Reading & Writing

You’ve often heard it asked, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Well, I wonder the same about writing. “If a man writes a book, and nobody reads it, is he still considered a writer?” It’s the weirdest thing, to be sure, but I have written a great deal over the course of my life and I still doubt that I am a writer. That is likely because I am the only one that has ever published my work and it has never been for money. In other words, I have never had my work published by a recognizable book publisher, like Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, or Penguin Random House. We’ll look at this craziness and more within this blog post.

To be honest, I decided to write this blog post when I remembered a George Carlin quote from long ago. It goes like this, “Ever since I took the Evelyn Woodhead, sped reding course, my comprension has improv’d wondoorfullee.” Hopefully you get the weird annunciation. At any rate, this got me thinking about reading and writing and what that has entailed in my own small world.

Although I must have learned to read in school, I don’t remember being interested in reading until I was a young adult. The first book that I remember reading was called “Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!”, by M.E. Kerr. I remember only a tiny bit about it, so I decided to ask the Bing AI to summarize it to see if would refresh my memory. It did not. Nonetheless, here is what Bing provided.

Certainly! “Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack” by M. E. Kerr is a coming-of-age novel that delves into the complexities of adolescence and human relationships. Despite its misleading title, the book is not solely about drug use; instead, it explores the challenges faced by young people as they navigate dating, parental pressure, and self-destructive behaviors. The story revolves around characters like Susan “Dinky” Hocker and P. John Knight, whose eccentricities reveal both their talents and insecurities. Kerr skillfully weaves humor and poignancy, emphasizing the importance of self-evaluation and constructive communication. The novel suggests that maturity involves making choices within permanent situations, guiding readers through the threshold into adulthood.

I did note with further research that this book got great reviews back in the day (1972) and was at a time when the outrage toward rising drug use among youth was becoming part of the public consciousness. I should read it again, just to see what it says from today’s point of view.

Stepping back, when I was in school, I did my best to avoid reading anything at all, especially things that were required. When I look back from my current perch of wisdom, I often wonder who it was that figured students would be interested in, or care about, books like Moby Dick, or the many Shakespeare plays that we were forced to endure. Again, from my current perch of wisdom, I think they would have been better off having us read and discuss Bob Dylan song lyrics, or any number of great science fiction books like 1984, War of the Worlds, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 454. Then again, I, for one, would have avoided those just the same. Gosh, I hated school! BTW, I still haven’t read Moby Dick and I still hate Shakespeare. I have listened to all of Bob Dylans albums but have never focused too much on the lyrics. I should mention too, that I have read all the listed Sci-Fi books, plus oodles more. Sadly, it’s hard to find really good Sci-Fi books in this day and age. One modern Sci-Fi writer I do like is Jack McDevitt, although the last book I read of his was no where near as good as all the earlier ones, kind of like he should have retired from writing by then. I noticed recently that he has a new book out this year, but due to all the bad reviews it has received and the ridiculous cost, I will not be reading it.

My real love for reading came in my early twenties when I began my journey of recovery, which included a searching and fearless moral inventory of sorts. All my reading was confined to non-fiction in the realm of self-help books and later in psychology, psychoanalysis, spirituality, and science. One of the very first books I read that opened my eyes to the world of recovery and self-help was called, “The Road Less Travelled” by M. Scott Peck. I eventually read all his books and loved them all, with the exception of his first book which I read last, and had it been my first, I would never have read anything more by him. His first was horrendously religious, which was a showstopper for me. The rest were really good reads about psychology and the human condition.

During the same time frame that I read the M. Scott Peck books, I discovered Erich Fromm. I was struck by the obvious fact that most of what M. Scott Peck had written was based on the work of Erich Fromm, who came before him. Not that it was plagiarized or anything like that, but that it seemed so similar. I ended up loving Erich Fromm even more and read all his books, or at least as many as I could find, which was many. I also read many other great books by authors such as Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Karen Horney, Bertrand Russell, Kahlil Gibran, Albert Einstein, the Dalai Lama, and so many more. Because science is fact based and obliterates dogma, I spent a lot of time reading science books too, many by my favorite science author of the time, Paul Davies. I read many more, from the likes of like Albert Einstein, as I had mentioned, but I found his pacifism and world view writing much more like psychology than science, although I did enjoy his more scientific stuff as well.

