NaNoWriMo – The Fast Track to Disappointment

Here it is – November 3^rd – and the big word acronym in the writing world this weekend was NaNoWriMo.

For those of you outside the loop…NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.

The goal, in short, is to try to write a novel (or at least 50,000 words of something) during the month of November by creating an account on the NaNoWriMo website and tracking your progress. You can earn badges (badges?…) and even win real prizes.

Several of my writer friends are participating. Their facebook feeds had posts of their progress over the weekend (2,000 words today, etc).

I wish them luck in their quest…I really do, but if anybody is waiting for me to jump up and down shouting the praises of this event…well let’s just say I hope they packed a lunch, because they’ll be waiting a long time.

I can’t condone it…I’m sorry.

It’s not that I don’t want people to write…nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s just that this whole concept of writing a novel (or 50,000 words if you want to look at it that way) in a month is, in my opinion, dumb.

Why am I so critical of something that promotes writing?

Because I liken it to gyms and health clubs who advertise New Year’s Specials…knowing full well that there are thousands and thousands of commitment-phobes out there who say they want to get in shape, but what they really mean is they want to be able to say they tried. They sign up in December and hit the treadmill with a vengeance in January…by the middle of February they start finding excuses to miss a day here and there and by Easter-time they’ve gone back to wearing sweatpants and eating ice cream in front of the TV.

I’m not saying it can’t be done…I’m saying it shouldn’t be done.

Writing a book is not a race or a contest.

In my opinion, NaNoWriMo, for all of its good intentions, does more harm than good by convincing people they weren’t good enough.

Sort of like if the gym had taken a new crop of overweight accountants and threw them into a Navy SEAL training program.

One or two of them might survive, but the majority of them wouldn’t last two hours – and they’d walk straight out of the gym looking for the nearest McDonald’s.

NaNoWriMo might produce a few decent manuscripts, but for the most part it does nothing more than satisfy the consciences of people who “have always wanted to write a book” by allowing them to say “I tried.”

To those people I say this…

If you want to write a book…really want to write a book…then don’t worry about what month it is and don’t tell yourself that you need to do it in thirty days.

Just sit your ass down in front of the computer and start writing. You’ll know you’re finished when you type The End – not because the calendar tells you so. Then you win the prize. You win the satisfaction of saying “I did this”.

Maybe you weren’t the fastest, or the best – but simply by doing it and seeing it through to the end, you will have accomplished something that the vast majority of people haven’t, and never will – regardless of what month it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always – thank you for reading

The Water is Full of Hazards – Fortunately Ike is in the Lifeguard Chair

There is one thing that every living organism on the planet needs to stay alive.

Water.

Without water our planet would quite literally die – taking all of us with it.

75% of the human body – and 90% of human blood – is water.

So, you get the picture…water is important.

So how ironic is it that water – the one thing we can’t live without – is actually being used to slowly kill the planet?

Don’t get me wrong…the water itself isn’t doing anything wrong. It’s us – the human population – that are doing the damage with water.

Bottled water to be specific.

In 1978 the United States consumed about 415 million gallons of bottled water

In 2001 we consumed 5.4 billion gallons.

By 2006 the number jumped to 8.3 billion gallons – for which the U.S. consumers shelled out $11 billion.

…but bottled water is healthier than tap water.

…bottled water tastes better.

…it’s more convenient.

If you believe any, or all, of those things, you have been duped by the multi-billion dollar bottled water industry.

I’m sorry. I don’t mean to offend you – but it’s true.

The water in your Evian bottle has no more health benefits than the water from your tap. If your tap water tastes “funny” you should understand that it’s because of the government mandated procedures which eliminate any impurities – procedures the bottling plants are not required to follow. Buy a filter pitcher and you’ll get the same taste. As for convenience – buy a reusable water bottle and fill it from your pitcher.

To make matters worse – the amount of groundwater pumping done to fill those cute little bottles causes unseen damage by lowering the levels of lakes, ponds and streams…which affects the wildlife who rely on them for life…which in turn affects us humans.

Finally – the bottles themselves. Probably the worst part of the equation.

Americans buy approximately 28 billion bottles of water per year.

28 Billion.

The manufacturing process for these bottles requires 45-50 million barrels of oil.

Think about that the next time you complain about the price of gas.

It is estimated that 80% of the bottles we use end up in landfills…that’s a cheerful little tidbit.

For the most part, the bottled water industry is a self-regulated industry raking in billions and billions of dollars every year and doing irreversible harm to the planet, because they have convinced Americans of the (false) value of their product.

Are you still with me?

Good – because there’s good news.

Ike is on the job.

Okay – I admit it…I used all those facts (and they are all true facts) about bottled water as a preamble to talk about one of my novels.

It’s called Water Hazard (see what I did there?).

In the story, a Florida contractor is illegally pumping groundwater and selling it to bottled water companies, making a ton of money…but in an attempt to keep his operation a secret he resorts to kidnapping and murder.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know he was about to cross paths with Ike.

When the ex-Navy SEAL, with a penchant for bending the rules, learns that his best friend is in some pretty hot water, he dives headlong into a whirlpool of greed, corruption and ecological sabotage to help.

Water Hazard has all of the fast-paced action, great characters, humor and beautiful Flagler Beach settings that my other books have, and it also offers a glimpse into the murky side of the bottled water industry.

Click here to read the first chapter for free.

So now that summer is here—grab your favorite ice-cold beverage (as long as it’s not bottled water!) and relax with a great beach read that will grab you from the first page and keep you locked in until the last.

Download Water Hazard for only$2.99 here.

If you’d like a signed paperback version send me an email at blindoggbooks@gmail.com and I’ll give you the details.

 

As always – thank you for reading