Why Writers Should Say No to Work-In-Progress Tours (except this one)

Writers need to be writing – so earlier this year I posted Why Writers Should Stop Blogging, and now I’m adding Why Writers Should Say No to Work-In-Progress Tours (except this one).

A WIP Tour sounds like a chain letter only without the threat of dire consequences: just link back to the person before you, write a bit about your current WIP, then pass the baton forward to four more writers.

It sounds simple enough, except that:

• instead of writing about my work-in-progress, I need to be making progress on my work, and
• why bother other writers who should be writing?

For these reasons, and with my deadline for Spark: Igniting Your God-Given Creativity looming (tomorrow!), I should be saying no to this tour, but here’s why I’m saying yes anyway:

• the invitation comes to me from Melodie Davis, who blogs harmony, grace and wisdom, which resonates well with my blog, plus she and I are both MennoNerds and Christian Century bloggers;
• while writing about my WIP doesn’t get me any closer to finishing, it’s at least a good way to warm up for the rest of my writing day;
• I can immediately think of four writers that I’d love to hear from about their WIP — they may well be too busy making progress on their writing to play along, but I’m going to list them below anyway and encourage you to check out their blogs.

First, for my WIP, I’ve already shared the title and a brief description in a previous post: Spark: Igniting Your God-Given Creativity. Now I’m happy to share my chapter titles:

1. God is the original artist (Genesis 1:1–2:3)
2. Being made in the image of God means being created to create (Genesis 2:4-25)
3. “You can’t use up creativity; the more you use, the more you have” – Maya Angelou (Exodus 35:30–36:7)
4. Scripture is a God-breathed work of art (Psalm 117)
5. “Jesus was an artist” – Donald C. Mann (Luke 15:1-10)
6. Creativity is best measured in faithfulness and joy (Matthew 25:14-30)
7. Worry is a misuse of creativity (Matthew 6:25-34)
8. The Holy Spirit inspires creativity (Acts 2:17-21)
9. “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people” – Vincent Van Gogh     (Romans 12)
10. For creative success, the most important audience is the audience of One (1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 2:10; 6:7; Colossians 3:17, 23-24)
11. “Creativity is a way of living life” – Madeleine L’Engle (Philippians 4:4-9)
12. Fan into Flame the Gift Within You (2 Timothy 1:1-14)

I’m still finishing up chapters 10 and 12, plus wanting to review everything again, so I definitely have my work cut out for me today!

Now I’d like to pass the WIP Tour baton to the following writers (alphabetical order by first name):

Christena Cleveland – earlier this year, I reviewed her Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart, and now we’re reading and discussing her book together as a church staff. While I’m waiting for Christena’s next book, I appreciate her blog on social psychology+faith+reconciliation.

Marty Troyer blogs Jesus, peace, justice, and faith as part of the Houston Chronicle and is a fellow MennoNerd. He once asked if I’ve ever used an agent for my books (no, I haven’t), and told me that he’s working on his first book proposal, but didn’t give any details at that time.

MaryAnn McKibben Dana published Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family’s Experiment with Holy Time the year before my Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for Personal Renewal was released. From her blog, I understand she’s writing on Spirituality in the Smartphone Age, possibly for self-publication.

Sam Tsang is a prolific writer who has published numerous books on the Bible and manages to write two blogs: one for students of the Bible and the other for preachers. I’m not sure how he finds time to do all that, since his speaking also takes him from Canada to Hong Kong to Australia.

So there you have it, folks, my first WIP tour! Let’s see if anyone else takes up the challenge, and in the meantime, please do visit these great blogs.

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