January 2nd, 2009 — reading, writing
Director Scott Derrickson said, “I’m doing one more polish with the writer on the script [for Paradise Lost], and then we’re going to send it out, so I wouldn’t want the actors who I have in mind to hear about it.”
When I met Scott Derrickson in California two years ago, this project had just received the green light. He was positively giddy about it, and I’m excited to see that it’s coming along.
You can read the entire interview at SciFi Wire.
January 2nd, 2009 — inspiring
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
“What?!” you’re saying to yourself. “Christmas is over. You didn’t finish the 12 lists in time, so just let it go.”
Actually, we’re right in the middle of the 12 Days of Christmas. They run from Christmas Day (when every gets partridges and pear trees) to January Sixth (when everyone eats the feast of Epiphany). In fact, the evening before the Epiphany is 12th Night when Shakespeare’s Duke Orsino lamented,
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
But I digress. Today on this beautiful 9th Day of Christmas, I give you 9 Celebrity Interviews. (And by “celebrity” I mean people more famous than my dogs, Ajax and Isis.)
December 30th, 2008 — blogging
According to the weblog award finalists at any rate. This morning I got notification of this through the Blog World Expo group on Facebook. Take a look and see what you think. I put the google pagerank of each site in parenthesis just for an interesting comparison.
Happy Catholic, Christian (5)
Conversion Diary, Christian (5)
Tariq Nelson, Muslim (4)
Dervish, Muslim (6)
What Does the Prayer Really Say? “Save the Liturgy, Save the World,” Christian (4)
Christian Blog, Christian (4)
Standing On My Head, Christian (5)
One Cosmos, New Age esoteric and/or Christian (6)
Jew Wishes, Jewish (5)
the evangelical outpost, Christian (6)
December 29th, 2008 — blogging
Whether you like it or not, transparency is coming. What you say will be traceable back to who you are.
Just like old times before the 1990s made us all think privacy meant we could create anonymous and bizarre screen names and lead dual or triple or quadruple lives.
I for one am relieved by tools like Disqus–which track all of my comments across Disqus powered sites like this one. Now that Disqus is allowing people to use their Facebook profiles to comment, the networks are moving toward synchronicity.
That sounds so scifi, it makes me laugh.
You can read more about this partnership at the Disqus Blog » Facebook Connect now available on Disqus.
So far, it looks like Google Friend Connect over at HighCallingBlogs.com may have been a premature bet.
Now I’m wondering if it is time to add Disqus to HighCallingBlogs.com… What do you all think?
December 29th, 2008 — working
Nicholas Kristof’s Christmas Eve article The Sin in Doing Good Deeds includes some interesting thoughts about nonprofit work.
He quotes author Dan Pallotta:
We allow people to make huge profits doing any number of things that will hurt the poor, but we want to crucify anyone who wants to make money helping them… Want to make a million selling violent video games to kids? Go for it. Want to make a million helping cure kids of cancer? You’re labeled a parasite.
I work for a wealthy businessman in a nonprofit organization. So this article raised some pretty interesting questions to me.
Kristof’s article reminds me of Economics 101. I never actually took this class in college, but I suspect I would have read bits from The Wealth of Nations if not the entire work.
You may have heard the story about the Butcher, the Baker, and the Brewer already. Out of self interest, they agree to use money to trade their services with each other in a more flexible manner–and their self-interest leads to a great good. You can read the parable in this excerpt from The Way The World Works, but don’t misunderstand the concept.
People often quote the conclusion Adam Smith draws about these three workers:
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own neccessities but of their advantages.
You see, they might say, self-interest is good for society. From there it’s only a hop, skip, and jump to Gordon Gekko’s anti-inspirational claim that “greed is good.” (If you have three minutes, watch the clip from Wall Street.)
Where does that leave us? Is greed good? Of course not. But there is a more complicated question in Kristoff’s article.
Can a person’s self-interest benefit society as a whole? What do you think? Do you act out of self-interest? Does it produce good results?
December 29th, 2008 — editing
Once upon a time, I thought freelance editing was going to be a great way to do some weekend work in my craft. I figured I’d make money and connections. I couldn’t lose.
Sometimes I’m hopelessly naive.
Recently, a reader and twitter friend asked me about freelance editing. Since he gave me permission to reprint our conversation publicly, I thought other readers might be interested.
I had a colleague of mine ask if I would be interested in editing her book (~270 pgs.). I am honored to be asked and thrilled that she thinks highly of my skills but when she asked what my fee would be I was at a loss. The last time I did any editing of substance was in college with research papers and the like.
How would I go about setting a fair fee for her as well as for my time?
I do a little bit of editing work on the side in special circumstances, but I learned some good lessons for people who are thinking of doing this. Here’s what I told that reader:
First, I wouldn’t agree to anything until you’ve seen the manuscript. Edit 10 pages for some fee to see if you’re happy and if the writer is happy. A good intro rate would be $20-$25 per hour. Experienced editors can charge more. (I charge $25 - $50 depending on the kind of editing I’m doing.)
Second, I give an estimate to the writer based on the manuscript. Too many online editors scam writers with an hourly rate. I typically try to overestimate the time it will take, then if I come in under the estimate, writers are very happy.
