The Book

I haven’t felt like writing too much in this blog for the past week or so and that is mostly because for the last several weeks I have been thinking about and have started to write a book. I figure if George Bush can get out the old crayons and write down a few memoirs, I should at least try to do so also.

I got the idea for a book maybe 10 years ago. I wrote a few paragraphs, a bit of an outline and then allowed it to percolate for a while. Earlier this year Mrsfabp asked me what I wanted to do in my retirement and I said write this blog (boy, aren’t you lucky!) take some pictures (look out Las Cruces) and then surprised even myself when I said write a book. I hadn’t looked at the notes I had written for maybe 5 or so years but they were right where I left them and I decided to give it a chance.

One thing I have learned about writing is that you have to do it, not just talk about it. I am sure that if you write your own blog and read this, you are nodding your head right now. You have to put the time into it. I started writing this blog each day at lunch time and on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately I cannot do it every day at work as sometimes real work interferes but most days, it gets 30 minutes. I figured that once I am retired or at least just working part time, I can afford to put more time into it.

So, the 30 minutes has given me ample opportunity to write, edit, rewrite, all the blog entries you have seen in this space over the last 9 months. When I am diligent, I get a few posts ahead and have one or two in the pipe but not posted. About a month ago when this happened, I opened up the idea of my book and made an effort to get it under control.

In the last month I have written a Forward and the first 5 chapters. Or that might be an afterward and 5 of the first 7 chapters, or some other combination. I have also completed a basic outline for the entire book even though I am not sure where it was going to go at times.

It was at this point that I figured I needed some feedback and so I asked Mrsfabp to give it a whirl and Saturday morning over coffee she read the first 30 pages. I was not worried about grammar or punctuation at this point (Mrsfabp is a great proof reader and I will use that skill set later). I needed some feedback about whether this was an effort or a waste, was it worth continuing. Was it a book? I was nervous and anxious and a bit emotional as I let her look at the words. At the end she told me that she liked it but even more important, it WAS a book and worth my continuing effort.

So my plan is in place. I will continue with the story. My hope is to share it or at least some pieces of it along the way. I also hope to get some additional feedback from a couple of other people whose opinions I have a great deal of respect for, who will tell me if it should continue. I expect to report on the progress from time to time, maybe once a month or so.