Monday, November 2, 2015

NaBloPoMo - Huh?

NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month.  It's a month to encourage bloggers to post something every day.  If you count yourself among the readers of this blog (all twelve of you!), you'll know that I don't even post every week, or even every month, so writing a post for each day might be a stretch.

I love Anne Lamott's writing.  She makes me think.  She makes me see the beauty not just in the images described, but in the words themselves.  She teaching writing, and has written a book about writing, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.  She give instruction and encouragement for writing on her Facebook page.  Her suggested method?  Just do it.  Put your fanny in a chair and put some words on a page.  You won't like, but you'll feel like you've accomplished something.  Do it every day.

Sounds a bit like practice, doesn't it?  We all know that practice is the only way to become proficient at something.  You have to do it over and over again.  Not only does practice improve your skills, it also develops a habit of practicing.  That's why I decided to participate in NaBloPoMo this year.  I need the practice.  I have always loved words and writing.  It's not a daily practice, but I would like it to be.  I'd like to loosen up some rusty writing muscles, and polish my skills. 

Those that know that I am a pastor may be wondering why I want to do this.  I write sermons every week, don't I?  Well, yes, sort of.  I mostly preach without a manuscript these days, which has advantages and disadvantages.  One of the disadvantages is that I seldom write in complete sentences in preparing for a sermon; I write notes.  And sermon writing is a different kind of writing than other writing.  So I want to practice writing, and I'd like to make my blog a "real" blog by posting more frequently.

Hence, the writing of a post each day (I hope...) during this month of NaBloPoMo.  The posts may not be particularly erudite.  They may be pretty boring.  There will be days that I use the suggested prompts because I just don't have anything myself, so things may get a little random.  But I'm going to try to write each day, and I hope you'll try to read each day.  Leave some gentle critiques, but don't be too tough.  You don't want me to quit, do you?!! <grin>

1 comment:

  1. A good idea. I've never been able to follow thru for the long haul (attempting to keep a journal, travel log, etc.). The month of November, for some, is the 30 days of Thanks time. May be a good place to start - for you & me, too.

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