...and the fire is burning...just back from poland at slot fest--christian arts fest; now on to freakstock in gotha, germany. Still always amazed at the diversity of Jesus friend's globally! All these different reflections of Himself, so many parts of God to know and love! We meet the Jones in germany today who have been in berlin taking in that great city.
Samuel, Andrew's oldest, went and helped at Rock on the Rock fest in Italy--we really wanted to go, but my neck got hurt in poland, and i could'nt drive--pray for continued healing--it is much better after having come to antwerp for a few days of recovery--so soft here in belgium--the people so naturally pastoral and friendly--pleasantness of Christ. Last year, i met a friend who started a christian kindergarden here in antwerp--he is german and has worked hard to make a Kingdom space for kids here with an entirely dutch speaking staff. He is german and likes results, so it has been hard to wait as God forms the staff and team and gives then His Vision. Frank is his name, and he would like to pass it off to a native belgian after five year--pray that he stay encouraged as he builds this place of haven and learning. Also, as we connect more with him, that we would be an encouragement!
Nice this summer to be meeting other artist and creators who bear His Name and allow Him the freedom to express Himself in fresh ways--europe needs us who know and have authentic relationships with Christ--it has had religion, but needs Jesus HIMSELF!! Pray that people will feel His Presence as we pass through the many places He has us in this summer.
We leave for germany tommorrow to rejoin the Jones, and then on to france--keep our energy up as well!
Nice to work with bryce and sam at slot--producing daily tv video shots, and then helping with their shows each evening--they did their huge 3d cube show one night in the main cathedral--it was so gorgeous and like performance art with a huge sharf of light rising up from the mainstage cube to decorate and animate the ancient ceilings of that cathedral in poland--the building was the largest medieval monastery in all of europe!! Slot fest has a website for pictures--we had our camera stolen (which is par for the course in travels, but still frustrating esp for Amy--so pray for her, as she also had her phone stolen--the enemy always hits her in the same way!)
We love and appreciate all your prayers--and be blessed afresh from europe!
Amazing festival of new and old friends in the biggest medieval monastery in europe--very mysterious and enormous--Slot Fest! The polish people are so rich really! Learned sword fighting with abigail and archery with elizabeth Jones--camping with the Jones, and aiding bryce and sam who threw a worship 3d improv each night--the second to last they built the cube which is amazing--sam goes inside and it turns into a performance art happening with bryce and pascal groovin deep on the computers. Their art continues to inspire and improv--also andrew and i got to work for slot tv doing video. Each night the festival has a short called slot tv using graphic arts, and highlights of the day--but all impressionistic--much freedom to shoot artistically. I became obsessed with all the carnival skills being taught at the festival--unlike in america when you go to a ren fest etc, these guys were teaching actual sword fighting and archery and circus skills from guys who have been doing it for generations--very cool! Met lots of very colorful and spirit filled believers with His Heart for the nations--felt like a privelege to be there, and to be serving other leaders of the festival!
Now in prague for a break then on to italy. Just a short post to check in with friends following us in prayer. We were able to pray in many languages at the fest, and really felt free creatively while there. The fest is a good mix of old and new, and less music centered, more arts based, and the ancient castel was a great setting. If anyone needs me, call on my amercican phone.
Should be relaxed by the time we see many of you in france. Denny and Maureen are pressing in for their festival in italy--some warfare so please pray; we may also make it to berlin to see friends--so kee us lifted and not sick.
Sam's oldest girl got sick at slot, she is getting better; also shannon was sick in antwerp, and i think is feeling better now. Today, we miss jessica here in prague camping near where we all used to live! It is her city!
We got to visit with sasa and katka in belgium--they took a respite at our place--good talks about the velvet revolution and the late 80's--i always forget how amazing their testimony of Jesus is! They are planning to be in france with us so that will be cool, and we may see them today here in prague.
anyways, much love from the Way!
dNa
A lot of people have asked me about writing recently, especially how to make time for it and what it takes to write a book. I genuinely enjoy writing, and always have since I was a child. So I always processed my thoughts first through writing, and then through other things. (I used to make up plays and songs, and always set up stages as a kid... I'm not sure where this performing part of me went but I did try being in two bands when I was in my 20s.)
