Heroes, Villains, and Me

     Well, hello again, world! It's been, what, an entire month? And what a month it's been! I've done so many things, accomplished a considerable amount in school, started basketball, celebrated Christmas and now we've begun an entire new year: 2011...          

So you might logically assume that 30 days is plenty time for me to get something written for my book, right?
     Well, not quite.
Writing this month has been slow, drudging work. I suppose, though, if I were to say something about every month that's past since I started writing, at least a day out of every one would have been slow too.
It must be, then, that slowness is a part of my writing process. At least, that's what I'm hoping is the case, and the finished results will be worth the long wait.
     We'll see.
This month, though, I've been blessed with ample time to really think about some things in writing (mine and that of others). I've though extensively on some matters, and very briefly on others. Even though all this thinking may not yield dozens of pages of my book, I had some in-depth thoughts on villains and heroes that I thought I'd share. 
     So first, I feel it is not only fair, but also prudent, that the author of a story spend a proper amount of time thinking about the villain of the tale.
The villain?
I know.
It's not a pleasant topic to think about. I can understand if you are immediately disgusted by the thought of thinking about it, too. I mean, it's the bad guy. Rightly, we've been taught to hate injustice, cruelty, evil...all qualities which are manifested by villains. I'll admit, it often makes be uncomfortable to spend time thinking about evil, even searching to find ways to understand and perhaps, if possible, justify it.
But I must be fair.
With all this thinking I've been doing lately, I have come to a couple of broad conclusions which may be, I believe, applied to most every villain (and by this, I mean the human kind of villain, not the unfeeling, alien overlord).
Villainy, treachery, tyranny (take your pick) appear to problems which stem from a deeper one, an age-old vice of humanity: the desire for power.
Now, I know what you're thinking...mostly because I raised the same question: that there are many other notable things (greed, hatred, envy etc.) that would certainly be cause for evil acts.
But here, let us look to the stories...Did Rumpelstiltskin take the queen's child because he thought he'd be a great dad, or because he wanted to be able to control the only heir to the throne? Did Sauron seek to destroy the Fellowship because he was jealous of Gimli's beard, or because they threatened to vanquish his grip on Middle Earth, once and for all? Did the White Witch assemble an army to fight Aslan because she was in the mood to wipe out some of the satyr population, or because she saw that the rightful king had returned and could reclaim Narnia?
Their thirst for power is not only the weakness, but also the downfall of these villains.
However, we must admit that a villain is not born evil. No one is. If it were so, villainy could be passed off as a genetic defect in a person, some kind of weakness of will one is born with.
But villainy is not born. It is learned. It is acquired. It slows eats at the hearts of men.
And all because of power.
These conclusions, though hard to dwell upon for long, have given me a keener understanding of my villain himself. I'm sure, when I attempt to explain the (faulty) reasoning behind my villain's evil ways (instead of merely handing him a mace to swing, giving him a tattoo and telling him to walk into the scene to some dramatic organ music), he'll be very grateful.

 And now, having covered both myself and villains, it's high time I give some attention to the heroes.
These fair folk require very few soul-searching, thought-provoking questions to understand them like the villains. For every man is expected to be moral, to do good, to act virtuously, and if he must, save a couple of damsels in distress. The people who live up to this expectation are to be commended, as it is a much rarer feat to accomplish, than, say, becoming a villain.
Heroes=some serious writing fun. Okay, I'll admit, writing about a villain is an occasional thrill...but at least for heroes I don't have worry about thinking who they're going to betray or murder next...
Thus, heroes are a little easier for me to discuss. They set the moral standard for the world, leading by example and serving as a model of good behavior.
But because I thoroughly examined the villains, I must do as much to the heroes as well.
So, what makes a hero?
If power makes a villain, or at least, contributes to their evilness, then wouldn't it only be logical that humility make a hero?
In a ways, yes. A hero goes above and beyond to love, to save, to sacrifice...
For me, the character of a hero is a joy to write about for a couple reasons. First, when I am writing about one, I'd like to imagine that, when faced with the same problems as that character, I'd also make the right choice. Second, I've found, in rereading my writing, that not only do I pour an immense amount of myself into some characters, but their actions, words, thoughts all reflect my desires to be good, moral, lovely, wise, admired, humble, and virtuous...as if some of the "good guys" I write about are actually what I perhaps might be like if I possessed every virtue, could overcome every sin and, to top it all, was pretty spectacular with a broad-sword.
Heroes, however, aren't to be mistaken as some sort of perfect, god-like figure, otherwise their triumph over adversity and over their faults wouldn't exist, as they wouldn't even have faults to begin with. Heroes are understandably human, and, consequently, make human mistakes. But the measure of their bravery is shown in one important test: whether or not they can, first, overcome their own weaknesses, and then, after they have done this, if they can triumph over evil.
This is the test of a hero. And it is not an easy test, as it demands that one first look into his own soul and weed out the bad, before turning his eyes to the evil of the world. But this is what a (good) character is built upon.
This thinking too, has helped me to see alongside my hero of my story (though I have several). Their decisions, I realize, reflect many things in their personalities, influence many people, and answer questions...Hopefully, I can represent them in a way that is good.

