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Writing

Be What You Aspire To Become

Jan 20th, 2011
by Michael Krahn.
6 comments

I forget which book it was in (I’m guessing “A Circle of Quiet”), but Madeleine L’Engle said something that I read years ago that I took to heart and applied to my life. She said: “I am a not a writer because I have been published; I am a writer because I write.”

Grasping this bit of wisdom transformed my writing output from a drip into a torrent. Released of the obligation to be validated as that which I aspired to be, I recognized myself as already being that and proceeded from there.

I wrote, so I was already a writer.

It didn’t mean that my writing was any good yet, but as I grew into the identity that she gave me permission inhabit, it got better.

If you aspire to be something and are passionate about it, and if you are acting on that aspiration and that passion, then you already ARE  what you aspire to be.

If you write, you are a writer. If you run, you are a runner. And if you engineer music, you are a music engineer.

In most cases you can do yourself a favor by removing the words “aspiring” and “professional” from your vocabulary. Waiting to be recognized as a “professional” will hinder your journey towards actually becoming one.

Now go, be what you aspire to become. Go write something. Go for a run. Go engineer some music.

I Like To Talk Real Good

Nov 1st, 2010
by Michael Krahn.
No comments yet

Maybe you don’t need more encouragement to be neurotic about the English language… but here it is anyway: (watch)

Read Until Your Brain Creaks

Jun 22nd, 2010
by Michael Krahn.
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After watching Collision, I suspected that I might have found a new hero in Douglas Wilson, and indeed I have. Solid, opinionated, clever, and  intelligent, Wilson’s online writings are the ones I least frequently skip.

For example, here are 7 tips he recently offered other writers about reading. I’m sure that he would agree with me though that there is a danger of “Intellectual Obesity.”

Below are the highlights. Stroll on over to Blog & Mablog to read more.

1. The first thing is that writers should in fact be voracious readers.
We live in a narcisstic age, which means that many want to have the praise that comes from having written, without the antecedent labor of actually writing, or the antecedent labor before that of having read anything.

2. Read widely.
Reading shapes your voice, and if you want a wide, experienced voice, you have to get out more.

3. Read like a reader, and not like someone cramming for a test.
If you try to wring every book out like it was a washcloth full of information, all you will do is slow yourself down to a useless pace. Go for total tonnage, and read like someone who will forget most of it.

4. Read like a lover of books, and not like someone who wants to be seen as knowledgable, or well-read, or scholarly.
Read because you want to, not because you need to. Actually, you need to as well, but you need to want to. You also need to want to need to, but I am rapidly getting out of my depth.

5. Pace yourself in your reading.
A little bit every day really adds up. If you only read during sporadic reading jags, the fits and starts will not get you anywhere close to the amount of reading you will need to do.

6. As a general pattern, read quality, and go slumming occasionally to remind yourself why quality matters, and what quality is.

7. Read boring books on writing mechanics.
Read grammars, dictionaries, writers’ memoirs, books of proverbs, books of cliches, books on how to write dialogue, books on how not to write dialogue (“I dropped my toothpaste!” he said crestfallenly.), and books about finding good agents and how to blow away the readers of query letters. Writing is a vocation, and there is a body of professional literature out there — which is uneven in quality, just like every other kind of book. Read a lot of it anyway.

(Yes, Kevin Abell, this is aimed at you)

Rescuing Worship

Jan 29th, 2010
by Michael Krahn.
7 comments

This week I reached a bit of a milestone. The appearance of a column entitled “Rescuing Worship” marks my first work published in a nation-wide publication – in this case, “Christian Week”. I will be doing a series of these posts throughout 2010 under the column heading “Worship Matters” (apologies to Bob Kauflin).

Here are the first few paragraphs. You can read the rest at the home page for my Worship Matters column here.

Rescuing Worship

Let’s reclaim “worship” as much more than a concert

By Michael Krahn  |  ChristianWeek Columnist

If you walk into almost any evangelical church and inquire about “worship,” you can expect to be directed to someone who leads music. “No, no,” you might say, “I’m looking for the people responsible for planning corporate worship at this church.” But it’s a lost cause.

In most churches, the battle is already over: music equals worship; worship equals music. The capacity to differentiate between the two is functionally non-existent. The “worship leader” is the person who leads the group of musicians we call the “worship team.” When these people are on the stage we’re worshipping; when they’re not we’re doing something else. Simple, right?

You may hear comments like, “After the worship, we’ll hear a sermon.” But if the sermon only begins after worship has left the building, we may as well head home before it starts.

This odd hegemony of music—not as one aspect of worship, but as worship itself—is a fairly recent construct. I believe it is a destructive trend in the modern church. What gave the music the right to demand so much?

