Tuesday, September 21, 2010

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that the most common attribute of published writers is perseverance--and it seems that the most common attribute of unpublished authors is the tendency to give up.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!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great attitude, Darvell! I'm with ya!

C. LaRene Hall said...

Excellent blog. It's great knowing I'm not alone.

Michael Knudsen said...

Never surrender, Darvell! It took me 20 years from idea to accepted novel.

http://cheerfulvistadrive.wordpress.com/