I Am Inspired

We are out there.

We have the awesome responsibility of molding the way the world thinks. The way educators teach. The way children play.

Tonight I attended the Whitney Awards ceremony. It was awe-inspiring. At one point, Dave Wolverton/David Farland (same person, if you didn't know) was presented with the Outstanding Writer award. Dan Wells stood up and quoted Dave as having said, "You can make a living as an artist."

You can make a living as an artist. Think it. Whisper it to yourself. Say it out loud. This is important. You can do it.

Our MC (for lack of a better term) requested that everyone in the room who had ever heard Dave speak, either as a professor or at a conference, stand up.

Many of us stood.

He then asked if anyone had ever read any of his books (such as Rune Lords) that they also stand. Few remained sitting.

And finally he asked if anyone had ever read any books by Dan Wells or Brandon Sanderson, two of Dave's students, that they stand.

Nobody was left sitting.

That is the impact an author can have. How many of you would still be sitting? One man has reached a huge audience, and he is not a Stephenie Meyer or J.K. Rowling. But he is an artist. He is an author.

The LDS Storymakers Conference had more than 450 authors in attendance this year. Laura Rennert, Nephele Tempest, and Krista Marino heard pitches and asked for partials. Something amazing happened over the past two days at this conference. We found ourselves. We recognized something great in ourselves. We discovered our ability to shape our lives.

We are not a small group. We are not a fanatical group. We are a driven, motivated, and inspired group. We are not alone. We are proud of who we are.

We are writers.