Game Plan

As I'm thinking about how I'll start in on my targeted evolution/science writing again I've been considering what to write about and how to write it.  I think it will be important to just write to the end then go back to review. I've gotten stuck in an endless cycles of review and edit in the past and I don't want to go back there again.

I also think that I will write from a perspective of addressing common issues people have with evolution.  As I managed to keep the though from being completely fleeting this morning I jotted down transitional species and age of earth as topics that are often sighted as troublesome for "believing" in evolution.

If anyone can think of other topics PLEASE POST THEM TO COMMENTS .  We are approaching the end of the year and I'd like to get something done before then.

The Organizational Benefits of Blogging

I have started many writing notebooks, journals, logs, etc. but they all end up dispersed to the ends of the earth (or at least the ends of the earth that I inhabit). As a result, anything I wrote and wanted to remember was ultimately lost, misplaced or generally inaccessible.  Even of the notebooks whose locations are known to me I still don’t have any catalogue of the contents and unless I page through them they may be as good as blank.

All this changed when I started storing my journals, musings and notes on the internet via this blog.  Now if I have a faint memory of a topic I wrote on I can just search for it via the handy search bar and the pages are retrieved before I could have even found the right notebook.  If nothing else comes out of this year of writing I’ve at least learned that the internet is a great place to write.  And if I ever forget exactly what I learned I can just search for it and I’ll be prompted with this very post.

Sure I still do some jottings on paper.  Just the other day I had a few topics I wanted to capture and they all came on relatively concurrently. In this case a notebook and pen are my best tool because I feel free to jot and jump across the pages.  For some reason the scribble of my hand seams more suited for that less organized work.

Now if I could only remember what I wrote down and where I put that notebook.

Back to Work - Evolution Outlined

1.       What is evolution?

a.       Cultural quarrel

b.      Scientific theory

2.       Science Unifies Evolution and Evolution Unifies Science

a.       The facts

                                                               i.       Takes Time

1.       Geology

2.       Isotopes

                                                             ii.      Visible and measurable

1.       Morphological

2.       Molecular

3.       Evolution is not a threat to Christianity

a.       Does not require atheism

b.      Doesn’t even point to atheism

c.       Fully Compatible with a fruitful Christian Walk

I don’t know about this.  Pretty dry and formulaic. But it’s formulaic because that is how the story has been told over and over again.  It is how you learn about it.  It is how it is taught.  Is there a reason to reinvent the wheel? This is essentially a pared down version of what Richard Dawkins wrote in his excellent book The Greatest Show on Earth. The book however doesn’t come off as dry or boring or in any way off putting.  Dawkins writes as an educator who cares deeply for his subject matter and the public to whom he is writing for. How does he do it? It is a matter of identifying how a teacher writes.

Perspective

I talked to a writer today about a book he just finished and the new project he is starting.  He writes fiction. His book is about the aftermath of a war torn country and the impact a single photograph had on the lives of some of its survivors.  It sounded pretty interesting, “light” we joked sarcastically. 

He’s in the process of selling the book now which means a shift in the way he structures his work day. Mostly keeping up with contacts and managing relationships with agents, potential agents and developing a New York presence.

I asked him how he starts a project and he said the first 100 pages are the most critical so he pounds those out 3 or 4 times to really get the story rolling. He said he does about 10 pages a day so this first stage goes pretty quickly.

He said the most important thing in these 100 pages is to establish a perspective including the voice and point of view of the narrator. The voice of his last narrator was sarcastic, dead to the world, having seen it all, not surprised by any amount of pain or hurt that comes his way.

It was interesting to hear the perspective of a writer. He obviously works hard and invests the time that is needed to do that work. Time, Talent, Resources.

Fiction is different from non-fiction but I think I still need a perspective. Maybe a hundred pages a few times over is in order. Again – time, talent, resources.

Review of Assets: Introduction

The first chapter is about finding a direction, detecting tension and recognizing a harmony between two apparently discordant world views.

 I recognized a desire to teach an understanding of the world around us through science. I also, almost instantaneously, recognized that my incompleteness would not be wholly filled by pursuing a career. I realized that God provided the grace to be complete through Jesus and He told that story primarily through the Bible.

The harmony between science and the Bible came through learning that God’s word isn’t just a book. The Bible is meant to be read and studied and understood through the history of the people that lived it and a recognition that that record was intended to speak into the lives of every generation after.

The introduction describes two wonderful worldviews that at times seem impossible to integrate then presses the reader to see that they can be.  

So what are elements that can bridge chapter to chapter?