Read the rest here.

Question 2: What Was/Is Your Musical Inspiration?

Jan 18th, 2010
by Michael Krahn.
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A few weeks ago I collected some questions from readers here – feel free to go there and add a few more. Below is the second question answered… actually its a series of three questions from Michael Segui. The questions are:

1. What musicians or style of music originally inspired you to take up music?

2. Do you still listen to these artists or that style of music today?

3. Who do you find inspiration from now?

_________________________________________________

1. What musicians or style of music originally inspired you to take up music?

I was raised on Gospel and country, back when country WAS country, not starlets with a hat, boots, and a push-up bra. We listened to stuff like Charley Pride, George Jones, and The Oak Ridge Boys and later on Dwight Yoakam, and Highway 101. Johnny Cash was ever-present and my dad is a huge Cash fan to this day.

Those were my early formative influences. In between those and the artists that inspired me to start writing is a wasteland called CCM (Contemporary Christian Music). Believing this music to be a legitimate alternative to that “dangerous secular rock and roll”, I spent some years as a junkie – consuming as much as I could… buying, cataloging and even, in my lowest moments, lip-syncing.

I eventually came out of the stupor of my CCM addiction only to realize that I have missed a lot of good rock and roll in the process. “What? That band sounds just like Petra!!!”  Sorry kid, other way around. Listening to CCM is like eating those foam marshmallow strawberries and being told that the real strawberries are the fakes. Of course, once you taste what you have been told is fake and the taste blows away what you’ve been told is “real”, you can imagine the shock outrage and lost time to be made up for.

But it was not all for naught. I had a front row seat to one of the most important things that happened in that subculture: the embracing of a new artistic ethic. Certain artists, who were Christians, refused to be part of the sub-culture, and these led me out of the wasteland. Which leads me to the second question…

2. What musicians or style of music originally inspired you to take up music?

The main reason I took up music, which would later be affirmed by both Mark Heard and Bill Mallonee, was this: it as a lot cheaper than therapy. I say that half in jest but I, like Heard and Mallonee, wrote with no ambitions to stardom. I wrote because I was depressed and cynical and was indwelt by a Spirit that wouldn’t allow me to fall completely into darkness. If that sounds a tad dramatic… it was at the time.

There are three main artists (and several lesser ones) that look large on the landscape during this time: Indigo Girls, Mark Heard, and Bill Mallonee.

I initially discovered Indigo Girls on a cassette tape in my friend Jacob’s little red Jetta, probably in 1989. They made a mild impression on me at the time, but my musical attention was focused elsewhere – on harder, more “manly” music. I’m not sure how I came back to checking them out but eventually I did somewhere around the time they put out the album “Swamp Ophelia”. This still ranks as my favorite album of theirs even though I have liked every one of them.

When I learned my first few chords, it was the G, Csus2, Dsus, D combination that makes up the musical signature of the song “Closer to Fine”. The chords for that song were the first ones I instructed my fingers to submit themselves to and play, and after many hours and much pain I played them pretty well.

The vocal melodies, harmonies, and counter-melodies brought to life by Amy Ray and Emily Saliers informs my work to this day.

Mark Heard was actually part of the CCM machine, but the kind of part that most of the machine wishes would go away. Possessed of enormous songwriting talent, Heard was by most accounts reclusive, cynical, and struggled with depression. And the songs, oh the songs… His album “Second Hand” contained songs that sustained me through a very pivotal time in my life (along with Indigo Girls’ “Swamp Ophelia” and Jan Krist’s “Decapitated Society” and “Wing and a Prayer”).

I was at the music festival at which Mark suffered what would turn out to be a fatal heart attack. When it happened I was about 100 feet away in another tent watching some CCM thrash punk band. Mark Heard? Hadn’t heard of him yet. My bad.

Bill Mallonee – wow, I started a book on him once that is still in progress. There is too much history between me, Mallonee’s music, and the man himself to do any justice here. Bill Mallonee is the reason I am a writer.  He was the pinnacle lyricist (during that time) that I had to emulate fully before I could branch off and do anything original. His influence is more important to me than Dylan, Cash, and anyone else I have or haven’t mentioned.

Ryan Adams came along at the tail end of my songwriting period and remains one of my treasured artists. I’m realizing this isn’t complete with Blue Rodeo, Counting Crows, Ron Sexsmith, Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle… and many others. This could turn into a full book of musical autobiography… maybe I’ll write that some day…

3. Who do you find inspiration from now?

Well, I don’t write many songs anymore. I hope to again someday but right now I am another kind of writer. I released two albums in 2000 and during the years of 1999-2003 I probably finished 100-150 songs and did good quality demos of 50-60 of them.