Anyhow, writing for me is a second nature. But there is a difference between writing spontaneously and writing in a more disciplined way. And I think the disciplined part is what people want to know about. It's not easy. There is something about writing that seems inherently solipsistic; when you sit down to do it you have to get past all the thoughts in your head that say, "I have to be doing something else right now" or "someone else needs me". No one else can do it for you, and you have to be alone to do it.
Usually when I sit down to write, the first ten minutes to an hour are filled with every thought but the thing I want to be writing about. I have sat in front of my computer just staring for as much as an hour, maybe typing one word, erasing it, and typing again. The dreaded writer's block.
But there is way too much made of the "muse striking" sort of thing. I've known very few people who have a full, inspired picture of an entire poem, essay, song, book or story before they start. They may have the basic theme or plot, but the actual style, words and quality of thought are just plain old work, involving risk at the sound of your own voice plodding along as it reaches out in writing.
It does help to start by doing some heuristic writing exercises or by reading something you admire. That can get your thoughts rolling. From my own experience, usually the first six paragraphs end up in the garbage but they are important because they start you thinking in the direction you want to write.
But so far, my advice goes something like this:
1. Give yourself at least one hour once a week. If I know I'm going to be writing, I give myself four hours. I have made the time to do it in my life. I usually set aside Mondays. They are quiet, there aren't a lot of other distractions, and we have a pretty strict principle of not doing business on Mondays. So that frees me up from thinking about all the "stuff" I have to do.
2. Most people hate what they wrote yesterday. Save it anyway. If you come back to it in two weeks or two years you might like it and discover you actually were onto something. In fact, save all your drafts. I have notebooks and notebooks full of drafts. The big problem with computers is that we can copy and erase everything with one click so print as you go.
3. Writing a long piece or a book is different than blogging. A lot of really good writers blog, but there because blogging has such an immediacy, and is made for spontaneous thoughts, setting aside time to write longer pieces should have a separate category in your mind. When I know I'm blogging, I let a lot of things go that I don't when I'm working on a poem or essay. When I'm doing the latter, I am ruthless about style and form.
4. Write now, edit later. This is related to point #2. I sometimes edit as I go, but usually that ends up becoming really self-critical and I end up messing things up a lot. Most writers are intensely self-critical. Anne Lamott has a super-funny way of talking about this in her book on writing, Bird by Bird. It's a great read.
5. Most writers have some kind of recording system to put down ideas as they go. A tape recorder, a camera, a notebook--anything to cement some image or idea that you want to write about later.
These are all just little suggestions but for those of you who are thinking about writing a book, it is not impossible. Most of you will struggle with some huge block at one point or another, and definitely will struggle with the "this thing totally sucks and I'm going to throw it out". Whether you are writing something highly scholarly and intellectual, or a personal piece, or fiction, your work will always feel extremely vulnerable. The whole act of putting something down on paper (or computer screen) is a vulnerable one. It is your voice and your style and your way of expressing things.
Yes, people will read it, and they will think about what you are thinking about. That is the obstacle in the road for most writers. I have known people who 1. threw their entire manuscript away, 2. rewrote the entire thing before letting people read the first draft, 3. over-edit or under-edit what they wrote, 4. got halfway through a book but then stopped for years, and 5. only wrote when they felt like God was dictating: and all because of a fear that others will read what they wrote and not like it. Or because their style didn't sound like so and so's, etc. It's all about the ego, friends. You feel egotistical for writing, you feel egotistical for thinking perhaps you have something to write, and you feel insecure (i.e., egotistical) about the value of what you wrote. You don't need to write your opus magnus on the first try.
The whole reason we read is that we LOVE what others are thinking about, and I love to read styles that I know are not my own. I know those writers took a risk. I have come to the place where I know my writing is a gift, and while I do not have the corner on the market of all the thoughts in the world, my thoughts do matter. I am ruthless about believing that my personal voice matters, although it did take me awhile to believe that. Yes, at times my thoughts are immature. What I was thinking about four years ago is not what I am thinking about today. But by the time you finish a book, you will certainly already be onto some future and more grown-up thought.
Every writer has to let the things he was thinking about four years ago be important now--or no one would get anything published. We live far too much in an age of immediate information, new information, but there are people that are starving for what you wrote last year. So, on to writing... just do it. And do it in your style.