·         Tension

·         Unity

·         Nuance

·         Big picture is needed to understand the small details correctly

·         History

·         Science

Review of Assets

I have about 9000 words covering about 30 pages. These words represent work on three chapters covering an introduction to my interest in faith and science, the nature of science and the nuts and bolts of evolution. 

The science chapter has been the most scrutinized and there is rewriting to be done on that for sure.  I’m not really sure how to go about the rewrite process on this.  Do I rework and shuffle the content I have or do I start with a blank page and approach the content fresh.  The first go around generated a lot of ideas and they are now on the page so the thought of starting fresh is a bit discouraging.  On the other hand jig sawing the dissected pieces of the current draft back together seems less than fruitful and tricky.  I think the steps will be to fully re-read the content and comments I have accumulated, re-outline based on an improved flow, noting what should stay and what can go, and then assembling those pieces and generating new content as needed to bridge the content and improve the flow.

The evolution chapter is the one that needs the most work.  The trouble I’ve had is getting bogged down in the details of the pieces I want to communicate so that I haven’t been able to move forward and toward a logical end.  I think a strong session of outlining will be helpful and then I can knock out those section by section.  Maybe even better will be to generate a good outline then write the transitions, then fill in with the nuts and bolts.  In this way the connections between the topics can be woven together more neatly. Sure I think that’s a good idea.

The first chapter can just sit for now. I’ll re-read it and identify what cohesive elements can tie back into the other

Sounds like a plan. I’ll start from the bottom (as written here) and work my way up.  

Back to Work

I’m looking down the barrel of a weeklong vacation and I know that I’ll need to get to work. The awnings will be cleaned and/or removed, a book or two are scheduled to be read and I plan to reevaluate where I am with my writing projects.  The goal is to see what I have and identify the areas of need.  I’ll also rework areas I’ve previously had feedback on. Some but not all of that progress will be reported here. If you see me I’d appreciate you holding me accountable so that I don’t laze away this vacation doing household chores or sleeping too late.

Jazz Writing – Pretty Cool if You Can Handle It. Ya Dig?

Over the last 3 days, in between all of my other duties at work, I have been working on an article. The content doesn’t matter for this post; it was the process that intrigued me. 

On Tuesday I didn’t have a feel for the angle or arc of the story I was telling but I was on a short deadline so I wrote some all-purpose paragraphs that could be used pretty much anywhere in the text.  On Wednesday I attended an event that would be the subject for the article which I had written in regards to in generalities on Tuesday.  After Wednesday when I sat at the keyboard Thursday morning the story was more clearly defined and I wrote an introduction that set the stage and moved some of Tuesdays paragraphs around to fill it out.  I planned to tie it all together Thursday afternoon after teaching but when I checked my email at lunch I learned that the article was finished. 

It was pretty cool.  I read the email and the finished draft and saw that all of the things I would have had to work to say were said.  The other author saw the framework I had established, riffed off of some of the melodies I had laid down and set the hook to real our audience in with a line cast by the rhythm of our shared experience at Wednesdays excursion.  It was like writing in jazz and it was cool man.  

The Essentials - Beginnings

A few years ago I started a book project with my friend and pastor Kerry Bender.  He brought the idea to me because of a shared interest in the evolving impact a scientific world view has had, together and individually, on our personal faith.  We both had come to a realization that there was a real need to communicate a perspective on Christianity that respected both the word of God and the realities of the world around us.  While we had been encouraged by several books that beautifully articulated the mutual truths of faith and science we saw a gap in what was available for young people.

We set out those few years ago to create a book that would serve a younger audience by telling our personal experiences with faith and science, while teaching about how science works and how the Bible works.  In general, the book’s goal is the development of appropriate scientific and hermeneutical approaches. In specifically, the book is designed to address issues of origins both from scientific and Biblical perspectives. Origins are central to the book because we have both observed the obstacles it can present for the acceptance of a life of faith and for the acceptance of a life with science.

 Over the last few years we have had periods of productivity and spells of passivity toward the project.  Now in this season, where writing is regular for me, I plan to leverage my keyboard time to perform double duty for the purposes of blogging and making progress on the book.

My part for the book is primarily to articulate science.  One of the biggest challenges for me has been to formulate a balance between the essentials of the science and the essence of the story that is science.  I hope to use this blog, and this series “The Essentials” to sort through what is important, what is interesting and what should be left on the cutting room floor.

Again I look forward to feedback on these areas including what you think is essential to the faith/science discussion. Please use the comment section to get the conversation going.