Well, at least it does for me. I have now
gotten very serious about my upcoming Christmas story, the one I hope to release
in November. I have to be done by September 1st. Eight chapters and an
introduction, each one roughly 1200 words. That's a lot of writing work for me.
I'm a very careful, obsessive writer. The price of good writing - at least for
me - is an insane amount of work. I don't even want people to know how much work
it is because they might try to talk me out of doing it. For my health or
something.
For those who are new to Real Live Preacher, in
2003 I wrote a 12,000 word dramatization of the birth of Jesus. I did it in one
month, a thing that stuns me now. I could not do that again. It was the only
thing I did during that month, and I was driven by forces that I hope are no
longer dominant in my life. But I liked the story when I was done. I wouldn't go
back and take the story away, even if it meant that I would have been more
healthy in 2003.
Two years later I recorded myself reading that
story, made my own audio book, and sold it right here at Real Live Preacher. No
publisher, no distribution arrangements, none of that. Just you, me, and
whatever network I've developed here at RLP. I
thought it worked out fine. I didn't really make any money, but for me it's all
about the work. If you are a writer, then write, dammit. Write your stuff. Build
a body of work. And one day if you find a way to make a living from your work,
then good for you. But don't ask for anything more than the chance to write.
So I have big plans for Christmas stories. I plan to write seven
dramatized Christmas stories, one for each of the major gospel stories
surrounding the birth of Jesus. I'll expand them much the same way I do in my
dramatized scripture stories, though I take these a little farther. I plan to do
one every year until it is all done. All of these stories will fit together like
puzzle pieces. Characters will sometimes appear in
more than one of the stories. This is something I have dreamed of doing this since the early 90s when I
first began writing and telling the Christmas stories at our church.
Right now I plan to make audio recordings and
an audio book each fall. What happens to these stories in the long run is not something I have to
worry about. So here is the plan so far:
2005 - A Christmas Story You've Never Heard -
Mary Joseph, manger. - Done!
2006 - The story of the shepherds. - Working
on it.
2007 - The story of 3 and a half wise men. This story is written, though
it will need a complete rewrite. When I'm done not much will be left except the
basic skeleton of the story. Still, that's a great start. This story is my
favorite, and it carries a lot of personal meaning for me.
After that, I'm not set on the order. I'll do the story of Zechariah and
Elizabeth, the story of Simeon and Anna, the story of the angel visits to Mary
and Joseph, and the story of the slaughter of the innocents and the flight to
Egypt. That last one scares me. I don't want to do it, but something is drawing
me to it.
So what does this mean for July and August?
Well, it means that I've got a lot of writing
to do. I'll have two Christian Century articles and two High Calling articles to
finish in that time as well. I will post things here as usual, but there will be
more personal updates than serious essays. I'm thinking I might talk to you
about how things are going with the shepherd story. I really don't know what
I'll do in this time.
I'm a little worried about getting the shepherd story done in time.
Just the right amount of worry. Not a serious burden, but enough to get me
working. And that's what I need.
rlp
