A Writing Challenge

I don’t know how many of you are writers, but I found a love for writing through children’s ministry. I don’t know if any of you experienced something similar. In high school and college I didn’t write creatively and I had no interest in school plays. Yet, through ministry God developed in me a newfound interest in creative writing and in performing. It’s neat how God develops these talents inside of us that we never knew were there. I’m thankful that God has decided to use me in this way.

That brings me to the point of my post. I’ve felt for sometime that God wants me to write a book for kids. If you’ve done any research into publishing you know that getting your book published is a monumental undertaking. It’s like trying to get a recording contract. However, technology has begun to level the playing field. With the advent of the Kindle, the age of indie publishers has begun. A potential author can release their book in digital format through Amazon for nothing. You simply share the profits. Amazon splits the revenue with the author (note that there are different percentages based on the price the author chooses for the book). Recently, a self-published author sold 1 million ebooks through Amazon.

Knowing those facts what is stopping me. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. I write constantly in my job as the creative/curriculum director at the Ark Church. I seem to talk myself out of it each time I try. But I want to be different this time. I’ve found an online tool that may just help me get on track. November is National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org). This site is dedicated to helping would be writers create a novel in one month. Though the word count can vary wildly, the site sets 50,000 words as a goal for a novel. So, if you write 1,600 words a day you could write a novel by the end of November. I’ve already signed up for the site (it’s free) and I’m ready to begin. Do you have a book in your heart? It can be anything, fiction or non-fiction. What’s stopping you? Let’s get out there and write together. Comment if you sign up or hit me up on that site so we can encourage each other. We could make a big difference in the world and it will cost us nothing but time. I think that’s worth it.

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