But I wouldn’t say I get that much inspiration anymore. I get moments of inspiration and aspiration when I listen to Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes)[picture above]. Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) has always given me the desire to write again. Brandi Carlile inspires me, but mostly amazes me.  Elvis Costello was a late find – I didn’t listen to him yet when I was a songwriter – who I aspire to write like. Jack White’s work with The Raconteurs always gives me a boost of ambition.

But I’m just not in that songwriter space right now. Who knows if I ever will be again…

Blogging and Search Term Traffic

Jan 4th, 2010
by Michael Krahn.
No comments yet

2009 was a good year of writing for me:
- My blog traffic was up 135% over 2008

- Because of my liveblogging of the Renov8 church planting congress in Calgary, I received an offer to write for a national Christian paper (Christian Week). The first of my six columns for 2010 will appear later this month.

- I got a link from the grand master of theo-bloggers (Tim Challies) to my new Christmas song “Glory to God on High“. To give you some idea of the power of the Challies, one link in his daily “A La Carte” post will add anywhere from 700 to 2000 pageviews to your post, depending on the content.

Below is a table of the search terms that brought the most traffic to my blog this year:

I have no idea why Ryan Adams brings so much traffic to my blog, but this post I put up on a whim one day in February attracts a lot of views.

Here’s to another 135% increase in traffic for 2010, and to the beginnings of a book to be published in… ?

Thanks for reading.

What Makes a Good Writer Good?

Dec 27th, 2009
by Michael Krahn.
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A good writer is someone who, regardless of the topic, makes prose sound like poetry. Christopher Hitchens is one, and so is Conrad Black, but I am most often impressed by George Jonas‘ work in the National Post.

Take this piece from yesterday’s Post: “Goodbye to paper, death and faxes”. Jonas is writing about technology – the demise of the fax machine in particular – but listen to how he turns these phrases:

“There will be no “pages” in their lives. Paper is becoming outmoded in the 21st century. People still use it, but more for reasons of personal hygiene than for writing or reading.”

“As the medical arts turned into medical sciences, individuals became less restrained themselves, but handed more powers of restraint to governments.”

“After boldly overthrowing the emperor who had no clothes, people meekly submitted to the tyranny of his tailor.”

This is good, lively, entertaining, and informative writing – regardless of the subject.

Who are the writers that bring the page alive for you?

New Song: “Something Good”

Oct 31st, 2009
by Michael Krahn.
6 comments

My 5-year-old daughter Olivia and I wrote a song today! It really was a co-writing effort. She came up with some of it and I came up with some of it. As a habit, I like to demo (which means roughly record) a song as soon after it’s written as possible, and we did that with this one. So what you’ll hear is a newborn song, about 10 minutes old, not completely formed but formed enough so that you get the idea. The lyrics might change a bit before it’s totally done but I think we have our melody.

It’s about two newborn baby birds and their mother. My favorite part (Olivia’s idea) is where the mother takes off to the roof of the Walmart for a party and stays out all night while her babies are hungry at home.

This is so exciting for me. Have a listen. Lyrics below if you want to follow along.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(right-click here to download the mp3)

Something Good
Written by Olivia Krahn and Michael Krahn (c) 2009

Mommy flew away to find some food
The babies stayed at home
The eggs were about to hatch
But mommy didn’t come back
Until the next morning

And when she came back two were waiting
Their mouths were open wide
Two new babies hatched in the nest
They had no food inside, and they said…

(chorus)
Give me berries, give me worms
Fill this empty tummy
Give me bugs, or give me twigs
I don’t care, just give me something good

Mommy filled their bellies, they felt so good
The babies felt at home
Mommy flew to Walmart
The party was about to start
She didn’t come back til morning

And when she came back two were waiting
Their mouths were open wide
Two new babies hatched in the nest
They had no food inside, and they said…

(chorus)
Give me berries, give me worms
Fill this empty tummy
Give me bugs, or give me twigs
I don’t care, just give me something good

Writing To Learn

Oct 26th, 2009
by Michael Krahn.
2 comments

Calvin, citing Augustine: “I count myself one of the number of those who write as they learn and learn as they write.”

John Piper: “Writing became the lever of my thinking and the outlet of my feelings. If I didn’t pull the lever, the wheel of thinking did not turn. It jerked and squeaked and halted. But once a pen was in hand, or a keyboard, the fog began to clear and the wheel of thought began to spin with clarity and insight.

