Challenges

I was on Facebook the other day and I saw something called #inktober. The basic idea is for all us artsy types who work in ink, to create a piece each day. I decided, since I usually already create at least one piece every day, to participate. I think it will be fun, but more than that, it gives me a goal and a challenge. Where before I might put creating off for a day or two, now I’m more likely to put something out.

Last year, I participated in NaNoWriMo in November. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea behind the challenge is pretty simple, by the end of November you should have a 50,000 word rough manuscript. They have a pretty great website where you can log your daily word count, get inspiration, encouragement, etc. My book Enough, while not technically a novel was the result of my participation in NaNoWriMo. I’m not sure if I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, as it is a lot of work at a pastor’s busiest time of year, but I do have a screenplay/novel that has been gnawing at my brain, and a Master’s thesis that could probably be blessed by a challenge, so you never know.

The point in sharing these things is this. If you are a person who finds yourself stuck creatively, or you just want to do something fun, a challenge is a great way to break the creative ice. I’m sure there are challenges out there for just about every creative discipline if you know where to look. They really can be helpful. It all comes down to that idea of how to eat an elephant. One bite at a time. Large challenges can be so intimidating. If I told you you had to create 31 pieces of work this month, you might be tempted to throw up your hands and say no way can I do that, but to do one a day is really not terribly difficult. If I told you I need you to write 50,000 words in a month, you might have a similar reaction, but 1500 words a day feels much more manageable.

I will close with the words of speaker/author Andy Andrews. When asked if he likes to write, he said, “I like having written.” Thousands, maybe millions of people want to write a book or create great art. The ones who succeed are the ones who do the work. Challenges can help us in that regard. Find a challenge and get involved. On a related note, what kind of challenge might we offer here that would be beneficial to you in your ministry.

By the way here is day three of #inktober for me. I’m really into car art these days, so probably more than a few of these will probably reflect that influence (like this one), while others will be from ministry presentations, posters, etc. Sometimes it’s more about creating than it is about what you create.

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I Am Enough!

I’m working on a video clip for a great camp I do in New York each year for adults with special needs, called Haven Camp. Our theme is Enough. based on my book which oddly enough is based on the theme for this camp. I wrote a sort of rap for the soundtrack. Don’t worry Snoop Dog has nothing to worry about. It’s called I Am Enough. Here’s a sneak preview.

Today’s School Walk Out… An Open Letter to Teenage America

Before I go any further, you should probably know that as the son of a Vietnam era soldier, I’ve never been a fan of anything that involves marching and carrying signs. That being said, I will acknowledge that great good was done in the civil rights movement and a few other things and will concede that some marches have value. As I watched the news this morning at the gym, i saw students from a Philadelphia area school wearing T-shirts that said “ENOUGH.” on them for the nationwide demonstration being held today. I found this amusing since that is the title of my latest book. I’m not sure how I feel about this protest, but I do understand the heart behind it and wish these young folks well. No one should be afraid to go to school.

But I think that just might be my problem. Every time a school shooting occurs, the response is predictable. The media and a whole slew of politicians will once again go after the second amendment and the NRA. I guess I am always a little skeptical when politicians go after the second amendment since the second amendment was given largely to protect us from politicians. That being said, if they could promise me there’d never be another school shooting, I might still get on board. No one should be afraid to go to school.

But now that the protest is over, I need to tell all my young friends something. There are hundreds, no thousands, no tens of thousands of your peers, your classmates who are afraid to go to school every day, and if all the guns were melted into a statue of (fill in your favorite celebrity here) tomorrow, they would still be afraid. See they’re not afraid of guns, so much as they’re afraid of you. Okay maybe not you personally, but of the peer that is abusing them day after day after day. They’re terrified and they feel like no one cares. They need a friend and they need one badly. They need someone to care. They need you. The question was will you say “ENOUGH.” for them? Will you stand up for them? Will you break the cycle?

Did you ever notice that almost every single one of these shooters was bullied brutally before they did what they did? No I’m not saying they were right to do what they did, and I will never even attempt to justify their actions, but I will ask a question? Could have any of these situations been any different if someone showed them they cared? Of course, most bullied kids will not take this kind of action. Most don’t want to hurt anyone, they just want it to end, and while tragedies like Parkland are a national tragedy, about 14 teens in America every single day die by their own hands, because they just want the bullying to end. Someone needs to show them they care and if we do, it will turn the tide in ways the legislation you hope to see this day, cannot hope to come close to. If you want to make a real difference, it starts by being really different. If you really want to save lives, be a friend to the friendless. I take this a little personally because I was one of these people.

No one should be afraid to go to school. #sharehope

How Did I Miss That?

