Why I Write
My latest book manuscript, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, is being shopped to publishers right now. I got a few follow-up questions from an interested publisher and I thought I'd post my responses to their questions. I found that the questions really helped me remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm preaching about pursuing your passions on Sunday so this post is particularly fitting. Writing has always been one of my passions. It has also been one of my frustrations :) Here's the Q & A:
Why is Mark writing books—what does he want to accomplish as an author?
My passion is helping people reach their God-given potential. The best metaphor is probably the parable of the talents. I feel called to help people unearth the talent they've buried in the ground. Everything I do is an expression of that passion. It's the way I approach parenting. It's the way I approach pastoring. And it's the way I approach writing.
I write for several reasons. My primary reason for writing is that I feel as called to write as I do to pastor. I hope I leave a legacy in the lives of the people I pastor. But I also want to impact people I'll never meet face-to-face this side of eternity. For the past couple years I've been writing and emailing a weekly evotional (www.evotional.com) that is a written version of my messages. I never cease to be amazed at the way I'll get emails from people in Australia or Germany or South Africa who have been impacted by something I've written. My evotional is read by several thousand people each week so my writing is impacting more people than my preaching. My writing gives me leverage. It allows my voice to be heard by people who are out of earshot.
At the end of the day, I want to be doing things that I'd do even if I didn't get paid to do them. That's how I feel about writing. I don't do it for extrinsic reasons. I do it for intrinsic reasons. I have a philosophy about preaching that applies to writing. You can preach because you have to (you're scheduled to speak) or you can preach because you have to (God has given you something to say). Those are two very different reasons to preach and write! I preach and write because I have to. God has given me something to say.
Does he want to write to the same market that he is reaching via his church, or is he after a broader audience? This specific proposal sounded like he may want to go broader.
I think my writing and preaching resonate with twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings because I'm "in tune" with the issues they're facing. I'm in that life stage. I definitely feel called to be a voice to emerging generations and I love pastoring a church that is 80% single and 80% twenty-something. But I also think my preaching style and writing style resonate with fourteen year-old kids and eighty year-old grandmothers. The way I communicate has universal appeal because I try to use metaphors the way Jesus did.
I'm a both/and thinker. I feel a unique calling and capacity to speak to emerging generations. My first book, ID: The True You, definitely targets the quarterlife crisis. It's primary appeal is to twenty-somethings who are trying to figure out who they are. But preaching and writing are all about versatility. I speak and write on a wide variety of topics that have inter-generational appeal. I think it's the issue or theme that determines the audience. While I feel an affinity with emerging generations, I also want to write for a broader audience. I'll certainly produce titles that target a niche. I'm working on a manuscript, Paint Your Church Purple, that is exclusively written for pastors and church planters. I'm in a message series right now, The Game of Life, that will be converted into a book for twenty-somethings (The Game of Life, Quarterlife Edition, Ages 20-29). But I think most of my titles will appeal to a broader demographic.
Why is Mark writing books—what does he want to accomplish as an author?
My passion is helping people reach their God-given potential. The best metaphor is probably the parable of the talents. I feel called to help people unearth the talent they've buried in the ground. Everything I do is an expression of that passion. It's the way I approach parenting. It's the way I approach pastoring. And it's the way I approach writing.
I write for several reasons. My primary reason for writing is that I feel as called to write as I do to pastor. I hope I leave a legacy in the lives of the people I pastor. But I also want to impact people I'll never meet face-to-face this side of eternity. For the past couple years I've been writing and emailing a weekly evotional (www.evotional.com) that is a written version of my messages. I never cease to be amazed at the way I'll get emails from people in Australia or Germany or South Africa who have been impacted by something I've written. My evotional is read by several thousand people each week so my writing is impacting more people than my preaching. My writing gives me leverage. It allows my voice to be heard by people who are out of earshot.
At the end of the day, I want to be doing things that I'd do even if I didn't get paid to do them. That's how I feel about writing. I don't do it for extrinsic reasons. I do it for intrinsic reasons. I have a philosophy about preaching that applies to writing. You can preach because you have to (you're scheduled to speak) or you can preach because you have to (God has given you something to say). Those are two very different reasons to preach and write! I preach and write because I have to. God has given me something to say.
Does he want to write to the same market that he is reaching via his church, or is he after a broader audience? This specific proposal sounded like he may want to go broader.
I think my writing and preaching resonate with twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings because I'm "in tune" with the issues they're facing. I'm in that life stage. I definitely feel called to be a voice to emerging generations and I love pastoring a church that is 80% single and 80% twenty-something. But I also think my preaching style and writing style resonate with fourteen year-old kids and eighty year-old grandmothers. The way I communicate has universal appeal because I try to use metaphors the way Jesus did.
I'm a both/and thinker. I feel a unique calling and capacity to speak to emerging generations. My first book, ID: The True You, definitely targets the quarterlife crisis. It's primary appeal is to twenty-somethings who are trying to figure out who they are. But preaching and writing are all about versatility. I speak and write on a wide variety of topics that have inter-generational appeal. I think it's the issue or theme that determines the audience. While I feel an affinity with emerging generations, I also want to write for a broader audience. I'll certainly produce titles that target a niche. I'm working on a manuscript, Paint Your Church Purple, that is exclusively written for pastors and church planters. I'm in a message series right now, The Game of Life, that will be converted into a book for twenty-somethings (The Game of Life, Quarterlife Edition, Ages 20-29). But I think most of my titles will appeal to a broader demographic.
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