How the Book's Going

plus, a gathering for supporting subscribers

Hi everyone,

Thank you all, once again, for being part of the writing process as I put together the book I’m currently calling No More Normal. This week I’m sharing some tidbits by way of update. At the bottom of this post, a Zoom link for our Book Talk for supporting subscribers on Tuesday, May 28 at noon EDT (on Tuesday avoiding the Memorial Day holiday). Join us!

I don’t write with a typewriter, but does it look romantic? Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Writing Process

I’m currently about two thirds of the way through my second draft. That makes the book sound more developed than it is. In fact, this draft is actually more of a robust outline than a manuscript with completed thoughts. I’ve got at least one more draft to go, probably two, between now and September 10. 

Think of it this way. I’m a manuscript preacher, but I’m comfortable preaching from notes, having done it countless times. And when I write a sermon, I always breathe a little easier when I’ve gotten it complete enough that, if I had no more time to work on it before Sunday, I could preach it. The second draft of the book is kinda like that. It’s a lot more detailed than an outline, but it’s nowhere near a completed product, not even a rough draft. Lots of shorthand, lots of breadcrumbs for later. 

It’s very hard to trust this stage of the process. I know that Future Me will sit down sometime in the heat of summer with these pages—all these fragmented thoughts and “insert anecdote about XYZ here”—and wish this draft were more fleshed out. On the other hand, this is just the way it works, for me anyway. Because I’m working on twelve chapters, plus a good-sized introduction, I’ve got to make sure the whole thing hangs together, the sections are balanced, and this particular quote makes sense here and not there.

One of the principles of adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy is, “There is always enough time for the right work.” I really need to post that somewhere in my writing space, because I need the constant reminder. My eldest is home for the summer, so our house is full. All three kids are taking courses this summer—high school, community college, and a graduate course, along with a couple of part-time and full-time jobs thrown in. My coaching work is on hiatus until the fall, but church work continues at its regular three-quarter-time pace. I’m teaching for a week at a Chautauqua community in Ohio, and there’s some vacation in there. Still, I try to live toward the truth in brown’s words. There is always enough time for the right work. The book that needs to be written will be written. 

Format

I’ve shared with you what the book is about, but how will it be organized? My basic thesis is that a lot of our world is set up for the benefit of a specific, constrained idea of what “normal” looks like, and that “normal” can be oppressive for those who don’t fit. But it can also be oppressive for people who do manage to fit, because of the ways we feel pressure to sand down our edges, hide our quirks and frailties, and conform. What I’m trying to do is lift up individual and communal values to help us build a world that doesn’t require all that—a world where everyone can belong as themselves.

The format I’ve settled on is six paired chapters, or twelve chapters in all. The first chapter in each pair will explore a “default” value: something we see at work in our current world, and what it costs all of us to perpetuate it. The second chapter in each pair will be a transformational value that can help us build a more liberatory world.