I am back to a semi-normal schedule in my ministry. The duplex renovation is virtually complete – I am just fiddling with a few final touch-ups. We have it on the market and hope to have a sale soon. We are in a protracted negotiation with a buyer, hopefully this one will make it go. I have also finished my Thru the NT series, so I am not tied to the weekly production of a study guide.
As a result, I hope to be getting back to writing about things that interest me. I have a whole list of them stored in my PIM. My plan is to write a little each day as I am able.
My inconsistent posting in the last months is symptomatic, however, of something I observe in the entire blogging experience. If you check the blogs I have listed in the sidebar, you will note that many of them suffer from the same malaise. Blogging, like any writing, requires discipline and effort to persist in it. There is a first rush of enthusiasm that may or may not carry a writer through six months of effort or so.
After the first rush is over, the real test begins. 1. Do I have enough drive to write to keep on writing on a regular basis? 2. Do I have anything more to say after I have gotten my ideas off my chest? 3. Do I write for the sake of writing, or do I write for the satisfaction of having readers?
The answers to each of these questions may vary, but the tests are real. I have all my life longed to be a writer, but until blogging came along, no real satisfactory medium presented itself. Blogging allows writing in short bursts on a variety of topics. I may never have any idea sufficient to produce a book (many don’t, including those who actually get published). But I am interested in a wide variety of things and like to experiment with my expression of those things.
Lately, in the blogosphere that I read, it seems that most of my friends are too busy with other things to spare the time for blogging. It also may be that they have hit the ‘blogging wall’ and it remains to be seen whether they will move past it. Some, of course, simply write when they feel inclined, not as a matter of daily passion. That is part of the beauty of the medium, to me. Nevertheless — they are leaving me starved for opinions (their opinions, not mine! I have plenty of opinions on everything, just ask!) I hope that more will be forthcoming from their ‘pens’ soon.
In the meantime, if you have any thought of being a writer, all the books I have ever read on the subject say this: write. Whether you write a blog or not, write something. Keep a daily journal. Set aside a half hour each day to work on something – just write. If it’s any good, you can always go back and rewrite later. Otherwise, you can accumulate an archaeological store for someone to ponder over when they uncover your bits and bytes in some distant archaeological effort.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
“Bits and bytes.” Nice flourish. :-)
I have indeed been busy, either with church, family, vacation, a class, etc. But I haven’t stopped writing. Like you, I love words, and it’s good for me to post what I’m thinking. It actually helps me think more clearly. That said, I usually post when I have something to say; I don’t sit and work at it too much.
Anyway, I’ll be back at it soon, Lord willing.
And speaking of writing, did you ever consider working on a hymn. I’ve recently (almost) finished another, and it’s been a great experience, both as a writer and as a Christian thinker. Give it a shot.
Hey Chris
Well, I know we are all busy. I have been overwhelmed the first six months of this year, but it looks like things are lightening up somewhat in the near future.
I’m off to Family Camp this week, so likely little posting until next week.
I wrote a song once… I don’t know if I would call it a hymn. It was during a Bible Conference service with Peter Ng preaching. I don’t know what I did with it, maybe it is in an old notebook somewhere. It will be up to archaeology to find it and ??? decide what to do with it — probably bury it again.
Alas, I ain’t a poet, and I know it.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3