I love writing! I confess it has not always been a love affair. Through most of my youth, I treasured sports. It was a lot easier to put on a pair of shoes…well, to be clear, it was much easier playing soccer bare-footed with my friends in northeastern Brazil. Like any Brazilian, futebol was my life. It was the judge of our national mood. On Monday morning, anyone could decipher my emotions simply by knowing whether my soccer team won or not in the weekend round. Those days were simple and happy.
On the other hand, my educational habits were decent but left much to be desired. I have written and spoken about my late literary flourishment. When I attended high school in the U.S. in my eighteenth year of age, I was forced to read through The Tale of Two Cities. I read it in two days. It was quite a feat for someone who barely if ever read prior to that. Since that time I gained an enormous appreciation for reading. I am a personal testament to the fact that those who didn’t treasure reading in their early years can have a massive shift in their habits.
The Genesis of Writing
In my senior year, I attended a Brethren congregation in Pennsylvania. The pastor, now deceased, was a lovely man who encouraged me to pursue my studies. They had a morning and evening service on Sundays which allowed me to do a few things on Sunday night. On occasion, I offered my testimony and played my guitar and at least once I preached. I can’t recall the content of that sermon, but I remember taking some notes with me to the pulpit. It was my first official sermon. Though I was interested in theology, I had no interest in pursuing my father’s footsteps in the pulpit.
When college came around I began to write papers fairly consistently. They were functional papers. I wanted a good grade and therefore wrote them with no intention of making it precise and purposeful, just pragmatic. Then, came my election to student body chaplaincy. Suddenly I had to address 700 people in a 10-minute sermon. But before I spoke to the student body, I was invited to address a youth group. It was a great test before addressing a massive crowd. I used a prepared manuscript and read it to them with all the gusto I had. They were my first intentional words to an audience 21 years ago.
I pity those first listeners but I don’t pity the lessons I learned that day. It was the first time I wrote succinctly. I’ve probably written over 500 sermons since plus a few books and thousands of articles.a That first practice allowed me to hone my writing and think carefully about everything I say and write publicly.
Writing Habits
After one of my sermons in college, someone asked me for a copy of the manuscript. I had the brilliant idea of starting a Geocities account. Yes, it was that long ago. I posted my first sermon manuscript there and since then I have started at least five websites as venues for my writing. I began blogging in 2004 before it became a societal phenomenon. Blogging has forced me to articulate my thoughts. Some times they weren’t clear, but it forced me to think through my words carefully.
Yesterday a friend asked how I am able to write so often. I honestly have not stopped to think about it, except to say that writing is a habit that I have worked on for two decades. And still, I find myself so incomplete as a writer. I still have insecurities which is why I edit my work dozens of times before it goes live and still I find incoherencies and inconsistencies.
I have had the privilege of participating and writing a few published works. Looking back, I am sure they could receive another share of editing. But I am glad I wrote them because they removed the perfectionism so common in good writers who never write anything.
Writing Principles
There is so much to say, but I wanted to lay at least three principles for writing that have helped me through the years.
The first is the principle of plodding articulated in Douglas Wilson’s latest book, Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work. Wilson writes:
Productivity is more a matter of diligent, long-distance hiking than it is one-hundred-yard dashing. Doing a little bit now is far better than hoping to do a lot on the morrow. So redeem the fifteen-minute spaces. Chip away at it.
Doug’s productivity is phenomenal. I think he’s way past his 100th book. As an additional note, I’d encourage carrying a book everywhere with you on kindle or a physical copy. I once estimated that I lost over 30 minutes a day waiting for people or in transition when I could be reading or writing. Also, it’s a good practice for writers to take a little notebook to write down phrases or ideas that you may use for a future article. Life itself provides themes and I always find that those articles I least expected to write are most meaningful to me.
The second is the principle of reading broadly. I try to read about a novel a month. It does not come naturally to me, but these days I try to read whatever novels my kids are reading at school. It’s been more enjoyable than I expected. I have found lovely phrases and use of language that inspired me to write more creatively. It also encourages us to go outside our comfort zone in writing about subjects that we may not be experts in. There is no law against creativity.
Finally, I urge the principle of courage. One of the greatest hindrances to writers today is their timidity. They write not, so they publish not. They may be incredibly gifted rhetorically but don’t have the discipline to sit down and re-write a talk for public consumption. They prefer to imagine a time when life will provide them the perfect island for writing or when their children are grown. But there is no better time to write than now. There is no better time to make mistakes than now. There is no better time to hit the Publish button than now.
We may not all write well and surely most of us will get very few followers on our blogs or writing journeys. But if you treasure writing, don’t waste your time. There is a blank word document waiting for you.
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