About the Author: Kent Wayne

Hello everybody, my name is Kent Wayne.  I’ve started getting requests for personal info so I thought I’d put up this author page.  I know it’s commonly practiced social media etiquette to post lots of pictures and stuff about personal life, but I tend to veer the other way—I like my privacy.  Sorry if that offends you; I’m not trying to be rude.

I spent ten years in the military.  I was never a sex-nuts strong, roided-out Bin-laden-wasting-stud, nor was I a fat, whiny, high-and-tight (it’s the stereotypical military haircut) wearing pencil-pusher that lived to yell at people about uniform and haircut regulations because he was bullied in high school and couldn’t get a date.  Within those two extremes, I fall somewhere in between.  I’m not going to specify what units or branches I was in.  That was a different person, and it doesn’t matter now—I’m out and done with that stuff.  While it definitely informs my writing, the chapter has closed on that part of my life.

I prefer not to be thanked for my service.  There’s plenty of great articles out there that can express why better than I ever could.

My view on the military, just to give you some insight on my perspective:  the military is a reflection of society.  Of humanity.  Within it, you can find behavior that is villainous, heroic, idiotic, and genius.  The full spectrum.  And just like life, one person can exhibit some of each.  Nobody is a badass 100% of the time.  Nobody is a piece of shit 100% of the time.  I find most portrayals of the military reductive in that it doesn’t recognize this basic fact:  the military is made up of humans, and they are subject to human nature.  When it becomes clear that “shitbags” can be amazing and “heroes” can be child molesters, then the folly of using a label to reduce somebody to hero, baby-killer, badass, or brainwashed is revealed to be shortsighted and childish.

This is everywhere, not just the military.  I’m resigned to the idea that humans love to reduce the complexity of life into an easy-to-get-riled about, simplistic viewpoint.  But I have seen it get better as I’ve gotten older, so I still have hope.  I think the internet—and the increased ease of sharing information—has a lot to do with that.

The great lesson I learned from the military:  Ideals are nice and soul-stirring, but people tend to get blinded by them.  It is the ability to perceive the minutely relevant changes from instance to instance, from circumstance to circumstance, that will carry you.  It is not comfortably reductive idealism, but all-inclusory awareness that will let you navigate not just life, but all of existence.

(Hops off the soapbox)  I know that’s a poor bio, but I hope that my obnoxiously grandiose statement reveals more about me than if I were to list a boring series of life events.  And I hope it wasn’t too pretentiously poetic.  As a character from one of my favorite authors says (about a bunch of mentally masturbatory goth vampire wannabes):  “Too much time on their hands.  Leads to poetry.”

(Just kidding.  I love poetry.  Some of it.  Maybe.)

Thanks for checking out my work!  To all you writers, I wish you inspired drafting and insightful editing!

Kent Wayne

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1,444 thoughts on “About the Author: Kent Wayne”

  3. Your opinions about individuals and also the military are refreshing. Your point of view seems mainly absent but much needed from the public discourse.

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  8. Hello Kent, thanks for initiating the connection. Your WP name initially made me question whether to follow you here, but I am most glad something in me said, “just check it out”, because when I did, I discovered a human being worth reading and hearing. L.A.

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  10. Appreciate your read over on my philosophical rantings, it helps to feel like I’m not just shouting into the void. Figured I owed you the courtesy of checking this out and I’m certainly not disappointed. As a Social Psychology buff, I’ve always been interested by large and powerful institutions, how they reflect and shape society. Along with prison, the military is very high on the list of fascinating ones. I’m actually pretty curious about the “great articles” you reference early in this. Think you could point me in the right direction?

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  11. Thanks for your appreciation. Re the military: I always think of the last Arab/Israeli war when Isreali part-timers turned up for the battle in civilian clothes. No one saluted and they had the appearance of an undisciplined rabble but they defeated a force around three times their size.

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  13. My biggest truth I learned from the military is called “no reason” and it goes like this: (Joe and Bob are soldiers)
    Joe: Why are we standing out here in the rain?
    Bob: No reason
    The next morning….
    Joe: Why are we up so early?
    Bob: No reason.
    Later that day….
    Joe: Why are we sweeping this floor again?
    Bob: No reason.

    I believe you could go on like that for days. Maybe that’s why I like to think about things so much these days eh?

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  15. Hi,

    I appreciate your taking the time and effort (especially now that I know sleep is not part of your everyday life) to “like” my post “Whither the Mueller Report?” It was an “exploration in rhyme,” so I trust it sneaked through your questionable poetry filter.

    I believe this is the second time you’ve liked one of my posts; I apologize for my failure to extend common courtesy after your first visit.

    Your encouragement to other writers is admirable and most welcome, and the work you’ve presented is impressive.

    I hope you know how to nap!

    Cheers,
    Annie

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  17. Greetings from an over-user of hyphens to an overthinker.

