"Just don't write crap."

     My wife and I went on a short walk a few weeks ago.  The stated purpose was to go to the corner store to grab some ice cream for the progeny.  Mostly the purpose was to have a few minutes away from the progeny.  As usually happens when we are together and not solving offspring issues, we talked through a variety of topics:  money, kids, home repairs, upcoming schedules, ways that the world is broken and how do we protect our hearts and teach our kids through all of that.  As we were heading onto our street and the final few minutes of our time, we landed on my new job.  The FSAF director position allows us to have a solid budget, creative and administrative challenge to keep me engaged at work, and a solid chunk of time each week...ideally set aside to work on writing.  It is an exciting prospect, but a little daunting as I am trying to figure out what to write and how to do that well.

     Carina turned to me as we were nearing the house and said, "Just don't write crap."

     Her point was not that I needed to pay attention to my style of prose because sometimes what I produce is just simply God-awful...I hope.  I choose to believe that her point, instead, was that the type of projects that I pursue should be of high quality and value.  There are a lot of opportunities to make money writing that do not develop the writer or build up the reader.  This summer I spent a number of hours on freelance writing sites, submitting proposals for various projects.  Some people wanted a new company slogan; others wanted help writing a children's book; others needed a series of sermons written; others wanted subtitling done; still others were looking for someone to write instruction manuals.  I won't even get into the romance novel industry requests.

     So what do I want to do?  What is worth the investment of 10 hours per week when I could be doing a thousand other things?  There are three avenues that spring to the forefront of my mind as I think about long-term writing.

• Novels.  I really enjoyed writing "The Seer" and having it in print.  I have the first draft of the sequel finished and outlines for 4 more after that.  I love the world-building and problem solving of creating a large story.  I enjoy creating real characters wrestling with physical, emotional and spiritual challenges.  And now I have no publisher as mine went out of business.  Part of what I want to work on in my writing time is editing and finishing the 2nd book and investing some effort into hiring a literary agent to help me move forward with getting "The Seer" back into print.
• Devotionals.  I would really like to write a series of devotionals specifically for Families with Special Needs members.  It combines a lot of areas that I have experience in.  It is challenging to fully engage with the church...it is difficult to fully engage with God when you are struggling so hard to keep your family afloat.  I would like to provide some tools to help families do that.
• Freelance work.  If I want to become a professional writer someday, I need to learn how to get paid for my writing.  I am pitching blogging for some local non-profits as a way to make a little bit of money and also provide a service to the community.  I am also keeping an eye out for requests for magazine article submissions and opportunities in that vein.  

     So that's where I am at.  It is not unlimited time, but I have a time and a place and a setting where I can get consistent writing work done.  It is a start and I am excited to see where the path leads.  I just have four words that now constantly ring in my head:

"Just don't write crap."

Wait...It's the 2nd week of August already?

It was just yesterday that I was writing about getting the new position as the Executive Director of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.  

And by "yesterday," I mean "three weeks ago."  And by "Executive Director," I mean "The person who knows absolutely nothing about Operations yet but is willing to answer questions and take suggestions."  And by "Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival," I mean "The Hurricane of 250+ Artists and Volunteers that descend on the Interior every July in order to provide 65 concerts, 150 classes and two weeks of Arts Overload to over 800 participants...and one overwhelmed new employee who decided to drag his children along so that he could have minions at his beck and call for the duration of the experience."

One of the interesting things that I am discovering as I move through the non-profits in our community is that there are pockets of different cultures that occupy the same space without having much interaction.  There are hundreds of new people that I am meeting who are life-long alaskans...who know my parents...who are deeply generous with their time and money as they support local non-profits and the arts...and who I have never encountered before.  It is a strange experience.

Another strange experience that I have encountered is this:  It has been a long time since I was the least educated and skilled person in a room.  But this is the scenario that I find myself in over and over again when I share a stage with professional artists:  remarkable individuals who have devoted their lives to honing their crafts and delighting others.

It took me a while to discover what my place was within this company.  The realization came as I was being led up onto the World Music and Dance stage, in front of the Jazz Band and among the Iranian and Flamenco Dancers.  I am excellent at spreadsheets and creating parameters for artists to create within.  That is great during the months of preparation, but during Festival...I am the Everyman.  

Bill Murray once said about the Olympic Games:

Every Olympic event should include one average person competing for reference.

It is  difficult to see just how fast these amazing athletes are when the separation between them is measured in thousandths of seconds.  Similarly it is hard to tell just how impressive our guest artists are when they are only seen with their peers.  I have no illusions of being a professional musician or visual artist or dancer, but I can appreciate and articulate the skill that is being displayed.

For example, we had a group of 9 composers spend 4 days hiking in Denali Park.  Then they were taken North and given 4 days to compose an original piece of music for randomly selected instruments.  Then they returned to Fairbanks where an incredible collection of 6 musicians learned 9 different pieces and then hosted a concert to perform them in the span of 2 days.  It is a program that is unique in the world and each year fills up within hours of being opened.

It is these programs and these individuals that I have been charged with stewarding.  I am honored and I am humbled and I have...49 weeks until the next Festival begins.