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.

My Medieval Malady

       It occurred to me today that I am a complete and utter sucker for anything medieval. Swords, castles, flowing dresses, tunics, iron fortresses, dungeons, and the likes seem to constantly lure me away from my world of reality and into my imagination. Countless hours, have I spent, dreaming of charming worlds filled with such medieval things. Even now, as I peruse the various fonts I might put this snippet of writing into, the font "trebuchet" immediately catches my eye. And so begins my daydreams, many trebuchets lined up on a green battlefield in the heat of summer, thousands of foot soldiers behind them, their armor and chain-mail glinting brightly in the sun, the opposing army a league away, less in numbers, led by a fair-headed king atop his white stallion, dressed in royal purple... 
And I am jerked from this thought with the cold chill of the air-conditioning vent blasting air on my feet, and the monotonous, near-constant drone of Disney channel in the back round. Yet soon, I guarantee, something, somewhere, will spark those thoughts, and again my mind will return to that green meadow...perhaps, though, this time, the king will not win the battle, the maiden will not be rescued, and the villain will rule supreme. Let's hope not.
So long as I have ample to to concoct these stories, good triumphs over evil. And if it doesn't, well, then I'll rewind my brain and rethink the entire story, searching for what went wrong.
I am not some weaver of tales, despite what my writer's side may argue, but a humble writer afflicted with a virulent disease: medieval obsession.
Bubonic plague, smallpox, an unjust king...these I could do without.
But, so long as I make up the stories, and my medieval-ly obsessed brain is a-whirl, you can basically guarantee that there will be a mention of a sword somewhere in it. 

Random Test

Kathleen's log--stardate 08/07/10......this blog is my first technologically advanced endeavor... woo