Yesterday, I ran into Nick at the campus Starbucks in Eugene. We were sharing a table while I read submmissions for Hold My Purse and he read the The Practical Nomad. After a bit, Nick turned to me and said, “You know what I would do, if I were going to write a travel book?” My face lit up and a lengthy conversation got underway about plot structures, best selling formulas, and previously proven ways to hook a writer in. Our conversation reminded me of my college days when my good friend Dan Buczaczer and I would go down to the Novel Cafe in Venice Beach and do writing excercises together.
The thing was, I didn’t know Nick was interested in writing. He’s the Travel Nutter for BootsnAll.com, but I hadn’t read any of his stories or heard him talking about wanting to write before. I love it when I find creativitiy in people surfacing for the first time. Sure, maybe he’s talked about it with other friends, but I can always appreciate when it’s the first time for me.
Brad Newsham, author of Take Me With You: A Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home, frequently asks people he’s just met, “What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you?” Whether it’s that, or asking, “if you were going to write a book, what would it be about?” The personal insight, life changing possibilities, and birthing of latent dreams that could come from the answer to those questions are endless.
My conversation with Nick inspired me to think about my books from a different perspective, reminded me that I had forgotten I was doing one altogether, and triggered that familiar sensory pleasure of sitting in a cafe with a friends and talking about the writer’s journey.
When’s the last time you talked about your dreams with a friend? No excuses, have a chat online if they’re too far away or it’s too expensive to call. The inspiration that follows is worth it!
Jen and I did have a stimulating conversation about novel writing and I went on about how I’d tackle it. My style ( if there is one ) is to chuck down my thoughts as they come, usually in one big vent and then hit ‘SEND’ .
Jen and I were chatting about how writers get too much into their own head and out of touch with many of their potential ordiance. If I wrote a novel it wouldn’t be a classic, but it would sell…I’d make irresistable for your average joe to put down.
Who knows maybe I’ll start on it in the coming year.
We have saying here in the office that good ideas are like sperm….50 million come out at once. Everybody has good ideas, very few people follow through on them.
Nick