PROGRESS

Posted on March 5, 2005 by thathobbitlady

Too busy writing my NOVEL to comment much here. Much progress being made. I’m about 1 week into it, and about 9,000 words, I think. Although, judging from where I am in the storyline, I’m going to need a lot more than 50,000 words! I’m just going to keep writing until the story is told, word count be damned!

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TAKING NOTES

Posted on February 24, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I am now only a little more than 48 hours away from being able to begin writing my novel. I have been taking notes LIKE MAD. It’s been great! A few times I thought, okay, that’s it, I can’t add any more to this story, and then, wham! I write, “Maybe…this happens…” and I’m off and running on another layer of the story, deeper insight into the characters, finding little nuts and bolts that are going to hold the whole thing together and make it overall STRONGER.

The most exciting part is that I actually have a beginning and an end, because traditionally my way of writing has always been to start off with a beginning, have no idea where the story is going, and fizzle out somewhere in the middle. It reminds me of that famous saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up someplace else.” So now I actually know where I am going. And quite looking forward to the trip!

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CHRIS BATY IS A GENIUS!

Posted on February 21, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I am two days into taking notes for my novel and I am so angry at all the Creative Writing teachers I’ve ever had! Why didn’t they teach me the stuff Chris Baty so obviously points out in his one little book? It makes absolutely the most sense ever, and I have a real feeling that this is the RIGHT way to go about writing a novel. I mean, I know every writer has a different procedure, a different inspiration, but I think this way is going to work for me. If I had done this years ago, I might very well be published by now. Maybe. Anyway, I am still so on fire for this idea.

Also, I was reading a little bit by C.S. Forester, who wrote the Hornblower novels, and that poor guy! I mean, his experience in “constructing” the story makes a lot of sense, but when he sits down to actually write (in longhand, with one of the most undecipherable handwritings I have ever seen) it was an absolutely exhasting procedure for him, and it went on for three or four months at a time. He didn’t really enjoy the writing, but he very much enjoyed the “having written.” His story is in The Hornblower Companion, if anyone is interested. I personally find it very interesting to hear what other writers go through.

And as usual, my favorite quote is the one I heard in college years ago: How do you write 50 novels? Put your ass in a chair and keep it there for a LONG, LONG TIME!!!

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NANO

Posted on February 14, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I’ve made a decision. I have gone as far as I can in Chris Baty’s book about writing a novel in a month, and by George, I’m going to do it! I’m going to do it in November of course, along with thousands of other people, but I am so on fire for this idea that I don’t want to wait till November! Ilve already got a story idea, so I’m going to do a “WriMo” on my own—or NOT on my own, if anyone else is inspired to join me—in March.

Actually, I’m going to give myself a Beginner’s Handicap of a few days. On Feb 20 (next Sunday) I’m going to start note-taking/outlining/time-lining/etc. Baty says you can take no more than a week to do that. Then on Sunday, Feb 27, I’m going to begin writing. If you count through to March 31, it’s 33 days. Slightly longer than a month, but hey, February is kind of funky, and to tell the truth, I can’t wait to begin, so I’m just going to start a little early.

I’m writing this here so that anyone who reads this will know what I am doing and is welcome to question me on the progress of my novel. Also, I am writing this here, so that if anyone would like to join me, PLEASE DO!

By the way, a little hint that is not in the book: if you decide to write your novel out in longhand, each side of a sheet of looseleaf paper holds about 250 woords (for normal sized handwriting). So each day you want to fill about 7 sides of looseleaf paper, roughtly 1750 words per day. At that rate, it will take 28.571428 days to complete 50,000 words (or so my calculator tells me.) That sounds about right.

In the immortal words of SpongeBob…”I’m ready!! I’m ready!!! I’M READY!!!!!”

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Horatio Hornblower: the Picture Definition of “Swashbuckler”

Posted on February 12, 2005 by thathobbitlady

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NANO!!!!!!!!

Posted on February 11, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I am reading the book No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty, who created NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I am on fire for this project! This guy has the most (if you’ll pardon the pun) NOVEL ideas about how to write. Everything he says goes completely against the grain of everything you’ve ever been told about writing, yet it all makes complete sense! I am so anxious to give his ideas a whirl, I don’t know if I can wait until November. I will definately write a novel in November, but I think I might try another one sooner than that, maybe March or April.

I started thinking about what I might write, and I remembered a story I had dreamed up once but never really written much more than a few notes, but now I’m thinking and thinking on it, and I think I can make it work. This is so exciting, to be doing fiction again! Ive got names for my characters, a little history and and a basic plotline, so I am READY TO GO!!!

On another note, I have just finished watching the last of the Hornblower movies, and I am in love with Ioan Gruffudd, AND with Horatio Hornblower. Why don’t we have heroes like that anymore? And why is it that all the really gorgeous actors come from faraway places like Wales and Australia? You’ve got to love the accent.

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‘THERE FOR YOU’

Posted on February 6, 2005 by thathobbitlady

On an episode of Seinfeld, when an attractive couple they know breaks up, Jerry and Elaine dream up an ingenious way to be sure they are first in line with the suddenly romantically available. They decide to call up the broken-hearted just to say “I’M THERE FOR YOU.” Like a lot of the phrases from Sienfeld “I’m there for you” has become a catch-phrase. I hear a lot of people using it. But I wonder what it really means, if it’s really true. And I’ve come to the conclusion that despite everything we’d like to believe about the human race, we are all basically self-centered creatures (present company included) who can be “there for” others as long as it’s convenient and does not interfere with our own personal agenda.

