OK, So I’m Gonna Write A Book….. Here…… Now

I was in a crazy old German restaurant today, eating Schnitzel and catching up with a friend. The same friend who I blogged about who is an aspiring filmmaker, and I’m aspiring to become part of his entourage when he’s rich and successful. As of today, he’s still not rich, so I realized I can’t hold out for that, and I might actually have to get rich on my own. My education doesn’t lend itself to netting high paying jobs, so I realize that if I’m ever to reach lofty heights, I’m going to have to do a better job tapping into my creative abilities. At lunch we were talking about existing with moderate to considerable creative talents, and how it’s actually a real privilege, and shouldn’t be pissed away with laziness and fear. He’s made a few great short films recently, but he’d like to be able to make a full length film. I write a blog every week, but would love to some day write a book. We share these common desires to ‘live the dream’, which is a common thread that makes us great at motivating each other. I have a book idea, and I’ve even got it organized into separate ideas or chapters. It’s been sitting like that for years. He was a bit appalled that I’d come that far, but haven’t bothered writing it. He’s right. It’s just stupid.

My excuses are many, but my good excuses are few. I work full-time, I have a family, and I really enjoy sitting on the couch and watching a game, or listening to music. That’s how I unwind. When I do feel creative, I’ve always got a blog entry due, so I usually just pour whatever I’ve got into that. Which is cool, don’t get me wrong. Just not quite as awesome as writing a book. I haven’t written a book yet because I don’t have the discipline to do it. WordPress just sent me a reminder that I started this blog 2 years ago. I’ve made a commitment to this. Every week I’ve provided a blog entry. Even if it was a bullshit entry, I still did it. If I put that same time and energy into writing a book, I’d have long since finished it.

That’s when it finally occurred to me. Why don’t I write the book in my blog? I write the blog anyways. I’m always complaining about not being able to come up with topics. If I can write 20 chapters or so, I’ll have topics for the next 20 weeks. Then, I’ll have fulfilled my blog commitment AND have a book finished. I don’t want to go as far as calling this genius because it wouldn’t have taken a genius 2 years to figure this out, but it is pretty smart by my standards.

So….. Starting next week, I will write a book. One chapter at a time, and post it here on my blog. Can you wait until next week to find out what it’s about? No?? Okay, I need a few more words to get up to 500, so I’ll give you the concept.

I don’t really have a working title for this, but it’s meant to be a self-help book. An instruction manual on being ‘cool’. I know that sounds nuts (and how arrogant am I that I think I could be the person to write it?), but I think this is an important thing for everybody in life. I’ve always been fascinated by ‘cool’. How easily it comes to some, and how elusive it is for others. Impossible to define, and almost more impossible to achieve through conventional means. Some people dismiss it as a high school thing, but I believe that there is an ‘adult cool’ as well, whether it’s ‘water cooler cool’ or ‘hockey dad cool’, society has its pecking order of social acceptance, and it’s not to be escaped, so if there were a few easy steps to follow to improve your ‘cool factor’, why wouldn’t you? What are the qualities of cool that can be used no matter what your age or situation? Where’s the ‘How To Guide’? I am (right now) committing to write 20 chapters of ‘cool tools’ to help you in your journey to cool. Hopefully along the way I can help you understand why you might even want to bother being on a journey to cool, and most importantly helping you stay off that train that is headed in the exact opposite direction. A book for all ages, but written from the male perspective, but hopefully having enough universal concepts so females will enjoy it just as much. Perhaps by finally getting off my ass and writing a book, I could even increase my own level of cool.

Would you read this book? Well now is your chance! The foreword will be posted next week! Until then my lovelies, enjoy the holiday weekend! (Yes I just called you my lovelies….. how cool is that???)