I finished my NaNoWriMo novel on the 30th.
WOOT! A great feeling. it came out to 50,253 words, if you count "The End". if you don't, then the word count was 50,251.
Anyways, I might say some more stuff about it later. As you can probably understand, I don't really feel like writing a post about it right now. So, until then!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
A Poem
I took some time last night to write a little poem.
Cloud Faith
The yonder cloud
In azul sky
The earth doth shroud
And soothe the eye.
It drifts with ease
And does not know
Where restles breeze
Will make it go.
It does not doubt
Its makers hand
Will guide its route
Through thirsty land
And cause the rain
That poureth out
To heal the plain
And quench the drought.
It isn't there
To simply be;
It has a God
Like you and me.
We are often so tied up in life's worries and affairs, we forget simple faith in God. Those who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ are the children of God, and can trust him to provide for them and to accomplish his will in their lives.
Matthew 6:25-34 is a relevant passage.
Cloud Faith
The yonder cloud
In azul sky
The earth doth shroud
And soothe the eye.
It drifts with ease
And does not know
Will make it go.
It does not doubt
Its makers hand
Will guide its route
Through thirsty land
And cause the rain
That poureth out
To heal the plain
And quench the drought.
It isn't there
To simply be;
It has a God
Like you and me.
We are often so tied up in life's worries and affairs, we forget simple faith in God. Those who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ are the children of God, and can trust him to provide for them and to accomplish his will in their lives.
Matthew 6:25-34 is a relevant passage.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
My Novel Grew A Brain
I've read about this fascinating phenomenon before, no doubt from better authors than I, which is probably why it's taken almost 30,000 words for me to notice it.
But, as I've pushed forward these last nineteen days, my novel is solidifying. It is growing stiffer and more colorful at the same time. It's starting to feel more like a real book and less like the putrid babbling which it really is. This is all thanks to the one major characteristic which separates the reader from the writer: unpredictability.
When you read a book, you may have a vague idea where it's going. But, (if it's a good book) your expectations will be thrashed about, and you'll never really know what to expect around the next bend. That's what will keep you reading (again, if it's a good book).
Well, that unpredictability has began to manifest itself in my own novel. All of a sudden, I'm writing about characters I had never conceived during the planning stage. There was an incident too. The main characters were attacked by an animal. I hadn't planned on the attack, but it just seemed like it belonged there. And now, I'm starting to see how this attack might be useful later on. I see some interesting conflict unfolding with one of these new characters that suddenly popped up, and another one of my main characters is stubbornly defying how I had wanted him to turn out, and I've had to reconsider how he, and ultimately the whole book will end.
Indeed, it's as though my novel is gaining a mind of it's own! When I first heard about this happening to others, I laughed to myself. I thought that it could only be the result of a person who really had no good clue what s/he was writing about and why.
Well, I guess I was wrong. I look forward to seeing how this all turns out in the end. About 20k words left to work with, assuming my novel doesn't decide it would rather have 30k, or 50k, or even more.
My novel seems to be developing a mind of its own. In the beginning of the process, there's nothing but a word processor. An indefinite amount of blank space which is the playground for your inspiration; a blank canvas for your painting of words. Well, at first, it's just that: blank. You can go in any direction you want. Even after a few thousand words, the novel seems like soft clay; non-solid and nebulous - able to take practically any different route and ultimately wind up at destinations that are light-years apart.
But, as I've pushed forward these last nineteen days, my novel is solidifying. It is growing stiffer and more colorful at the same time. It's starting to feel more like a real book and less like the putrid babbling which it really is. This is all thanks to the one major characteristic which separates the reader from the writer: unpredictability.
When you read a book, you may have a vague idea where it's going. But, (if it's a good book) your expectations will be thrashed about, and you'll never really know what to expect around the next bend. That's what will keep you reading (again, if it's a good book).
Well, that unpredictability has began to manifest itself in my own novel. All of a sudden, I'm writing about characters I had never conceived during the planning stage. There was an incident too. The main characters were attacked by an animal. I hadn't planned on the attack, but it just seemed like it belonged there. And now, I'm starting to see how this attack might be useful later on. I see some interesting conflict unfolding with one of these new characters that suddenly popped up, and another one of my main characters is stubbornly defying how I had wanted him to turn out, and I've had to reconsider how he, and ultimately the whole book will end.
Indeed, it's as though my novel is gaining a mind of it's own! When I first heard about this happening to others, I laughed to myself. I thought that it could only be the result of a person who really had no good clue what s/he was writing about and why.
Well, I guess I was wrong. I look forward to seeing how this all turns out in the end. About 20k words left to work with, assuming my novel doesn't decide it would rather have 30k, or 50k, or even more.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
There are no new stories?
People who insist that there is really no such thing as a new story (only variations on them) are often simply inconfident because they know their work is derivative.
The concept isn't completely wrong. Obviously, every basic story idea has been used before.
However, the difference between a trite piece of rubbish and a brilliant fresh work is that the latter is freshly inspired, and the former is just copied from someone else.
I'm sorry to rant like this, but some people try to mend their insecurities by implying that no work is original work. Therefore, neither is yours, say they. I detest this attitude, which is absolutely wrong.
