That is the question.

The National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo, held every November. It is a yearly challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That is the equivalent of a 175 page book.

The idea is not perfection. The idea is output. As Steven Pressfield says “There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”

NaNoWriMo states on their website, “Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.”

We have to take the perfectionist out of us an let ourselves start for the sake of starting. We can never get in the position of producing good work unless we start. Pressfield also states, “We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.”

This post is really a pep talk to myself. It is just being done publicly. I have a million excuses just like you why not to do it. Everyone around me will probably think I am crazy. That means I will probably have zero support. Like you, I work. I live a musicians lifestyle. I have a family to attend to. I have not really written much fiction (it is National NOVEL Writing Month). I can’t even type very fast. Yes, I can go on and on.

To NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo? That is the question.

NaNoWriMo Website. NaNoWriMo Facebook.

Age 7 – Worked to support family after they were forced out of their home.

Age 9 – Mother died.

Age 22 – Failed in business

Age 23 – Defeated for legislature and could not get into law school.

Age 24 – Declared bankruptcy and spent 17 years paying off debts owed to friends.

Age 25 – Defeated for legislature again.

Age 26 – While engaged to be married, sweetheart died and heart was broken.

Age 27 – Had a nervous breakdown and spent the next six month in bed.

Age 29 – Defeated in becoming the speaker of the state legislature.

Age 31 – Defeated in becoming elector.

Age 34 – Defeated for Congress.

Age 37 – Defeated for Congress again.

Age 39 – Defeated for Congress yet again.

Age 40 – Rejected for the job of Land Officer in home state.

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I did it. Finally. I did it. The world of the smart phone is now my world. For a fairly tech savy person, it may seem weird that I got my first smart phone over four years after the release of the first iPhone.

You could say that I am not an early adopter. I have never felt the need to get the latest and greatest as soon as it came out. Back in high school it was not the iPhone or some tech gadget, it was Nike’s Air Jordans or Sony’s Walkman. Never owned any Air Jordans and I had cheaper portable CD player instead of the Walkman.

Getting an expensive phone meant it had to be beneficial to what I do. Within the first few days I needed to see that it helped me be more productive and not something that I waste more time with. I do not need anymore distractions. It needed to help me pursue my goals and move life forward.

It is working so far. This post has been written on my phone while on my way to work. Writing more is one of my goals. No, I am not driving. It has also helped me in dealing with the logistics of being an active musician. It has helped to make some communication easier. Now I just have to keep it that way.

What is the moral of the story? As a follower of Jesus we must weigh carefully what we accept into our lives. Even if is something that everyone is doing. As our lives interact with our culture we must be careful that the things we let into our lives aid our walk with Jesus and not become something that distracts or hinders us.

Using this phone will change my life like it has for many of you. Please use it to wisely. Remember that your phone will only last for a short time. Following Jesus will last for eternity.

My first blog post goes back to 2003. Granted, I spent many years randomly and infrequently blogging. Many of the post I would publish really had no interest to anyone but maybe my family and friends who pitied my attempts. In recent years I have become more serious. More focused. Recently I have been publishing post with not only short and mid-term goals, but an over arching goal. Those long term goals require that I become at least some resemblance of a writer.

When I launched thebeardedtrevor.com I had an idea in mind. Zig Ziglar in his talks would tell how he broke down writing his first book. He set a date to be done by and a page count. Then he did the math. Zig found out he only needed to write a paragraph per day. I have always seen writing blog posts as writing a chapter at a time. The blog post is my small goal, like Zig’s paragraph per day.

If you include a couple children’s books, I have begun a small handful of books. Some of them have been sitting unfinished for a while. Earlier this year I began writing another book. The task in every case seems daunting. That is why I began to focus more on my blog. It has given me the opportunity to work on a “chapter” at a time.

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Are you wondering what I mean by “ship”? This is a term that Seth Godin likes to use when you finally put something you have been working on out in the marketplace. “Marketplace” in this context does not only mean putting a product out for sell. It means you have put something out for people to see and read and interact with.

Fight the Fade played over 80 shows. Many things had to be brought together with the help of many people to make this happen.

We (Fight the Fade) released our second album, American Missionary. Download it for free at fightthefade.com

Was involved in another music project that released an album along with playing a show to support it. The Manger Gathering was a collaborative Christmas project of local musicians.

Fightthefade.com is now a fully functioning and stand alone website.

Relaunched this blog along with taylorpics.com, thebearedchristmas.com and at the beginning of the year I started trevorisaloser.com (I am currently doing Trevor is a Loser again in 2011). All of my blogs had there ups and downs, but I shipped. It was the best year of writing so far in my life.

I lost 47 lbs in the first 90 days of 2010 (Time to lose more).

Did more to formalize EYC Records and begun to do artist development with a few artist. This has formed good friendships and partners.

2010 had many smaller victories. I am thankful for the life God has given me. I hope the desire to make an impact in the world around you will be a part of your journey in 2011.

11:48pm December 31, 2010

Another year, another decade, and it is weird that I am at the point in my life were I am measuring things in decades.

Two years ago I had no idea what the next two years would be like. This past year came with a combination of things that I had a good idea would happen and some things that I did not expect. Two years ago I had know idea that I would be spending the majority of my weekends playing rock and roll and sharing Jesus. This past year I knew I would be playing most weekends, but I did not expect many of the opportunities that came our way.

I am a goal setter. Over the next week I will be listing out and setting goals. It is impossible to predict much of what will happen over the next year, but setting goals will help you set a course and a focus for those unpredictable events and opportunities. Plus, goals do help you get things done that you want/need to do regardless of what might happen with your year.

Do not make resolutions, set goals. Set a focus for 2011. Over the next week I will be discussing my goal setting process and some of the actual goals I have for 2011. Let us journey into 2011 together. Happy New Year!

This post marks the completion of a goal I set at the beginning of the month. The month of November saw a post every weekday. The goals that I have for blogging/writing requires that I be consistent. Writing is a part of my life that I want to see grow into a larger role in my day to day. I do have aspirations to write a book. Accomplishing this goal will not come from a miraculous day where I sit down in front of my computer and not get up until I have a finished manuscript. It will require a regular habit of writing on a regular basis.

Blogging is helping me take steps toward other goals. This does not mean I am downplaying the value of blogging. I read several on a regular basis. It is an unfortunate reality in our culture that people do not read books as much as previous times in society. This saddens me. What cheers me back up is that people who may not pick up a book still might log on to read a blog post. This is very important to realize if you want to teach, encourage, build up, or influence the people around you. Blogging is authorship.

I am committing to writing a blog post every weekday of November. As I continue to strive at blogging regularly, a challenge like this is appropriate to help me develop regular writing habits.