The Story

Someday, I want to write the novel I call the novel.  It's the novel that, if I ever have the expertise and the idea fleshed, will be the greatest novel I've ever written.

Sometimes, when I listen to certain soundtracks, I catch a glimpse of that novel.  The novel that would stir up adventure and stir the soul at the same time.  A novel that would pull you in for a wild ride; a novel that a reader will never forget.

It would be that kind of novel that (I hope) makes a reader sit back, and say just one word.  "Epic."  And the novel that is in me, somewhere, brewing, is just that.  If it will ever peek out, that is.

And, sometimes I wonder; do all writers have that novel?  Do you, writer, have that epic novel hidden somewhere in your imagination, just waiting to spring onto a page?

Or do you, reader, look for that novel you might call an "epic"?  And I've found those.  I've found in Tolkien, in Batson, in Davis, in Hopper, epics.

"Wait," you might say.  "What about all of those novels you're writing now?  Don't you pour yourself into those, too?"

And I'd say, yes.  But I almost view them as practice.  Even if they get published, though, they are only a small reflection of the novel that I may never write.

And yes, I may never write that novel.  Because, if I would write it, it might span pages, and pages, and pages.  Books.  Even more.  It would be a huge project.  I may even venture to call it "the Story", because it would be one story, even if it were more than one novel.

This story would be one of those stories that stays with you for a long, long time.  Something that expresses what I already have burned across my heart; the flaming love of a Savior, the passion of a God who saves, the furious fight of freedom, the ultimate battle of burning light and encroaching darkness.

But I feel, if I even attempt to write it now, it would fail.  Because I'm just not ready.  My writing style is developing, but not developed.  I have a lot of ground to cover before the Story can be written.

So, I write little bits of the things that rouse the soul.  In The War Horn, I touch on freedom and self-sacrifice.  In The Book of Shaldu, I write of the battle between light and darkness.  In Revolution, I will try to show the revolution that happens when God comes to earth and sets things in motion.

Little bits and pieces.  Ultimately, all of the pieces are found in the Bible; someday, I will try and show them embroiled in action in a tale that readers will never forget.  Perhaps it will be written.  Perhaps not.

Until then, I shall keep writing.

So, writer.  Do you have that tale you burn to write?  Tell us about it.

I'll leave you with one quote that Mr. S told us at the OYAN Conference.

Which would you rather have?

 Imagine yourself a bestselling author, with over a million copies sold.  But the thing is, once the reader reads your book, they promptly forget about it.  They've read it. It's just another book.  You get the royalties and all that from sales, of course. But the readers aren't impacted by it.  It's average.

Or, you sell one copy.  Just one.  You get the little royalty.  But the one reader who buys that book will never forget the wild tale they found inside.  Ever.

Which would you rather have?