Before we talk about Part Two of Imagination to Paper, I’d like to share some exciting news. Today, after a couple weeks of work, I’ve nailed down the opening to my second manuscript. It’s the prequel to A Picture of the Heart. The opening scene is fast, action packed, and exciting. I think it’ll hook the reader from the start, and my goal is to ratchet up the tension throughout the middle, right until the stories climax.
Last time, I briefly talked about my time in Vacaville, CA and shared how I had heard the words A Picture of the Heart (POTH) during prayer time. I sat down, typed out 26 very poorly written pages, got discouraged and quit; however, the story of POTH never left my heart or head. In fact, the story developed over the years in my mind. My wife, Lisa, and I would often discuss scenes, characters, plots, etc…
You may recall that between 2010 and 2016 we moved from, California, to Honduras, to England, to Spain and finally back to the US at the end of 2016. During my time in Spain, I heard the Lord say write an outline. Those simple words inspired me and before long I had 26 chapters outlined. As I mentioned it wasn’t until 2017 that I actually began to write the story and that’s what I’d like to tell you about today.
I prayed and asked God for help in 2017 to become a writer and finish the book. He heard my prayers and I discovered Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. When enrollment opened, I didn’t hesitate to join. I soon discovered valuable training on the site, but it wasn’t enough help me get from outline to manuscript. I needed something with more structure and that’s when Jerry and his team offered My Novel Blueprint. I started the training around late 2018 and after about 6-months I had a rough manuscript.
Another fantastic opportunity opened in November 2019. I joined a group called Jerry’s Inner Circle with 13 other people from around the United States. I had thought my manuscript was pretty good. That was until I submitted my first chapter and it came back with a ton of corrections. I must admit, that first submission was pretty tough; however, I soon stopped pouting and decided to work harder and make something greater. This is a good place to say, it’s valuable to take time to understand yourself, your habits, behaviors, personality, etc.. I knew those first edits would be tough and I’d probably be pretty worked up. Even though I saw it coming, it was still a pretty good fight to get myself over the initial shock. Once, I did get past the challenges of having my work edited, I fell in love with Jerry’s process and ended up editing around 25,000 words out of my 60,000 word manuscript, leaving me with a mere 35,000 words. 35,000 words which I’m happier with in the end. Although, my goal was a 60k word manuscript, I decided to leave it at 35k. It’s might make publishing more challenging, but I’m happy with my work, and that’s my number one priority.
I’ll leave you with these thoughts.
- God may be seated in the highest Heavens, but He still hears our prayers.
- Hard work is blessed by God and pays off. You’ll find that principle applies to every aspect of life
- Never underestimate the power of your story. Other people’s stories encouraged me and motivated me to work harder and not give up.