Now maybe there are absolutely lovely people somewhere in the world who will really be “there for you” 100% of the time, but I haven’t met them, and if you live long enough, I think eventually everybody will disappoint you at some time. This is my opinion of the human race. I know it’s very pessimistic, but sorry, I think it’s true. We are sinful, self-centered beings. We (hopefully) strive to be better than we are, but basically you can’t please all the people all the time, and if you put your faith in other people to make your life happy, you will eventually be disappointed.

But that is not the point I came here to make. I wast thinking about the phrase “there for you” and I came to the conclusion that the only person who is always there for you 100% of the time is God. Because He is God, and not imperfect, and not sinful, and the only agenda He has is making the universe the best possible universe it can be, and that includes every living person.

The thing about God, though, is that when you say He is THERE for you, you have to really think about WHERE that THERE is. Sure, He is there, He is always there—but WHERE? Well, He is where God should be, in the most perfect place, and He wants you to be THERE with Him. That’s where, ideally, you should be, right there with God, if you want your life to be the best life it can be, right? Sometimes you might feel that God is far away, and when you feel that way, then somebody moved, and guess what? It wasn’t Him. Why would He move out of the perfect place? Pretty clear to see that if you were still in the perfect place, then God would be near, right? So God is always “there for you” but maybe sometimes you aren’t “there” where you should be.

But here’s the best part of all. I remembered this verse in Isaiah (59:1) that describes it perfectly: “Behold, the Lord’s had is not so short that it cannot save.” So I have this image of God as a kind of X-man—not to be disrespectful at all, but I think the image works—God is like this X-man, isn’t there one who is like made of rubber and can stretch incredible lengths? I don’t know too much about X-men, but I have this image of some supernatural being who can stretch out His arm as far as it needs to go, and tap you on the shoulder, or take you by the hand, or pull you by the arm, or whatever He needs to do to get you back to where you need to be, right next to Him.

So God is always “there for you” but sometimes you yourself are not “there.” But if you keep thinking about God, and trusting in Him, then eventually you will get back “there,” where you need to be.

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HAPPY

Posted on January 22, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I just read Mary’s list of what makes her happy, and I was inspired to make my own. So, for whatever it’s worth, this is what makes me happy, and pretty much in this order:

1. Jesus. If you don’t know why, you need to find out.

2. Mary. Because a mom could not possible ask for a better daughter.

3. My Mom. Because we have a good relationship. Some people don’t get along with their mom, and that’s sad. It’s really great when you actually LIKE the people who are most important in your life.

4. Stories. This is my all-inclusive term for movies and books. I like to take mini-vacations, and this is how I do it. I also get a kick out of seeing something creative done really well. It’s art. Which kind of leads into my next one…

5. Writing. Not that I’ve done too much of it lately, but when I do write, and it comes out good, there is no greater high. And speaking of “high”…

6. Music. All kinds, except rap and metal, and there is even some metal I can tolerate. One of the best things about my job is that I can listen to music from the time I punch in to the time I punch out. One day I was really digging the soundtrack from The Producers and one of the guys came in my office and I exclaimed, “I have the absolute best job in the whole city!!!” The Producers is awesome, but it could just as easily have been Tom Jones, or Mozart’s 40th Symphony. Or the Monkees. Go, Monkees!

7. My house. I don’t own it, but I love it. All my favorite stuff is here, and when it rains outside, I don’t get wet.

8. Cats. Obviously cats in general are the coolest creatures God has ever created, but my particular two cats are my favorite in all the world at the moment. (Though when they are wrestling at 4am, I may not say the same thing.)

9. Food! Of course I love eating delicious food, but I also enjoy cooking quite a bit. Food is so wrapped up in memories, and a defining sense of self. Can you really talk about who you are without talking about what foods you most enjoy? You ARE what you eat.

10. Free time, down time, time when I don’t have to really be anywhere or do anything in particular, and basically I can stay in my cozy little home with my cats and cook up something really delicious to eat while I am watching a favorite movie.

Man! I’m easy to please!

In the interest of keeping this list at a round number, I’m stopping at ten, though of course there are many other things that make me happy. Among them: the great feeling when the gym workout is OVER…listening to Pastor Bob on tape or TV… cool, clear weather like we’ve been having lately… the fact that I do not mind going to work each day (I stop short at saying my job makes me happy, but it is a wonderful feeling to not HATE what you have to do 8 hrs a day)… my little red music mobile…a big fat juicy refund check to arrive shortly from the IRS… and also that I recently realized that my son will not be 16 forever! Praise God! Everything is always changing, and that makes me happy. Life is full of ups and downs, but in general, the trend is UPWARDS.

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LONG WEEKEND

Posted on January 17, 2005 by thathobbitlady

It has been a lovely, lazy, long weekend. I say “lazy” because I got the chance to sit around the house and did not really allow myself to get stressed out too much (as is best in January) but it also was NOT lazy, because I did in fact get a lot of things done that I wanted to get done. So it was the perfect blend of getting things done without getting stressed. And sleeping late. And doing a little bit of exercise, but not too much. And some reading. And some good movies. And some good food. Nothing exciting, but all in all, very nice.

And February will have another long weekend!

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JANUARY BLUES

Posted on January 12, 2005 by thathobbitlady

It’s January, the second worse month of the year (August has NO redeeming qualies, stuck right in the middle of hurricane season. At least January may bring cooler temps and virtually no chance of a hurricane, and there are TWO holidays) but anyway, here it is January, and true to form all I want to do is hibernate. January is a time when you should power down after the holidays and get as much sleep as possible, and not look for anything new. It’s enough to just survive January. This happens to me virtually every year to some degree, and yet I still feel guilty about it, because society is always telling you to go, go, go and do, do, do—and if you don’t you are worthless and lazy. I HATE society!!! Why do I still feel compelled to listen to it? Sometimes I think I am free of it, but in times like this, times like January, I’m not so sure. It’s a real pain.

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