Writing Books
March 4th, 2010
The hardest thing I have ever done up until the present is write books. Why is it that most preachers do not write books? Perhaps there are two reasons: First, many preachers do not write books for the same reason monkeys do not talk—they have nothing to say. At least, that is why I did not write much until I was older. Second, preachers do not write books because it is hard. In my case, I would rather do just about anything than work on a book. It is much easier to work on a sermon, counsel, talk on the telephone, or make a visit. Writing requires enormous amounts of research, concentration, and effort. It is hard to find the time and energy for such an endeavor. In addition, rewriting is harder than writing. A friend said to me, “Writing is easy, rewriting is hard.” I have not found this to be the case. For me, writing is hard and rewriting is even harder.
Most authors I know agree that writing is hard. I used to believe that the books I enjoyed reading were easy to write, but it looks easy only because it is good writing, and good writing is hard. Samuel Johnson says, “What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure.”
J B Myers
Books: