Good Writing Needs Reps

 

Push Away the Excuses and Write

 Laziness and apathy keep us from writing. Laziness is easy to spot, it’s hours of YouTube clips on better running and UFO explainers. It’s filling productive time with unproductive habits. Apathy is related to laziness. It’s a lack of concern for personal improvement. Apathy excuses a lack of effort by reasoning that it doesn’t matter anyway. Laziness takes a nap, apathy just shrugs.

Writing is a discipline because it requires discipline. We have to work the muscle and remind ourselves why we started in the first place.

Inspiration  

Writing disabused me of the “inspiration fairy” a long time ago. That’s my phrase for complete writing ideas that drop out of the sky into my head. It’s never been true, but I still occasionally fall for it. Great ideas come from working through problems. If you’re unsure if an idea makes sense, expose it to the light. Let others read it. If it has holes, people will let you know. That’s a little scarry of course, because it forces you to put your work out there. Part of having a blog is exposure to criticism. But if you aren’t ready for that, there is a trial-and-error space. That is, the editing phase of your work.

My process for all blog related material is to edit, not only grammar and spelling but also descriptions. By descriptions I mean, explainers about how a thing works. For instance, I wrote an article on how technocrats rule cities. I didn't use a textbook definition of the word technocrat, but I did explain enough of the process to make my point. When you make a point in an article like that, you need to get the facts right. Sometimes it requires more research than you would’ve liked. Occasionally, the sheer breadth of a subject forces me to abandon it altogether. Once you realize that you don’t really understand it, save the article you’ve started for that folder on your hard drive. Get back to writing about those things that you have some prior knowledge of.

Prior Knowledge

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t stretch your wings a bit and learn about another subject. But I’d limit strong opinions until you’ve got a firmer grasp. If you want to know what this sounds like when a novice comes on strong with an opinion, listen to a podcast where host and guest discuss the Bible with no relationship to it. It’s embarrassing. Not that only experts can talk on topic, but the conversation is worthless without some prior knowledge of scripture. There can also be real harm to the listener from a dishonest host. I made a similar error. I wrote a book review of George Gilder’s Life After Google without really understanding the technology he was describing. It made for a weak review despite my best efforts.

Apathy

That about sums about the laziness part, what about the apathy part? The national news has no shortage of opinions and hot takes. There is a sense that my writing is just blowing hot air into an August breeze. “Does anyone need my view of an issue that’s already been covered ad nauseum by writers that get paid to do this?” That’s apathy. That’s a way of minimizing your opinions, writing and solutions. It’s not a good excuse. You can use that phrase for every article. “Why write anything then?” comes the response. “If you don’t matter then you don’t matter?” But the goal of writing and sharing it is twofold. You need practice for one. It’s the most basic principle of sharpening any skill. You need the reps. The best way to get good pieces of writing is to stack up bad pieces of writing.

Second, you’re learning how to process information and propose solutions. This can only be done through writing out the individual parts and trying to put them together. Sometimes they don’t fit and you bring in new pieces while discarding old ones. Problem solving can be done exclusively through the mind, but good luck trying to sell it to others without writing it down. At some point you need to communicate the solution. Writing forces you to work out the kinks of your plan. It shows you right where the weak points are by highlighting the inconsistencies.

Let’s not forget, writing is communication. Good ideas need to be explained.

Tone

In 2016 I wrote a review of Peter Thiel’s speech at the Republican National convention. I couldn’t quite explain why it bothered me so much. It seemed he was asking the culture warriors (Christians) to put aside their offense taking at transgender and gay issues. He thought it was a distraction from more important economic issues. I struggled to explain why it felt misguided. That one article took at least 3 full edits before I finally settled on something articulate. I’m not sure if it hit the mark, but my arguments were straightforward and logical. Getting the tone right matters too. Thiel understands how culture issues are intentionally divisive. I wanted to give him credit for that, while still showing how he missed the mark.

At this stage (novice) of writing I’m not trying to convince anyone to change their mind. That requires a herculean lift and one that comes with a lot of pressure. Apathy makes sense if the standard for prose is to change minds. Instead, try to offer an opinion that hasn’t been explored. Here too, we need to understand the existing narratives in the world. In college I considered myself a Libertarian thinker. It’s a philosophy that works well in a society of law and order. No one cares if the otherwise responsible neighbor smoke pot on occasion. Once drugs are legalized and the borders are open however, taking away legal constraints feels irresponsible. I tried to show this in my Libertarians and Drugs article. First, I needed to understand how they argue. What do they think a government’s role should be? How would they organize society? What constitutes morality? I discovered that true libertarians don’t believe in God and think very little of the humans He created.

Conclusion

I don’t know if I changed any minds, but I needed the problem solving that comes with argumentation. Laziness and apathy aren’t the same but they do overlap. Once you’ve cast off the reasons that hold you back from writing, you lose your excuses. I know I do. Inspiration comes from just sitting down and writing. I’ve never had an inspiration fairy drop complete ideas into my head. The best you can expect is to get an idea seed. After that, it’s up to you to work out the kinks. You’ll be glad you did. No more exuses. 

