The Canticle

The Canticle Game Blog | Created By Www.BestTheme.Net

Followers

Networked Blogs

About Me

Questions or comments?

Reading Profiles

View my Shelfari profile

View my GoodReads profile

View my JacketFlap profile

Share This

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

View My Writing Portfolio

Twitter Feed

Gospel Ideals

I Write for GospelIdeals.org

Kindlegraph




Yesterday was a solemn day for me, full of much introspection. I had the privilege of performing in a 9/11 special with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Tom Brokaw.  A wonderful experience. 

 It’s hard to believe, but I was just heading to one of my high school classes during my junior year of high school. Since then, I’ve become a husband, a father, a college graduate and a published author. But I still feel the effects of that day.

When hearing all the stories of people who were impacted by 9/11 it made me think about how I can apply what they have taught me as a writer. I heard people say so many times that watching the news coverage was ‘like watching a movie’. As writers, we are meant to mimic and comment on reality, and we can learn things, even from tragedy. 

Here are some of my thoughts:

1.       There is real evil in the world—people who will convince themselves through twisted logic that hurting and killing others is justified.  That is the model of a true antagonist.

2.       There are real heroes in the world—people who will put their own comfort and safety in front of others.  They lay down their lives to save others. That is the model of a true protagonist.

3.       People may be beaten down and lose many things, but can pick themselves up again, can rebuild, and can still find happiness.  That is a model of the human condition.  In real life that is how a lot of stories go, not all happiness, not all sadness, but somewhere in between with hope for the future.

My heart goes out to all those who lost someone on that terrible day. I hope that our country and that each one of us can take a second to remember how those events made us feel and that we can recommit to being our best selves. 


Writing Update:
Another great writing week! I’m up to 14,000 words in Simon Says and 10,300 in the second book of The Last Archangel series. (Still not sure what the title is going to be on that. I’d welcome some suggestions) I’m turning in a short story to a Christmas anthology this week called “Checkin’ It Twice”. In this story, Santa has to reevaluate his stance about his traditional lists.

I’ve got a very busy week coming up doing a major concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but I hope to still get some good writing time in. 

5 Responses so far.

  1. pickygirl says:

    beautiful. love the summation line of, "In real life that is how a lot of stories go, not all happiness, not all sadness, but somewhere in between with hope for the future. " lovely, true.

  2. Stobby says:

    It's the stories where there evil redeems itself that really touch me. Where the ordinarily heartless, self-absorbed or greedy bloke finds himself compelled to run into a sweltering pit of flames to save complete strangers. There's something about the ability to change for the better that warms me.

  3. What a great post! Thanks for sharing it. Your Christmas short story sounds like fun. An original twist. Your days are full. When you do find time to write?

  4. As for writing time, I just make sure that I am always ready to write wherever I am. I carry pen and paper everywhere, have my laptop handy, and just snatch up any few minutes I have. That adds up. Then, my wife likes to go to bed early and I'm a night owl, so that gives me a few hours at night once she and the kids have hit the sack.

Total Pageviews