24Mar, 2010

Read These Seven Books, and You’ll be a Better Writer

Posted by Don
16

I used to play golf but I wasn’t very good. I rented a DVD, though, that taught me a better way to swing, and after watching it a few times and spending an hour or so practicing, I knocked ten strokes off my game. I can’t believe how much time I wasted when a simple DVD saved me years of frustration. I’d say something similar is true in my writing career. If you read these books, your writing will improve to the point people who read your work will begin to comment on how well you write. Sometimes the difference between an okay writer and a great writer is simple. I’ve read quite a few books on writing and here is, in my opinion, the collection every writer should have in their library. • The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: This book is aimed at writers, but it’s also applicable to anybody who does creative work. Whether you are a musician, pastor, teacher or in any profession that requires you to “put something on the blank page,” this book needs to be in your library. I read The War of Art about twice each year, and I’ll probably keep [...]

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03Mar, 2010

A Writing Seminar on DVD

Posted by Don
10

If you’ve read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and want to know more about the elements of story as they pertain to writing, I’ve got a DVD series called Into the Elements in which, in a little over four hours, I go through how the elements work in both fiction and non-fiction. It’s a great series for writers, bloggers and even speakers. We filmed the series here in Portland, at the historic Hollywood Theater. You can learn more by visiting intotheelements.com. After taking the course, you’ll find that structuring an essay or even a novel is much easier. You’ll intuitively know what is worth focussing on and what to simply let go of. The most important part of most literary projects is the story. That’s why guys like Stephen King sell so many books. James Patterson hardly writes any of his own books anymore, he simply outlines a story and sends the story to a writer. It sounds like cheating, but honestly, people really do read for the story. The text around the story is just furniture in a house. Building the house is most important. So if you’re a writer, give Into the Elements a try. A [...]

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01Mar, 2010

Tips on Writing: Use a Kitchen Timer

Posted by Don
2

A couple months ago a friend came through town because his band was playing a show at the Crystal Ballroom. We got breakfast at his favorite spot in Portland (Mother’s Bistro) and then wandered around downtown where we ended up in a guitar shop. The guys in the band started going through pedals and amps, talking it up with the gearheads in the shop, when my friend turned to me and said “you don’t have anything like this, as a writer, do you?” What he meant was, there aren’t shops where writers go to geek out over equipment. The Mac shop at the mall doesn’t count, really. And neither does Best Buy. And I’ve never wandered into an Office Depot with my writer friends to look through old, used boxes of pen and paper. My friend was right. Well, sort of. I actually do use one piece of cool equipment when I write. I don’t use it all the time, but I use it lots. It’s a kitchen timer. And I thought maybe passing along my use of it as a writing tip might be appreciated. What do I use my kitchen timer for, other than for ready-bake cookies? I [...]

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14Feb, 2010

Following God and Farming

Posted by Don
6

Last week I had the privilege of talking with Max Lucado. I was trying to make some career decisions and asked Max if I could run some things by him. He was waiting to get a root canal and for some reason was still willing (and even happy) to talk to me. I can’t imagine. Nevertheless, we talked, and I’m glad we did. One of the decisions I was in the middle of making regarded walking away from a great career opportunity because it just didn’t feel like it fit my personality. I felt like I needed to stay home and write books and not do a whole lot more. The opportunity I was declining was remarkable and it would offer me a larger platform. Max told me he’d made a similar decision years before, to stop doing a radio show because, even though it was a very good project, it just wasn’t his sweet spot. He needed to stay home and write books. It would be hard to argue he made a bad business decision. Even though he’s let go of perhaps many opportunities to expand his platform he’s remained focussed on what God has gifted him to do, [...]

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03Feb, 2010

Thoughts on J.D. Salinger and Catcher in the Rye

Posted by Don
1

Last week J.D. Salinger passed away. We all heard the running eulogies on NPR and read them in the papers, and I had a mixed feeling when I heard he had passed. There have only been a few people who’ve told me they could hear Holden Caufield in Blue Like Jazz, and that surprised me. The truth is I read Catcher in the Rye about fifty times while I was writing it. I’d sit and read for an hour and then open up the computer and start typing. I suppose the prose was imitation, but all good writers imitate somebody. Salinger was imitating Borges and so many others, for instance. The trick is to get the writers voice in your head, then write through it to find your own, or at least one that can’t be identified as pure imitation. Phillip Yancey was the only one who really called me out. We met at a reading and later he read Blue Like Jazz and e-mailed me only a couple lines that said You were reading Catcher in the Rye by Salinger and Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott when you wrote this. And he was right. In fact, those were the [...]

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