DISQUS

CRAVER! I've missed you man. I've missed myself lately, in fact.

Now I know why. It wasn't that I was working myself to death or burning the candles at both ends. No, no. It was because you were being myself. That explains everything.

Some people say PageRank is becoming less and less important. But in the mysterious google algorithm, I'm a site's credibility will always be at least partially dependent on regular updates with good relevant content.

So, one site that contains every stream of your content focuses your credibility under the umbrella of one URL. However, since google owns blogger, the same may work for all blogs operated by the same blogger/google account.

To be honest, I think it's six of one, half dozen of the other. And it's very possible that all of this speculation is completely bunk.

spaghettipie, the old self-degradation about readership is wearing thin, eh? I do it as a reminder to myself that I'm not trying to become Darren Rowse or Brian Clarke. I'm not building a platform online.

In fact, I like the way you put it. I'm having coffee with friends. That's perfect.

And as for having one blog with a more focused structure... I guess all of my structure gets used up on TheHighCalling.org, FaithInTheWorkplace.com, and HighCallingBlogs.com. I'll be structured there.

I'll be myself here.

L.L., I'm not trying to get you to switch to wordpress, really! But one of the big advantages right now is the ability to create pages as well as posts. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it allows you to create whole sections of a site with independent pages and an old-fashioned sitemap.

For example, I did this last May when we had the High Calling Blog Tour. Rather than create a post with all of the information, I built a custom page and emailed that particular URL to everyone who volunteered. And you can see it right there in the URL: page_id (rather than 2007/12/20/this...)

elizabeth, you made me smile.

Eric, in my mind there is a big difference between the overarching concept of editing and proofreading. (If you are interested, I talked about this in enough detail to make anyone nauseous in an old post about the 5 Kinds of Editors.)

All of that to say, I don't consider comments on a blog to be writing formal enough to need serious proofing. It's more like conversation--and well, you know how, um, unedited and like, stuff, our conversation can be, in general, I mean.

L.L., you know I just love science fiction. Sigh. It's so fun.

So as a blogger you create a network of sites. Interesting. If you were on WordPress, you could create special sections for each thread. That would allow everyone to see the different things you say, but still tell google that you are the person creating all of these different streams of content.

But the way you are doing it works well too!

And Stone Crossing is a book club blog. I like that.

Karen, thank you for your kind words. I've got a post in the works called "Your Mom Is the New Mass Market" that explores what your saying more. We can't appeal to a mass audience unless we appeal to a micro audience.

I like micro.

Carl, Merry Christmas to you too! And I like what you said. Just be. There's a whole lot of grace in that idea, you know?

As for why this came up now... Someone unsubscribed from my feed a few days ago. : ( At first I was sad. Then I thought, why in the world would anyone subscribe to this feed--unless they're looking for writing advice. I give that from time to time, but mostly, I'm just myself here.

And I get to meet people like Karen and Carl!

Thanks for dropping by, Chris!

Terri, it's great to hear from you! I really admire what you're trying to do at Wayfarer's Journal. Keep at it.

As for your wonderful and insightful comment... I'm working on a response, but it was too long, so it will have to be it's own post.

Becky, thanks for catching my slip at the end there. It's like when the waiter tells us, "Hi, I'll be your waiter. If you need anything, my name is John."

Hmm. What's his name if I don't need anything?

Interesting response though. Can a story be both fish-monger and strolling saint? This all really goes back to my longtime concern about the concept of "Christian Science Fiction." You may remember that I wondered if it was a redundant concept several tours ago in this post.

I guess I'm still wondering. To me, the genre invites spiritual reflection. All good stories do. Without the spiritual element, they aren't good stories.

So I guess, I'm thinking there are stories built on the foundation of a Christian world view. And there are stories that include explicitly Christian messages. Then there are things like I Am Legend which relies on both Christian imagery and a little bit of God talk. Is it Christian Science Fiction?

I do agree that we can't be fishmongers and strolling saints at the same moment. But we can shift fluidly between the rolls. Knowing when to speak and when to keep silent. Knowing when to preach and when to tell stories.

Because let's be honest, telling good stories and preaching are not the same thing.

As Tim O'Brien says, "In a true war story, if there's a moral at all, it's like the thread that makes the cloth. You can't tease it out. You can't extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning... A true war story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe."

I know he's talking about war stories, not science fiction, not fantasy. Certainly not faith and work. And yet, there's a sense where our faith has to be so intricately mixed up in our daily lives that it can't be extracted out and turned into a bumper sticker. Tease my faith out of me--or my stories--and I will come unraveled completely. Things will fall apart. The center will not hold. Mere anarchy will be loosed upon the world (or my world at least).

Sally, they do when I'm open to it. It's a constant struggle to remember to be fully present with my kids. Sometimes, I think I'm much better reflecting about our relationship than I am actually engaging them.

L.L., thanks so much. You are a constant encouragement to me.

Ray, if only I can keep remembering that. It's hard sometimes in the thick of battle with a willful three year old. But mostly, it's wonderful. Like watching Star Wars with him for the first time just a few weeks ago. Man, that was awesome.

