It boils down to this: traditional vs. ebook.

I certainly enjoy the benefits of publishing online, and presenting material in a downloadable, read-on-a-screen format. I have done exponentially more reading online this past year as I follow blogs and have had some access to epublications, and I really do enjoy it. I love reading on the go, even on the small screen of my iPhone. It is flat out convenient.

But then there is this feeling of having a book in your hands, letting the pages flick under your fingers. Sitting it on a bookshelf, scribbling in the margins on a second read through. There isn’t a feeling that can match cracking open the cover of a book you’ve been waiting to read.

It’s kind of like giving up CDs and buying albums on itunes. Sure it’s conveneint, but there is just something about holding the CD in your hands, having the jewel case that you I will lose and the insert that adds no value to the music.

Of course, there is always room for both; it doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario. I just wonder, could I be happy with a book published exclusively online? I am completely happy producing material like the Going Pro resource online, as I feel it is the best way to distribute free material. But a book…I am just not sure.

Do you have any thoughts on the issue?Do you read ebooks, or stick to traditionally printed books?

I was wrong.

That post, where I communicated three simple goals, has become the single greatest motivation in my writing of this year. Not necessarily the post itself, but what it represented. It was the first step in my journey of going pro with my writing.

I can say that looking back, I have met and exceeded some of the goals. I have posted at least five times each week since then, if I am not mistaken. The majority of the time, I have posted six or seven times. During this time, readership has steadily rose. I decided to start blogging daily, and with a tighter focus, in order to maintain a sense of accountability to my writing and to you, the reader. This has paid off in a huge way for my personally, taking on the mindset of a professional blogger (despite not actually generating income from the blog*). Also, in that time, I landed my first ever paid writing gig, with an article in COLLIDE magazine. I am convinced that I would not have pursued that opportunity without first taking on the mindset of a professional writer.

I will admit that I have not spent as much away from the blog as I would have hoped, but that will soon change as Baby Mahlstadt is set to arrive on the scene within a month!

So as I glance back at the first half of the year, I like what I see. And as I look to the future, I am pumped for what’s to come. Thanks for hanging around and reading this stuff.

You matter. Here’s to the rest of 2010, and beyond!

*See the Going Pro resource; the going pro mindset.

I sent a section of the book I am working on to the designer this past week. She is extremely talented, and the design of the book is going to be every bit as good (and probably better) than the content. You can catch a few exerpts of the book here, here and here. The working title is A Creative Theology.

I sent off a few questions to a major authority in the church/technology field that will become a part of an article dealing with church and non-profit leaders navigating our app-laden culture. I am excited to see what he has to say on the subject, and hopefully we will all get see his responses sprayed throuohut a piece published in a magazine. I am sending off the query today. Always makes me nervous.

I am working with the material from the Going Pro series, developing a packet/booklet thingy that will have each post, expanded and full of greatness in a PDF format. You can expect that by the end of this week. I hope it will be content you enjoy and find useful.

Part of the illusion of being a creative (and I am including entrepreneurs because I think they have just as heavy a burden of creativity as artists) is that you have to be spontaneous, flighty and always shooting from the hip.

There is more danger in those attributes than potential creative mojo. The creative who breaks through, writes the book, launches the business, starts the charity, etc. is the one who got themselves organized and carves out the time in their schedule to do the work. While you will certainly have eureka moments on the fly, these should be the great exception, not the norm.Keep a pen and paper handy at all times as to not let these slip, but don’t go looking for them.

Eureka moments, those times where you finally think of the solution, the perfect sentence to end the chapter, the ideal location for the shop or the perfect local partner only happen after you have scheduled yourself time to think about and plan such issues.

I understand the difficulty of making time to pursue your creative venture, I have worked several jobs with irregular hours, and am now transitioning to an 8-5. It’s easy to say, “I’ll get to it when I have time,” but the truth is – there will never be time if you don’t make it.

