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March 4, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
A John Grisham Secret, by Rubel Shelly
Because my teaching career involves so much mandatory reading, I don't
get to do a lot of pleasure reading. There is just too little time for
short stories or poetry. I typically only get to the things friends
have already read and are now recommending. They are my book reviewers.
They keep me from wasting time.
The exception for me is John Grisham. A few of his books have probably
slipped past, but not many. He has a new one climbing the bestseller
lists right now, and it stands to be the one pleasure read I will
schedule for spring break. He knows how to tell a good story.
Although his books have sold a phenomenal 235 million copies, people
sometimes pan him. "He's no Hemmingway or Faulkner!" says one reviewer.
"He is not a particularly good writer," pontificates another, "and it
is unlikely that anyone will be reading his 'potboilers' in another
generation."
Sour grapes! Some of the people writing that tripe would kill to have
just one book that sold half as many as his slowest title. But that's
another story.
I like the fact that Grisham doesn't take himself too seriously. In a
recent interview with the Associated Press, the 53-year-old writer
disclaimed any visions of great literary fiction. "It's pure
entertainment," he said. Sounds downright humble, doesn't it? And it is
most refreshing these days.
Self-discipline toward a goal is critical.
In the course of that interview, he mentioned a fact from his earliest
days of attempting to write that grabbed my attention. "The alarm clock
would go off at 5, and I'd jump in the shower," he said. "My office was
five minutes away. And I had to be at my desk, at my office, with the
first cup of coffee, a legal pad -- and write the first word at 5:30,
five days a week." His goal was to write one page every day. If it took
ten minutes, so be it. Sometimes he would write for two hours before
starting his job as a lawyer.
Grisham said that such a rigorous discipline was one of several "little
rituals that were silly and brutal, but very important."
Self-discipline toward a goal is critical. And it is hardly a secret.
But it is the difference in making it and living with regret. What if I
had gotten up? What if I had written a page a day? What if I had gone
back to school? What if I had asked for the position? Or proposed? Life
has far too many "what ifs" for most of us!
The courage to take risks and to reach for a dream is there for all of
us. God doesn't offer life without challenge; he offers grace to those
with courage.
---------
(c) 2008 Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life"
printed each Tuesday. See Faith Matters for previous issues of
the "FAX of Life."
RELATED LINKS:
* Self-control and Self-Discipline
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200801/20080105_self-control.html
* HALT
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200610/20061026_halt.html
* Self-discipline
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=19980228
* RubelShelly.com
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200803/20080304_secret.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
SEE THE MORNING, by Chris Tomlin
Award-winning artist Tomlin offers a whole new set of soul-inspiring
easy-to-sing songs about God's faithfulness.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?260
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
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