Heller Skeller

Ever since I was a wee lad in training pants, I've been fascinated by the lives of authors--a fact I credit for fueling my dream to become a writer. I am also fascinated by the creative process, the muse, and the novel's journey to publication. Some of these stories are incredibly inspirational to me. Others (like Stephenie Meyer's), are not.

A few years ago, I subscribed to Easton Press's Great Books of the 20th Century, and I enjoyed the book inserts almost as much as the books themselves. Each insert told the story of the book's path to publication, and each one was a pearl of insight that greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the book. Since I'm a lousy blogger, and I rarely have anything of quality or substance to post here, I've decided to share some of those stories. How's that for original?

One of my favorite novels is Joseph Heller's Catch 22. It's themes range from sanity and insanity, to the absurdity of bureaucracy, to the distortion of justice, and they are all explored brilliantly in Heller's unique circular style.

Heller did not begin work on any of his stories until he had envisioned both a first and a last line--a habit that he and I share, incidentally--and Catch 22 was no exception. One morning in 1953, he thought of the line: "It was love at first sight. The first time he saw the chaplain, Someone fell madly in love with him", and the novel was born. Within a week, he had written the first chapter and sent it off to his agent, and then he did no more work on it for a year as he plotted the story out in his mind. When he was one-third done with writing it, his agent started to submit it to publishers, and eventually Simon and Schuster bought it for $1,500. $750 of that offer was given to Heller immediately, with the promise of $750 more when the novel was finished. Then Heller missed his publishing deadline, finishing it five years later. Eventually, the movie rights were purchased, and combined with his royalties, Heller became a millionaire.

He wrote a number of other books, but none were as successful as Catch 22, and when told later in life by an interviewer that he'd never produced anything as good as Catch 22, he famously quipped, "Who has?"

I like that story for a number of reasons, but most notably because it's encouraging when my own work is progressing s-l-o-w-l-y. And since I am a slow writer, I need that encouragement all the time. I also like that story because I can identify with a lot of it, and it offers a happy ending.

Are there publication stories that encourage your writing?