I steward Productive Pastor, a podcast and community of ministry leaders focused on how productivity and strategic ministry in the average church. I write about practical approaches to ministry productivity. I also write emails about church stability/development and my own theological musics in our current social moment.
How I got over my fears about grammar and writing | Self-Publishing with Chad
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Hey Friend - Are you thinking about writing? Do you want to get your ideas out into the world? In the welcome sequence for this list, I shared how writing is an idea machine. I had one big fear in undertaking this massive self-publishing project without spending TONS of money. The biggest benefit to traditional publishing is a first time author having access to an editor. I know I need editing. I wrote a Master's Thesis in seminary. My wife and a few good friends were generous with their time and read a 100 page paper several times to help me clean it up. It took some serious work. With the speed of this project and the experiment in doing it as cheaply as possible, I knew hiring an editor for $1,000 or so was out of the scope. Thankfully, the last couple years of writing online helped develop a better approach to sentence structure and writing. Using the Hemingway App, an AI developed editor, taught me a handful of things to consistently revise. I learned to shorten sentences, work on flow, and a few other things. Amazon is strict on AI use in the KDP system, so I want to rely on AI as little as possible. Luckily, I always save first drafts AND final drafts of everything. I dropped a few of both (from shorter articles) into Chat GPT and asked it to give me a list of typical grammatical issues I struggle with in first drafts and the difference in the final draft. I then asked it to build out a suggested list of rules to consider in table format. I printed it out and kept it with my manuscript when I started editing. I took my first rough draft of a section, revised it myself according to rules I learned, and imported both into Chat GPT. I managed to resolve 95% of the issues on my own. The AI gave me a few suggestions. After doing this 4 or 5 times, I asked it to update the table of suggested rules. I started keeping both with my manuscript. I'll still spot check sections after my edit. I'm at the point where I am fixing 98% of things myself the first time. I'd love to get to the point where this training results in better 1st drafts, but I will take what I can get. Thanks for reading this little peek under the hood of this writing project. Chad PS - Remember you can hit reply to any email to ask a question! |
Hey. I'm Chad Brooks.
I steward Productive Pastor, a podcast and community of ministry leaders focused on how productivity and strategic ministry in the average church. I write about practical approaches to ministry productivity. I also write emails about church stability/development and my own theological musics in our current social moment.
Hey Friend - Last email, I shared a story about a workshop conversation. A participant worried that their church, focusing on reaching new people, would leave older members in the dust. I've heard it before, but it made me start thinking about why it is a common worry. This sort of conversation is more complicated than we realize. The fear of being left out is real. The need for a missional priority for reaching new people is real. Church leaders have to navigate both of these fears. I shared...
What walls are standing in front of you right now? Ministry walls are barriers that inhibit moving forward. Personal walls are based on leadership. Organizational walls limit your church's ability to live fully into your mission. There are all sorts of walls. If I wanted to define the idea of ministry walls, I’d put it this way. A ministry wall is some outside force, appearing to be beyond natural control, which sets a defining boundary of effectiveness. Let’s dig into that definition a bit...
Let me share a recap of a workshop session I led this spring. I was in Louisiana and teaching a session on engaging new visitors to the church. A good friend was bringing several people from his church and warned me to be ready. About halfway through the table conversation, one of his leaders said: “It’s all good and fun to talk about reaching new people, but what about the seniors who have been at our church for decades?” Honestly, it wasn’t the first time I'd heard this comment, but this...