I Want To Write a Book

Felicia and I are spending this weekend downtown Vancouver, thanks to the kindness of my Mom who is tending the kiddies. We roamed around downtown, ate some good food, went to a movie and relaxed in the hotel hot tub.

We were in Chapters last night. As per my usual, I headed straight to the religious section. Sometimes there are some books that Amazon fails to remind me of. I was scanning the titles when I noticed a familiar name - a friend of mine from Winnipeg had written a book. It was published by a large Christian publisher and carried endorsements from Tony Campolo, Shane Claiborne and even some other friends of mine that minister in Canada.

I flipped through the pages - and it looked very well written. I'm still too poor to buy it from a place like Chapters (sad to say - I use Amazon and e-books a lot). I put my friend's book back on the shelf. I took a slow turn around at the hundreds of books all around me.

It started to dawn on me - I can write a book. I can. It might never get published - but I could still write one. Felicia and my mom might be the only people who read it - but I could still write one. Over the past 6 mths., I've had several people ask me if I've thought of writing a book. I say - yes, .... yes I have. I have THOUGHT of writing a book - I've also THOUGHT of starring on Broadway. Thinking of something doesn't make it be.

Truth be told - I've started 2 different book projects - but then abandoned them like unwanted children early on in the process. The reason is .... writing is HARD. It seems funny to say that, because I write ALOT. For the past year, I have been writing regularly for the light magazine in Vancouver. My articles have been consistently praised.I even get praise for my 140 word tweets from time to time. And for the past 6 years I have been writing a new sermon almost weekly.

But, when it comes to a book project - I feel stifled. I feel like I am trying to run a marathon with 2 broken legs. I have great intentions - but intentions can only get you out the door. So, I'm writing this post because I want to publicly commit to finishing these projects. I won't work on them at the same time - I'll write one. Once I finish that one .... I have no clue what to do with it. Do I self-publish and then distribute them to friends and family and passing strangers? Do I send the manuscript to publishers and then collect their rejection letters in a scrap book? Who knows? One thing at a time - write the thing first and then decide that to do w. it.

One of my favorite all time writers is Mark Buchanan. I read a lot - A LOT. And there are only a handful of writers whose books I simply cannot wait to read - I feel sad when I finish one, because a pleasure in my life has passed. Buchanan occupies this spot in my reading catalogue. (I'm excited to hear he has a new book coming out). I like Buchanan also because I actually KNOW him - I can pick up the phone and call him, and he would actually take my call and know who I am. I was talking to him one day about writing. He said something I'll never forget. He said there's no such thing as writer's block. Writing is like working out - you just go and do it. You sit there at the keyboard and you write. An hour or two later, you might not like what you've written - but that's ok. You wrote. You come back to it later, and you'll be able to re-work it like a sculptor can re-work the clay he's been working with. But, he needs the clay first. (Ok - I added some of the last part - Mark told me that part about writing being like working out).

So, here goes - the pain, drudgery and surprising joys of writing lie ahead of me. Intentions and thoughts are ejecting me out the door and onto the road.