This week, I have to write a 30-minute sermon as well as a 10-15-minute Torah commentary for my church. That’s about 40-45 pages of sermonizing, and I’ll probably get it done in an evening or two, since I’ve already done most of my research.
I’m about that many pages into my novel after working on it for nearly three months now. I’m not discouraged by the comparison, though; sermons are far easier to write than novels.
Sermons, by their nature, are polemics. You express opinion, share wisdom and insight from research, and generally bring it all together under a common theme.
Novels, by comparison, are a far more complex task. You have to track the lives and personalities of dozens of “cast members,” and have them behave believably in a variety of situations. It’s not always easy to figure out how that will serve the plot, and of course the plot itself consumes time to work out and develop correctly.
With a sermon, there are no such concerns. In that respect, it’s a lot like delivering a lecture in an academic setting, though a lecture is basically a sermon on diet pills.
No Comments