I’m Going to Write a Book Through a Succession of Blog Posts: & Here’s 3 Steps How.
Beginning any journey is the hardest part.
It was Newton's first law of motion that states:
An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
To finish a book -- we first have to begin.
Starting anything is the hardest part.
I've found once I get a little wind in my sails that I can begin to steer the ship, but that’s only because it’s already moving. The wind controls itself. Inspiration comes and goes. It blows as hard as a hurricane at times—while for other, sometimes longer periods, the calm of the mundane settles upon the ship and it’s the writers job to break out the oars and labor the boat along.
We have to start with an idea first and boy do I have one.
The working title for my project is:
The Ecology of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall': It's Genesis & Revelation.
With the working title being: The Ecology of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall': It's Genesis & Revelation. The project needs to be explained in 3 parts.
1. 'The Ecology'
Wikipedia lists Human ecology "[as the] study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments" (Wikipedia Contributors).
Ecology being the study of man in relation to his environment--which also includes the most important tool and person and experiment that he has: himself.
2. 'Pink Floyd's 'The Wall''
As an album, 'The Wall' is a journey of an artist from boy to man, with the baggage that he accumulates along the way, where he reaches a point of exhaustion or surrender or acceptance.
And he lets go. It's then that his 'wall' falls down and the scales come from his eyes as an man and an artist and he is able to see his world for the first time. He had reached to point to the other side of the 'wall' and freedom was found there.
3. It's Genesis & Revelation
In case you didn't know, the Bible is a collection of 66 books, with the first being Genesis and the last Revelation.
The narrative of the Bible begins with the creation of man. However, man falters or sins and things go awry. The middle 64 books deal with the aftermath, some triumphs, but many more struggles and failures along the way until reaching the final book.
The word revelation means "an act of revealing or communicating divine truth ("Revelation")".
The book of Revelation is a wild ride depicting a growing evil force and an impending war on all the remaining good. A call is made out to repent and turn towards the good in order to avoid death before the plug on the drain of pain is pulled and it is too late.
Why Human Ecology/ Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'/ & the Bible?
The commonalities are inescapable:
Human Ecology= The study of man.
Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'= The album about a man.
The Bible= The story of man.
The Book is going to contain a prologue followed by the 26 chapters of 'The Wall's' album.
13 Chapters representing the 1st disc:
In the Flesh?, The Thin Ice, Another Brick in the Wall, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Another Brick in the Wall (Part II), Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Empty Spaces, Young Lust, One of My Turns, Don't Leave Me Now, Another Brick in the Wall (Part III), and Goodbye Cruel World.
As organized similar to an 'Old Testament' (referring to the 1st half of the Bible).
13 Chapters representing the 2nd disc:
Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?, Nobody Home, Vera, Bring the Boys Back Home, Comfortably Numb, The Show Must Go On, In the Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting For The Worms, Stop, The Trial and Outside the Wall.
As organized similar to a 'New Testament' 9 (referring to the 2nd half of the Bible).
Followed an epilogue.
My plan is to follow the album chronologically, but I will pick appropriate Biblical stories and passages to correspond with the specific song and therefore chapter.
So, the album will in order, but the Bible will not necessarily be, as in reference to this project.
For example, I already have in mind to use the story of the Biblical Samson to aid in my critical analysis of 'The Wall's' track number 6: 'Mother'.
However, I could possibly cherry pick a later or earlier Biblical passage, story, or parable to help explain track number 1: 'In the Flesh?'
This project is a bit of an undertaking.
But, let me share a secret with you:
Anything that is worthwhile is.
That's why I need to have three steps how I'm going to do write The Ecology of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall': It's Genesis & Revelation.
And here they are.
I'm Going to Write a Book Through a Succession of Blog Posts: & Here's 3 Steps how.
1. Begin with the end in mind.
I begin all my writing with the seeing the end. But, to completely honest this one seems a bit hazy. I feel the end of the project, but I can't quite picture it. And that might be why this has me so excited.
However, it was the author Stephen Covey who coined the term, "Begin with the end in mind."
It's in my mind, as usual, but I need to keep refining it.
2. Work with a clear direction
I've got the direction for the project.
26 Chapters as already outlined by Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) himself. Being bookended by a prologue and epilogue--I am well on my way to having a workable draft.
First being written in blog form it's going to be fun to add the music to each post so that the reader can not only follow along with words, but with audio as well.
3. Work consistently towards the end
It's not easy putting yourself out there, but I've learned it's usually all the kick in the ass I need to get something that I want to do done.
If I announce a project in a public way than I have to follow through. No one probably cares that much, but I have found that when I do this I begin to care that much more.
I will devote my blog to this over the next 28 posts in order to 'work consistently towards the end'.
Yabba Dabba Do!
It's go time.
- Dan
Works Cited
Wikipedia contributors. "Human ecology." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Jan. 2018. Web. 5 Mar. 2018.