This blog is updated semi-bi-weekly on a daily basis (in other words, for the most part, this is updated weekly, give or take some days here and there). Come by and leave your comments. You may subscribe to an email notification list by going down to the column below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Miller Time

Monday 3:39 pm- I just realized that it is only 3 hours and 21 minutes till the Donald Miller book tour. I hope I’m not placing too much pressure on him to be brilliant. I’ve wanted to hear him speak ever since I finished his first book. My daughter told me I should read “Blue Like Jazz,” a “must-read” according to her. Okay, okay… I confess that I thought “how nice” and then promptly ignored it in lieu of other activities. But her continued … ahem… “encouragement” eventually moved me to make time for reading. Suffice it to say that she was right and we have since had great conversations about that book.

Time passes. Miller writes another book, this one entitled, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” But this time, it only takes the brief suggestion of a daughter and a friend to go get the book and devour it. I’ve read it only once (the implication here is that I will be reading it again) and I’m looking forward to hearing whatever it is Miller will be sharing tonight.
Monday 6:45 pm- Arrived at the venue and we have located seats as close to the front as possible. I pull out my notebook and pen. I don’t want to miss anything. I notice I’m not the only one with that thought.

Monday 8:54 pm-
The post-tour-bus-ride-home-discussion question of “What did you think” is touched upon. There was a lot to take in tonight, some of which I converse about, some I retain and ponder awhile.

Monday 11:04 pm- I’m finally settling in to finish my thoughts, but my thoughts are still meandering about and not ready to settle down. I can only say Donald Miller’s talk was insightful, entertaining, inspirational and challenging. I appreciate his take on narrative and how we use it (cognitively or without realizing its usage), and his definition of what makes a good story. He shared that a good story has “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.” A compelling story as a character sacrificing something for others, and it contains conflict. When you merely look at these writing “tricks” as for writers only, you miss out on the richness that it brings to the discussion of what makes a great story in real life.

For quite some time before this book even came out, I was contemplating the narrative of life and how important our stories are. This book has taken that thought to a higher plain and has beautifully described the writing process. His talk tonight connected it to the living process. Too many gems in my notes and in his book to share. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a writer wanting to write great stories, and to anyone who is ready to live a great story out there. Read it, then go live a great story.

No comments: