Somehow I’ve managed to put off writing this book not just for weeks, not just for months, but literally for years. I have outlines for it that will turn five early in 2009. At the moment, I’m sitting in a coffee shop trying to make an anagram out of The Brothers Karmazov as a way to avoid figuring out why I have yet to commit pen to paper.
I can remember the exact moment the idea first came to me. I was standing in a checkout line before Easter one spring day, and I saw all the videos they had on the rack of Biblical films: The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Story Ever Told, etc. It struck me that, since I was on the faculty of a Bible college, I ought to teach a class that simply put those films in chronological order, to see what they might have to say by way of understanding the Scriptures a little more deeply.
What followed was a massive amount of research. I’ve got entire file boxes full of books, articles, and photocopies all related to the Bible on film. I guess it’s one of the things I’ve always been good at. I applied for the Westinghouse scholarship when I was in high school and I did the same thing. I ended up with extensive notes that went all the way back to the turn of the century, but not a single experiment by the time I was done. It happened again this year when I was looking up information on a high-frequency antenna for ham radio, and I convinced myself I should seek a patent. All I have to show for it now is a binder full of articles, but not one single prototype.
These experiences should probably tell me something but I’m still not quite sure what. I’ve thought that maybe it means my real calling is to become a librarian, and that way I’d be able to do research all the time (supposedly), but it just doesn’t seem to be the right fit for me.
More to the point, I seem to have “blockage” somewhere, sort of like a clogged artery. I was thinking that I can’t convince myself anyone would want to read what I write. But it’s worse than that – I’ve got myself completely convinced that no one ever would. Thus, no book.
Even more amazing is the fact that I have so many new tools at my disposal now. I’ve got a voice recorder much smaller than the palm of my hand, and I can play it back into a program that will instantly transcribe my words. I’ve got other software that will read back to me any text in an amazingly realistic human-sounding voice. The speed at which I can do online research now, and the databases I can access, was only a geek’s daydream when I first taught the Bible on film class. So what’s the problem?
Are there too many words out there already? Would the world really be a better place with one more book?
As far as the anagram goes, the best I could come up with is: Mark Voz Bothers Her Rat. Well, I’m bothered, too, I must say. I’ve got a bad case of writer’s block.
I can remember the exact moment the idea first came to me. I was standing in a checkout line before Easter one spring day, and I saw all the videos they had on the rack of Biblical films: The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Story Ever Told, etc. It struck me that, since I was on the faculty of a Bible college, I ought to teach a class that simply put those films in chronological order, to see what they might have to say by way of understanding the Scriptures a little more deeply.
What followed was a massive amount of research. I’ve got entire file boxes full of books, articles, and photocopies all related to the Bible on film. I guess it’s one of the things I’ve always been good at. I applied for the Westinghouse scholarship when I was in high school and I did the same thing. I ended up with extensive notes that went all the way back to the turn of the century, but not a single experiment by the time I was done. It happened again this year when I was looking up information on a high-frequency antenna for ham radio, and I convinced myself I should seek a patent. All I have to show for it now is a binder full of articles, but not one single prototype.
These experiences should probably tell me something but I’m still not quite sure what. I’ve thought that maybe it means my real calling is to become a librarian, and that way I’d be able to do research all the time (supposedly), but it just doesn’t seem to be the right fit for me.
More to the point, I seem to have “blockage” somewhere, sort of like a clogged artery. I was thinking that I can’t convince myself anyone would want to read what I write. But it’s worse than that – I’ve got myself completely convinced that no one ever would. Thus, no book.
Even more amazing is the fact that I have so many new tools at my disposal now. I’ve got a voice recorder much smaller than the palm of my hand, and I can play it back into a program that will instantly transcribe my words. I’ve got other software that will read back to me any text in an amazingly realistic human-sounding voice. The speed at which I can do online research now, and the databases I can access, was only a geek’s daydream when I first taught the Bible on film class. So what’s the problem?
Are there too many words out there already? Would the world really be a better place with one more book?
As far as the anagram goes, the best I could come up with is: Mark Voz Bothers Her Rat. Well, I’m bothered, too, I must say. I’ve got a bad case of writer’s block.
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