www.andrewmackay.net

That’s right… you can now find me over at AndrewMackay.net. Go now! You know you want to! I’ll see you over there… right?

Monday Motivator: Winston Churchill

I love Churchill. He was a) British, b) ridiculously motivated, c) responsible for saving the world. That’s quite the resume. So, today, I’m going to let him give us a quick little motivator.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

All the existential, po-mo stuff you can come up with can’t top that.

Fight, Fight, Fight

Okay, here’s a confession: My favorite team in the National Hockey League (if you have to ask… well, it’s the Maple Leafs… and you haven’t been here long, have you? Allow me to introduce myself… I’m Andrew Mackay. I write things here. Welcome. Glad to have you.) has undergone some changes in the off-season.

In particular, we’ve loaded up on scrappers. That means that every game that I watch this year featuring my favorite team is likely to feature more fighting than any three games in previous years.

I think I alluded to this last week, but let me say it full out: I do not see the point of fights in hockey. I understand all the various arguments — particularly the one that says that if the other team pulls a dirty play on your star player, you need a scrapper to go remind him not to do it again.

But, as far as I can tell, if we got serious about dirty plays, we wouldn’t have any need for fighting. And, we have rules against dirty play already on the books… so why not get serious?

Now, I’ll admit, I’ve watched a hockey game turn on a fight. It definitely causes a momentum shift. But, it’s kind of like a horse going down in a horse race. Does it shift the momentum? Sure. Is it a good thing? Probably not.

So, Brian Burke, if you could, can we get rid of some of the scrappers and bring in some guys with talent moving the puck? We could start a revolution right here.

Nah, he doesn’t care what I think. Well… bring on the fights.

3 ways to refocus

Focus is an area of struggle for me. I am prone to multitasking. Everyone knows men can’t multitask. Why we continue to try, I’ll never know. Nevertheless, I’m often found with music playing, seventeen browser windows open, and a blank word document floating in the background. Empty.

It’s likely to stay empty, too, unless I focus. So here are 3 tips to help:

Pick a steady soundtrack. I’m certain I first heard this on writing excuses… someone was talking about what they listened to while writing, and basically said he had three or four CDs that he listened to on repeat. They were fairly anthemic (I think one was the soundtrack from Braveheart), and yet could be played in the background without being distracting. I’m trying to do better at this, so I can cease stopping myself to ask “What did that song just say?”

(Aside: duh, songs don’t say anything!)

Turn off the orange button. Chances are — if you write on a laptop, anyway — that you have a switch or button that enables your wifi connection. Did you know it disables it, too? That’s right! Push that button, and you’ll be cut off from the internet. Not so handy if you’re researching, but it usually doesn’t take more than a few seconds for your wifi connection to, well, reconnect. The rest of the time, your email won’t ding, your instant messenger notifications won’t notificate, and you’ll be left in relative peace.

(Aside: don’t try that one if you use google docs online to write in. You’d probably lose some work).

Do Less. Leo Babauta said it better than I ever will. But I’ll say it here where you’ll read it. Slow down! Save a life. Wait, wrong campaign. Slow down! Save your sanity! That’s the truth. Empower yourself to do the things you want to do. For me, that’s meant taking the time to get ahead on this blog so that instead of being a burden, it’s become a joy. It’s also meant saying no to more extra-curricular things. But it’s good, because they weren’t the things I needed to spend time on.

So there you have it. Three ways that you can refocus today. I hope it helps. I hope it helps me too… I’ve got to get back into my groove!

Defining an audience

I’ve been thinking a lot about defining my audience lately. All thirty-or-so of you. I’ve been thinking about defining my audience for one reason, and one reason only: so that I can feed you an overwhelming stream of ads and make hundreds of millions of dollars.

Seriously though, I’m trying to define an audience because I read somewhere that wannabe writers write for themselves, while true writers write to give something to their audience. It rang true for me, but I’m not sure where to go with it.

I know that my goal in writing fiction is to write stories that reflect truth. I guess I’m trying to figure out how that applies to this blog. In fiction, it’s easy: I want to reflect that good is good, even when it’s hard, that bad is bad, even when it’s easy, and that there are consequences to both. A little overly cerebral, perhaps, but still, fairly straight forward.

