This week, I attended the inaugural writing workshop of the Frederick Buechner Center at Princeton University. I was excited to re-connect with pastoral colleagues and hear one of my preaching sheros, Barbara Brown Taylor talk about writing. During the Q&A time of Taylor’s last morning lecture on telling the truth in writing (great topic, right?), …
To Be a Writer
Writing about writing: the craft, the frustrations and celebrations
5 Ways to Improve Your Writing
I write a lot these days. I write here at Preacher on the Plaza. I write sermons (that I always don’t publish) for churches where I’m preaching. I write for the Feed the Children blog called BEYOND where we tell the stories of the good work of this humanitarian organization. And, I am a contracted ghost …
Why Are So Many Blogs Bad?
How many times have you read or visited a blog only to not ever read it again? I do it all the time. It’s a painful confession to make especially for someone like me who is a blogger and wants other people to read my blog. But with so little time in the day and …
Platforms, Publishing and Blog Frustrations
No one gets publishing deals these days without a lot of sweat and tears and a huge platform. When you are a person who wants to publish a book one day the number one thing that potential editor will ask you is, “Could you describe your platform?” Having a platform is social capital. Who do …
Spiritual Book Club
Do you know the website Spiritual Book Club? Check out this site to meet some new bloggers and spiritual thinkers as well as great book recommendations. Several months ago they contacted me for an interview as they are seeking to draw together a diverse collection of people of faith who are actively writing on the web. I …
Writing a Book is Not as Simple as You Would Think
Many of you know about 1) my life dream of publishing a book and 2) that I’m working on one AND currently re-writing my first manuscript. The number one question folks ask me when I say I am working on a book is, “When is it going to be published?” Followed by “I want to …
The Freelance/ Work From Home Kind of Life
As I’ve been blogging about recently, I have come to embrace the fact that this is my life: a mosaic of all sorts of multitasking and different kinds of vocational tasks rolled into one. I have to say that while it has been quite a unique transition (i.e. I don’t go into the church office …
So This Is It
It’s been over one year now since I left traditional ministry. And folks say to me all the time, “When are you going back to the church?” I don’t know how to answer other than to say that we need to think about the church in new ways. Why do we always think about church …
Not Being Afraid to Start Over
I thought I was done. I really did. I had written a book. The manuscript that I had been working for almost 2 years had finally reached the stage of the game when it was time to really get serious about publication. I learned how to write a book proposal (which is no small collection …
3 Reasons Why Social Media Improves Writing
Over the past couple of years and more specifically this calendar year, a lot of my energy has gone into assisting organizations and individuals (including me) with strengthening social media practices. Hoping to answer the question: “How do you build online community?” And then, actually doing it post by post, tweet by tweet, share by …
What Happened to Old School Blogging?
I’ve been in the blogging game since 2006 back before blogging was cool or everyone and their mother had one. My friend, Amy first told me about hers and I was inspired. (We were both kids back then! Pictured to the right). Like her, maybe I had things to say too? (If you’ve been keeping …
A Book You Should Be Excited About
Next week, a dear friend from seminary is hitting an amazing life milestone. J. Dana Trent’s first book: Saffron Cross will be released. And I think you should read it. Not just because I know and like Dana as a person, but because I’ve read it and know you’ll love it too. Saffron Cross is …
