On Writing Habits: An Autobiography of My Writing Journey

Or, Why Writing Bleeds

I love writing! Hemingway blissfully summarized the endeavor:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Writing is like a deep cut, a dark night of the soul--an angst to get a message across that communicates but also pierces the reader and the writer himself.

I confess it has not always been a love affair. Throughout most of my youth, it was easier to put on a pair of shoes…well, to be clear, it was much easier playing soccer bare-footed with my friends in northeastern Brazil using a homemade concoction with all its roundness. Like any Brazilian, futebol was my life. It was the judge of our national mood. On Monday morning, anyone could decipher my emotions simply by knowing whether my soccer team won or not in the weekend round. Those days were simple and happy. I allowed others to do the persuasion for me.

On the other hand, my educational habits were decent but left much to be desired. I have written and spoken about my literary flourishment in the late 90s. When I attended high school in the U.S. in my eighteenth year of age, I was forced to read Dickens' "The Tale of Two Cities." I read it in two days. It was quite a feat for someone who barely, if ever, read before that. Since that time, I have gained an enormous appreciation for reading. I am a testament to the fact that those who didn’t treasure reading in their early years can have a massive shift in their habits.

In my senior year, I attended a Brethren congregation in Pennsylvania. The pastor, now deceased, was a lovely man who encouraged me to pursue my studies. They had a morning and evening service on Sundays, which allowed me to share an occasional testimony and a guitar piece, and at least once, they allowed an 18-year-old to preach. I can’t recall the sermon's content, but I remember taking some notes to the pulpit. It was my first official sermon, though it was more like a spontaneous burst of words rather than an orderly vocabulary display. Though I was interested in theology, I had no interest in pursuing my father’s footsteps in the pulpit. Pulpit ministry seemed arduous and required too much intellectual dedication. Beyond a pulpiteer, my father was a university professor, well-versed in words, a track I did not care to pursue.

When college came around, I began to write papers consistently. They were functional and utilitarian papers. I wanted a good grade and wrote them without the intention of making them precise and purposeful. Then came my election to student body chaplaincy. Suddenly I had to address 700 people in a 15-minute sermon. The spontaneity of words no longer had the same appeal as they did in a little Brethren congregation. But before that first address, I received an opportunity to talk to a youth group at a beach event. It was a great test before addressing a massive crowd. I used a prepared manuscript and read it to them with all the gusto I had. They were my first intentional words to an audience 23 years ago. It was written down carefully and precisely. I noted that everyone had a clear sense of what I said from what I wrote.

I pity those first listeners, but I don’t pity the lessons I learned that day. It was the first time I wrote succinctly. Since then, I have written close to 600 sermons and 100 or so lectures, coupled with a few books and hundreds of articles.

That first practice allowed me to hone my writing and think carefully about everything I say and write publicly. It really was a shift in my thinking about writing. My first sermon—a topical look at Deuteronomy 8—went well, though a young lady present remembers me pacing exceedingly. She is now my wife, so I think my pacing was enchanting.

After one of my sermons in college, someone asked me for a copy of the manuscript. I had the brilliant idea of inquiring one of my nerdy friends about his skills to start a Geocities account. Yes, it was that long ago. I posted my first sermon manuscript there, and since then, I have started at least five websites as venues for my writing. I began blogging in 2004 before it became a societal phenomenon. Blogging has forced me to articulate my thoughts. Sometimes they weren’t clear, but it forced me to think through my words carefully.

All the writing has led to a host of questions, exemplified by a friend who asked how I could write so often. I honestly have not stopped to think about it, except to say that writing is a habit that I have worked on for two decades. It reminds me of a question a group of us asked R.C. Sproul once. R.C., how long does it take for you to write your sermons? To which Dr. Sproul answered, “40 years!” I suspect that answer was rehearsed, and he gave it more than once. But it was brilliant, and I think my work in writing is simply the movement of time. Of course, R.C.’s 40 years would be equivalent to 100 of mine, but I still like to think my journey has borne some fruit.

Of course, I find myself needing constant reminders. I still have insecurities which is why I edit my work dozens of times before it goes live, and still, I find incoherencies and inconsistencies.

I have had the privilege of participating in and writing a few published works. Looking back, I am sure they could receive another share of editing. But I am glad I wrote them because they removed the perfectionism so common in good writers who never write anything.

There is so much to say, but I wanted to lay out at least three principles for writing that have helped me through the years.

The first is the principle of plodding articulated in Douglas Wilson’s latest book, Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work. Wilson writes:

”Productivity is more a matter of diligent, long-distance hiking than one-hundred-yard dashing. Doing a little bit now is far better than hoping to do a lot on the morrow. So redeem the fifteen-minute spaces. Chip away at it.”

Doug’s productivity is phenomenal. I think he’s way past his 100th book. I also learned from Doug that carrying a book everywhere with you on kindle or a physical copy is a crucial component of the writing journey. I once estimated that I lost over 30-60 minutes a day waiting for people or in transition when I could be reading, writing, or listening. It is also good practice for writers to take a little notebook to write down phrases or ideas that they may use for a future article. Life itself provides themes, and I always find that those articles I least expected to write are most meaningful to me.

The second is the principle of reading broadly. I try to read about a novel a month. I am currently listening to Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Anyone who listened to my latest podcast noted my disdain for Mr. Collins. I have read it before, but listening to it has brought additional insights that I missed in my previous read.

It does not come naturally to me, but these days I try to read whatever novels my kids are reading at school. It’s been more enjoyable than I expected. I have found lovely phrases and use of language that inspired me to write more creatively. It also encourages us to go outside our comfort zone in writing about subjects we may not be experts in. There is no law against creativity. And, I do encourage a happy generalism from writers.

Finally, I urge the principle of courage. One of the greatest hindrances to writers today is their timidity. They write not, so they publish not. They may be incredibly gifted rhetorically but don’t have the discipline to sit down and re-write a talk for public consumption. They prefer to imagine when life will provide them with the perfect island for writing or when their children are grown. But there is no better time to write than now. There is no better time to make mistakes than now. There is no better time to hit the Publish button than now.

We may not all write well, and indeed most of us will get very few followers on our writing journeys. But if you treasure writing, don’t waste your time. There is a blank word document waiting for you. The bleeding is happy.

Epiphany Cheers,

Pastor Uri Brito

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Notas:

I will be speaking in Somersworth, NH, in February. If you are in the area, register here. I would be delighted to see you there. In the days after, I have a couple of speaking engagements in D.C. and Lancaster, PA. I will give some updates in the weeks ahead.

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