writing Archives - Page 2 of 3

Ever wonder why C. S. Lewis was so influential in his thinking and theological writing? It is because C. S. Lewis translated his theology into language that anybody could understand.

This was not accidental, but intentional. Here is what C. S. Lewis said on the matter:

You must translate every bit of your theology into the vernacular. This is very troublesome, and it means you can say very little in half an hour, but it is essential.

It is also the greatest service to your own thought. I have come to the conviction that if you cannot translate your thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts were confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood one’s own meaning.

This came from Alister McGrath’s excellent biography of C.S. Lewis (p. 208). If you haven’t read it yet, click the link above to get a copy from Amazon. It is the best biography on Lewis I have ever read.

Are you an Author? Get Published This Year!

By Jeremy Myers

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I have published nine books and have contributed to several others. My most recent book, however, is written to help YOU get published.

I have learned quite a bit over the years about the process of publishing my own books, and very early on, I created a little guide to help me remember the steps to preparing my manuscript, editing it for publication, and submitting it to the various websites on which I sell my books. This little guide has helped me get published.

As of last July, that little publishing guide of mine was 8 pages long.

But it was cryptic, messy, disorganized, and not very clear.

So last August, I decided to rearrange the guide to make it more useful. As I began to do this, I thought, “You know what? I bet author new and aspiring authors would like to have some of this information. As long as I am organizing it for myself, I might as well do a little bit of extra work and make a little book out of it. Why shouldn’t I help other authors get published?”

Five months later I sent a 184-page book to the printers.

Yes, my little 8-page guide turned into 184 pages of detailed instructions, screen shots, publishing tips, and suggestions for helping you get published, get your book into print, and ultimately, get it into people’s hands.

And guess what?

Though this book is already available on Amazon (Go ahead on over there to get a sneak peak inside the book)….I will soon be sending out a FREE PDF copy via email… but ONLY to those who have subscribed to my email newsletter!

So do me one of two favors:

1. If you haven’t subscribed and want to get published:

If you have not yet subscribed to my email newsletter and want to get published in 2014, then…. subscribe already! Here’s the form:

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Book Projects Update

By Jeremy Myers

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No, I haven’t forgotten about my various books projects.

In case you are wondering, here is my progress on some of the books I am currently working on:

Close Your Church for Good

I am finished writing the book. It just needs to get published.

Sadly, I am a few years away from getting the whole thing out… It turned out to be over 100,000 words, and so the editing and typesetting process is taking me much longer than anticipated. Besides, a lot of the material needs to be reworked and reworded, and some of the points need to be explained and defended in better (or more gracious) ways.

Commentary on Jonah

I am half-way through writing my Commentary on Jonah. I am almost all the way through chapter two, and am thrilled at some of the things I am discovering. However, it looks like this will be a big volume also. I am sitting at about 50,000 words on this book already as well, and I am only half way through…

The reason I stopped is because I encountered several issues in the book which I thought deserved more attention and study… and one of them turned into a brand new book project….

When God Pled Guilty

This is my current project at the top of my writing pile. It is the reason I took a break from the Commentary on Jonah. Some of the issues in Jonah are the reason I started studying the violent portrayals of God in Scripture in the first place, and why I am going to have to revise some of what I have already written in the commentary. I needed a better explanation for the storm that came upon the sailors and the message that Job preaches to Nineveh than the explanation I was given in Bible college and seminary.

So once I am done with When God Pled Guilty, I will (hopefully) finish the Commentary on Jonah. Although, now that I say this…. there is a five-volume project I have wanted to tackle for about ten years now, and have recently felt my mind being pulled in that direction… Aargh!

Other Book Projects

Aside from these three book projects, I have four or five other manuscripts in various stages of development. Sigh. So much to write…

I never understand when some writers talk about writer’s block! My only writer’s block is that my entire life is too short a block of time to write everything I want.

Along with these books projects of my own, I did finally get things going on my publishing company, Redeeming Press. We currently have two authors we are working with to get their books out, and I am in conversations with half a dozen more. I love the idea of helping people get published, but at the same time, it keeps me from doing my own writing and publishing. Oh well, I knew that was part of the cost…

Anyway, some people have been asking, so I decided to give an update on the blog. And remember, I give away all my newly-released books for free to newsletter subscribers. So if you haven’t subscribed, do so today if you want to get free eBooks, and please, tell your friends and family about my newsletter as well so that they can get the free eBooks when they come out.

On Writing, John Calvin, and ID Theft

By Jeremy Myers

23 Comments

You may have noticed I haven’t posted much this week. Why not? A lot has been going on.

LifeLock

First, I had one of my credit card accounts stolen this week. Thankfully, the credit card company caught it before it got too out of hand. The thief made almost $5000 worth of purchases online, but I think that since the company caught it so quickly, nothing was actually shipped out.

But as a result, I spent a good chunk of the week making sure all my other accounts were secure, signing up for LifeLock, and taking a few other steps to protect myself from this in the future. I am one of those “I never thought it could happen to me” people. But then it did.

And I am still recovering from it and holding my breath to see what else they got ahold of… I do recommend LifeLock if you don’t already have ID theft protection. They seem to be the best.

Writing

Second, I realized my book on the violence of God is getting out of control. WAY out of control. I am nearly at 100,000 words and only about half way through the book. What I have written on the flood is nearly 20,000 words all by itself. I’m drowning in the flood. That’s bad.

Also, I am getting somewhat bored with the topic, and if I am getting bored, I am pretty sure you might be getting bored with it too. I think what I might do is cut out the 20,000 words I have written on the flood, and summarize it down into 1000 words or so. What do you think of this idea? Of course, I have only posted about 5000 words so far of the 20,000 I have written, so maybe I should post the next 15,000 over the next two weeks or so, and then let you decide whether it is worth keeping….

[Read more…]

How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis

By Jeremy Myers

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I recently watched “Prince Caspian“, and (as with all things by C. S. Lewis), it caused me to reflect on the writings and theology of C. S. Lewis.

Have you ever wondered why he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia? I am convinced it is partly because he knew that stories often teach theology better than simply teaching theology.

Look at these quotes from Lewis:

You must translate every bit of your Theology into the vernacular. This is very troublesome and it means you can say very little in half an hour, but it is essential. It is also the greatest service to your own thought. I have come to the conviction that if you cannot translate your thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts were confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood one’s own meaning. A passage from some theological work for translation into the vernacular ought to be a compulsory paper in every Ordination examination.” (God in the Dock, 98).

I have found that nothing is more dangerous to one’s own faith than the work of an apologist. No doctrine of that Faith seems to me so spectral, so unreal as one that I have just successfully defended in a public debate.” (God in the Dock, 103).

He is not necessarily talking in these quotes about teaching theology through story, but by looking at his practice, I think that he would argue that the most basic “vernacular” of any culture is story. I would love to see some creative, theologically-minded storyteller write a multi-volume novel which teaches basic theology.

Maybe The Chronicles of Narnia are exactly that…

Why C. S. Lewis was a master at theological writing

Are you an Author? Get Published This Year!

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2. If you have already subscribed and appreciate my free eBooks:

Book Projects Update

Close Your Church for Good

Commentary on Jonah

When God Pled Guilty

Other Book Projects

On Writing, John Calvin, and ID Theft

LifeLock

Writing

How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis

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