     So, I guess the entire point of this rather long and rambling blog entry was to present my foremost thoughts on villains and heroes, to report the small amount of progress I have made, and perhaps even to reassure myself that I haven't been completely unproductive this month. In any case, I know it has helped me. And I'm telling myself that it will be worth it when I have some deep, well-developed characters to show for it. Maybe my villain and hero will be grateful. But most importantly, I'm hoping my readers will be.

The Quill is Mightier Than the Sword?

     Well...I have found a way to continue writing. Yes, (I know it's dorky) I have taken up a quill as my writing tool...

     Is it as crazy as it sounds? Absolutely. It's troublesome, I'll admit, to keep a constantly light pressure as you're writing, to have to dip into my tiny bottle of blue ink every line, to ignore the scritch-scratching sound that it insists on making as I write, to have to peel the sticky pages of my notebook apart when I'm finished writing.... 

     However, as I write, I can't help but reflect on how many brilliant and important things were written with a quill...and an actual feather quill at that! I often feel rather spoiled when writing with a metal-tipped quill, and then a little bit guilty, as if I'm cheating at it... Those would be be the times when I look up from my paper, and notice an entire glass crammed with ballpoint pens, pencils, and crayons, all available for use, all so close, all at my fingertips. The guilt fades, then, and I still choose to use a quill. After all, what if I were to tell someone that, when faced with the choice of either an old-fashioned quill or a crayon, I chose the crayon? 
That would be pretty unremarkable. 

     It seems that every line I write with a quill, the more enjoyable it becomes. Does this mean I'll forever use a quill and never again use Microsoft Word to solve my horrendous spelling problems? Uh, no! In all honesty, I don't think most my book would come together as it is without our old, trusty computer. It is nice, though, to every so often take a break from that and revert back to a seemingly prehistoric tool: the quill. I find it to be an amazing stress reliever to carefully scratch out a part of your story with a quill and ink, strange as it sounds.
     Additionally, I've managed to crank out around twelve pages in the last week or so (yes, yes, I know...quality before quantity). But that's a production rate I haven't been able to replicate in a long while--probably not for half-a-year or so. All because of a quill...hmm.
In any case, I feel like maybe all it took to rekindle my love for writing was a simple quill. Had I known it would help me so much, I probably would have gotten one when I began writing in the first place. I'm looking forward to writing more with it!
Thanks to my sister who got it for me for Christmas! Best gift EVER!    

A Quick Thought on Writing

Not much time to write today. Honestly, I haven't had a ton of time to write the entire month. School has taken up huge hunk of my time, and seems to have become even more intense now that I'm in high school. Even today, a Sunday, I've got loads of Algebra II homework and must memorize all the phyla in Kingdom Protista for biology. Hmmm...strange that I find my mind constantly drifting to my book when I have such fascinating things planned on my to-do list...

My book, speaking of, is making no current progress, unless an occasional thought or jotted-down idea late at night counts as progress. Hopefully this winter, after school of course, my book will be my primary occupation. Maybe I'll get something good written. The problem, however, lies in the fact that I don't seem to have enough time to work on it and the scene I'm working on now is just a jumbled mess of characters, words and description. But, who knows, perhaps, given time and if I work on it, it'll become the best scene in my book. I'll  remain hopeful.

It actually helps me to remind myself, in times like this, when I can't seem to have a single, creative thought, that I remind myself of why I write. I write because I think I have a story to share with others. It's important that, in my writing (though fictional), I demonstrate virtuous characters, moral, just decisions, and things that would exemplify beauty, virtue or teach a lesson to the reader (especially if I want my target audience to be children). Does this mean my book will be published? No. But I really don't mind. I don't want to be famous, or an acclaimed, brilliant writer. I'd like to write a good story, one that a person would think about long after he's read the last page. If can come even close to writing in such a way as did G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien (all three whose writing I enjoy and appreciate reading), then I will be happy.
So, as time marches forward, I have but to keep up with the pace, strive to do God's will, and, if it be part of His will, finish my book. 
For it is as St. Teresa of Avila said: “Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All thing pass; God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing:God alone suffices.”

Just Because

Well, I have had a wonderful day.

In writing? Well, sort of.

