Thoughts on the Lecture

I thought that the lecture by Beth Hedengren was very interesting and it gave me a fresh outlook regarding writing. She talked about how you can tell good writing from bad writing by the motives the author has. She used Nehor and Nephi from the Book of Mormon as examples of this. I liked that because it helped me to see similarities from different aspects of my life. I have never really related the Book of Mormon to writing before.

She also talked about virtues we can develop by writing. The first was humility. She used a quote from Dick Guindon to emphasis her point. "Writing is natures way of letting you know how sloppy your thinking is." Mrs. Hedengren taught us that we should gain humility by accepting correction when we write. The second virtue she talked about was charity. She urged us to think of others when writing, especially our readers. This can help us to establish charity in our lives. John Trimble has said in regard to this, "Serve the reader." Mrs. Hedengren also talked to us about how writing can bless others lives.

Another virtue that can be developed through writing well is clarity. Mrs. Hedengren taught that sometimes you just have to start writing in order to gain clarity. She also said that no matter who you write to, if you write with real intent you will gain clarity. The last virtue that you can gain through writing, that Mrs. Hedengren talked about, is stick-to-it-ivity. She used the word gumption to explain this virtue which means: spunk, courage, and resourcefulness. She also used a quote from Henry B. Eyring, which said, "Hard work is the only reasonable option." Mrs. Hedengren taught that by writing for good purposes we can gain these virtues. It was something that I had never really thought about before and I was thankful for the new perspective that this lecture provided me.