A Creative Writer

Business is practical, though art is beautiful. Aspiring writers should not focus just on the mathematical side of composing a book but give their heart to their literary piece. 

Lately, I've been learning more about editing writing, as well as the process of getting literature published. The Karen Kinsbury Center for Creative Writing at Liberty University has been an invaluable source. 

As a writer, I find my current classes on Creative Writing essential for my own aspirations. While it's important to write well, it's also important to know about what's in demand within the literary market. Likewise, while it's important to be talented, it's essential to understand the process of getting a work published. 

It was inspiring to join Zeta Tau Delta, Liberty University's regional chapter of Sigma Tau Delta. Now, I'm near graduation. However, I am also enjoying my classes. 

I was recently included in several pictures in the Liberty University Champion. You can check them out here:

https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2024/01/the-english-honor-society-now-has-a-total-of-77-active-members/

A Changing Experience

  I'm a writer. I'm also a novelist. Generally, I write novels, although I have also written plays and poems. I've been a writer for many years. In fact, I love to write. Writing is a stress relief for me. But more recently, I am something else. 

When approaching the first draft of my nineteenth-century novel, I was primarily a storyteller. A good book often begins with a strong plotline. But it does not end there. Almost always, a novel must be revised several times before reaching perfection. 

I am a writer, but increasingly, I am also an editor. Having written several drafts of a story set in nineteenth-century England, I am also the editor of my piece. In many ways, being an editor for one's work is very different than being a writer. I shouldn't just keep passages because I wrote them. Rather, I need to look at what is best for the book, the reader, and the publishing industry. 

Liberty University's creative writing classes along with Scott Amis's suggestions, have also helped improve my writing. Indeed, I am undergoing a changing experience. I don't just want to merely write good stories. I want to edit them until they read well. Although I've edited some of my novels in the past, I am learning more about the art of editing as well as the process of finding a literary agent, an editor, and getting a book published. 

Writers ought not to rely on the literary agent or professional editor to only edit. Before seeking publication, the writer should seek to perfect their work as much as possible. 

New Experiences

Recently, I decided to attend the Zeta Tau Delta chapter at Liberty University. I wanted to experience the fill of being in a room with other English majors. 

It was the longest drive that us Dotsons made in five years. Of course, Ashley had to stay behind due to her ESL classes. Once we reached Lynchburg, however, we felt more rested. I enjoyed a short amount of time swimming in the pool with Whitney. 

Tonight, I joined Zeta Tau Delta. I'm officially a member of Liberty University's chapter of Sigma Tau Delta. Earlier today, I traveled up to Lynchburg, Virginia from Knoxville Tennessee to attend the meeting. It was an interesting experience. I had the chance to meet several English professors face-to-face for the first time. 

It was interesting to see the Liberty University campus for the first time. Having gone into a few buildings on the campus today, I also was graced to witness the residence of the university for the first time. 

The study of beloved literature nature makes for a great discipline. Of course, no English language and literature major should forget that essentially all British literature before the Enlightenment was written by professing Christians. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Austen, the Brontës, etc., were all devout Christians, who wove their theological views into their works. Elizabeth Kantor discusses this in her book, The Politically Innocent Gide to English and American Literature. 

Hopefully, English majors will not forget the Christian heritage of Western Civilization. Certainly, they have the potential to change the world through a new era of Christian literature. 

This May, I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in English and Writing: Christian Literature. In the meantime, I'm trying to learn everything about writing that I need to know. 

Another Work in the Works

Generally, I have focused this blog on my composition of novels set during the Crusades/Medieval era. However, far more recently, I've also been writing a novel set during early nineteenth century England (the Regency Era). 

In many ways, it is significantly a different work than my medieval era novels, in plotline, setting, style, and literary approach. 

I have not said much about it yet on this blog but I have had this novel in the works since January 2022 (though I began writing the plotline in December 2021). It is a novel set during the Regency Era. Lately, I've been editing more of it. I hope to get it published soon. I am still revising it (though the first draft was finished in November 2022). 

I appreciate all the prayers ahead as I proceed to finish this work. 

Writers Don't Give Up

 It takes years for some writers to feel that their work is ready for publication. Some examples:

Augustine spent fifteen years On the Trinity. Victor Hugo spent twenty years writing Les Misérables. Ezra Pound spent fifty-seven years composing The Cantos. Margaret Mitchell spent ten years writing Gone with The Wind. J. R. R. Tolkien spent sixteen years composing The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien also began work on The Silmarillion in 1914 and worked on it through the 1950s. In general, he spent many years writing his various works set in Middle-Earth. 

Some writers also never finished their work. After over ten years of writing, Geoffrey Chaucer had written twenty four Canterbury tales before dying. He had desired to write one hundred and twenty. 

When should a writer seek to get their work published? When they feel it is near perfection and it is ready to be read. There is no time limits on the amount of time needed for writing a book. 

English Honors Student

 Recently, I've started my last semester in my bachelor's of English and Writing: Christian literature. I've also been accepted into Sigma Tau Delta. Yay! 

I'm excited to announce that I'm also about to start the Master of Arts in Theological Studies. It's going to be awesome. 

Kings and Crusaders in New Formatting

 

So, over the last several years, I've been typing parts of Kings And Crusaders based on my previous written texts. In many ways, my online version of the book is the most historically accurate version of the Third Crusades, also known as the Kings' Crusade. As someone who has been writing this series of novels since 2010 (and having researched the events even before then), I've continued learning about many aspects of the Crusades and the Medieval world in general. My knowledge of Medieval literature, for example, became far more significant in 2019, the year that I decided to become an English major. While I loved Medieval history for many years, my study of Medieval literature further aided my approach to telling a story set in the Medieval world. 

I do have a title for the first novel, though I will withhold that from the public for now. Of course, I'm the writer saying this, but I'm very pleased with the first novel and while more changes are still necessary, I think that the opening chapters capture the feeling of Crusade literature. 

2024 is a new big year for me. I intend to graduate this year with a bachelor's in English, start seminary, and hopefully, begin the process of publication for at least one other novel that I've been writing. 

Happy New Year!