Even if there are no new concepts, there is always new inspiration.
Work which is not the product of inspiration, but simply a derivative of existing work, deserves to be crushed, burned, and forgotten in the vast landscape of true literary genius.
The concept isn't completely wrong. Obviously, every basic story idea has been used before.
However, the difference between a trite piece of rubbish and a brilliant fresh work is that the latter is freshly inspired, and the former is just copied from someone else.
I'm sorry to rant like this, but some people try to mend their insecurities by implying that no work is original work. Therefore, neither is yours, say they. I detest this attitude, which is absolutely wrong.
Even if there are no new concepts, there is always new inspiration.
Work which is not the product of inspiration, but simply a derivative of existing work, deserves to be crushed, burned, and forgotten in the vast landscape of true literary genius.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
NaNoWriMo
That's right: NaNoWriMo.
If your wondering how to pronounce it, I think people say "nah-no-rye-moe". Of course, I am in the minority that pronounces it as "nah-no-ree-moe". Apparently that pronunciation annoys a lot of people, but I think it sounds better.
Well, anyways. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal of this event, as you may have derived from the title, is writing a novel in a month. A novel, in this case, is 50,000 words (which comes to approximately 1,667 words each day). The month during which this event takes place is November. This month.
I'm taking part in it. There's a book I've wanted to write for a pretty long while, and now seemed a good time to do it. Well, a lot of my friends know what I'm doing, so if I don't finish, much embarrassment will ensue.
I'm on day eight, and have so far written 11,717 words. I'm on target, though I haven't written my words for the day yet. I really should be doing that, and not writing this post.
In fact, I should probably go do it now, so, Adios.
-Noogah
If your wondering how to pronounce it, I think people say "nah-no-rye-moe". Of course, I am in the minority that pronounces it as "nah-no-ree-moe". Apparently that pronunciation annoys a lot of people, but I think it sounds better.
Well, anyways. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal of this event, as you may have derived from the title, is writing a novel in a month. A novel, in this case, is 50,000 words (which comes to approximately 1,667 words each day). The month during which this event takes place is November. This month.
I'm taking part in it. There's a book I've wanted to write for a pretty long while, and now seemed a good time to do it. Well, a lot of my friends know what I'm doing, so if I don't finish, much embarrassment will ensue.
I'm on day eight, and have so far written 11,717 words. I'm on target, though I haven't written my words for the day yet. I really should be doing that, and not writing this post.
In fact, I should probably go do it now, so, Adios.
-Noogah
My First Post
Greetings readers!
Actually, I very highly doubt that anyone will end up reading this. I mean, who actually reads the first post on a blog? It probably doesn't matter anyways. I doubt this blog will end up as anything other than inactive.
I'm not pessimistic, it's just that things don't often hold my interest for very long. I have started blogs before, and just can't keep up with them. But, perhaps I have finally realized my mistake. I am a guy of many interests, though I loathe the idea of becoming a jack-of-all-trades. In the past, I have made blogs with strict themes, which I ultimately couldn't keep up with.
Well, this blog won't have a strict theme. It's just about whatever happens to be my flavor of the month, and whatever I happen to be thinking at the time.
Well, I'd better say a few words about myself (if you've gotten this far, I am highly impressed!).
In the meantime, I'm trying to learn more about God and know him better. That is the most important thing to me, and if I am unsuccessful everywhere else, I hope (and pray) to be successful there. I am born again, which means I have accepted Jesus' sacrifice for my sin. I don't believe my deeds can get me to heaven, but I trust that Jesus can and will. I have a lot of "growing up" up to do as a child of God, though.
Until next time,
-Noogah
Actually, I very highly doubt that anyone will end up reading this. I mean, who actually reads the first post on a blog? It probably doesn't matter anyways. I doubt this blog will end up as anything other than inactive.
I'm not pessimistic, it's just that things don't often hold my interest for very long. I have started blogs before, and just can't keep up with them. But, perhaps I have finally realized my mistake. I am a guy of many interests, though I loathe the idea of becoming a jack-of-all-trades. In the past, I have made blogs with strict themes, which I ultimately couldn't keep up with.
Well, this blog won't have a strict theme. It's just about whatever happens to be my flavor of the month, and whatever I happen to be thinking at the time.
Well, I'd better say a few words about myself (if you've gotten this far, I am highly impressed!).
- I'm a Christian (before anything else)
- I'm fifteen (as of the time of this post)
- I'm a guy
- I play trumpet
- I play piano
- I love science
- I love computers
- I'm a writer
- I'm a web developer (not a very good one)
- I like to play a board game called "go".
- I'm trying to learn how to draw (I'm terrible).
- I write music
In the meantime, I'm trying to learn more about God and know him better. That is the most important thing to me, and if I am unsuccessful everywhere else, I hope (and pray) to be successful there. I am born again, which means I have accepted Jesus' sacrifice for my sin. I don't believe my deeds can get me to heaven, but I trust that Jesus can and will. I have a lot of "growing up" up to do as a child of God, though.
Until next time,
-Noogah
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