As I got older, I started to move away from all the non-fiction and started to find much enjoyment in some of the classics, like those from H.G Wells, not just his science fiction. He had lots of great stuff that I found in the public domain on the Gutenberg Project website. I would then print them out and make handmade bound books from them. I also read a number of other classics. One in particular that I loved was David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Was I ever surprised to read the name of the sleazy law clerk, Uriah Heep, within its pages. I realized then where the band of the same name got their moniker. Too funny! David Copperfield was probably a book that was/is required reading in some schools, but for me, I found that the wisdom of my adulthood is what made that book so powerful and enjoyable. What can the underdeveloped brain of a youth make of a book like this? It’s wasted reading at that age in my opinion.

As I got older still, my book tastes changed. That happened when I bought my first Kindle reader and stopped buying paper books completely. After having cleared out the family library when we had to downsize, I truly began to appreciate the digital nature of my ever-increasing library that took up no space at all and wasn’t a constant reminder of how much money we spent/spend on books. At this point in life, I refuse to pay more than $10.00 for a digital book, $6 is even better. Although this limits what I can buy, I can still find much to read. These days I read a lot of British detective novels, as well as spy novels and sci-fi when I find something that isn’t post-apocalyptic or more fantasy than science fiction. I should mention that I love my Kindle. From the moment I bought it I felt transported to the 24th century every time I picked it up. It reminds me of the data pads I saw in every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gotta love it! 👍

On the flip side of the coin, there are two things that I hate when reading. The first is when authors dive into “fat shaming” while describing characters that they obviously want their readers to hate. One time I read a character described, in part, with fingers that looked like fat cigars, and on and on. I know a good description is often necessary, but the whole fat shaming thing makes me twitch. If I auditioned for a part in a book, I would put my foot down about such things! 😊

The second thing that makes me go nuts is the use of the word “save,” when “instead” would be my only choice. Only a pretentious writer or editor thinks that using “save” in this fashion is reasonable. Like George Carlin wanted the letter M stricken from the English language, I want the use of the word “save” banded from use in this way. I can’t even bring myself to provide an example sentence to illustrate it further. 😊

Before I wrap up this segment on reading, I would like to mention that reading has always been a major part of my wife Denise’s life, and she ensured that it became a major thing in my daughter’s life, who now instills that same love of books in her children. We must have bought several thousand books over the course of our life together. It was money well spent! Just recently, my daughter Emma asked if I would create book journals for her girls. I did so and included book reader rewards with the blessing of their mom. The book journals were very well received. It is so sweet to see them curl up with a good book.

Book Journal Covers – Created by Don Cheke – Clip art from Pixabay

Book Journal Pages – Created by Don Cheke – Clip art from Pixabay

Let’s look at writing now.

My first memory of writing goes back to my school days, I believe early high school. At one point, one of my teachers gave the class an assignment, which included writing a short story. For some reason, I chose to do it. It was a war story about a pilot and his missions. I don’t remember much about it, but I do remember drawing an airplane (a bomber of sorts) on the front cover. After it was handed in, and marked I suppose, the teacher told me that she had shared my short story with a friend of hers who at the time was a university professor. She relayed that the professor said that it was a great story and he/she thought the only improvement would have been to elaborate on the rank of the main character as he seemed able to do whatever was needed without getting permission or approval. The small critique didn’t bother me, which surprises me even today because I hate to be criticized, but at the time I just glowed at the very powerful “atta-boy” I had received. This event has stayed with me all my life as a positive. I think it has everything to do with me becoming the writer I believe I am not. I know, weird! This memory also reminds me of the power a teacher had on this young insecure man’s psyche, struggling with his life, and how such things can stick with one for an entire life. The moral of this is that it is best to be loving and kind to others, leave a positive mark and not a stain of despair.