Currently, this blog is nothing but an attempt to share my thoughts. The problem is coming up with a value proposition for it… that is, what’s in it for you? I can tell what’s in it for me. You read me, you like me, you help me get better at writing, one day, hopefully, you buy a book I write. What’s in it for you though? My ramblings are not so exciting or brilliant as to be worthwhile in and of themselves.

So, I guess what I’m telling you is, I’m trying to come up with a reason to come back everyday, too. Maybe I can make my ramblings into a focused, valuable resource. I’ll give it my best. I’ll try to make it worth something for you.

The New Economy

Music publishers want Apple to pay more. Not more per song, but for more things per song (in the end adding up to more per song, so I guess it’s all the same, right?) They’re arguing that in addition to paying a royalty when someone buys a song, Apple should also pay when someone downloads a movie or tv show in which the song is played, when someone samples a track, and when someone streams radio through Itunes.

Here’s the deal: I understand that in the past, these folks made their money by figuring out how many different ways they could charge for the same transaction.What they need to understand is that if they want to make money in the economy we now live in, they’ve got to create new things to charge for, not new ways to charge for the same stuff.

Take, as an example, Derek Webb’s latest album launch (note: I still haven’t heard this album. This is simply a discussion of the business wisdom behind it). You can go to a store and buy it, probably for somewhere between 12.99 and 24.99, depending on the store. His label will get paid, and will eventually pay him a pittance.

You can also go to his store. He offers six different ways to buy his new album. There’s a digital download for 7.99, there are options if you want to pay a little more (15.99 gets you a documentary, ringtones, desktop backgrounds, etc, along with the album, and there’s a $60.00 package that comes with the digital copy, two physical copies of the album, the documentary DVD, a t-shirt, and participation in song selection for a cover album). Derek has gone the extra mile to be accessible to every fan possible. Don’t have much cash? Buy the digital download, hear the music, and hopefully love it. Have money and love the artist? Get all the extras.

And, he’s already seeding the concept of his next project. People are going to help him select songs to cover. He’ll then record the covers and put together the album. And then he’ll sell it.

Think about that whole process. What are the chances that someone having invested their time into selecting the songs would turn around and not buy the resulting album? Those people are going to buy. So, Derek builds community, gives his fans a chance to buy extras, and guarantees that his next project (side-project, most likely) will have guaranteed buyers. It’s brilliant!

He’s likely going to make more doing it this way than if he sat back and tried to figure out how to bill the establishment for it three times.

All that to say, the economy has changed. Music publishers, take the warning. Help your people to understand how to sell in this economy. Can you make money in this economy? Absolutely. You just can’t do it the way you used to.

Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Don Miller is this guy. He’s a writer, and he writes mostly about real life. You could call it memoir, but that’s not all he writes. His most famous-est book of all was a little one called Blue Like Jazz. It ended up on the New York Times Best Sellers list. It was clever. I laughed. I cried. I read it about seven times. I made my friends read it, too.

Since Blue Like Jazz, I’ve read a couple of Don’s other books (Through Painted Deserts, To Own A Dragon). They’ve been good, but … well, he felt kind of forced. It was good, but it wasn’t epic like Blue Like Jazz. I didn’t feel what the narrative voice felt. I’ve also disagreed with some of Don’s personal decisions and wondered about his theology. The thing is, when he’s on, he’s one of the best Christian writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Or maybe, he’s one of the easiest to connect with of any Christian writer I’ve ever read. What’s more… Don’s books aren’t heavy on theology. Don himself may not be either. But, he has been theologically beneficial to me.

I had the pleasure of listening to him at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in… ‘04 I think. Maybe ‘05. I remember him talking about calvinism and saying “Okay, so man is totally depraved… so what? What does that practically mean in your life?” It was the question I needed to hear. I needed someone to remind me, that day, that the “so what” was as important as the “what.”

A few weeks ago, Thomas Nelson was offering review copies of Don’s newest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to read his new book and review it for you guys, so I promptly volunteered too.

A Million Miles feels like Blue Like Jazz, grown up. Don is growing up himself, dealing with different things now than he was seven or eight years ago. Bigger things. He is again personally revealing, profound, and challenging. He admits to struggling with continuing his writing career. A big theme of this book is “living better stories,” and he draws at length off the experience of writing a screenplay from, of all things, Blue Like Jazz.

