Mom, I Wanna Be A Scriptwriter

Actually, I never said this to my Mom. Did I want to be a novelist? Sure. A Jedi knight? Definitely. A scriptwriter—never heard of it!

In fact, if you’re like me, you probably haven’t heard much about “scriptwriters,” either. Or at least, when you heard the word “scriptwriter,” you thought of senseless sitcoms and Hollywood hokum.

The Mission

Well, I’m learning all about scriptwriting now. Four months ago, I embarked on the adventure of a lifetime: scriptwriter, AiG Creation Museum.

In my wildest dreams as a youngster, I would never have dreamed up such a job description:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: (1) Create the most fantastic designs imaginable to exalt the Creator and to depict His most amazing deeds in history; (2) hunt down the most intriguing science available in the world today that will answer the most difficult questions of our times; (3) equip Christians to win the battle for the inerrancy of the Bible; and (4) challenge doubters to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Life-size dinosaur tracks, a walk-through diorama of life on Noah’s Ark, a reconstruction of the Scopes Trial—the only limit is your imagination. In other words, think up the coolest, most exciting museum experience you could possibly conceive, one that will excite and challenge guests with life-changing truths that they’ll never forget. Then ask Patrick Marsh, AiG’s unparalleled designer, to find a way to make it happen!

Can you think of a more exciting job? Well, I can’t! I’ve spent over twenty years in Christian education, writing Christian materials to equip young people to grow in the knowledge and image of Jesus Christ. But I’m staggered by the privilege of joining in this monumental task: designing the “guts” of a new Creation Museum being built at the crossroads of the United States.

One day literally hundreds of thousands of people will pass through the museum doors, hearing and seeing the greatest message on Earth—that God’s Word is true from its very first verse, giving us the true worldview on which to base our understanding of the world and to find meaning and fulfillment in our lives.

The Nuts and Bolts

At present, three people are working directly on various scriptwriting projects for the Creation Museum: Stacia (theatre presentation), Perry (nature trails) and myself (the fun stuff).

A project of this magnitude must obviously be a team effort. Answers in Genesis has over 120 staff members, who have been producing apologetics materials for decades.

Outline of “teaching points”—done. Our privilege—and responsibility—has been to sift through everything AiG has produced over the years, and cull the very best of the best—choosing whatever ideas will be most effective in a highly visual “museum environment.” Not only must we put together a list of the best graphics and teaching topics available, but also we must organize these materials into the most exciting, easy-to-follow sequence imaginable.

It’s taken a lot of work, but I think we’ve just about completed this big step. (In reality, of course, our “Outline of Teaching Points” is only a first draft, which will pass through many hands and be reviewed by all sorts of committees and advisors. Then each new round of ideas will get the same careful attention.)

Display ideas—in progress. Currently, all our energy is focused on researching the most effective display ideas to get across the main points that the museum needs to make. For example, suppose we decide to discuss the argument over creation/evolution in the setting of the famous Wilberforce-Huxley debate (held in 1860, the year after Darwin published his Origin of Species.