This is National Novel Writing Month. You may or may not remember that I 'won' that in 2003 by writing a time travel porn novel. Hey, I hit 50k words, even though they're utterly unpublishable. It counts.
I've tried to compete in NaNoWriMo a couple times since then but something has always gotten in the way. So I'm not doing it this year, either. But I do like the sensations receiving in my brain from the act of writing so I am going to try some writing this month.
Specifically, I'm celebrating National Letter Writing Month, a contest I just made up.
I'm going to try to write a letter for each day of this month and send it off. For this year's NaLeWriMo, I'm focusing on political issues. Because, like Arthur Silber, I'm concerned about how things are going. So, referring to The Consumerist Guide, here's the text of my first hand-written letter. It's to one of my Senators, Barbara Boxer, on the topic of Iran.
The Honorable Barbara Boxer November 1, 2007
112 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington DC 20510
Dear Senator Boxer,
I've been a Californian for two years, volunteering my time and skills to
various local user groups and non-profit organizations, as well as working
as a Unix system administrator.
I'm writing to you about Iran. I'm afraid that our country will soon
be thrown headlong into a needless and devastating war upon Iran.
I think that Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, who was so perceptive on the matter
of Iraq's nuclear program, is again correct in his assessment of Iran's
capabilities. Iran is years away from being any kind of nuclear threat.
I saw news stories indicating you'd co-signed a letter to the President
expressing concern about the heated language he's been using in reference to
Iran. Thank you for doing so.
Please put that sentiment into law by advancing S.759, prohibiting the
use of funds for military operations in Iran. As a member of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, you are in an excellent position to do a great
deal of good. Please have a meeting scheduled to discuss it or co-sponsor
it before matters deteriorate further.
Sincerely,
Shannon Prickett
Oh, and good luck to the NaNoWriMo participants this year, especially the returning ones who might have not quite made it before. It's hard to get back on a horse which has thrown you once. Keep at it!
(If you're a Californian who wants to write a letter on a similar topic, the pertinant staffer seems to be Sean Moore.)
posted at 09:46 PDT (-0700) (comments disabled) permanent link Technorati tagged as: politics, writing