 

Walking in Faith and Counting the Joy

 

I'd Rather Be Jogging: Cardio Reluctance and Spiritual Growth

I’ve been going on prayer walks for the last few weeks. Not every night, but at least a few times per week I circle the neighborhood in prayer. Half of my neighborhood is an industrial park that flows into housing developments from the 30s and 40s. Watching a friend’s podcast on prayer walks got me curious. Walking is great after a meal anyway, I decided while the sun is still high enough in the sky I’d go. Once we hit October it gets too late for after dinner walks. I’m always sad for the colder temps and winter. It’s not the icy weather necessarily, but the loss of light. The early and late light is the best part of summer.

Just Cardio

I’ve struggled this year to maintain my 20 miles per week for jogging. My knees are quite sore, Runner’s Knee it’s called. The opportunity I have is to believe in God’s healing power over my life. I’m eager for a restored body. I’m doing strengthening exercises to force the knee to manage a heavier load. But until it’s healed, I’m finding other ways to do cardio. Walking is less strenuous on the knees, so I do a lot of it. Biking is as well, but I’m less familiar with where to begin. That probably seems daft. “Just climb on the seat and pedal moron!”

 I won’t say I don’t know how to ride a bike, but the last time I owned a bike I was in high school.

Then, it was a mountain bike. It seemed the best of both worlds, street and rough terrain. A lot of my friends from the running club have road bikes. That seemed the best option for me without a specific spot to go ride trails. We do have Turkey Mountain, but I’m more of a street rider anyway. And if a lot of the people I run with own ride road bikes, it makes more sense to follow their lead. Last Saturday I did. Purchased an alloy Cannondale that cost almost $2000. That’s a lot more than I ever expected to spend. But since high school was the last time I bought a bike, the inflation caught me off guard.

Just Pedal 

In my defense it was over 30 years ago. I didn’t need to spend that much. But the price point seemed to be in the middle of what legit bikes go for. No way was I going to spring for a carbon frame and double the price. Especially since I’m not sure how much riding I’m going to do.

During Covid I bought a stationary bike from a guy on Facebook marketplace. A familiar injury forced me to stop running then too. The bike worked well on low and medium speeds but gave an irritating whine whenever I ramped it up and tried to go hard. I had a local repair guy fix it. He put in new ball bearings, but the sound never went away. I finally gave up on it and stuck it in the corner. I mention the ordeal because it’s the last time I was even remotely interested in exercise that wasn’t jogging related. That’s always going to be my first love. But here I am again, looking for an alternative cardio fitness option while my knees recover. I’m in a better spiritual place this time because I’ve grown in faith. The only way to grow in faith is to step out and let God show you His promises in action. It’s frightening at first. We stumble around, unsure if we’re doing it right, looking for answers like a light switch in a dark room.

Just Walk

There’s usually a lot of yelling about the unfairness of it all. Immaturity gets us all at first. But with every trial we take another step toward the voice of God, calling us to keep going. He leads us further into the dark and our apprehension melts away. He gives us the strength to keep going with more faith each time. Eventually we stop questioning the “why’s” and “wherefores” of the situation. The sooner we recognize His control the sooner we let go. The Holy Spirit is called the helper. We are the doer. When we do, He helps.

I’m remembering what the last injury was like that sidelined me for a few months. During that time though I didn’t run at all. Now at least I’m still jogging on Saturdays. I signed up to be a run lead again and I didn’t want to let them down. Should I quit altogether for a few months? Maybe, but for now I’ll stick to Saturdays only. I have some of the same attitudes towards cardio that I had during my plantar fasciitis injury. If I can’t run, I’ll have to fill that void with something similar.

Conclusion

I noticed a guy doing an early jog at the fairgrounds this morning while I drove past on my way to work. That envious feeling gripped me for just a few seconds as I wished I could join him. Early morning runs fill me with such joy that it’s hard to overstate. I don’t mean the entire event is bliss. Really, it’s quite miserable in the heat, but at certain points in the run I feel amazing. Who knew that such a difficult, grueling experience could produce such a feeling of exuberance?

James says it like this, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (Chapter 1:2-4)

The kingdom of Cain: A Book Review

 

Cain, Abel and the Literature of Infamous Murders

What is it about the first murder that explains so much about human nature?

Summary

Cain, Abel, and their relationship to the Creator, are the starting point for an exploration on the literature of three historic murders. As a crime writer, Andrew Klavan is perfect for this assignment. It’s part history and part philosophy but reads like a treatise. The history is just the retelling of the infamous murders, while the philosophy is what we find in literature those murders inspired. Klavan takes on both parts but spend more time with the philosophy. He makes a strong case that a world without God is decadent and cruel. The world God made inspires art and beauty and creation; the world of fallen man inspires idolatry, ugliness and murder. Klavan sprinkles some personal testimony throughout the book as well.

