I have spent the last six months or so getting myself buried in writing a book. My excuse for jumping into this maddening mess is that writing a full work is required for graduation with honors from the college I attend, but I am also planning on having the book successfully published and marketed, which is why I opted to work on a novel rather than a book of criticism or poetry.
Also, to be honest, a part of me wants to know if I can actually do it.
My novel is centered around the Trojan War, specifically around some of the main characters and Gods most involved in that drama. Since I didn't simply want to rewrite The Iliad, I have "rewritten history" a little bit in a couple of places and refocused some of the main conflict not upon the humans entrenched in the war, but I instead chose to focus upon why the Gods would allow such a thing to happen, ignoring the fact that much criticism and myth emphasizes the childishness and pettiness of the Gods. I just can't accept the supposition that such squabbling, sniveling creatures could be believable as creators and caretakers of humanity. I don't want them to be perfect, but I certainly don't want them to be so childish, either.
While my story is actually coming along relatively nicely (I am almost 100 pages in, writing roughly part-time), I have been continually plagued by concern about my book as a product. I am worried I'll write five hundred pages and submit the work to an agent or publisher who will read the first twenty pages (if that) and say, "No one gives a damn anymore about what happened to some stupid people three thousand years ago. Write something about an angsty teenager on prozac with a psychotic mother who is addicted to the written word and killed her boyfriend in a fit of jealousy and maybe we'll talk to you."
However, I do find some consolation in that history seems to be experiencing a resurgence in public interest... and not just in World War II documentaries, either. The success of reccent films based on more distant historical dates such as Troy and Kingdom of Heaven offer me a bit of solace that history isn't dead in the hearts of all people. I have contemplated a European release as well, as I have been informed by some friends "Across the Pond" that ancient history (and especially ancient Greece) is still very much alive in the interest of much of the European public.
When I look at the book, I am writing about that which appeals to people on the most visceral level... the intracacies and complexities of relationships, love, the burden of responsibility for a people or race, and the danger of a gluttonous greed for power. As I read ancient texts, I am always struck by how very little has changed over such a great span of time, and I am hoping that my work is eloquent enough to make these characters come alive and be identifiable to a modern audience.
Copyright 2005 S.L. Olson