Start your morning earlier, stay up an hour later, research during a work break or rearrange your recreation. It is more difficult to carve out time to work on something that may or may not succeed, but none of us are as busy as we think we are. We all have time, the pro is the one who manages it.

Are you a pro?

I have to ask myself this intentionally, because my writing isn’t my livelihood, at least not yet. If I don’t approach writing, not only this blog but also pieces for publication, with a sense of professionalism, I will quit.

Herein lies the difference between the professional and the amateur. You get busy, schedules get overwhelming, writer’s block sets in, life happens. It is in these moments where you succeed or fail. Will you sit down and write, take the time to create and carve out an editing session anyway? Or will you give in to the one-two punch of time crunch and fatigue, sit down and watch an episode of reruns?

I became convinced of my need to take my writing pro after a conversation with a personal hero, and then even more convinced after reading The War of Art.

Now, as I continue to consider what this means in my context, I would like to invite you along. The rest of this week will feature content, products and strategies to transition from amateur to pro. If you have any of the aforementioned items leaping from the top of your head and/or the tip of your tongue, do share.

When the Inquisitor ceased speaking he waited some time for his Prisoner to answer him. His silence weighed down upon him. He saw that the Prisoner had listened intently all the time, looking gently in his face and evidently not wishing to reply. The old man longed for him to say something, however bitter and terrible. But He suddenly approached the old man in silence and softly kissed him on his bloodless aged lips. That was all his answer. The old man shuddered. His lips moved. He went to the door, opened it, and said to Him: ‘Go, and come no more… come not at all, never, never!’ And he let Him out into the dark alleys of the town. The Prisoner went away.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

‘Is it Thou? Thou?’ but receiving no answer, he adds at once. ‘Don’t answer, be silent. What canst Thou say, indeed? I know too well what Thou wouldst say. And Thou hast no right to add anything to what Thou hadst said of old. Why, then, art Thou come to hinder us? For Thou hast come to hinder us, and Thou knowest that. But dost thou know what will be to-morrow? I know not who Thou art and care not to know whether it is Thou or only a semblance of Him, but to-morrow I shall condemn Thee and burn Thee at the stake as the worst of heretics. And the very people who have to-day kissed Thy feet, to-morrow at the faintest sign from me will rush to heap up the embers of Thy fire. Knowest Thou that? Yes, maybe Thou knowest it,’ he added with thoughtful penetration, never for a moment taking his eyes off the Prisoner.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

At the end of the exercise, we went back and compared the written sections to the song that inspired the writing. You could see a clear correlation to the rhythm of the song and the rhythm of the writing. The mood of the song was reflected in the writing that ensued.

Since that exercise, I have continued to understand the importance of both inspiration and surrounding when it comes to writing. I will often mix up what I am listening to when I am facing writer’s block or struggling to finish a project. So when I stumbled across Ghostly Discovery on the 99% website, it was love at first site. After I downloaded the free 99% and Ghostly Spring Music Mix playlist, I am totally sold.

Here is a demo video of how the app works, and here’s to conquering the Resistance!

The truth is, and you can verify this with any writer or English teacher worth their salt, is that the true creativity is found in the editing. It takes limited talent to mind dump on a page or brainstorm in a notebook. Often times, when you try to write a story, the characters act on their own free will anyways, abandoning the plans you had for them. The pre-writing phase of crafting a story may be what intimidates people, but it is the easiest part of writing. You may have heard writers say the most important part of the writing process is simply starting. That is because once you let ideas flow, and begin to move, the real creativity begins.

People tend to believe the most talented creatives are the ones with vivid imaginations. I would beg to differ. The most talented creatives are the ones who plant themselves in the editing chair and fight the resistance as they dig up sentences from their roots, lamenting their pointlessness.

As I mentioned in the post, Living a Good Story, I am deeply afraid of living a boring life. It is the editing process of both stories and life that take the most work, requires our creativity, and makes it all worthwhile.

Fun fact about the phrase “worth their salt” for the inquisitive – click here.