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Process: The Writing Lives of Great Authors

by Sarah Stodola
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23740509-process
The “Reader’s Digest version” of this book review is that I like it. I spent a couple of weeks listening to it as I went to sleep. (Did you know that Amazon Echo can read Kindle books aloud? It can’t read EVERYTHING, and sometimes the pronunciation is a little bit strange, but it is most definitely understandable.)
Anyhow, Sarah Stodola wrote mini-biographies of about 20 writers. The list included:
Franz Kafka
Toni Morrison
David Foster Wallace
Richard Price
Edith Wharton
George Orwell
Virginia Woolf
Vladimir Nabakov
Salman Rushdie
Joan Didion
Jack Kerouac
Ernest Hemingway
James Joyce
Junot Diaz
F Scott Fitzgerald
Philip Roth
Margaret Atwood
and Zadie Smith
Some of these authors I thoroughly enjoy. It was a treat to learn about them and relearn what I forgot. Some of the authors were the kind that made me promise myself to never read again, but learning about their process made me think that I should possibly, maybe consider rethinking that.
The most important tidbits were in the sections detailing the processes that each author took to create a book. Some approaches were detailed and analytical. Some were chaotic and very much “off-the-cuff.” Some produced massive amounts of words in spurts, while James Joyce is reported to have said that he accomplished writing seven words, but wasn’t certain what order to put them in.
After listening to this book I realized that the process isn’t the point. I just need to get the words WRITTEN. I am a writer, not just a talker-abouter or ponderer. Once the words are written, I can figure out how to manage the rest: editing, rewriting, handing it to beta-readers, etc.

 

Sometimes things don’t work out as intended. I wanted an easy and fun way to share information that others might enjoy. When I learned about a WordPress plug-in, I was delighted.

Well, that experiment has ended. No permanent and irretrievable damage will remain.

Feel free to continue with your joyful day.

It’s amazing what I can learn to do when I have to.

Pastor Hull from Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, Texas is coming up with several cool things to help us work through our time with Covid-19. Yesterday, he did a little bit of catechesis. Today he and our organist led us all in a sing-Along.

I had a very unsettling dream last night. About 3 men, brothers, were looking for their sons. Their wives and daughters were already safe underground. When these men found their sons, they started a desperate race to get to safety before… Whatever was going to happen… Happened.

First, the cars that they were riding in quit working. Everybody on the multiple layers of freeway was in the same boat, but then they had to find tunnels that would lead to other tunnels that would lead to safety without the aid of vehicles.

They finally made it underground, but when they went through the locked door, the ceiling and far wall was open to the sky and the expected danger.

I woke up then, so I don’t know if they found safety. I don’t know if they found the rest of their family. And I don’t know if I care enough to write this as a real story.

It was just unsettling enough to get my attention.

B-Roll by Videezy

I had all sorts of goals for my writing this September. I had good intentions of posting here twice a week. I even had a “content calendar” of sorts to give me ideas about what I wanted to talk about.

The first week was sort of okay… Then I daydreamed.

It has been a long dry spell, but I think I’m ready to get back to work.

Looking back and looking ahead takes time. We get to refresh ourselves with joyous memories and hopeful plans. We can take time to grieve and mourn the broken places in our lives, as well as make plans to handle the rough patches that loom ahead. It’s what we do as humans.

I am rejoicing in some of the websites that help me look ahead in faith. One is Brothers of John the Steadfast <http://steadfastlutherans.org/>. It is full-bore and hard-core confessional theology. We get to rejoice in God’s extraordinary gifts to people, delivered through the voices and hands of his pastors.

Come to think of it, my own pastor, Chris Hull, writes for them. < http://steadfastlutherans.org/author/chull/ > I get a huge kick out of him and his family. Yes, I genuinely enjoy them as people. They make me laugh. It is also delightful and interesting to watch them raise their sons. They parent with a style I’m not used to seeing. I’m learning a lot by watching them, not that I will have much opportunity to put it into practice.

In February, we will be hosting a conference with the steadfast friends. It is about Article IV of the Augsburg Confession. The topics will be about Justification. I can’t wait till it happens! <http://steadfastlutherans.org/2017conf/> They only have room for 250 people, so… Register soon!

Sometimes, I’m not able to make it to church. I always enjoy listening to the sermons from the pastors at Zion, but I don’t always have a good connection to the Internet. Besides, church is something to participate in directly! Watching or listening to a sermon will never replace being with God’s people to receive God’s gifts!

Pastor Esget has some rich explanations of God’s Word. Here is his take on the retrospectives of 2016. <http://www.esgetology.com/2016/12/31/sermo-dei-new-years-eve-2016/>

One of my favorite authors, Gene Veith, covers a wide range of topics in his blog. He enjoys real conversation online, people who comment and receive replies come from a wide range of perspectives. I never leave this place without having learned something worth knowing. Check out his review of the top 10 discoveries in biblical archaeology for 2016. <http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2016/12/top-10-discoveries-biblical-archaeology-2016/>

Issues, Etc. has been one of my favorite programs on the Internet for a long time. I cannot even remember when I didn’t appreciate them. The teaching here helped me through some rough times. Here’s an example of the riches they dispense: The Incarnation and Defense of the Christian Faith by Dr. John Warwick Montgomery. <http://issuesetc.org/2016/12/23/3581-the-incarnation-and-defense-of-the-christian-faith-dr-john-warwick-montgomery-122316/>

One of my other pastors who use to be at Zion, Alvin Franzmeier, dispenses a gentle and loving explanation of what God has done and continues to do in the lives of His people. For a while, he has been opening up the teachings of the biblical book of Job. Here he discusses “Who Shall Separate Us From God’s Love?” <http://al-franzmeier.blogspot.com/2016/12/who-shall-separate-us-from-gods-love.html>

There are wonderful riches of teaching available, even if it is online. Look around, tell me about your favorite treasures.