In the May issue of Interview, Jacob Dylan had this to say about song-writing:
I mean, I’ve always had this disciplined approach to it. You have to have a work ethic and you have to be educated in what you’re doing. You have to take it seriously. It doesn’t mean that everything you do has to be serious. But you’ve got to have the tools. There are certainly a lot of people—and I won’t name names—who are getting by simply on expression. And I guess that’s valuable in some sense. But songs are not better just because they’re emotionally honest. To write a song well, you have to put some work into it and grind it out.
Great advice for both song and sermon writers. Too often we bank on emotion to get us by in our songs an sermons. Dylan pulls us back center by emphasizing education, tools, thoughtfulness in our communication, in our art. There are a lot of songs and books being written these days that glorify being “emotionally honest,” but if these pieces aren’t complemented by thoughtful, educated reflection and hard work then they may not even be worth putting out there. Song and sermon writing are a craft. Heed Dylan and treat them as such. Get your tools and work them.
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April 22, 2008 at 11:18 am
Beat Attitude
Thanks for that. As a songwriter, I often need reminding about avoiding lazy shortcuts, as do many preachers I expect. Crafting something means that you will have spent more time on the thing you have created than the time spent by any one person appreciating it. And that can be hard to stomach when you’re working hard for something that you don’t think will be appreciated.
Yet the value to the many can greatly outweigh the time spent by the craftsman, and it does well to remember that I think.
You can’t beat well-crafted art for connecting you with the heart of your creator.
Emotion is certainly vital, but like CS Lewis taught young writers:
Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description.
I think emotion is something that is inferred or implied. It is communicated between the lines of regular delivery, whether in a song or in a sermon. And a good grasp of the craft is required to understand how to communicate beyond the words you are actually saying.
April 22, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Jacob Dylan's Guide to Better Sermons | arieljvan.com
[...] and clearly knows his word-smithing. I lifted this post directly from Jonathan Dodson of Church Planting Novice, who points out that Dylan has a few things to teach us about sermon writing. (To repay my [...]