“So which of your various writing projects are you most passionate about? “
A work colleague asked me the other day after we’d spent several hours together stuck at Dallas airport and had killed some of the time by talking through the various non-fiction books, comics, short stories, and novels I have at different stages of production. On the surface it seems like an innocent enough question, and one that should be easy to answer. But it wasn’t, it really made me think.
After a few moments contemplation I gave what I think can be the only truthful answer:
“Whatever I’m working on at the moment.”
“I was just wondering beacuse they are all so different.” – Another good point. I have sometimes wondered if I had fixed on one subject area and focused all my creative endeavours around that, I may be better known as a writer. Should I have had 11 books about The Beatles in the market place by now, instead of 11 books covering a wide variety of topics? But that’s not me. I need to be trutful to myself.
When I joined Caterpillar in early 2013, I was asked to take a “Strength Finder” test, something that nearly everyone at corporate headquaters has done. I’ve traditionally been skeptical of these sort of HR profiling activities, but I must admit I was astonished by the results. They were spot on, sacrily so.
My top strength was listed as being a “Learner.” – And that’s why I write about lots of different subjects, characters, and time periods. I’m a learning junkie, and writing is a way to feed that. Each new project is an opportunity to learn about a new subject, new times, places, and people. An opportunity to meet and share with others interested in those same subjects. Opportinuties to do cool new things with cool people.
So what am I passionate about at the moment? James Bond (reference book), Harry Houdini (short story,) and the characters of Forgotten City (comic book series.)
Alan J. Porter - Writer 