I wrote a small story (a subplot, really) of my book. It involved a traitorous Nymph, a devious dwarf, a chest full of rubies, a gold sword, a magical Pearl amongst other things....What more can I say? I had a blast writing it. And, well, to add to the general delight I had writing the story, I chose to take my work outside.

So, I decided to go all out. I took a very sophisticated backpack (bright pink) and stuffed it full of everything I thought I could possibly need for my adventure: an old yellow sheet riddled with holes, two folders loaded with papers, drawings, and my beloved map, and a huge bottle of water.

After telling Mom of my plan, it slipped my mind to tell her that, while I, honestly, planned on writing, I also brought my flint-and-steel with me--you know, in case I got any Man vs. Wild urges to light a fire using dry wood.

So, I was off at four-thirty, a great time of day to talk a walk. As I approached my destination--the beautiful wood that was filled with limestone boulders, glass bottles and other junk, and of course, the bones of cows---I saw, much to my delight, a large wisp of cotton puff, from one of those thistle plants, blow past.

I stopped dead, a huge smile spreading across my face, and already, my inner-adventurer had come out, and my mind was a-whirl. (What perfect fire-starter this would make, I thought!) So I scooped it up, and proceeded to the woods.

Well, upon arriving, I picked a spot just within a circle of grey, moss covered boulders (the perfect inspiration, and the trees above would cover any smoke I created from the eyes of curious neighbors). Using a dead piece of wood, I pushed all of the dry cow dung off the rocks and, simultaneously, leveled the ground.

I pulled out the cotton, ''roughed up the fibers'' as I had seen done on so many Discovery shows, and, attempted to light a fire. I struck that darn steel for five straight minutes, resulting in only frustration and small sparks. I was not Bear Grylls, as much as I hated to admit it. But, finally! After a long while, it struck well, and the cotton caught fire and...in my excitement, I grabbed the nearest possible piece of wood, smashed it on the fire--and whoosh--it extinguished with nothing to show for my work but a blackened cotton puff. And that was my first fire...yay!

So, resigned to writing, and unable to roast venison over a spit without a proper fire, I spread the sheet, placed my things around me, and sat down.

I literally sat, for forty-five minutes, writing being the last thing on my mind, and staring up at the pale green canopy (the lovely light that I sat in, is called, I am told ''dappled light'' and I have decided it is one of my favorite sights to see).

Finally, I decided I'd work on something that, I thought, was totally unrelated to the main plot. And so, from there on, I worked the story of Maura, the self-conscious, treasure-obsessed nymph who ultimately steals the Nymphs' precious Pearl, and gives it to the dwarves, which starts one of the largest wars in history. And, much to my surprise, I finished it.(baby steps, I guess) It was a short story, amounting to only four total pages in a small notebook--but, it was an adventure! Hopefully, I'll get to do it again soon.

Chapter Planning

 This week has been really great! I've gotten almost an entire chapter written in my book! I started the chapter on Monday, just writing down what I had in my head. However, as the hours flew by, and I had hardly anything to show for my work, I realized how vital it is to actually plan out the entire chapter before beginning to write. So I wrote down a couple of ideas for the chapter, then started the next day on it. And, I was delighted to see how easy the dialogue and description flowed from my head onto the paper. It seriously helps to have a plan, and I'm super happy to have gotten past a scene that I had been stuck on for a long time.      

Monday at Hilton Head

Well, we're here at Hilton Head Island, until next Saturday! What a relief to get the trip done with! Today is the feast of the Assumption, and we just made it to a five o'clock Mass, which I was so grateful for. The weather was muggy all morning, with no sun to speak of, just huge, ominous thunderclouds. Around 3 it started raining, and has been on and off ever since. From the balcony of our condo, we can see the ocean. It is beautiful! So relaxing just to sit outside on the porch and listen to the waves crash on the sand. Tomorrow, I hope is a little better weather, so we can go swimming and play tennis. We are literally 500 ft. from the ocean (roughly). Love it.
It has been a fantastic day, but perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I slept until 11:30.  I look forward to plenty of time to write and read and pray while we're here. So peaceful. Thank you, Lord!

Today

Today... oh what a day.
Lovely Mass this morning, then three tedious hours of shopping. Tax free weekends=great stuff, but hours of hunger, pushing and shoving in the shoe aisle, and still more time spent sighing in front of the dressing room mirror. Goodness, what a long day.
Overall, however, its been a great weekend. S'mores last night over the grill, two rented movies, and pizza! What a blast!
For now, however, as mom is making dinner, and I have time to kill before feeding the baby calf...I think I will work on my book.
Perhaps I'll get an entire chapter done, perhaps a page...we shall see...
 Goal today: write scene where Dreya is in Kyrsa, with Mayoria. Mayoria introduces goblin thief, and tells of her Irian's capture.