Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The Sabbatical is Over!

After a month off, I've finally stored up enough thoughts to be able to post on a fairly regular schedule. As most of us have experienced, writing has its rich times as well as its dry times. Times come when the words seem to flow like rivers; at other times nothing even remotely interesting comes to mind. And let's be honest, few things are more discouraging than knowingly writing a dull blog.

So, what do you do when the compositional gears of the mind are stuck in neutral? Three things have helped me through this recent valley: 1) Read good stuff, 2) Enjoy enriching hobbies, and 3) Take some time off.

To reinforce the application of these three tips, I'm going to spend the remainder of this post and the next two highlighting how I practice each principle.

Read Good Stuff

Most who like to write also have a love of reading, a fortunate connection. Reading restores the verbal well and stretches the mental muscles. If you are always putting out but never taking in, you'll soon run dry! One key to get the most "bang for the buck" in your reading is to diversify your consumption. Read different topics and different authors. The broader your reading list, the deeper your writing.

If you do not know where to start, here's 5 must reads:

1. Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels

2. Power Through Prayer by E. M. Bounds

3. Dinner with a Perfect Stranger by David Gregory

4. Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels

5. From Every People and Nation by J. Daniel Hays

What about you? What books do you recommend?

1 comment:

Scott Gottreu said...

I've been reading:

1. Technology & Spirituality: How the Information Revolution Affects Our Spiritual Lives by Stephen K. Spyker

2. Servant on the Edge of History
by Sam James

3. And to help break up the dryness of my textbooks, Dark Watch by Clive Cussler