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Working on a book proposal

I imagine that many writers have quite a few different book ideas floating around in their heads just waiting for the time to be able to put words on paper.  In my insecurity I picture them with sleek Mac Book Air's just sitting at a coffee shop somewhere typing furiously and laughing because its just so easy to put together intelligent stories and ideas. 

Now I know that writing is not like that for the vast number of writers.  I've read enough Anne Lamott, Donald Miller,  and Len Sweet to know that writing is hard and takes a lot of work.  But, I still want to believe that it's going to be relatively easy.

I'm working on my first ever book proposal for an idea that I think has pretty good legs and there isn't much like it out right now.  It's being written out of my experience of doing youth ministry for a bunch of years. I've got a great group of pretty well known people I can ask for help and endorsements and even have some solid connections to publishing.   Still with all that I know the likelihood of it being published are still not very good.  

For me writing is a lot like running and going to the gym.  I hit it in spurts. It feels really good and I enjoy it when I do it but my biggest issue is continuing a pattern that produces results. I'm praying this time as I have new motivation because the idea is good that I will move forward with it.

So that's me this week.

What I'm reading.

Recently I've entered back into the reading realm.  I'm sure a lot of this has to do with me finally having the freedom to read whatever I want and have it not be tied to any institution or class.  I have a bad habit though of starting too many books at one time.  It takes me a lot longer to get through all the books this way but I find that it tends to be a better experience as much of the books seem to play off of each other.   Here's what I have currently stacked up on one arm of my chair.

Wholly Jesus: This book was written by the lead pastor of my former church North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad, California.  Mark Foreman is one of those enigmatic type of people that has huge depth and amazing insights but you'd never know it sitting next to him on a surfboard.  He has a very unassuming way about him that is both refreshing in a pastor and also slightly disconcerting because you know he is constantly thinking about and analyzing everything you say.  It would probably be helpful to just state that Mark is who many should be in the Christian world.  Strong convictions, love for people, connected to culture yet recognizing his place.  One of my regrets of leaving San Diego was that I didn't take as many opportunities as I could have to know Mark more and to follow the sandals of this great thinker and pastor.

UnChristian: This is a book I have been wrestling with for about a year.  I appreciate the authors thoughts about the 20-something generation which is why I originally picked it up.  The research is solid and the content helpful to think through.   I think that this book would be better read by me if I was doing it for a class or in dialogue with others.  That said I am fighting through it because I think it sets the stage for much other works about current generations and their loss of connections with the church.  It's foundational and sometimes foundational works are not  fun to read but should be read anyways.

Death By Love: I should state here first that I don't know Mark Driscoll or Gary Breashears.  My connection to Mark is only through our love of the Pacific Northwest and a shared belief that ministry there needs to be done in a particular way in order to reach a very unchristian community.   I have attended Mars Hill Seattle a few times but have never had the opportunity to hear Mark speak.  I have read a few of his other books and have found them to be decent reads but they also tend to be pretty strong rants about his particular form of Christian doctrine.   Mark tends to be a very brash writer/speaker about the things he believes in and the things he is against.  Again this works for the particular demographic he is aiming at in Seattle mainly 18-22 year old men.  I don't always enjoy his approach but I appreciate it and that's why I'm reading this book.  Plus it was free.

Sustainable Youth Ministry: I have yet to open up this book but I am stoked to read it.  Mark Devries is a friend and someone who has been doing youth ministry at the same church for about 20 years.  In my interactions with Mark I've found him to be incredibly focused on just doing what God wants him to do in a very unassuming way that is focused on the church and on young people.  My only review of this book so far comes from my senior pastor who read it and told me he thought it was one of the best books written about youth ministry that he's ever read.  Pretty good endorsement so it's in the que.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians: Sometimes I like to describe myself as "the intern who followed Rob"  at the first church I worked at in California.   I have never met Rob but have many friends who speak highly of him.   I should state that his work in the Nooma video series is something that I respect very much.  He has a candid way of challenging us to rethink our basic assumptions about faith.   I have read all of Rob's books and while I don't always agree with his focus I think he has a voice that needs to be heard.  One thing I particularly appreciate is the way Rob doesn't overtly slam the church or historic Christianity and only tries to lead people into discussions about new ideas and thoughts.   I'm very much looking forward to reading this book.

Jesus for President: I am a sucker for anybook that is done in a non traditional way.  This book has a design team that both makes it intersting and utalizes creative visual ways of driving points home.  I have heard Shane Claiborne speak a few times and I appreciate the way he encourages us to rethink how we are acting as Christians in this world.  Shane lives in community and it seems to shape everything he writes about.  In this book I have found his words to reach me in a way that makes me reread each chapter after I'm done.  He's that good and I can't wait to get into it more.

San Diego to Dallas

Just landed at DFW. This is what I did on the flight. I read the whole thing. I'll post a bit about it tomorrow. I will say this now though. It made me think about God in a much different way and I liked it.

The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture

I've been reading a lot about collaborative models of leadership and have in a sense "Drank the Koolaid". I decided to read something that was in direct opposition to to those ideas and that's what this book is all about. The author was a part of the original web craze but in the last few years has become more and more disenchanted at the advances that the web 2.0 has brought. He specifically argues that the web and the ease of publishing content is actually beginning to change the way that the so called "expert" publishers such as newspapers, television media and radio are able to work. As there revenue as drasticallly reduced they are less able to produce expert content.
The line is blurring between the experts and the opinionated blogger. He even takes on Wikipedia by saying that the biggest problem with it is that there are no experts reviewing the content for accuracy. I disagree with him on this point but will read more before I comment too much on it.

I'm only a couple chapters in now so I don't have a great feel about more of his ideas and content. I think I have an overall feel but I'll post more as I read today.

Not sure how much reading I'm going to get done today. Going flying. Beautiful day for it.

The Starfish and the Spider

I've purposefully not read the post my friend Rhett put up at Leadership Network about this book yet. Rhett encouraged me to buy it last week and I'm working through my own thoughts about it. I'm planning on finishing it tomorrow and will put up a full post then.

Here's a quick thought though. The main argument in the book is that leaderless organizations in many cases are groundbreaking and so dynamic because they operate without a hierarchical style which often tends to slow things down and create bottlenecks that stifle innovation and creativity.

Reading the first several chapters really made me think about my personal management style and to begin reassessing how I do things. It's a great read and something that needs to be mulled over a beverage with friends in a cosy place with stools.

Season of LIfe

A friend gave me a copy of the book "Season of LIfe" today.  I had heard a little bit about the man the book was written about, Joe Ehrmann and was excited to get a chance to read it.  The book is sort of a biography written about Joe but it focuses upon his relationship with his high school football team and his belief that the most important thing he can do is teach them to be men.  I read the book cover to cover today.  It brought up a lot of feelings and emotions that I welcomed.  I have two small boys and a huge desire to raise them and love them in a way that will teach them how to be real men.  What Joe talks about when he says "real men" is very different from societies view.  In the view of society men are first rated based upon athletic prowness then later in life by who they date/marry and finally by the size of their bank accounts and houses.  Joe flips it to say that masculinity "first and foremost, ought to be defined in terms of relationships. It ought to be taught in terms of the capacity to love and be loved....life wouldn't be measured in terms of success based on what you've acquired or achieved or what you own.  The only thing that's really going to matter is the realtionships that you had?"   He adds the only other criteria of masculinity "is that all of us ought to have some kind of cause, some kind of purpose in our lives that's bigger than our own individual hopes, dreams, wants and desires."   These two criteria create a base for a man who is committed to all realationships they are a part of.  There is a huge importance placed on relationships and they are critical to life.  I read that and thought about my relationship with my dad.  At this point in our life it is pretty non-existent.  We talk about current events, the weather and other basic stuff but not really about anything that is significant.  I want to do what the author of the book did and sit my dad down for a long talk to just get to know each other.  The time is very short for that to happen because we are getting older.  The idea of a cause is that life has to be about something bigger than us.  Causes can be simple and ever changing but they are always about helping and standing up for others.  When we get passed our own selfish desires and wants we get to a place of much greater health. 

There's a lot more to this book than I can write about at 3:30am  Part of it terrifies me because it makes me really feel that I have to be so careful with my boys to shower them with love and praise while at the same time work on who I am so that it's real and not contrived.  I need to think through this more and spend a lot of time praying.  Too early (or late) to think much more.