November | 2021 | J. Paul Cooper, Writer

A two hour movie screenplay is about 120 pages, but a writer may spend several months working on it. Unless it’s a larger church with more than one speaker, a pastor may have to write an outline for a forty-five minute sermon every week. And there is great responsibility involved, because the pastor isn’t just offering an opinion, he’s preaching the Word of God. He doesn’t answer to an editor for his words, he answers to the Lord Jesus Christ.

A pastor visits patients in hospitals, chairs board meetings, leads counselling sessions, officiates at weddings and funerals, attends church functions and, of course, answers countless emails and text messages from members of the congregation. And somewhere in that demanding schedule a pastor has to find time to spend with his own family, and write a sermon before Sunday morning. It’s no wonder that burnout is a constant threat.

Once a pastor finds time to write his sermon, he has to consider the constantly changing makeup of the congregation, as people move from one church to another. I’ve met people who were raised Roman Catholic in Pentecostal churches, and people who were raised Pentecostal in Baptist churches. A pastor also has to think about the level of biblical knowledge in the congregation, because there will new converts, as well as eighty-year-old Christians, who have been reading and studying the bible for over sixty years. The sermon has be understandable by new converts, yet still provide the mature Christians with useful information.

Because many sermons are now available over the internet, a pastor has to accept that members of the public may be offended by what he says. In John 21 Jesus, was referring to leading and instructing Christians while he was speaking to Peter. Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” He didn’t say it would be easy.

According to http://www.celebritynetworth.com, author Ben Mezrich has a net worth of approximately eight million dollars. That’s not surprising, when you consider how many of his books have either been adapted for movies or are in development. The same is true for Michael Lewis, who (from the same source) has an estimated net worth of twenty-five millions dollars. They can afford to travel around the world to do extensive research and conduct interviews for their narrative non-fiction books.

I recently listened to Nomadland by Jessica Bruder. She spent months at a time on the road, living among Americans forced by economic hardship to live in vans and camping trailers. She was able to do that, because she’s a professional journalist and was being paid to write about her experiences. And when the book was adapted into a film in 2020, it won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Perhaps this is why so many part-time writers tend to write fiction. If you work in a warehouse or office to pay the bills, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to leave your job for several months, and pay for airline tickets, car rentals, hotel rooms and meals as you travel to do research and conduct interviews. I’m not suggesting it’s impossible, but it is beyond the reach of many writers.

I know several writers who would list themselves as full-time writers, but that isn’t an accurate description, because their income is a patchwork of various sources. They’re freelance editors, they teach seminars and courses, they coach writers, they create digital covers for eBooks, and they’re writers-in-residence for libraries and universities. Some writers are constantly applying for various government grants, but that isn’t a stable income, because grants only last for a limited time. One playwright I interviewed for a magazine worked as the director of a drama ministry at a large church, taught a course at a bible college and had a small theatre company.

I’ve often fallen into the trap of thinking I’m not a real writer, because I don’t spend the majority of my time writing. But, as I’ve learned over time, that’s the case for most writers. What if you never make a living as a writer, is that a valid reason to stop doing what you have passion for? If that’s the case, then the golf courses would be empty, and no one would be playing hockey, baseball, basketball, or football unless they had pro-sport contracts.

There’s nothing wrong with hoping that someday you’ll write a bestselling novel or an award-winning screenplay, but even if that never happens, you can continue to enjoy the creative process. It doesn’t matter whether you have sixty hours a week or six hours a week to dedicate to your craft; if you love to write, you’re a writer.

J. Paul Cooper, Writer

Month: November 2021

Just Another Sermon?

Sixty or Six