I spent 16 years publishing and editing a magazine. Nearly a third of my professional life has been spent looking for typos and it’s sort of a force of habit by now. I can spot a typo heading down the road, out of the corner of my eye at 55+ miles an hour. I’m notorious for it at times, but there is one writer who can always get them by me, every single time no matter how often I look at their work. That writer is me. Now if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you are probably not surprised and at times autocorrect has not been my friend, but I am continually amazed how often I just plain miss things.

Case in point—I’m currently reading my own book, Enough. Now I have read this thing backwards, forwards and sideways, before I hit publish and I thought I had it pretty tight, and for the record, it is pretty tight, but it’s not flawless, and that drives me crazy and leaves me scratching my head and asking the age old question:

How did I miss that?

I know what you might be thinking, “Why didn’t you hire an editor?” Well the reality is the profit margin on a self-published books is relatively small (often non-existent), and editing fees would most definitely take the project way into the red, and besides “I edited for 16 years…” (I say to myself somewhat overconfidently). Still I ask myself, with all that experience, “How could I miss it these annoying little typos?” Let me see if I can answer my own question.

Have you ever met a child whose behavior is atrocious? Have you noticed the only one who doesn’t seem to notice is his parent? Why don’t they see it? I mean after all they have no problem seeing problems with other people’s kids. The reason is simple. They’re too close to it. They’re too familiar and so it is with our writing. We know what we’re trying to say so editing our own work is really hard. It’s easy to miss the flaws in something you’re really invested in.

So what can we do about it? Well maybe rather than paying an editor, you can find another author and d a swap. You read their book, they read yours. At least this will make your glaring errors stand out. Of course, in the publishing world, if you get a company to publish your book they will assign an editor or maybe even a team of editors to you, so that may be the way to go. Of course the issue with that is, you have to decide you’re okay with waiting to be picked, and that got old all the way back in my freelance days.

Now to be clear, the few thing I found are not horrendous, and the book is still really readable and probably the best thing I have ever written, the flaws are just annoying. I do hope you’ll read it. When I finish reading, I will probably take another run at editing. The nice thing about self-publishing is you can always make things better.

One last thought, nobody’s perfect (except Jesus), and I’d rather release and re-edit than withholding it until I achieve an unattainable perfection.

What Do You Have Right Now?

In my new book, Enough., one of the things I dealt with is the subject of having enough. For today’s post I thought I would build on that. This is not an excerpt, it’s an expansion.This is a frequent struggle for creatives, especially. We get ideas or feel a calling or maybe even a commission and we feel the need to pass because we feel we don’t have enough, whether it be resources, talent or whatever. I confess I have struggled here too, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s pointless for us to do that to ourselves. I mean sure there is a time to count the cost, but for the most part that’s not what we’re doing. Rather, we’re selling ourselves short. So whenever I hear someone lamenting whether or not they have enough, I will usually ask a follow up question.

What do you have right now?

The reason I ask this is simple. If we focus on what we don’t have, we’ll never start and we’ll forget to be grateful for what we already have. Forget for a second having all you need to finish something. What do you need to start? Starting builds momentum and momentum keeps things moving. This is especially true in the realm of talent. People will make the fatal flaw of comparing their abilities with others. Do you know how that person who you think is better than you got to that place? The started and kept going. some people are naturally gifted, but no one starts off great. Rather they did what you need to do. Start where you are, with what you have and build on it. Every great creation started as raw material. The ones who do the work are the ones who get the finished product, so I’ll ask again.

What do you have right now?

Start with that.

Get “Enough” Today!

Hi All,
Just wanted to let you know, my new book “Enough.” Is now available on Amazon in both the print and Kindle Formats. The Print version is available for $12 and the Kindle version is just $2.99. I can’t wait for you all to read it and I look forward to your input.

Basically this book is for anyone who has ever questioned if they have what it takes, if they measure up or if they just plain wonder “Am I Enough?”

Getting Opinions

Well I thought by now my book, Enough, would be out by now. I put my covers online to get opinions and most people didn’t like either of them. That set the process back a little bit. You see, my plan was to do internal illustrations for each of the chapters to try to continue the theme throughout. Coming up with a new design was difficult but I’m getting there and working on the internal illustrations as well.

If I want to be honest, there was part of me that regretted posting the covers and not trusting my instincts. If I had trusted my instincts, the book would be out by now. Why didn’t I just charge in and do it my way? Something didn’t feel right about the designs. The folks who commented confirmed some of the vague discomfort I was having with my work and the end result will be a stronger finished product and a better book.

Think about it. My deadline was self imposed anyway and a little delay allowed me to get some real world feedback from some people who are likely customers for my book, plus I ended up with a new concept that is helping me to convey the message of the book better visually. All in all getting opinions will likely improve the reception of this book and help it’s message spread wider, which is my primary goal for this book anyway. Proverbs 15:22 says “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” When you’re working on a project, especially when you’re stuck or something just doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to get some opinions. It might really help.

And keep watching for Enough, coming soon from AMOKBooks.