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Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical
Official Blog of Author & Speaker Frank Viola. Digging below the surface and moving beyond the shallows in today's Christianity.
On Writing: Part I – How I Write My Books
The Young Man and The Cowboy
Great tips and quotes, Frank. I’ve always loved that Churchill quote on writing. Fling the beast to the public!
Another tip I use: write your back-cover copy first. This, along with the table on contents, is a great guide for me – keeping me on message.
Thank you so much…I’m inspired and encouraged..I wrote my first book after teaching/preaching and I felt the Lord say, now write that message down and get it out in book form..it only took me 3 years :)…(lots of distractions along the way)..but I finally got it done and am now working on another one..they are workbooks really. Besides keeping up on my websites. I also started a blog.
Thank you again! Oh and I love the quotes!
I have a feeling that I will relate mightily to that quote from Winston Churchill, not that I am writing a book but I am in the final stages of my Masters where the fun stops and I actually have to write up what I have found out. Just in case you wonder my thesis is Wild Boar:friend or foe? Examining the conflict of wild boar management in my area of Latvia where I live. Not the exact title you understand, but near enough.
Thanks for sharing. I get most of my inspiration while writing on something else or in a prophesying meeting where each one has something to share. I jot them down (iphone is a huge help here) and then develop them later.
Thanks for sharing, Frank. I dream of being able to write a book someday.
thanks for this, Frank. So encouraging – some of your methods are similar to mine (like printing a copy and amending it) even though I haven’t finished my first book – I once joked it was being written one coffee morning at a time.
Devine inspiration, thanks! I can so relate to your leak list; confirmation much needed.
Loved Josh’s post. It made me laugh. My scenerio is quite different. I sit in my car at the post office, feet on dash, book in hand; then go through the drive-thru line with book in clear view on the dash. Eat lunch as quickly as possible (not recommended) so I can continue reading aloud with constant acclamations of “I have to read that again.” “I knew I wasn’t crazy.” “Did you hear that?” To which my darling husband simply smiles.
Still institutionalized, but seeking change.
Thanks Frank, for an incredible post. I don’t know if you are familiar with Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. It’s full of wonderful wisdom, such as this quote by Chekov: “… but You must once and for all give up being worried about successes and failures. Don’t let that concern you. It’s your duty to go on working steadily day by day, quite quietly, to be prepared for mistakes, which are inevitable, and for failures… The thought that I must, that I ought to, write, never leaves me for an instant.” This quote has encouraged me more as a writer than any other.
Sounds familiar…
My blog posts come pretty quickly and easily, because I only write those when inspired. But about a year ago I started writing fiction. I had a neat story idea that led me down a road of 6 or 7 chapters…then I got stuck. Later, I had another idea for a different story–same thing. I got really into it and was consumed by the idea for about a week. Then, like a light switch, my brain was turned off until another idea came after listening to my favorite Eagles songs like “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Desperado”.
As it stands right now, I have 4 stories that I have started. Some with significant amount of time and energy put into them, others that were great moments of inspiration and creativity that died as quickly as they were born.
I feel like I could actually finish a story if I would just quit having new ideas…a well, maybe someday I’ll finish something.
Hope all is well Frank!
I have 3 books on deck. They are all on 3 differing subjects of Christianity, so I’ll end up getting bored with one of them, and switch to another, and the sme problem ensues. 🙂
When I get back to my original manuscript, I’ve forgotten the flow by that point and find it difficult to start again. I’ve also noticed, I’m better at responding to blogg posts than I am at creating blog posts 🙂
And Frank, to make your chest really puffed with pride, your books have changed my life. Thanks to you, I still have an outstanding bill from seminary that I didn’t complete, and a bunch of people at a church who think I’ve gone bonkers. 🙂 Well, they probably thoght I was bonkers BEFORE I read Pagan, but that’s besides the point 🙂
Ant: Words like that humble me and cause me to praise the Lord for His ability use me. A paintbrush is deluded if it thinks it was responsible for the artist’s work. Though I’m not against seminary. God leads some there and others He leads out.
Hey, Frank. That was more than just leaking a few of your ideas. 🙂 I concur on your author coaching. Great input. Keep sharing your thoughts and wonderful posts. – Michelle
Thanks so much for the encouragement!
Fantastic post!! Now I’ll “leak” about how I READ your books. Gonna go out on a limb and say this is probably a very similar routine for most of your readers:
1. Rent a post office box from a prepaid cell phone.
2. Create a fake email address at the public library so I’ll have a pseudonym to do my business.
3. Order one of you books via Priority shipping to the PO Box………….Wait a few days.
4. Dress in a black. Hooded Sweatshirt, ball cap, and aviator sunglass required. Torrential rainfall is a plus.
5. Call and check on my Pastor to make sure he is at his desk and not driving around town.
6. Write a lengthy letter to my wife and children. sealed with wax… and with clear instructions not to open unless I have not returned by dawn.
7. Drive to a store of ill-repute. Give them a church business card and ask the cashier if they’d like to ask Jesus into their heart… and… Ask for a black bag.
8. Go to the post office. Sit in the parking lot until all other customers have left.
9. Go get the book. Place book in black bag. Cancel the PO Box rental. Hand the post office worker the money we agreed to. Tip my hat. Wink. Smile. Leave.
10. Drive the long way home… Peeking in the black bag multiple times.
11. Read the book in its entirety with highlighter in hand. Weep. Jump. Shout. Get angry. Weep some more.
12. Draft letters of resignation to the institution.
13. Ask wife and kids if they want to go back to the Public library.
That’s pretty much how it goes down….
Blessings,
Your little Brother in Christ
That’s insane. You’ve exactly described how I read my books too. 🙂
My Brotha’ from another motha’
Only two books left to read from you. Epic Jesus and Revise us again.
Then I’ll have to start all over.
I thank God for you every day… You have been a huge help in turning my life, on its head!!! Something from one of your books enters nearly every conversation I have these days with my friends. We are so EXCITED about the correspondence we have had with your camp regarding a KY conference in May. Not gonna beg….but Please prayerfully consider coming and ministering to us and with us. Two days ago I was talking with my wife about how things in our city were starting to shake. People are waking up to the fact that there is something….”Beyond the Building”, and that “there’s got to be more”. Then at 3 AM yesterday….our city experienced a mild earthquake…that literally shook people from their sleep…coincidence….I think not!!!!
Not to mention…. The bass fishing here in May is Unreal… Just sayin.
I have read several of your previous posts on this topic and appreciate your thoughts. I have had an idea stored on my computer that began back in 1994, From time to time I will look it over and ponder whether I should pick it back up. Maybe the time has come to jump back into it.
Thanks, Frank. As a writer and editor, I always enjoy posts on the writing process. I love the James Joyce quote. Hadn’t heard that one before.