WARNING: Shiny objects ahead.
You know what I’m talking about: daily distractions, rabbit trails, diversions, detours, wasted hours, and glazed eyeballs. I’m writing these days, have been since 2009 when I published my first novel. Seven books later, I’m still at it. Been a regular on the New York Times Non-Best Seller list. Not hard to gain that distinction⎯actually, easier than one would think. See what just happened? A shiny object passed in front of me, derailing my train of thought. But, back to the discussion at hand: Shifting attention spans. YouTube is among the worst of the offenders. FaceBook is a close second. Don’t know about the younger set. They have so many distractions I can’t keep track. Each week brings some new app to beguile them. There I was the other day, determined to turn out one thousand words ⎯and well on the way to my goal when a random thought struck. I Googled the ending to John Ford’s classic western, The Searchers, starring John Wayne and his usual collection of stock players. I’ve seen the movie at least one dozen times and own a copy. The movie is Wayne’s finest effort, a tale of a family’s murder and the kidnapping of the youngest daughter by Commanche raiders in post-Civil War Texas. Wayne’s character searches for a decade to bring the girl home. The final four minutes, complete with a Sons of the Pioneers cowboy song is among the best endings ever filmed. Trust me on that. The poignant homecoming, imbued with the slightest of melancholy brushstrokes, never fails to break my heart. In the final frame, John Wayne’s larger-than-life anti-hero, his quest finished, is left alone as the family takes the long-lost relative into their home. Now, back to business. Uh, where was I going with this?
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