Duane Brush from STANDARD: Story Arc Worskhop

Duane Brush  from a College Graduation Ceremy

Duane Brush, editor of Standard and Reflecting God, was a 30-year pastor and frequently published writer before joining WordAction. He is a graduate of Olivet Nazarene University and Nazarene Theological Seminary. Wordsowers are privileged to have Duane present a workshop, “The story arc—a how to on plotting a story to a satisfying conclusion.”

Nazarene Publishing House 

            Nazarene Publishing House, the publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene is located in Kansas City, MO. It was first founded in 1912.

Kat: I know you served in ministry for 30 years....did you write during that time?

Duane: I wrote for publication in addition to things written as part of my ministry: mostly newspapers, magazine articles and stories.  

STANDARD SS Handout

Kat: How and why did you change professions?

Duane: At 58 I was exploring my options. I knew that it was time to leave my current pastoral position. My wife and I were prayerfully seeking God's direction for our future. I am a great believer in knocking on many doors, and trusting God to open the right one. A friend made a house available to us in Kansas City during that time. After working several temporary positions I was offered the editorial position at NPH. 

Kat: Have you published a book?

Duane: I wrote a chapter in a book about our church's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Reflecting God Devotional

I wrote a worship planning guide for the Worship in Song hymnal. I have pitched several books and had two accepted by NPH. Unfortunately those projects are now on hold because of the company's reorganization.

Kat: You've presented workshops at many conferences....how many and where?

Duane: I have presented conference workshops at the HACWN conference for 5 or 6 years. I did a Skype conference for a Christian writer's group in Raleigh, North Carolina and for Wordsowers in 2014. My workshops have largely focused on article and devotional writing and the changing markets for both. 

Kat: You mentioned family and grandchildren--do any of your family write? 

Duane and wife Nora 

Duane: My wife Nora has written some, she is also a minister and chaplain, she has written both articles and devotionals. Our son, David, has written chapters for books and for his ministry projects. He is a lay discipleship minister at his church and is a graduate of Fuller seminary with a degree in international missions.

Kat: Do you have a "bucket list" in the writing world before retirement, or are you like some of us who will never retire?

Bucket from Common Domain

Duane: I have several book ideas I would like to pursue. A dream project would be a textbook on preaching for ministers from the Wesleyan-Holiness perspective.
Find Duane Brush on Facebook

Kat: A note to Wordsowers: Duane is a great workshop teacher and easy to talk with in interview sessions. Besides the workshop for our conference this year, he has taught “Good theology for Christian writers who aren’t theologians.” Another is, “Character development in short story writing.” Feel free to ask him questions.

          Also, Duane mentioned the the reorganization of Nazarene Publishing House. Pray for all the editors and publishers at NPH during this transition.

Interview by Kat Crawford-one of the Wordsowers Leadership Team