 He is Christian Jew who came to Christ as an adult. An intellectual who loved the writings of the Marquis De Sade and Frederick Nietzsche, but recognized the dead end that rejecting God leads to. It’s in the spirit of that separation between light and dark that The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness begins.

The French Dandy

He examines three historical murders that inspired books and plays, loosely based on them. The first is a French murder by a pair of criminals, Pierre Francois Lacenaire and Victor Avril. They broke into the home of a local con man to steal money and ended up killing both the man and his mother. Hardly any money was found. But Lacenaire was a sharp dresser and an articulate man from an upper-class family. He excused his murderous instincts by blaming society and an unfair life. The murder inspired Fyodor Dostoevsky to write Crime and Punishment about a similar character named Roskalnikov. In the book however, the murderer becomes overwhelmed with guilt over the killing of two innocents. The story shows how a belief in God is essential for moral order, while a lack of believe causes chaos and death.

This contrast between a God’s way and our way is where the tension lies in our hearts. Those who reject a moral path, like Cain, replace His sovereignty with their own. In place of an ordered reality, they create a living hell. Klavan shows how the opposite of murder is creation. God creates us and we create in His image. Or we reject Him and bring death into the world.

Chicago Deviants 

That was the case with the murderous Chicago lovers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, in the 1920s. Both were disciples of Frederick Nietzsche and wanted to commit the perfect murder. Both were from wealthy families and intellectually gifted. Richard Loeb graduated from college at 17. They assumed their social status and privilege would be enough to get away with murder. They picked up 14-year-old Bobby Franks, a relative of Loeb, and killed him in the back seat. They dumped his body in the woods a few miles from the city, but Loeb accidentally dropped his glasses at the scene. After that, they plead guilty but avoided the death penalty thanks to the celebrity defense attorney Clarence Darrow.

Based on the famous trial, Alfred Hitcock filmed a movie called Rope, in which two gay lovers strangle and kill another to prove their superiority. The point of the movie is that, without a moral order people will create their own version of it. It’s based on the ideas found in Nietzschean philosophy on the idea of Übermensch. An Übermensch is a superhuman with high intellect that breaks away from the stricture moral order and creates another in place of it. The gay college friends in Rope who murder a classmate are steeped in this philosophy. I looked at a couple of reviews of the movie because I’ve never seen it. There is more fascination with the way Hitchcock shot the film to look like one continuous take, instead of about the murder itself. Apparently, Jimmy Stewart is fantastic as always.

Women Torturer

As for the final murder, Klavan summarizes the monster known as Ed Gein from Plainfield, Wisconsin. I won’t go into detail here. It’s as grizzly as it gets and I’d rather not recount his demonic crimes. But it’s worth noting that the movie Psycho was based on him, also the Silence of the Lambs in part was as well. The details of his heinous acts are mercifully short in the book. But detestable people like Gein can still serve to show us how depraved humanity can be.

Klavan isn’t interested in the murders themselves, but in how they’re used in culture to make points or show a moral universe. The art that comes from them is a warning to us about sexual depravity or vanity or selfish ambition. Those idols that take the place of God in our lives. The book also tries to show how human phycology, especially the Fruedian variety, is being used to explain devient behavior from the murderers. There is no better example of this than from the Leopold and Loeb trial. Clarrence Darrow argued that the boys shouldn't be given the death penalty because "forces beyond their control" made them do it. 

I think the author's point is that with rejection of Christian morality comes a lack of accountability for one's actions. Human phycology, rooted in evolutionary theory, is used all the time in court room settings. It's a way of explaining crime from a non Christian worldview and providing an excuse. 

Conclusion

A lot of the criticism I read about this book, didn’t think Klavan made the case that Christians can benefit from art that is salacious. I didn’t get the feeling from reading this book, that he thinks all paintings or movies or books are artistic. Some are trash and he’d probably agree. But when done right, artistic expression that illuminates good and beautiful things is a reflection of the Creator.  

The best parts of the book, in either case, is the author’s own history with the philosophy of Nietzsche and de Sade. His transformation from a lost soul to a new creation is what gives his words deep meaning. Andrew Klavan came to Christ because of a hole in atheism’s argument about a world without God. De Sade at least, according to the author, was the only consistent atheist. He reasoned that the only moral imperative was to increase one’s own power at the expense of others. That kind of thinking leads to what you get with the Marquis, imprisoned for his deviant sexual crimes. It also leads to leaders like Hitler and Pol Pot.

None of is immune from idolatrous thinking. Cain and Abel had the same parents, the same teaching and the same opportunity. One submitted to God’s way and the other rejected Him. Jealousy put Cain on a path toward death. Andrew Klavan's book is a fascinating read and I would recommend it to anyone. It’s a short book that will make you want to buy more of his writing.