I tried to write a novel in my very early adult life, but it went virtually nowhere, I couldn’t even come up with a proper main character name, not like today, where I could come up with dozens! LOL! Mary Axelrod, Noodles McBride, Harry Combmo, Sir Lantz-a-lot In-his-pants-a-lot…. Oh! And let’s not forget Heferus Laird and Loaf Dubronovich. 😊

When I was a stay-at-home dad and Emma started elementary school, I had some spare time so I decided to take some Social Work classes at university. It was at a point in life where I was starting to plan for the future when being a stay-at-home parent was no longer full-time work and earning some extra cash wouldn’t go amiss. After only a few classes I decided it wasn’t for me and would be quite costly to boot, so I decided to abandon that route. One thing, however, that going to university did was rekindle my desire to write a book. While at university I was required to write many essays, and I always wrote way more than was expected. I also became the professor’s favorite student (teacher’s pet), so she told me on a couple different occasions. Other students hated me because I always had my hand up to answer the professor’s questions and because I was so well read by that time. Well, I hated the other students too since no one seemed to work as hard as me! LOL! I liked the professor though, as she gave good “atta-boys,” which I lapped up, as you can imagine. 😊

Since I had already been on my journey of recovery for a number of years and had pondered many of the intricacies of life and of the human condition, I decided to write a book about my journey thus far. “Along the Way: A Journey of One,” took two years to write and it was everything I had hoped it would be, all 225,000 words of it! I tried to get this book published by sending a sample of the manuscript to a few of the big-name publishers, but not one even bothered to read what I sent. I got the odd rejection letter with no explanation, while others didn’t reply at all. It was at a time when self-publishing wasn’t really heard of. I had used many quotes in the book that would have required permission in the event of publication, so even if I could have self-published, I don’t think I could have managed all that. At any rate, I did have some copies made and a few people read it and offered some nice praise back to me. I liked that, of course! In the end, writing the book was more about my growth than it was about becoming a published writer.

Along the Way: A Journey of One – Photo by Don Cheke

It was while writing Along the Way that I produced two more books. The first was “Deep Within: The Mandala Experience,” This book basically takes what is in Along the Way and presents it in pictorial or symbolic form. The 1st mandala I produced was number 7, The Twentieth Century. Once I completed that one, I had a dream and knew that there was seven more to come. I originally drew these by hand and finished them with colored pencil. Eventually I remade them in TurboCAD for a crisper look.

Deep Within: The Mandala Experience – Photo by Don Cheke

Deep Within: The Mandala Experience Thumbnails – Photo by Don Cheke

The second was “Threads of the Spirit.” It is basically a summary of both books. Within it I list, in a short, almost poetic way, 100 of the things I had learned along the way on my journey of growth. I had taken an interest in photography around the same time, and I included a number of my photographs in the book as visual accompaniment. It was competed in 1998. I did publish this book through one of the print-on-demand services, but it is too costly to attract anyone. It is no longer available there.

Threads of the Spirit – Photo by Don Cheke

Although not a book of text, per se, I also wrote and illustrated a book of Origami models. This was in the early 2000’s.

Glorious Origami – Photo by Don Cheke

From 2006 to 2008 I produced a series of newsletters that I provided on my website news blog. It went hand in hand with my 3D modeling and rendering adventures and with my widespread interest in art, mine, and that of others. There were not many of them produced over those years, but I did have great fun writing about my continuing journey and introducing other artists and the work that had impressed me at the time.

At the end of 2023, I did two major things. The first was to gather all my personal art and writing from the previous forty years and put it together in a digital collection, “The Collected Works of Donald B. Cheke.” It was fun to bring it all together and create a 3D printed book box for the flash drive. I made a few of these for family members to have as keepsakes. I can’t seem to take a decent photo of the real-world book box, so here is a rendered version that I also created for visuals. The real-world one looks exactly the same, but this is a much better image.

