Art as Therapy: The Biography of a Novel

If you've found this blog or my website, you probably know I've written a novel titled The Second Tour. If you're interested in how or why I wrote it, please visit my article published in the 2009 Volume 21 issue of War, Literature & the Arts, an academic journal produced by the U.S. Air Force Academy's English & Fine Arts Department. My article, called Art As Therapy: The Biography of a Novel, can be found at http://wlajournal.com/21_1-2/commentary.html

Welcoming War Novelists & Readers

So, let's get started. Like I said in my Bio, I want this to be a dialogue not a lecture, so jump on in here all you war novelists and readers. Let's talk about why war literature means so much to us. I tried to explain it somewhat in my Bio. I think war lit tells us more about the human condition than any other form. And I think it gives us veteran writers a constructive outlet for our feelings.

I remember when I came home from Vietnam, everyone kept asking me what it was like. Part of me, a big part, didn't want to talk about it, but in reality, I had no clue how to talk about it. I couldn't put the experience in perspective until I started writing it down eighteen years later. It didn't start out as a novel; it started as a vent that over time got shaped into The Second Tour as I learned more about writing.

Has anyone else experienced something similar, or even something quite different?