Heather, it's my little Christmas gift to you.

Timothy, thanks for the comment. I think you've set up some really good criteria for considering what blog UI can do best. If new content is stressed on the site and the search engines, what uses go best with that? Hmm...

Miss A., thanks for stopping by! I figured "wogs" were not American standard usage, but I wasn't sure where the word was in use. Just another example of how writing on the world stage is a little bit trickier than writing for the hometown press.

Jeanne, I agree completely that we can't control language change. Just ask the old English teachers who insist on the grammatical correctness of archaic phrases. Also, mass media, TV, movies, etc. have slowed language change considerably.

spaghettipie, oops. Thanks for pointing that out. I changed the "1" to a "2." By the way, if you figure out how to wield the net, let me know, will ya?

L.L., I have two dogs. When I take my fat dog out, the best she can do is woggle. It's not quite a walk. Not quite a jog. And not very graceful at all.

Thank you all for these wonderful comments.

I especially appreciate AMM's idea that we use the words of forgiveness on faith that we will be able to find deeper forgiveness. Saying we forgive someone becomes an act of commitment to do so. I like that.

Jason, I'm a lot like you about forgiveness. I forgive people, but then I have to forgive them again and again. Or maybe I'm just tempted to be resentful, I don't know. Either way, forgiveness is not a one time decision that suddenly makes all of the pain go away.

David, you guys do awesome work over on your site. I really enjoy reading it now that we are sorting out our RSS feeds for the network. I hope I didn't sound like I was attacking you or your position in this post!

I absolutely think the YWAM guy made the right decision! What else could he do? But the question you asked, if we can somehow strip it away from this context, is a frighteningly honest and important question. What does authentic forgiveness look like? That I don't know.

I certainly didn't mean to suggest anybody was stupid. That was just an indirect quote from the book taken out of context. Oy. Bad literary criticism on my part.

Mark, thanks for th elink to your friend's book. I have his book on Tolkein and enjoyed it immensely. Also, that's a good reminder about the morality of movies in general. The important thing, like Dick Staub says, is to be culturally savvy.

Charity, most of the email forwards I've seen are technically acurate, but the tone is alarmist and bizarre. So the books are supposed to debunk God and religion. Big deal. Grandiose claims like that often get put in their place. I'm sure God can defend himself.

L.L., you are sweet.

Mary, I'm glad I could make you laugh. Actually, I think Left Behind has the same problem as the Golden Compass. It just doesn't have enough truth. It takes academic arguments and tries to express them with cardboard characters and dialog that no real person would use. I'd love to hear what your daughter thinks of it.

Michael, thanks for dropping by! Comedy is right. A dark comedy about how far the church has fallen in the realm of understanding what beauty is...

AMM, good to hear from you, too. I promise I was thinking of myself when I wrote that rebuke, not anyone in particular. Thank you for the encouragement.

You guys are sweet. Thanks for so many comments without a single response from me!

Did I say "weep"? Choked up may be a better description. Certainly it was an experience worth weeping over.

Robert, I think I got it fixed. Just in case you can click on "poetry" in my header and you'll get there quick enough.

RLP, food is my primary indulgence. I love love love good food.

Melissa, so good to hear from you! I can see why Rachel Ray would be a pet peeve, but when you have a family she's just so darn practical.

Thanks for the comments folks. It's possible I got excited by Amazon's really effective marketing campaign, but I stand by the statements. : )

Sure, Timothy, we could post works in progress online, but people don't read online the same as they read a book. No one curls up at their computer desk to read Stephen King. It will never happen. That's why most blog posts are 500 words or less.

But, Amazon Kindle (and other devices like it) for the first time is trying to create a device that disappears when we use it. The device becomes a window into the text. The internet is a really bad window. But if I know my content can get downloaded to someone's reading device where they expect longer content, suddenly I can post longer content.

Suddenly, posting an entire book online doesn't seem like the colossal waste of time that it was twelve months ago.

L.L., true there has always been competition to reading, but never free books or free content competing with books and content for sale on the same device.

Although perhaps this is evidence that free can never compete. In our capitalist society, it may automatically be perceived as having no value.

Gordon, I tried using my PDA as an ereader and just couldn't do it. I needed to see more text on the page. One of the things I'm excited about for the Kindle is the search function. Search for keywords is even easier than flipping pages. The only book I still use on my PDA? The Bible. Because the keyword search allows me to find what I'm looking for, then I go to a book to read the full context...

L.L., I remember talking about occasional writing with you one time on the phone. It's the only way to write authentically in my opinion. (Though I don't think everyone has to be consciously occasional...)

@Matt, awesome! I can't wait to listen to it. I tried downloading it on Monday, but couldn't get it to work. I'll try again today.

@T. Fish, I had tried to find a video for Dangerous Book for Boys, but I was searching for Daring Book for Boys. I wonder why they changed the brand? Now that I've got it straight, I'm curious if you meant the spy spoof video or the dad's day off video.

@RLP, strange that it wouldn't play. All of this tech stuff is ultimately a mystery to me.