Arthur Krystal: “Like most writers, I seem to be smarter in print than in person. In fact, I am smarter when I’m writing. I don’t claim this merely because there is usually no one around to observe the false starts and groan-inducing sentences that make a mockery of my presumed intelligence, but because when the work is going well, I’m expressing opinions that I’ve never uttered in conversation and that otherwise might never occur to me. Nor am I the first to have this thought, which, naturally, occurred to me while composing. According to Edgar Allan Poe, writing in Graham’s Magazine, ‘Some Frenchman—possibly Montaigne—says: ‘People talk about thinking, but for my part I never think except when I sit down to write.’ I can’t find these words in my copy of Montaigne, but I agree with the thought, whoever might have formed it. And it’s not because writing helps me to organize my ideas or reveals how I feel about something, but because it actually creates thought or, at least supplies a Petri dish for its genesis.”

HT: JT

Review – “The Edge of His Cloak” by Kevin Abell

Oct 22nd, 2009
by Michael Krahn.
3 comments

I’m not entirely sure how to start this review. I could start by telling you that I have been aware of Kevin Abell for a long time. We went to the same high school. But that wouldn’t tell you very much about his book and you might think I am reviewing this book because we were old high school buddies. That was hardly the case.

Kevin was one of those guys I wasn’t going to go anywhere near. He was a little creepy. I remember a certain Alice Cooper lip sync performance that cemented my opinion of him at the time.

I didn’t reconnect – or should I say connect – with Kevin until a couple of years ago when we were at the same church. Somehow, I don’t remember exactly, we were connected by someone who knew that Kevin was a writer and that I was into writing as well. I asked Kevin if I could see his writing, fully expecting it to be a caliber of writing I could look over and then give some pointers to its author. That wasn’t the case.

In my arrogance I was surprised to learn that Kevin already was what I aspired to be – a real writer. How could HE (Alice Cooper guy) have surpassed ME (wasn’t allowed to listen to Alice Cooper guy) in a discipline that I have work pretty hard at?

But that’s kind of the point here. Kevin Abell has been given a gift, one in addition to the grace of God in his life. That gift is writing. I say this because the writing is good, and it’s not good because he spends time at writing conferences or at a booksellers conventions or even in bookstores for that matter.

Kevin is a mechanic. Kevin is a father of four. Most of his time is spent on those two things.

The genesis of The Edge Of His Cloak is a series of letters (in the form of email) written to his church youth group – and anyone else who was willing to read – a few years ago. In these letters he writes about a range of things, but they all have the common thread of an author whose life has been transformed by meeting and deciding to follow Jesus Christ. The letters are pep talks in a way, but not the type that ignore reality and always end with “Everything is going to be OK.” These pep talks go something like this: “Life is tough. And not just for you – FOR EVERYBODY! Here’s the only thing I’ve found that actually helps me get through life and gives me real joy.”

“And one request-” Abell asks, “if you don’t intend to live for Him, please don’t identify yourself with Him. There are few things as distasteful as a believer who insists on living a life of disobedience… Perhaps for some of us, the most spiritual thing we can do is tell our friends that we are serious idolaters.”

Abell possesses a strength of faith and a clarity of thought that is not only endearing, but also admirable. The book is a remarkable testament of a faith that is both simple and profound; it is a glimpse into the everyday life and extraordinary faith of a mechanic, father, writer, and ordinary Christ-follower. But most of all this is the glorious autobiography of someone who has seen the risen Savior, been wrecked in his gaze, and embraced the only source of true healing.

“I don’t hate myself anymore,” Abell says in a chapter titled “Ongoing Counseling”, “I’ve graduated from self loathing to merely having an inferiority complex. Who knows for sure? Perhaps in 20 years or so I might begin to toy with self confidence.”

Humor is prominent in the book and Abell’s sense and placement of it is good. Dry wit is a strength, both in real life and on the page. Like Donald Miller, he is more willing than most to recognize his own shortcomings and then make light of them. In Abell’s own words,

“I like being this mildly reclusive sarcastic individual who uses his sardonic wit to keep people at bay. Because if I tell people what I actually think and if I say it in a straightforward manner, they might not like what they see.”

From a professional publishing perspective, there are things about the book that need some work. The grammar is not always perfect; the punctuation is odd at times.  Despite those things, this is the most professional looking self-published book I’ve seen. In fact it doesn’t look self-published at all.

Despite these few shortcomings, Kevin’s book succeeds at this: (to paraphrase Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets) it “makes me want to be a better man” – and in this case, a better writer as well.

And just so you don’t think Kevin traded a free book for a good review… I paid my $15 bucks for this book, and so should you. It will be well worth your time. Buy it here: Amazon.

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