Resuming Writing...

After a 7 month hiatus, I have decided to resume writing on the blog again.   At this point I haven't decided how often I will post.  But I am looking forward to writing on the blog again.

Sermon Writing...

Well, I am in my 3rd week of having my sermon written by Tuesday. What a liberating feeling. It is not a final draft by Tuesday, but at the very least it is a manuscript that can be shaped and molded for the rest of the week.

Last week I didn't have a manuscript done by Tuesday and I'll use Annual Conference as the reason. Preaching seemed to go okay without a manuscript - i've been preaching that way for the past four years.

However I am pleased for the new discipline of writing something out ahead of time. I think it helps to clarify thoughts for me since I process my ideas by getting them out of my head either into spoken or written word (hence the name of this blog.)

So far this "new" habit is working well. I just hope I can keep it up!

The Birthing...I mean...Writing Process...

I am finding the writing is like birthing a baby - not that have much experience with that. There is a certain amount of time that it takes for a baby to be properly formed - so it is with a thought or idea. (I am sure I am not the first or the last to use this simile.) What brings this thought to mind is that I have begun a new process for sermon-writing that is still in...well...process.

I am trying to take 10 days to write a sermon...as opposed to my usual...um...well, I'd rather not say. My process before was like trying to birth a baby in less than 9 months - you need all nine-months for optimal formation - and so I wonder if the thoughts/ideas in my sermons was not quite fully formed.

So I am learning what many who are much smarter and much more experienced have been trying to tell me for about the last 23 years: the process of shaping words and ideas takes time. It can't be rushed. Of course, the more one practices the shaping of words and ideas, the more adept and efficient one becomes at writing.

For too long I have relied on spontaneity and personality in my writing and public speaking. So, I am trying to retrain myself to use those tools as part of a tool chest rather than as my only crutches to get me through Sunday.

This will require some discipline and self-control on my part (those things seem to come and go like the clouds, sometimes!) to implement this new process. I believe forming these new habits will payoff dividends not only for me, but for those who must listen to me.