Perseverance

By Darvell Hunt

It seems like I've been doing this "writing thing" for decades. Oh, wait. I have been. I started my first LDS novel in 1989. Today, I am not the writer I was twenty years ago, or ten, or even five. I've had a few publishing credits here and there, as well as some writing contest wins, but still no book deal.

So why do I keep writing? Well, to be honest, I can't quit. I've tried; at least four or five times. Then I get an idea that percolates inside my head and gets me excited enough that I can't rest until I get it out of my head and onto paper (or at least to my computer). Then comes the editing, testing with readers, re-editing, and then submitting. Oh, and then the rejections. So far I haven't gotten past that point, but soon...!

So, writing, is, I've learned, more about keeping going than anything else. It seems that the most common attribute of published writers is perseverance--and it seems that the most common attribute of unpublished authors is the tendency to give up.

Well, I've tried giving up and that didn't work out so well. So, I guess all that's left is perseverance. So I write on. Right on!