Third, remember to consider what kind of editing you will be doing. I edit 2-10 pages per hour, depending on the degree of editing the person is looking for. If it is just proofing, that goes much faster. So be sure to check what the person is expecting from you. Fixing typos and comma errors is proofing. Fixing sentence and paragraph structure is editing.
The prospective freelancer also wondered if there were better resources than Chicago Manual of Style and Stunk and White.
There may be, but those are the ones I use.
I’m curious though. What writing resources do YOU use?
December 23rd, 2008 — reading
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
One thing you should know about me. People send me a lot of books to review. I’m still not sure why people send me books. Maybe it’s for the simple fact that I blog about the good ones—or at least that ones that strike a chord with me. We also order some titles for the Laity Lodge book store. We also review books in our network at HighCallingBlogs.com (which has 280 blogs now). And sometimes we even interview them at TheHighCalling.org, ask them to write for TheHighCalling.org, or invite them to speak at Laity Lodge.
But I’m just the first point of contact really.
Still, I thought I would share these excerpts from eight books that really caught my attention from the stack that were sent to me. I chose a bunch of IVP books, so that makes it look like they sent me more books than any other press. That’s not true. I just like the books they sent me more than the others. (Also for the record, I bought L. L. Barkat’s book.) I have read nearly all of these cover to cover. Since I’m not a huge fan of nonfiction, that’s saying quite a bit about each one.
For each book, I’ve included an brief excerpt to demonstrate style. All of these excerpts were passages that I underlined or otherwise noted in the margin when I read the book. For what it’s worth.
Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition by Guy Kawasaki (Portfolio Hardcover)
When entrepreneurs ask me for my opinion of their ideas, I give them the choice of the truth or the “feel good” pablum. Most opt for the truth, and the usually thank me because they learn something from the tough love. Apparently, politeness and expedience (“It’s very interesting. Let me get back to you”) are more common than information and feedback (“Your financial projections are insanely optimistic”). This led me to conclude that there is a shortage of candid and straightforward information for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs.
Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space, and Influence by Marykate Morse (IVP)
Find a sandbox on a playground, and you’ll find kids. A sandbox is a simple thing: a box with four sides, filled with sand. Kids don’t need instructions on how to play in it. No training necessary. No classes. No nervous parents coaching from the sidelines. Children instinctively plunge in and create a miniature world of roads, bridges, castles, and moats. They create what they see and what they imagine. Sandboxes are a lot of fun. It’s part of our DNA to make stuff out of raw material and to have fun with it. I think if no one were looking, we adults would get in and play too! But the fun stops when one child stakes a claim to the sandbox and runs off the other kids. A discreet child might manage to stay, crouched in a corner playing quietly, but often it’s not long before a carefully crafted tower gets stomped flat. Kids who rule sandboxes can do so because of their size and their “don’t mess with me” attitude.
Not the Religious Type: Confessions of a Turncoat Atheist by Dave Schmelzer (SaltRiver)
In my neighborhood, it’s assumed that church people live far, far away. And while my neighbors are vaguely aware of an unsettled by the looming threat of church people—they had a stretch of winning national elections, for instance—for the most part, no one hears from them. Church people aren’t making movies or TV shows. They’re not writing for the Timesor any major newsmagazine. They’re not winning hoity-toity book awards—or, for that matter, running practically any Western nation.
Simplicity by Mindy Caliguire (IVP Connect)
When I first began learning about simplicity I decided to tackle a closet in our home that I called the black hole. The process, I thought, would be fairly straightforward. Empty the entire closet, face whatever was there, and ruthlessly, even prayerfully, discern if each item really belonged there. I began with a lot of energy, optimism, and ambition.
Stone Crossings by L. L. Barkat (IVP)
Ready to explore, I pick my first stepping stone and leave the muddy shore behind. All day I leap from rock to rock—sometimes backtracking from a dead-end stone, sometimes slipping and scraping my naked knee, sometimes resting. Intrigued and comforted, I want to stay here forever. Ask me where I first stepped in and I may not remember, nor hardly care. I would rather pluck a pebble from the creek bed and show you the crayfish hiding under a web of sticks.
Good Intentions by Charles M. North and Bob Smietana (Moody Publishers)
Big Idea went bankrupt and was sold to Classic Media for enough money to pay off its debtors. The company survives and still makes VeggieTales videos with a small creative staff led by Mike Nawrocki, the voice of Larry the Cucumber, but the vision of becoming the next Disney is long gone. A big idea was not enough.
Results matter—whether you are making heavenly doughnuts or creating computer-animated vegetables that love Jesus. And more often than not, they are predictable. That, in a nutshell, is the point of this book. And it might just be one of the most important lessons that VeggieTales and Krispy Kreme doughnuts have to teach.
