But really, if you have some kind of dream, you need some kind of framework to make it happen. And you need to be working toward it, every day in some way or another.
A little over 2 years ago, I first started actively pursuing narrating audiobooks. Initially, I started with what I could. It amounted to a hut on the rural outskirts of Rome. It probably had a leaky roof. At the time, we really had a leaky roof. But as I partnered with other creative architects, my own design for Rome began to take shape. And looking back, I can see that my nightly read aloud to my kids for ten years has been much of the initial framework for what I hope will one day be a shining audiobook city of Benny Fife Audiobooks, built with help from wordsmiths and from people who want to hear new ideas, adventures, and inspirations.
Right now, I think I'm in the small village stage of my overall Rome. There are now dozens of buildings, ranging from the hut on the edge on up to some truly fascinating structures that are currently in the works. It's still a bit of a frontier town, but those of us who are residing there hope you'll stop in and say hello. We hope you'll take some time to examine some of our rooms & what they contain. The characters in the buildings & how they interact with each other. Who knows... Maybe you might even decide you need to build something there too! (Let me know if you do... We'll get with planning & zoning to figure out the best placement). 18 different designers so far & counting.
And... when my Rome is looking more complete... With magnificent edifices (edifi? - probably not) wordsmithed by geniuses I'm collaborating with along the way, and a few that are more particularly “mine” from the foundation up... Maybe even with an audie under my belt - I hope that leaky roofed hut still gets visited every once in a while. Maybe then we can build a starship together & see what else is out there.
Happy Listening.
