I have been mulling over writing a book for a number of YEARS. I have come up with lots of ideas, characters, a system of magic (its a fantasy), where it takes place, etc.. All of it bounces around in my head, mostly as I drift off to sleep or driving along in my work truck. My lovely wife has suggested I write it from time to time but alas I am a procrastinator and have never gotten around to it.
Then along came Ammon. Have you ever met someone you like but you never got around to getting to know them better? I had met Ammon through church and he was a mutual friend of another buddy. I had eaten dinner with him at said friends house once and we have chatted once in a while at church but never have we gotten to know one another that well. Well this Halloween my a fore mentioned wondrous wife put together a party and Ammon and his family attended. I got to talk with him at some length and found a kindred spirit on many levels! We share a love of reading and many of the same authors top our favorite writers list. Then he mentioned he was in the midst of writing a book. This brought up the topic of me also wanting to write, which brings me to the title of this blog post.
NaNoWriMo is the first few letters of National Novel Writing Month and is an organization designed to help would be writers and current authors to put their noses to the grindstone and churn out a 50,000 word novel in one month (November). The object is to get writers writing with the 50k challenge. Their website offers a word count feature to help you track your progress and you can follow your writing friends progress as well. At Ammon's encouragement I joined the site and yesterday I wrote the first 800 words of a novel! I am so excited! I am behind some due to a pop spill into my keyboard, grr... but I now have a replacement and am off to the races. Will it be the next "Great American Novel"? Who knows? All I know is that due to Ammon my procrastination of writing has ended and I have gained a friend in the process. A friend with so many similar interests it's almost eerie.
I would like to suggest to readers of this blog that if they ever meet someone whom they like or feel drawn to, that they act upon that feeling and reach out to them and start talking. You may find, like I did, an awesome person to call a friend. Here is a link to Ammon's blog as well so you can meet this awesome individual! http://ammonswriting.blogspot.com/
I would also like to encourage anyone who has ever considered writing a book to join the nano site and start writing TODAY! Here is a link to their site. Don't be shy or afraid that it won't be good, the object is quantity and to get you past the initial hurdle of just starting to write. Don"t procrastinate, JUST DO IT! http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Doug B. aka Fozzee