Culture Making by Andy Crouch (IVP)
The essence of childhood is innocence. The essence of youth is awareness. The essence of adulthood is responsibility. This book is for people and a Christian community on the threshold of cultural responsibility… Readers who are looking for seven easy steps to cultural influence will have to look elsewhere—because I do not happen to believe that anything lasting is easy. What we most have to learn about being creators of culture is the very thing we human beings find hardest to learn: everything about our calling, from start to finish, is a gift. What is most needed in our time are Christians who are deeply serious about cultivating and creating but who wear that seriousness lightly—who are not desperately trying to change the world but who also wake up every morning eager to create.
The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield (Thomas Nelson)
We should remember how Obama has described his conversion, the phrases that have played so often in his speeches and books. In The Audacity of Hope, he wrote that “it came about as a choice and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.” In later interviews he sometimes used more traditional language. He has, he says, a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” and he believes “in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ” “that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life.”
December 23rd, 2008 — blogging
Bloggers are often going gaga over Darren Rouse and Problogger. But that’s because Darren’s site continuously delivers the good content like this guest post from Jonathan Fields: 3 High-Powered Reader Engagement Tactics.
That’s a fun list of three things to consider. But that’s not why I’m linking to Jonathan’s post. In the comments, tons and tons of people claimed to write “Immersive Posts.”
That’s how I was thinking of describing what I do here as well. I tell stories. I share poems, scripts, etc. And I do my best to hook readers with old fashioned good writing that leads to old fashioned inspiration.
Aren’t I swell? I must be a good writer to pull this off, right?
Just like all of those other people in the comment section at Problogger who are talking about their own immersive posts…
And it hit me. Far too often, I get far too self-obsessed here. Or at home. Or at work. Or anywhere.
But let’s stick with blogging for a moment. Even my desire to write more prescriptive and feedback posts that bring value to readers is really just a lame desire to pat myself on the back and say, “Look at all the value you give your readers, dude. You rock!”
C. S. Lewis wrote a book called The Problem with Pain. I always wished someone had written The Problem with Pride. I’d write it myself, but that would be the ultimate act of hypocrisy.
December 22nd, 2008 — reading
This site is amazing. I could get lost here. It’s so encouraging to see Christians getting it right online. Simple design. Focused message. Beautiful experience.
What better trappings for truth?
[HT: Kevin Stilley and Steve Gibson.]
December 21st, 2008 — inspiring
For the seventh list of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
We like our Christmas music at the Goodyear household. Every year we get one or two new ones. Some we keep playing every year. Others… not so much. Here are a few (in no particular order) that we continue to enjoy season after season.
Since these albums have all passed the test of time, I’m not including any newbies. This year, Melissa Ethridge shows promise. Sheryl Crow on the other hand…
Also, the “under seven dollars” claim is only true for some of these if you order them used from Amazon.com. And for others, the claim is just not true. But it’s close.
1) Bah! Humbug
The sole Amazon.com review of this compilation by Rod McKuen is less than glowing. But who can resist something from the king of poetic cheese and the author of Listen to the Warm? Seriously, I enjoy 3/4 of this CD like nobody’s business. It’s worth buying just so you can hear the intentionally awful version of the nutcracker. But other items are fun too, like Scrooge the advertising executive, Rod McKuen himself singing “I really can’t stay,” and a bizarre rendition of 12 days of Christmas from Allan Sherman (”Hello, Muddah, Hello Fadduh, here I am in Camp Granada”)
I’ve enjoyed some of The Chieftains. My wife and I even saw them in concert once. Nothing ruins a Christmas CD like bland repetition of bland versions of the same old songs. You won’t find that here. Instead, you’ll get the “St. Stephen’s Day Murders” from Elvis Costello. Oh boy, pour me some eggnog and turn up the volume!
OK, that was cheesy. But I continue to enjoy this CD every year.
3) Noel Noel
We bought this string quartet CD the year we discovered someone had stolen our John Tesh Christmas. Can you believe someone would steal a John Tesh CD? Bizarre. This CD is perfect background music, though. A little more spunky that my normal ambiant Harold Budd or Tim Story, but still more soothing than most Christmas CDs.
4) John Denver and the Muppets
What’s not to love? Except for occasionally skipping the 12 Days of Christmas, this is always great. You’ve got “Alfie, the Christmas Tree.” “You’ve got The Peace Carol.” You’ve even got “When the River Meets the Sea” if you order the 2006 release from Cobra Entertainment rather than the 1996 release from Laserlight.
Also, this one is only under seven dollars if you download the mp3 files.
Yes, it takes a real man to admit that he loves this album. But I do. Like many of the other albums on this list, McLachlan’s succeeds because she blends good classics with new songs that have no pretense of ever becoming the next Rudolph or Frosty. They are just good soothing holiday songs.
Nuff said.
7) Songs for Christmas by Sufjan Stevens
You’re not getting this one for seven dollars. That’s because it’s really five CDs. Divide the cost by five, and you’ll come in well under seven dollars, believe me. Sufjan Stevens gave these recordings out to his friends for Christmas presents over a series of years. That gives the recordings a uniquely intimate feel. And frankly, this is hands down the BEST CHRISTMAS CD EVER IN EXISTENCE.
Don’t believe me? Just go sample these tracks on the Amazon.com site. (You’ll have to scroll down about half way on the page to find the section where you can hear the songs.)
You can listen to his revision of all those other classics too.
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