No Excuses

I received a tweet on Twitter this morning that sent me to the following link and text:

Twitter: A Novel Way to Publish a Novel

Slow and steady wins the race, especially if you’re trying to write a 480,000-character novel 130 characters at a time.

Matt Stewart released The French Revolution Tuesday. But absent commitment from any publishers, he and his agent released it via Twitter, TechCrunch reported.
Stewart has help for the approximately 3,700 tweets it will take to “publish” the novel: A programmer helped him to automate the process, according to TechCrunch.

For those who don’t have the patience to wait for 3,700 tweets (Stewart had reached around 80 at the time of this posting), The French Revolution is also available free-of-charge on Scribd or for $1.99 on Amazon’s Kindle.

This is a unique approach to publishing, but it’s not the only one of its kind. I’m part of a writing project called The Wikiklesia Project – an “ecclesial publishing experiment” that is gathering a number of writers (including me!!!) to generatively create a collaborative “book” that will re-examine and re-imagine the roles of women of faith. Cynthia La Grou, the one who is birthing this concept, and I talked on the phone for nearly an hour today – brainstorming, dreaming, acknowledging shared passions, and thinking together about how to create a movement.

I got off the phone and, combined with the Twitter “novel” idea, realized that I have no excuses to not write, to not publish, to not step up/out and say what I want to say. So why is it so damn hard?

I think it goes back to what I wrote about a few days ago: it’s easier to be disappointed than to dream; easier to expect that things won’t go the way I want than to really hope on my own behalf. Writing is no different. It’s easier to not write than to think that my labor will be un-read, un-appreciated, un-acknowledged. I admit it: that’s about my ego, not my writing. I’ve got to get over that. I do remain passionate about very particular things that my voice can articulate in unique, powerful ways. I do know how to write. I do WANT to write. And perhaps most of all, I do have things to say – whether out loud and/or via text, on paper, electronically, virtually, or even through Twitter. No excuses…

If someone can publish a novel 140 characters at a time, I can certainly articulate and offer what resides within me – no matter the medium. I must. No excuses.

Call me crazy, but I’m guessing this might apply to some of you, as well…’Would love to hear your thoughts. Comments welcome here or on Facebook…

I do not like to write – I like to have written. (Gloria Steinem)

There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. (Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith)

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. (Sylvia Plath)

In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write. (Pearl S. Buck)

Related Posts:
Fear or Desire
Inevitable Dreams
Writing Like Ayn Rand
The hard work of dreaming