Donald Miller's Blog, page 162

How to Write a Book

Different writers have different methods of writing books. Some start with an outline and know what they are going to say before they say it, and others write their way into their books and go back to clean them up for publication. 

For some writers, content is most important, and literary style or technique is just a method of communicating content. For others, style and technique are most important, and content only matters as a muse. Imagine an architects blueprint compared to a painting of a

Biker down, but not out.

A couple years ago I spent a few days with some guys on the California coast, and one of them was professional cyclist Scott Nydam, who races with team BMC and is currently riding in the Tour of California. The small retreat was in a house outside Monterrey and Scott and I were bunking across the garden in a couple small rooms connected to the green house. Every morning, before the sun came up, Scott would suit up, drink a pot of coffee and hit the road for his daily fifty miles. He’d be back be

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I’ve not blogged much lately because I’ve been working on the new book. I turned in a rough/rough draft a month ago and got some good feedback from my editors. Now I’m revising that draft into an actual rough draft, and after that we will polish it into a publishable piece. 

Somebody asked me while we were on the bike trip whether writing a book is harder than riding a bike across America. The truth is they are both pretty hard, but I think writing a book is more difficult. Physical work is also

How Apple Plays Upon Our Insecurities

Most advertisers play on the psychological phenomenon of association/disassociation. An example of association/disassociation might be displayed in a comment like: “The trailblazers lost last night” when my team loses, and “We won last night” when my team wins. I disassociate from what I perceive as losing and associate with what I perceive as winning. I explain why I think we do this in Searching for God Know’s What, relating it all back to what really happened at the fall of man. But right now

The Open Table Video

Like most people I have the most clarity in the morning. Literally in the first fifteen minutes, lying in bed, life makes sense, my delusions fall away, and I believe, perhaps more than I will for the rest of the day, in God. I don’t know what it is about morning. I’m sure it can all be explained through brain chemistry.

The only other time I get that feeling of clarity is when I hear the gospel. I’m not talking about the gospel of Jesus you get on religious television, or the gospel presented th

The Best Superbowl Commercial of All Time

Tomorrow, we will all sit around the television and watch Superbowl XLKI.4 and, for once, we won’t fast-forward through the ads. An ad came on several years ago, though, that has not been topped. The best superbowl ad of all time:

The same company tried again, but you just can’t beat a herd of cats.

And on the animal theme, this commercial was great, but they missed an opportunity for a laugh. At the end of the commercial, I think they should have focused on a small squirrel dropping on the road.

Angry Conversations with God

My friend Susan Isaacs has written a book that will hit shelves shortly. And this week she got a raving review from Publishers Weekly. If you’re looking for a good winter read, you’ll like this one. Susan is an actress in Los Angeles who has been in and out of show business and in and out of faith, too. She approaches spirituality with a comedians depth, and her book is as honest as a diary.



From Publishers Weekly:

Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir

God in coupl