Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and, more recently, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, has become a helpful voice to many within contemporary Christian writing. Miller is a writer of memoirs, “narratives composed of personal experience” according to Merriam-Webster. He works out what Frederick Buechner, one of my favorite authors, meant when he wrote:
It’s really very easy to be a writer—all you have to do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.
The challenges of writing about oneself can be difficult, though. You open yourself to the critique and the reality of narcissism.
Don Miller realizes this, however, and wrote an interesting piece recently called “Reflections on Endless Self-promotion.” He provides some honest confessions, justifications, and observations on writing about yourself in any form.
I think that Miller’s words are particularly insightful in our culture that is increasingly bent on authenticity, whether in person, in church, or online. Miller helps us get our hands around the realities, dangers, and benefits of such emphatic personal authenticity.
Discover more from Matthew Erickson
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Matthew Erickson 