Jack Weyland - If Talent Were Pizza, Youd Be a Supreme

You probably know me as the author of the novel Charly.

It was as much a surprise to me as anyone else to find out Id written a best-seller. The truth is that I have very little training to be a writermost of my education has been in math and physics.

Once, as a graduate student in physics, I signed up for a course in creative writing. One day I told the teacher I wanted to be a published writer of fiction. He raised his eyebrows, probably recalling the string of C grades Id received so far in the class, and asked, Youre not serious, are you?

What could I say? Here was a highly educated professional who didnt believe I had what it takes. And of course he was rightI didnt show much promise as a writer then. But theres one thing he couldnt measure. He couldnt know how strong my desire to write was. In fact at the time I didnt know how strong it was either.

Eventually I dropped the course, telling myself that Id tried and thats all a person could do. I was willing to let that dream snuff out. But it wouldnt snuff. It just lay there and smoldered.

A few years later I got enough courage to try it again. I signed up for a correspondence course in writing. The course cost me $37.50. Besides that, I had to rent a type-writer too. I felt bad about splurging on myself, so I decided to send a story to the New Era magazine and see if they would accept it. If they did, it would at least help pay for part of my expenses.

To my surprise they accepted my story. Not only that but Brian Kelly, the editor, seemed genuinely enthusiastic about my writing. Since then Ive written over twenty stories for the New Era. Brian Kelly has been important in my life because he was the first person to encourage me to continue writing.

In May of 1979 I set a goal to write a novel. I still have my journal entry for that day: I will write a novel and send it off to a publisher by October. That is my goal. I will do it whether or not its ever published.

Charlys first printing was sold out in three weeks. It has since sold over one hundred thousand copies. Since Charly, I have written six other novels.

The reason for telling you this is so youll understand that it couldve gone either way for meI mightve just as easily given up.

Ive been thinking about you lately, about your talents, especially the ones you dont know about yet. Theres something Ive got to tell you before you do what I almost did, before you give up on yourself, before you let your dreams die out, before you choose to be less than God wants you to be.

I want you to understand that I believe no matter who you are, God has given you great talents.

Maybe you dont know what they are yet, or maybe you only know one or two of them, but theres a bunch of them there all right. Its like the sweepstakes letter that begins You May Already Be A Winner, except when it comes to talents, you already are a winner. Since your existence didnt begin at birth, you came to the earth already laden with talents, and all you have to do is find out what they are.

If talent were pizza, youd be a supreme with extra cheese. If talent were water, youd be the Atlantic Ocean. If talent were a car, youd be a Corvette. Thats true not only of you, but everyone else also. Unfortunately some people have been led into thinking they arent very talented. Thats a tragedy; its like using a twenty-pound diamond as a doorstop.

I hope this book will help you discover the storehouse of talent that lies within you.