The Collected Works of Donald B. Cheke Flash Drive Box – Modeled in TurboCAD and Rendered in KeyShot by Don Cheke

The second was to write my memoirs, a book that shares my entire life, from the beginning, all the way to the present day. It was a real blast to write and it has been received well by my family. I have no intention of sharing it with the rest of the world, as it was written only as part of the legacy I want to leave behind for my daughter and granddaughters. I wrote and produced this book in record time, about two and a half months. When I started, I thought it might take a year.

Reflections – Photo by Don Cheke

After my younger brother finished reading Reflections, he suggested that I continue to write and share all my new adventures which were sure to keep happening since I have a lot of years left ahead of me. That is when I decided to create the new blog-based website which you are currently reading. I am so happy that he suggested the continuing effort, as I have been finding so much joy in this new project. I have also started a new cartooning “career” because of it, which is something I have always wanted to do. So, a win-win situation for me! Hopefully for you too, if you enjoy what you see in the blog.

With regards to the blog posts, I am limiting myself to posting one a week. I know that the way I work, I could just keep pumping them out one after another, but I figured that would be too much for my readers and they would likely lose interest. One a week may keep them looking forward to the next. Perhaps I am wrong, but it doesn’t hurt me to slow down a bit. Not that it has, because I already have a few more queued up to be released each week, but the delay to weekly allows me time to reread and clean them up if needed. So far, they are good as is, but I do catch the occasional typo that I have missed in earlier read throughs.

So we are now at the end, and the question persists; am I a writer? Is it okay to consider myself a writer? Well, I guess the obvious answer is yes, but does it really matter? Why do I need that label? Is it just another way to try and find approval and acceptance, to quantify my existence somehow? Even if nobody ever read a word I wrote, it should be enough just to do it because I enjoy the process and continue to discover things about myself that help me to continue my growth. Basically, it is like journaling, which is typically a private thing.

To wrap up, I’d like to say that I feel that I/we spend too much time thinking that what we do makes us who we are and indicates what value we have. Typically, writers are thought to be intelligent, driven, and masters of the written word. That must be a good thing, wouldn’t you say! For me, I think that most of the time it is my baggage that is speaking about this need for approval, when really it should be okay for me to live in the shadows and be okay making a small difference in the lives of those I interact with on a daily basis. Based on my years of experience in Al-Anon, I know that all people have their own brand of baggage, and the only cure for that is to become aware of what that baggage is and to find the tools to help deal with it, so that the baggage isn’t what continues to manage oneself. So, although I know this, I still want to share my writing with others, and I hope that I can maintain a healthy balance between the genuine desire to share and the need for approval. It’s a balancing act, to be sure, here in our little town of Anatevka.

Are there any secret, or want to be, writers out there reading this blog?

Donald B. Cheke – May 27, 2024

2 thoughts on “Reading & Writing

  1. Hey Don, thanks for this great reflection on reading and writing! I really enjoyed your ideas around what makes someone a writer! As I ponder this myself, with a stack of 22 journals over the last 41 years, not to mention some 75 university essays I have written, I can relate to how one thinks about what makes someone a writer.

    If the measure of this is passion and repetition then I think you quality. If it is about being creative and someone who absorbs others work, then yes this qualifies. If this is about the life long learning that is vital to sanity and then incorporating this into one’s every day life and reflections then yes, this qualities.

    I often think about the pile of journals that I have and occasionally read an excerpt here and there. What a legacy of growth and development through hardship and reflection that exists in these books. I imagine that you feel similar as you look back through your works.

    I think anyone who is brave enough to share this type of work should be applauded loudly. Well done, Don, for sharing the struggles and the joys and the humour!

    On a final note, Threads of the Spirit has been a staple of my collection for years! 🙂 I LOVE this book and respect the effort it took to put together some very sound wisdom about how best to live a contented and happy life.

    1. Thank you Doug,
      What a wonderful comment to read! I appreciate what you have said, and all the support you have shown me throughout our lives, as brothers, and as friends. 💖

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