Belmont alumna Ashlyne Huff Revelette started her life with dreams of becoming a professional dancer. She attended Belmont and earned her degree in music business and then went on tour as a pop/rock singer. She is now the author of the novel, “Falling Stars,” in which Belmont plays a role. She hosted a convocation session at Belmont Oct. 26.
Whether it’s writing songs or writing novels, Revelette gets her ideas from multiple sources.
“I have always been an observer, all my life. I don’t know if I find ideas exactly, but I am always waiting for that one little lightbulb to say ‘hey that’s something worth remembering or writing down.’ Patience and open eyes,” she said.
At Belmont, she loved to write–both songs and papers.
“Honestly, I think my favorite times were when I successfully turned in 20-30 page papers. Back then, I never dreamed I would willingly write more than that. Now I write 300-400 pages without even thinking about it,” Revelette said. “So, as weird and boring as this answer is, I gained a lot of confidence in completing classes that seemed out of my wheelhouse.”
Dancing was her first love, but she was inspired to start singing because of her dance teacher, Cathy Turner, of Cathy’s Dance Studio.
“My dance teacher was not a singer, but she always stressed that if any of us wanted to dance as a career, which I did at the time, we needed to be well-rounded. We needed to be able to sing and/or act. So, I took that as a challenge, I guess,” Revelette said. “It wasn’t until I got to Belmont when I started writing my own lyrics that I really loved it.”
“Falling Stars” was Revelette’s first novel, and the sequel, “Broken Pieces,” is in the editing stages. “Falling Stars” is about an aspiring singer-songwriter, which is something many Belmont students can relate to. Both of these books take place in Belmont and throughout Nashville.
Her biggest advice for aspiring writers? Organize.
“However, there is no set way to write a book or a song, so my advice is to figure out how you want to get there,” Revelette said. “The output is all that matters. Sometimes it just starts with figuring out if you like to write with actual paper and pen in a notebook–I do– or type into a laptop –which I dread…feels like one of those 20-page papers. From there, it’s just about so your can let it flow out of you. I think creative people skip over that scary word ‘organize’ sometimes, but I am a huge advocate for it so that all those ideas have a place to land. Otherwise? Headaches.”
She also has more writing tips on her blog, Ashlyne.co.
She had great advice for students from a variety of backgrounds–from writing to music.
“Believing that whatever you decide to do now determines your future completely,” was her biggest piece of advice. As someone who has held a variety of interests and careers, she proves that this is true. She also told the Bruins in attendance, “Whatever you do here, do it with passion.”
She not only gave advice and told about her life experiences, but also performed some of her original music with her dad, Dan Huff, brother, Elliot Huff, and friends, Brandon Hood and Skye Parrish Reedy. She performed two songs which were inspired by “Falling Stars” called “Burning Blue” and “Falling Star.” She also performed the first single she had as an artist entitled “Heart of Gold.”
She wanted to let students know that she is always there to help and give advice.
“Bruins stick together,” she said.
This article was written by Cayli Allen.