Writing is...

Writing is one of those processes that, I think, just about everyone thinks they can accomplish.  I mean, you go to any bookstore and see all those glorious books on display?  "Surely, I can do that," you may think to yourself.

Or, thanks to the Internet, almost anyone with a computer can post an essay within a matter of minutes.  (Wait a minute...)  There are, depending on who you ask, over 150 million active blogs readily available for your reading.  (Compare this to over 28 million podcasts, whose numbers are growing at exponential rates.)  There are, literally, blogs or websites about everything.

Yet, what does it mean to be a writer?  And, more deeply, how does one go about writing?  These are fundamental questions, questions that I had not asked myself when I first began writing.  However, after nearly a decade of writing essays, articles, book chapters and a book, here is some advice that I have learned that I hope will encourage or challenge you in your writing.

1. Writing is a craft that must be nurtured.  One of the things about writing is that is an activity that must be worked at.  Even someone who might be "gifted" at writing cannot survive on talent alone.  I have a book project on the Gospel of Mark that I have been working on for over fifteen years.  I am not sure if it will ever see the light of day.  It, like many other pieces, has become a workshop piece that challenges we as a writer.  In another case, one of my first articles was a simple page piece that sought to share a teaching tactic.  It was abysmal.  Looking back now, as I did the other day, I am both ashamed that I submitted the piece for publication yet also grateful that that particular journal gave me a second chance at publication.
2. Just because I can, does not mean that I should.  Most writers are creative types.  Most creative types are almost always coming up with ideas.  Inspiration hits without warning.  This can be great for the writing process, or it can send us down the rabbit hole into distraction.  Some time ago, I pitched an idea an idea about theological themes in dystopian literature to my friend David Congdon (@dwcongdon), an editor with the University Press of Kansas.  His advice was quite simple: While the idea had merit, did I have the credentials to write it.  He was correct.  I love dystopian literature, however I am not a literature guy.  To date, I have submitted four book proposals that, I assume, have been rejected.  As difficult as it is to accept, there is wisdom in "staying in your lane."
3. What about what works (and what does not and why).  I once proposed an article to a journal on mediating divorces in the congregational setting.  I had written the paper for a graduate class and had received a good grade.  I submitted the paper...and it was rejected.  It was rejected for one reason -- I didn't have any evidence that it would work.  I had never implemented it.  When writing, especially when writing practically, write out of your actual experience.  As I started on my dissertation, I discovered that I was regularly using my developing theory in my preaching.  I just had not named how the process worked yet.  In other articles, I have talked about things that worked and things that have not.  In doing so, it shows that a writer has credibility to speak about this issue.  And in today's marketplace, credibility is everything.

I hope this advice helps you as your develop as a writer.  It is a frustrating yet rewarding craft, one that advances thought and action with simple words and passionate minds.