    You are right on the money, carried there presumably by experience and intuition. However, experience and intuition can carry you only so far. Beyond that, you need theory. So, if you want a deeper understanding, I suggest that you read the work of the man who first formalized these notions: Kurt Lewin, the founder of Social Psychology. A major distinction he makes is that between the general life situation (gls) and the momentary life situation (mls). What you call ‘comfortably reductive idealism’ corresponds to the gls. What you call ‘the minutely relevant changes from instance to instance, from circumstance to circumstance’ corresponds to the mls.

    “There is nothing so practical as a good theory.”
    — Kurt Lewin

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  18. >> Nobody is a badass 100% of the time. Nobody is a piece of shit 100% of the time.

    Benjamin Franklin put it more politely, but just as pointedly:

    “Blame-all and Praise-all are two blockheads.”
    — Benjamin Franklin

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  19. Wow! What an introduction! It should be a monologue for the intro to your one man show. By the way, thanks for the like of my last post @ Teesblog. Thanks for even taking the time to read something from a newbie like me. Your words are so powerful, and truthful.

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  22. It’s a fine art, presenting a fair and unbalanced account of yourself for public consumption. I must say I enjoyed your efforts. Articulate, intelligent and with something to say. It was a pleasure to read and much more forthcoming than mine. 🙂

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  32. Hi! Thank you for liking my blog post on supporting characters, I appreciate it! I smiled a lot reading your bio above, you have a very unique voice, keep it up 🙂

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  36. Hi Kent,
    Thank you for following me to allow me to find you! My son went into the Marines and after serving two grueling tours, his perspective is very similar to yours. We talk about it all the time, especially when the year he came home. His a social worker now and his time in the military gave him a deep understanding of the complexity of understanding your past to be comfortable with how it shapes you today.
    I look forward to reading you and thanks again for the support!
    Pat

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  38. Thanks for this “About the Author” page, Kent. I can so relate to your “My view on the military…” and following, but not because I’ve been in the military myself. I never realized till now why I relate so well to military folk, and have some super friends in the service or are vets, until your “explanation” here. For me, each time you mention military, plug in “church”. Good and horrid and mostly all complicated. That’s people everywhere. Your observations and insights are what make you an excellent writer. Keep it up.

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  39. Ok, I won’t thank you for your service, but it obviously meant a lot to you – that service.

    When in large groups, we do tend to see the same situations everywhere. In groups, we tend to play out the role we played in our family. So we will draw-in the same responses to us as a rule.

    I agree with you that no one is bad all of the time, just like no one is good all of the time. We all have imperfections, and we all have our good points. The problem that I see in society as a whole is that some people like to play up their bad points. They like to ‘bully’ others.

    You have good insight. I believe that everybody has a different view of the same situation. So, there is no right or wrong view. I think, for most of us, the view becomes more mellow as we age.
    I enjoyed reading your view on life.
    Thank You!

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  41. Your autobiographical statement brought to mind something I remember hearing on public radio many years ago. A scholar said that what made Shakespeare’s dramas great was they showed that under extraordinary circumstances, a villain was capable of heroism, and a hero’s weakness could give way to villainy. It sounds like you witnessed those truths in real life.

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  42. Love your bio and perspective; especially about how complicated people are in reality. I’m looking forward to reading some of your posts and seeing how you apply that to your writing. I am trying to learn how to mix my ideas/theories about the world with my own personal writing without sounding preach-y, inauthentic, unrealistic, or overly ~poetic~.

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  43. This is one of the best “bios” I’ve read in a long time. Your insights into the military and human nature are enlightening. I opted for the “facts about me” approach. I like yours much better but doubt I could pull it off as well. For me “Thanks for your service” ranks right up there with “Sorry for your loss.” It’s used so much that it has no real meaning anymore. If it isn’t from the heart, I don’t want to hear it. I imagine a lot of people feel that way. Anyway, thanks for a great bio. I really liked it.

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  49. I liked your bio as well. I tried to get into the air force through ROTC when I was in college. I was disqualified due my back. Never tried any other branches. The instructor told me the reason for my disqualification was that they did not consider their uniform would not look good on me. Can you believe that? I have another question about using certain words that are highly controversial like the word ‘nigger’. In one story I wrote that word but changed it. I have read some books that use like ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ what are your thoughts on such words?

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      • the story where I used the word ‘nigger’ but changed was part of a series of short stories about a boy who lived in a swamp with his parents until they died. nobody would take him in because of two visible defects, webbed feet and gills. they tormented him, called him names and finally ran him out of town back to the swamp to live by himself. he learned that he had the ability to call animals to his side and do his bidding. since they told him to never come back he decided to use his talent to scare people out of his swamp. how would you categorize those stories, sci fi or horror?

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  50. Hardly have I ever enjoyed and admired an about me section so much.
    My best part:
    The great lesson I learned from the military: Ideals are nice and soul-stirring, but people tend to get blinded by them

    You know, Buddha in my language is a derogatory term for an old man. I thought you were a friend or someone from the same locality. Glad to have found your blog 🙂

    Always nice to actually connect with people across the globe.

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