Reflections on The Pursuit of Writing: My Interview on The Pastor Writer Podcast

It’s crazy to me that I spend 10 hours a week before my family wakes tinkering with words. Crazier still is that I enjoy it. I didn’t always feel this way. In fact, there were three reasons I first became an engineer; one of them was hating to read and write.

Last week I had the privilege of being interviewed by Chase Replogle, the host of one of my favorite podcasts, The Pastor Writer. And when I say privilege, I mean it. I’ve listened to all forty episodes and would do so again regardless of whether I ever squeaked into the roster myself. I’m happy to just tweet about the show. Golly, he’s interviewed Zack Eswine, Tim Challies, Russ Ramsey, Karen Swallow Prior, and a bunch of other all-stars. It’s his monologues, though, that are some of my favorite episodes (e.g., 7: “Burn the Book: Obsessed with Getting Published”, 14: “Why Poor Writing Comes So Naturally”, and 17. “Your Clichés Are More Dangerous Than You Think,” and 34. “There’s No Sentence Like The First Sentence”).

In the interview I share how I became interested in writing. I also imagine for a bit what it might have been like to write (or do any work) before sin entered the world in Genesis 3 and what it will be like when sin is no more in the new heavens and the new earth.

Below are some of the questions Chase and I discuss. I’d love for you to listen to the interview, and if you enjoy it, to subscribe to his show.

• How did you first hear of Pastor Writer?

• Tell me about the church where you serve?

• When did you first sense a call to writing?

• What do you enjoy about the writing process?

• What’s the most frustrating part of the writing process?

• How has writing shaped you as a pastor?

• The struggle with getting published?

• Self-publishing?

• Getting endorsements?