For you Christian music aficionados, it will be of note that Steven Taylor is one of the men Don writes the screenplay with. Steven Taylor was a Christian rocker in the 80s. He made one of my favorite live albums of all time (Liver) and also ran a record label in the late 90s/early 00s called Squint Entertainment. It was home to Sixpence None the Richer. Reading the version of him that Don puts on paper was particularly fun for me, since I’ve been a fan of his for a long time.

Anyway, back to the book. I’d encourage you to pick up a copy. It’ll make you think in a lot of good ways. I was left thinking about the story I’m living; whether it needs some editing. I also laughed. A lot. My wife would set down her book every once in a while and say, honey… what’s so funny? I’d read her the relevant portion, she’d chuckle and go back to reading.

It also had some tear-jerking moments. Don recounts his own pain unflinchingly. He also communicates the pain of his friends in a remarkably empathetic way. He obviously has a great love for the people who are important to him, not just as characters but as friends.

It’s not the longest book. In an age where attention spans are short, A Million Miles is easy to recommend, because it won’t drag. But, I was left wishing for more and you might be too.

You can find Donald Miller on the internet at www.donmilleris.com and on twitter at @donmilleris. You can buy his new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years at Amazon.com.

And, if you have my copy of Blue Like Jazz… could I get it back? Thanks!

Monday Motivator

I had a wonderful weekend with a bunch of Canadians. See, I live in wild, wonderful West Virginia, but I’m from Ontario. I was blessed to have my mom, her sister and brother-in-law, and her parents here for a few days. It wasn’t long enough, but it was a real blessing.

Having family together, drinking entirely too much coffee (or tea, or pepsi), sitting around having long talks, these are things that make life good. It’s also fun to watch as my family (my wife and child) integrate with my family (extended), and as that whole group further integrates with my wife’s family. It’s just neat.

The Lord has certainly blessed me through my family. And I know that’s not the case for everyone. So this morning, I’m counting my blessings.

Cross checks and elbows

And tripping, oh my! I’ve had the chance now to watch several preseason hockey games, and I’m about as excited as I can get. My Maple Leafs look better and better, Rebecca’s Penguins still look phenomenal, and Philadelphia doesn’t look all that great. What more could I ask for?

Hockey is a funny game. Occasionally, especially here in the south, I get asked how I can possibly enjoy a game with that much violence. It’s a legitimate question, and I won’t reply with the trite “It’s all part of the game” that I hear the broadcasters defend it with.

Instead, I’ll say, I don’t watch it for that. I’m into hockey for the talent it displays, the speed, the passing, the unbelievable acrobatics of the goaltenders, and the even more unbelievable acrobatics of Sidney Crosby putting it past the goaltenders (Side question: is there a starting goaltender in the NHL that Sid hasn’t scored on at this point?). It is a great game. I see the physical violence (by which I refer to things like cross checks, elbows, tripping, holding… I see body checks as not violence, but strategy) as an unfortunate part of a game that is otherwise the best sport to watch.

As far as body checks go, it’s kind of like tackling in football… the point isn’t the hit, the point is stopping the progress of the opposing player. A well-timed body check frees up the puck, starts an odd-man rush the other way, and contributes to a goal. It’s strategy.

So, there you have it, my take on violence in hockey. By the way, get rid of the little dirty stuff (cross checks, holding, tripping), and I bet you’ll find that the fighting goes right with it, by and large. It just wouldn’t be necessary.

The Love of the Slow Burn

I think that everyone has something that they love that other people have a hard time understanding. Case in point: my wife and I had a discussion recently as I was getting ready to spend roughly 13 hours babysitting a pork roast on the grill. She didn’t understand the sense of doing it that way. She’s right, too, there are easier ways to roast a pork shoulder.

But, I love the process. I love the science of it, I love the challenge, I love the pay off of having spent hours on something and having it turn out well.

It did, too. It was delicious. Well worth waking up every couple of hours through the night, and then checking it every couple of hours through the day until it was ready. Sometimes you do things, I guess, just because you love the process, not because it’s the most expedient or easiest.