Writing the Great American Novel

I guess for any GAN you need a Great American Character. I've got one for you, tell me if you think he will have the air of believability needed to be a successful Novelist.

First we will start out that this character is rather a sickly child. He/She will fight this tendency towards childhood asthma and other diseases well into his or her 20's.
He will publish his first book at the ripe age of 17, and have it recognized for years as the foremost source of its material.
This character will be accepted to the best college in their region at 18, after no formal public education.
At 21 he will marry a beautiful 17 year old girl, who will subsequently die just 3 years later.
At 23 he will be accepted into one of the best post graduate programs in his field.
At 24 he will be elected to a state wide office and serve two terms.
At 26 he will be elected leader of his party, and be a king maker at his party's National Convention.
In one single day he will loose his wife and mother from different illnesses.
Shucking his urban life he will decide to live in a different part of his country, and become an outdoorsman.
At 28 he will be a sheriff, large land and cattle owner, and local hero.
By 30 he will have written as many as 7 books and have already re-married.
At 31 he will become a anti-corruption Police Commissioner of a major metropolitan city.
At 35 he will take his first position in a National Government. One of many ascending in order.
At 39 he will be one step below a full cabinet member of his National Government.
At 40 he will nearly win a Congressional Medal of Honor for heroic acts overseas as a military man.
At 41 he will be the Chief executive of his State.
In his life he will start a major environmental movement, and harness anti-corruption movements to his benefit.

So that is how I have it mapped out to 40.
Ok Ok I lied.. no one would ever buy a book about a character who did all this. Don't you think it would be just a tad unbelievable?
Well gentle reader.. this is a true story of a most amazing human. His name is just above the horizontal line below. Highlight it with your mouse to read it. For those who wish to guess I have left it white on white so you can ponder my riddle.
Theodore Roosevelt



QOTD: What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left.
-- Oscar Levant

Comments

Popular posts from this blog