An Unconventional God-- Part Five<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BEN: I really enjoy your way with words. You write like a person who has had a good English lit degree, which I was fortunate enough to have in college.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Unconventional God-- Part Five\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BEN: I really enjoy your way with words. 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{"id":37799,"date":"2020-11-15T01:42:30","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T06:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=37799"},"modified":"2020-10-28T16:45:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T20:45:17","slug":"an-unconventional-god-part-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2020\/11\/15\/an-unconventional-god-part-five\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unconventional God– Part Five"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

JACK: Thank you, Ben. An author-friend, David Laskin, once told me about his experience as an English lit major in college (which I was not). The professor told him that his prose should match the character of the topic. (His was some bawdy Tom Jones novel, I think, so there the analogy ends!) I try to make sure every word, every phrase, every paragraph honors the Holy Spirit, not only in content but in elegance or rhetorical punch.<\/p>\n

There is no secret to my writing. (Again, thank you, Ben.) First, I write as often as time allows. I write regularly. I do not wait for inspiration.<\/p>\n

Second, I learn. My writing comes from excitement over what I am learning. I\u2019m keen, for example, on word searches, so my nose is nearly always in an Accordance. If I am learning, I can be excited about writing.<\/p>\n

Third, I am passionate. I do not divide my intellect from my emotions, my scholarship from my faith. They are fused at my core, and I hope that my writing reflects this fusion.<\/p>\n

Fourth, I read slowly. I observe. I note good writing. Turns of phrase. Stimulating ideas. I allow other authors to mentor me by how they write. I love a well-written book, and I drink deeply of them, often marking in the text or margins instances of great writing.<\/p>\n

Fifth, I revise. And revise. And revise. Endlessly. I probably spend as much time\u2014or more\u2014revising as I do writing. An editor once told me, \u201cAn author does not write. An author revises.\u201d This is true. And in that revision, I don\u2019t always follow, though I try, the adage, \u201cMurder your darlings.\u201d If something is too cute\u2014it\u2019s called a conceit, interestingly enough\u2014it has to go.<\/p>\n

Sixth, I write what I want to write, on the whole, rather than what others want me to write. What biblical scholar, in her right mind, would spend a lifetime with the Holy Spirit? It sets me outside the mainstream of scholarship. But I love it. I\u2019m passionate about the Holy Spirit. Priscilla and I told both our kids in college, \u201cFollow your passion.\u201d I do. I have. I will.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"