We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own

Lately I have been reading about the Whitney Literary Awards, and have decided to add that to my vision board. One of my goals is to be nominated for this award sometime in my life. You need to be an LDS author to qualify. This award was named after Orson F. Whitney, who was an author and poet. In 1988 he gave a speech entitled, Home Literature, where he said:

"We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own. God's ammunition is not exhausted. His brightest spirits are held in reserve for the latter times. In God's name and by his help we will build up a literature whose top shall touch heaven, though its foundations may now be low in earth."

By no means do I feel I compare to most authors now or past authors, most times I actually feel inferior and so insignificant. However, I truly feel that I am meant to write this story. I also would hate to hear anyone else say that they feel unqualified or not as talented as someone else. If you have a love for writing, then write. You are one of those "bright spirits" that Orson F. Whitney was talking about. I am one of those "bright spirits", even though I may not feel like it all the time.

I need to focus on my little successes in this journey to help from getting overwhelmed. I am pleased to say that I have completely finished the epilogue and first chapter to my novel, and I am starting chapter two. This chapter is one of the most important chapters to me, where a very special character in the novel is introduced. I just hope that I can do it justice to how I picture it in my head.

Hopefully in the next few days I will be writing about how I have completed chapter two, focus and discipline is the key. And so far things are progressing nicely!

Plotting, plotting, and some more plotting

I just read this amazing quote by Willa Cather, the famed novelist of the early twentieth century that said, "There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."  Stories don't need to be completely original, they just need a little twist, something fresh.  I have that!

I believe I am almost done hashing out my plot and creating an outline for my novel. The other day I was cleaning my house and listening to some music (a lot of my inspiration comes while I am listening to music) and all of the sudden a certain part of my plot that had been foggy at best, sorted itself out in my mind. Answers to questions I had been asking myself for the past few weeks came to me. I am so relieved because these few new details have made my original plot more rich and believable, where I feel even more people can related to it.

I have decided to try to listen to music while I am writing certain scenes and planning others to help inspire and create more emotion.  I like to visualize my scenes in my head like I were watching a movie, and you can't visualize a movie scene without hearing music play in the background.  The music is what creates most of the emotion you are feeling while you watch.  So I hope doing this will help with my writing. If anyone is curious as to which songs I was listening to during certain scenes I will be able to tell them. And I am open to any suggestions, whether it be an artist or specific song.

What a Character

Author Gary L. Blackwood once said, "I can't develop a situation into a plot until I know who the main character is and what he or she is like."

I am so excited because my main character is starting to develop a life and personality of his own, as I am developing what he looks like and how he would act in certain situations, he seems to put himself into predicaments without much effort on my part.  He is very complex and kind of a mix of a few people that I am close to in my life, myself included.

My secondary characters are also coming along well.  I have a good handle on most of their personalities and how they would react in certain situations except one...this character is going to be more of a struggle for me, mainly because I don't know too many people in my life who has this characters type of personality.  Sorry I am being so vague, but I don't want to give away certain characters and plot sequences in my novel.  I actually haven't told anyone what my novel is really about.  Let's just say...it is a contemporary realistic young adult novel with a twist of fantasy!  Maybe as I develop more of the novel and write more about it, I will divulge a few secrets.

One secret is that my novel takes place in Boulder City, Nevada (right next to Hoover Dam).

Writers Write!

Author Ray Bradbury once said, "Find something you love to do, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

I have decided that a realistic writing goal for me, being a mother of three, would be to write five hours a week.  Anything extra will just be an added bonus! I am going to steal any spare time I may have, be it during naps, late at night, early in the morning, or any breaks I may have during my work days. I love the quote by award-winning children's author Katherine Paterson, "Success might have come sooner if I'd had a room of my own and fewer children, but I doubt it.  For as I look at my writing, it seems to me that the very persons who took away my time and space are the ones who have given me something to say."

I have decided that my biggest critic is going to be myself, so I have decided that I just need to believe in myself.  I need to tell myself every chance I get that I will make a career out of my writing and I will accomplish my goals.  My brother recently competed in a regional wrestling tournament where he did the best he has ever done, he took first in Region.  He kept telling himself that he would win! So...

I will publish a novel!

I will publish a novel!

I will publish a novel!