Why Twitter is Good for Me

My mother often tells me that I talk too much.  I say things in a round-about way that takes longer than necessary. I am sure this is true, although I have never had to listen to myself speak.

This bad habit shows up in my writing as well.  I realized this in high school, so I developed a way to work around it.  I didn’t want to have to stop the flow of my thoughts as I was writing in order to use words more economically.  Instead, I wrote whatever I wanted, however I wanted.  When I was done, I’d cut out anywhere from 25-30% of my writing.  By putting my ramblings on the chopping block, I ended up with a better product than I would have had otherwise.  Of course, this is just one aspect of the editorial process.  I still have much to learn about writing prose that says what I need to say without rambling, but I hope I am getting better.  

I think Twitter will take me to a new level of using words economically.  When I have to express my thought in 140 characters or less, I have to choose my words more carefully.  Hopefully, over time, I’ll get better at writing well-crafted, more powerful sentences the first time around.

I’ll know I’m getting closer to that goal when I take my work to the chopping block...and only leave 10-15% behind.  I’ll really know I’ve arrived if Mom no longer has to remind me that I am talking too much.

(18% was left on the chopping block for this post. I still have a way to go.)

Count the Cost

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”  (Luke 14 28-30)

This principle of counting the cost was brought home to me in a tangible way this past week.  No, it wasn’t the same kind of application that Jesus had immediately in mind when He said these words, but I think the principle is still valid.  Last week, I published “From Captive to Conqueror” as an eBook on Amazon.  THEN, I read a lot of information from a few other sources that told me of a whole lot of other things that I should have been doing over the last nine months or more before I ever published the book.  Things like writing a blog.  Build a following on Twitter.  Actually pay attention to my Facebook page.  Things to help others know who I am and what I am doing.  As far as the book itself, I needed to come up with a better cover...  OK enough of that.  It’s a bit tiring to think about it.  So now, even though I am doing it a bit late, I AM counting the cost.  I trust that in the end, God will use “Conquerors” for His honor and glory.

Just getting started with blogging

This has been an interesting couple of days.  Yesterday, I finally, after 10 years in the making, published my first, but hopefully not my last, Kindle book.  "From Captive to Conqueror" is making it's debut today on amazon.com. I've spent much of today doing things like creating this blog, and developing a couple social networks.  Right now, I must say I have been sitting in front of my computer for far too long today.  My eyes need a rest.  But I look forward to blogging some more within the next couple of days.