I’m late. Two weeks late. I was supposed to have already turned in the first chapter of my book on the beatitudes to a publisher. I’m being perfectionistic I know and time’s been scarce with the live CD and new web site to oversee. But I’ve had a minor breakthrough that has me really liking writing this book again, and that makes me move faster.
I’ve had a hard time putting meaty theological content in with the lighter stories I think shed some light on the theological points I’m making and give a break to readers before they have to dive back into the next deep section. The problem has been transitioning between the two. So I decided to separate them entirely, to create bloglike sections, posts with their own character and function. No transitions needed - most of the time.
But then I worried about the stories being all the same approximate length. They weren’t. I’m just OCD enough for that to bother me. And I wasted a week beefing one story in particular up with extra details and adjectives and walked away frustrated.
The breakthrough was making myself tell the story without worrying about length. The story is what the story is, even if it’s half a page and the next one is three. So here’s the story I muttled up with fluff in it’s much more concise form:
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I write for Worship Leader Magazine on a regular basis now. Not for the magazine itself. I write what they call a “devotion” that gets bundled with chord charts, music and a feature on their Song Discovery disc included with every magazine.
The audience is music ministers at churches.
The topic changes month to month.
I get an e-mail from my boss telling me the theme of the next issue I’m to write for. Then I try to write no more than 600 meaningful devotion-inspiring words having something to do with it. Sometimes the connection is tenuous, others it’s more direct.
These assignments have been good writing exercises for me. Want to try one? The topic I’m to write a devotion around next is song writing. The entire issue is on song writing, collaboration in the arts, the craft and process and purpose etc. Mine’s due January 8th. If you come up with something you’d like too share post it here or on the board in the words section.
I won’t steal it. I promise.
I haven’t been able to find them all but a few of the articles I’ve written over the years are in the VAULT under the header FREE WORDS. I’ll add more as I find them and get permissions, along with e-books and book excerpts as they’re birthed
I’m especially glad I found the one called “Relevant.” Writing it was a lesson in itself.
I wrote it for Relevant magazine I think back in 2003 with the title “How Relevant is Relevance?” Back then I had a publicist at the label every article was sent through. She had me tone it down a bit and then changed the title of the finished product - without telling me - and sent it on called “Liturgy and Legacy Vs. Lattes and Lights: How the Church Longs to be Relevant”, which Relevant shortened to “Liturgy and Legacy Vs. Lattes and Lights.”
And yes, it was a sort of a (not-so) subtle swipe at Relevant‘s content in those days. Back then - and it’s not this way any more - the magazine was written by a bunch of young cool people looking down their noses at anything not young and cool. Young and cool seemed to be a requirement of relevance for them. As a guy becoming increasingly unyoung and uncool, and having seen a broader spectrum of relevance at work in the world, I lashed out.
I wouldn’t do it the same way today.
But allowing myself to write this article angry - writing for publication angry for the first time ever - showed me how productive it can truly be. Anger, frustration, disgust-these are all compelling reasons to write. They show me where my passions and immaturities lie. They help answer the question “What do I have to say?” What I have to say is ”This isn’t right and I think this is.”
A creative person who spends all of her time writing from angst bores me. But one who never does makes for an unconvincing human.
Some of the best songs and essays and sermons and blog posts out there have come from angst. So don’t be afraid to discover what bothers you, why it bothers you and ten write in that direction.
Now, after I do this I often regret what I’ve written. I hide it. I realize it’s not something everyone should read. But it’s out and I discover something about myself, about what matters to me enough to spend 1000 words on. This is why I’ve stopped fearing writing upset.
It’s not my job to write for everyone. It’s my job to write honestly. I depend on editors and friends to re-title and tweak until what I’ve vomitted up tastes good to the masses.
The Words blog is a place for writers and lovers of written words to come together and discuss all things wordy: New books, old books, how to write, poetry, short stories, essays, biographies. I’ll post about other authors and about the practice of writing but also post some of my own writing and writing links too.
Now, I’m not the biggest reader. And I’m new to writing. I’m needing to learn a lot. I’m hoping to learn from you. So don’t just read, but leave comments and join in the discussion.
This blog won’t be updated as often as SHLOG.COM but I’ll work hard to post something worth reading at least once a week.
Thanks for being here.
On the very long flight to Europe I finished reading WHAT ABOUT HITLER?
:Wrestling with Jesus’s Call to Nonviolence in an Evil World. Here’s a little about it.
Now, I usually read books twice: Once to get the basic gist of it and the second time with a pen in hand underlining, writing questions in the margins, writing disagreements in between lines, circling things I’d like to learn more about. I’ve only read this book once so far, just enough to know what I like and don’t like about it in very general terms.
WHAT I LIKE:
My favorite section is on our tendency as nations to “Hitlerize” our enemies. No one in their right mind, it’s presumed, would argue against fighting Hitler, the personification of evil if there ever was one. So many nations since WWII have cast their enemies in his image. The author cites numerous examples. The US has done this to BinLaden and Hussein. And they’ve done it to us. Yea, they make the same claim - that the US is just like WWII era Germany.
The author includes a letter written by Osama in which he makes his case. And, it’s a good sounding case. The author also cites US writings making the case that Osama is a Hitler. And it’s a good sounding case as well. The point? If Hitler - or a Hitler-like enemy - is the only enemy we’re justified to kill then watch out, because any enemy can be spun to resemble Hitler in some way. No one’s safe. In a sense the US, then, is reaping what it has sown in that our enemy is now doing to us (casting us as a Hitler justifiably destroyed by any means necessary) what we have done to so many enemies since WWII.
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