My German genes require a structured approach to everything, including writing. I can't meander aimlessly down a path; I need to know where I'm going. I need to write with the end in mind. I needed structure for my book, a detailed outline.
Before the outline, I had to wrestle with a basic structural decision. I wanted to tell the story of our life in Africa. But I'm also a teacher to the core of my being, and I wanted to teach about destiny, purpose and faith. Should the story be inserted as illustrations in the midst of a teaching, or should the teaching be inserted into the flow of the story? Ultimately I chose story as the skeletal structure upon which I hung some suggestions about finding and following one's purpose in life. Why? Everyone likes a story, but few people enjoy being told how to live their lives.
So with that decision made, I tore up the outline I'd originally jotted on my way to the Congo. I started anew. I broke our story into bite-sized chapters and gave each one a short title. It served as both structure and motivation as I approached the discipline of writing. Twenty chapters. Write the first chapter; check. Write the second; check. This is easy. The book will be finished in record time. Or so I thought . . .
This reminds me of the first time I saw Steve Martin in person back in about 1974. He was on stage and for his next act he was going to suck a baby grand piano up through a straw. He tried feverishly but exhausted by his failure, he said, "Well, it's easy once you get it started".
ReplyDeleteThis has become a motto in my life...
Frank