i have many contributers at LAist. i like all of them. however at least once a week i get an email saying “my posting this week will be slow because…”

the other day i got an email from an excellent writer saying “my posing this Month will be slow because i am going to try this National Novel Writing Month thing.”

i guess i cant complain because they contribute for free, and im certain that most of them are actually nice, normal, chemically balanced human beings who probably even go to church and hang out with their friends and actally have a life.

in sports they say that the best players dont make the best coaches because ultimately the former player will just throw the ball down and say “when i was a player i scored 25 points a game even with the damn flu even with broken ribs even with four fouls going into half time. WHY CANT YOU!” clearly not a chemically balanced human being with a life. cuz even the guy who averages only 10 points a game makes a couple million a year and bangs cheerleaders.

so when people say oh i cant write three posts this week because x, y, z, i think you know i drove around the country, i was in canada with no internet connection, half of my job has nothing to do with writing, and still i have been able to post 5-7 times a day every day, And i keep the busblog rolling. but that sort of activity isnt normal. its abnormal and it probably shouldnt be rewarded.

but because im a loon with no life, now i can say i posted 5-7 times a day, updated the busblog every day, and wrote a damn novel.

chapter one of my masterpiece was done last night after going to a book reading, cooking chicken, fingering an exchange student, and watching Lost. it wasnt easy, but it wasnt impossible. everything is possible, you just have to be clear with yourself what youre committed to. you just have to say, fuck excuses i WANT to do this. and to me writing has always been a time thin. simply time. the reason i did 15 minutes with tony last year was because i read so many blogs from bloggers i loved who were all “omg im so busy sorry i havent posted, so heres a rundown of what happened the last month…” and i was thinking, im positive this person had 20 minutes every day to blog. but maybe i like that person because theyre not retarded like i am.

so even through ive failed three years in a row, this time i did things scientifically, i wrote and looked at the clock when i was done. how much time does it take to write 1,666 words a day? a few hours. how much time does it take to write a three paragraph post on LAist? about 45 minutes. usually less.

now dont get me wrong, writing also takes the strength to fight the demons in your head that keep telling you that what youre typing blows. that is something that i faught with pretty much every stroke of the first chapter of the novel that i dont usually have to deal with here on the lovable busblog and never on LAist.

so wish me luck that i’ll be able to do this for 29 more nights.

and to up the ante, i will be posting each chapter on LAist where the commentors arent as sweet and supportive as they are here on my home turf. chapter one.

ps we are giving away 12 cds to random entrants of this contest: the Give us a Question contest

pps may i say congrats once more to Pitt and Outlaw

ppps congrats grampa zona boy