Book Update

I probably have to face the fact that from Advent through Easter, I simply don't have time to write.  Well, books and blog posts, anyway.  I write plenty of sermons, newsletter articles, letters, notes, and other correspondence, but I don't have the extra hours I need to work on more creative writing.  Perhaps if I gave up sleep.  Except I'm very partial to sleep.  I so envy those people who can rise at 4 or 5am to work on their writing or exercise or prayer or whatever wonderful things they do in those hours.  I can't.  I can't do anything before about 7am except sleep.  And yes, I often do have to get up before that for my jobs, but you may notice that I'm not quite all there until later in the morning!

All that being said, I have been working on my labyrinth book and today I completed a rewrite of chapter two.  (Please encourage me with congratulations!)  Last fall I took a class on Creative Nonfiction and Memoir from The Muse in Norfolk, and I received feedback on several chapters of my book.  So much feedback that I've completely started over on the beginning.  The class thought my last chapter might make a better first chapter.  Along with some critique from my trusted readers, I have taken the suggestions and am completely reworking my material.

Little digression here:  I wish I had an orderly writing process.  But I never have.  It may be that when I wrote my very first term paper, I followed a process where I did note cards and then created an outline and then wrote the paper from the outline.  But I think even on that paper I still ended up switching around paragraphs and not writing intros and conclusions until the rest of the paper was done.  (Something that was much more difficult before computers - and yes, I'm that old!)  All through college and seminary, I could never write a paper from an outline.  If I had to turn in an outline, I had to write the paper and then create the outline.  So, although I envy those who can work in a more methodical way, I just can't do it.  It seems that I have to wallow around in chaos for a very long time before the order starts to emerge.

I believe some order is finally emerging, and I'm grateful.  This book, if it ever gets published, will have to wait until another phase of my life, but I'm using it to practice the craft of writing, and I'm hoping more books and shorter projects will come out of it.  I'm excited to be attending a spiritual writing conference next week with two colleagues and Barbara Brown Taylor and Lauren Winner and editors and other cool people and hoping to be inspired to use a little more time to write and a little less time to sleep.

So, dear readers, I hope to be posting more content soon.  Don't give up on me!  In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a recent labyrinth walk.