OK, I’ve finally hit on it.

Even though it’s explained, I think there’s a lot I can do with the parable of the weeds, because it will allow me to talk about the problem of evil in the world. And that’s a whole lot more interesting than if I, as a non-expert, got up there and started blathering on about, oh, fitness equipment or something.

The problem of evil affects us all. That’s the ticket. Sermon locked in and ready to roll.

It’s been taught and over-taught, but right now I’m leaning toward teaching the parable of the sower. However, since Mark is careful to explain most of Yeshua’s parables, there’s not a lot of mystery to it. Still, it beats a sermon on how to solicit a home insurance quote.

Be that as it may, I do hope I get a chance to identify a more appealing parable before I have to start writing; I like to shed light on the parables that are not as universally understood, rather than the ones that are.

Sometimes it’s easier to find cheap auto insurance than it is to stumble across a good idea. I’ve been working on an emergency backup sermon and found out today I’ll probably need it this weekend.

Generally, not a problem. I’ve been doing a lot with the parables of Yeshua lately so all I need to do is select another. And can I think of a good one to do next? Not all night, so far!

Well, that’s not exactly true. I have been considering the parable of the rich man and Lazerus; but there’s not a lot mysterious about that one. And then there’s the parable of the prodigal son, but that’s been done to death.

Still thinking and praying….

OK, I know Minnesota is famous for its snow, but this is almost silly.

A person might need low cost health insurance to recover from stats like this: although forecast by today to receive only 2-4 inches, we already have 6-8 inches of the white stuff. That’s supposed to grow to 12-18 inches by the end of Friday when things die down; but I’m betting it could top 20 inches, maybe even 24, by the time the actuals come in.

Still, with all this snow, there’s a lot of free time available to me now I wouldn’t otherwise have; I’m going to make sure I get some writing done with at least part of it.

One of the big questions my mystery novel series is going to test is whether a series of mysteries set in the upper Midwest can be compelling to readers nationwide. I’ve set my characters in a fictional amalgam of my experiences living for nearly five years in northwest Wisconsin.

You see, Stephen King made Maine work for horror. But seldom to commercial writers who write novels set outside of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago do well. Only in mysteries can you sometimes break through. After all, Tony Hillerman’s novels are set in the southwest and they do well. I think there’s even someone who sets their mysteries in Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

But will Hope, Wisconsin be compelling? I hope so. I’m filling it with enough interesting characters that it ought to be. But only time will tell.

It turns out I will be delivering two sermons… one of them twice… at the end of December and to be ready and more than ready, I’m starting to work on them now. Of course, this slows down progress on my novel, but not to a complete stop.

It’s a challenge to write a novel when you have other writing responsibilities, but when I consider how many writers out there would love to have this kind of problem, I don’t mind the deadline pressure quite so much. Still, it’d be nice to capture moments like this on film; I suspect it won’t always be so nice. Heck, it might even be worthy of a digital frame.

Some of the worst advice I’ve heard writers give aspiring writers is not to worry about spelling or grammar. Sure, once you’re a successful author, you can hire people to spiffy up your rumpled manuscript, but when you’re first trying to break into print, having a manuscript with sloppy spelling and gross grammar errors will eclipse any alleged “good storytelling” that might be hidden underneath.

Would these writers show up to a Fortune 500 job interview in bib overalls and a sweaty denim work shirt? I think not. Sure, some folks had disabilities like dyslexia and struggle to tell their ABCs from their AEDs, but there are ways around that.

So do what you need to do to get your manuscripts to have as few errors as possible; take a community college English grammar class, hire a tutor or find a friend willing to copy-edit you, but whatever you do, don’t send out anything but the best, most mistake-free manuscript you possibly can to prospective publishers.

Doing anything less is guaranteeing your desire to never rise from a publisher’s slush pile.

After my interview with Charlaine Harris, I found out that there’s another way to write mysteries effectively. I always assumed the author would figure out an intricate plot first, and then start writing. But that’s not necessarily always the case.

In my interview with her, Harris revealed that while she has an idea of where she’s going, she often simply goes back and revises portions of her books as she gets deeper into a novel, to make the foreshadowing and clues and false leads all work.

It’s a simple approach, but one that never quite occurred to me; but it’s quite freeing … one doesn’t necessarily need to be Sherlock Holmes to write a Sherlock Holmes story! Instead, the revision process can weed out undesirable story elements like good water filters after the fact. Cool!

Instead of moving forward in the narrative, I recently spent a couple days adding information to my prologue. It was still new material, not a rewrite; but one of my most-trusted first readers is my wife, who is a huge fan of the types of books I happen to be writing right now.

Her advice is that I’d given the reader an early impression of how Zach sees Donna, but I had left out any impression of how Donna sees Zach.

Seems like a basic thing, but easily overlooked; good thing I have such a good first reader as my wife! Heck, she even warned me away from weight loss pills and toward a sensible weight-loss diet!

Ultimately, it comes down to this: if you write, you’re a writer. If you don’t, you’re something else.

That’s kind of what I took away from my interview this past summer with Charlaine Harris. Granted, not every writer has published every single novel they’ve ever written, but ultimately she had completed manuscripts going out to publishers, not a bunch of wishes or incomplete three-chapter starts on something.

A complete manuscript is the first requirement toward becoming a published novelist. There are other steps that follow, but none of them mean anything until that first step is completed. And once you do it, you’ll be happier and when you put things like LSAT prep behind you!

Back when I was a young teenager in need of acne treatments, I was able to finish a 350-page novel that wasn’t quite publishable in only a few months. In college, about 300 pages took me most of the length of my master’s program.

It’s been a tough row getting close to finishing anything since I reached my thirties. It’s like I’m getting slower instead of faster.

Of course, it’s also a bit of a myth. Most of my day jobs have been writing-related or require a strong writing component. I’ve won awards for the journalism I did for five years or so in rural Wisconsin. And I write a lot for my Messianic synagogue these days, too.

Still, there’s no feeling like writing a novel to completion. I need to start making that a reality… and a frequent one, too… if I ever want to get one in print.

I like writing Torah commentaries for my Messianic synagogue and value those opportunities like rare diamonds. However, after almost a year of doing them every week, I am looking forward to being part of a rotating team of three.

I believe the extra time will make the commentaries I do write better; but I also believe that the extra time will finally free up some hours to allow me to make some forward progress on my novel.

Now all I have to do is make sure I don’t pour the extra time into playing Facebook games.