The rules of this challenge are to go to your current writing project, scroll or flip to the 7th page, go down to the 7th line, and then share the next 7 lines.
I have two writing projects at the moment: my fantasy novel and my Camp NaNoWriMo novel. Since I was tagged twice, I will take the opportunity to share seven lines from each!
Thank for tagging me Jenelle and DJ!
Fantasy story (this is technically eight lines, but I couldn't stop in the middle of a sentence, could I?):
[He was] just starting to lose his good form to sumptuous dinners [and] needed someone to compliment himself and give him an heir. She had to be beautiful, young, and ready to obey her husband. She had to be a princess, of course, and she had to be a little exciting. And what was more exciting than a rescued princess? reasoned King John. So, he poured over the Royal Magazine's pages about missing princesses and weighed his options.
Camp NaNoWriMo (for which I am writing a Daniel and Varina story. You can find out more about them in this post from 2013):
“You shouldn’t have put what off so long?” Varina asked.
“Telling you…” Daniel said.
“Telling me what?” Varina pressed.
Daniel sighed again. “Telling you that I have to go home. I
have to go back to London.”
“What?”
“My father is recalling me.”
“Why?”
Why, indeed? YOU SHALL NEVER KNOW! MWAHAHAHA! As you can see, I have no qualms about stopping in the middle of a question.
I tag whoever wants to do this tag.
We did two exciting things on this day... The first was go for a bicycle
ride! How can you go to Holland and NOT ride a bicycle? It is the
primary mode of transportation in The Netherlands.
So what do you see while biking around the countryside? Well, cows, for one. And sheep. And horses. And geese. And other various farm animals. Also ostriches.
No, don't ask me why. We also saw a camel, but didn't get a picture.
We also went to an open market which was SO fun! Mostly because I found a book stall... where I found two Tintin books in Dutch! Huzzah! Also, a really cool comic book version of The Hound of the Baskervilles and one of The Phantom of the Opera which both follow the books almost exactly, and are in Dutch! It was really nice.
For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant for fish. I'm not a huge fish fan, so I got a type of cumin pasta. It was really good... except the bowl they gave me was enough for about five people to eat out of! On top of that, we had all sorts of appetizer/extra things to eat too, like salad, vegetables, and krokets! And on top of the pasta, for some reason, there were eggs.
After letting the food settle for a bit, we ordered ice cream.
This picture does not convey how much FOOD there was in that bowl.
~~~
Camp NaNoWriMo is going good! I'm about 10,500 words into my 30,000.
And now, for your reading pleasure, a snippet (for clarification, the character is going to a masquerade dressed as a cat):
Rozella slipped into her gown. Well, more like it was pulled, heaved, and yanked onto her body. Then it had to be strapped and laced onto her. By the time Lynnie and the other maids were finished with her, Rozella felt as if she were wearing her bed curtains. This was by far the heaviest gown she'd ever worn. She didn't know how she was ever going to dance in it - or even walk or sit for that matter! The thing even had a tail to follow her about the room.
~~~
Things on the reading front are also going well. I've finished three books this month, I believe! One of which is The World of Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. I love Wodehouse... In the next week, I'm hoping to finish Agatha Christie's Autobiography and perhaps a short non-Jeeves-and-Wooster Wodehouse book.
No one else has their posts up yet, and since I haven't heard to the contrary, I suppose it is still going on...
This is what I have been reading the past month of June!
I didn't finish one single book in June. Isn't that horrible? This month will be chock full of reading, I'm sure.
Some people have comfort foods, or comfort possessions, and I have comfort books. Replay by Sharon Creech is one of them. The story follows Leo, a 12-year-old boy living in a large Italian family. He has two nicknames: Fog Boy, because he's a dreamer, and Sardine, because, once, he said that he felt like a sardine squished in a can. He often feels invisible in his family, especially since Papa had his heart attack three years ago and changed from happy into testy. When Leo finds his father's Autobiography, Age 13 in the attic, Leo can hardly believe that the carefree boy in the book is his father. And who is the mysterious aunt in the pictures who is never talked about anymore? At school, Leo and his classmates prepare to be in a play that their teacher wrote: Rumpopo's Porch. Leo plays the Old Crone.
Sharon Creech was my favorite author when I was younger. Something about her books just appeals to me.
I think it's that the stories are about regular kids doing regular things and going through regular changes and trying to figure everything out. There are no wars, no explosions, no damsels in distress (well, except maybe in The Castle Corona), only regular, everyday sorts of mishaps and adventures.
The only fault in her writing is that rather than look to God for answers, her characters look into themselves. If Sharon Creech had lived 100 years ago, she probably would have been a Bohemian. 200 or 300 years ago, an Enlightenment thinker. I can't stand them either.
Another thing that I love about Replay is watching Leo and his classmates get ready for their play. This book has so many interweaving plot lines, just like life. They don't all come together at the end in a massive plot twist, but how often does that happen in real life?
Next on the list is another comfort book... The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. I started reading this one last night at 2:30 AM when I couldn't sleep. This morning, after some consideration, I decided not to finish this one and put it back on the shelf. After I finish the other books I'm reading, I'll treat myself to The Penderwick sisters and their summer adventure as they vacation at Arundal Hall.
To the Lighthouse by Virgiania Woolf. I hate this book. I'm reading it for literature. I hate this book. More on it later, when I review it. It is the reason I can't stand Bohemians. Ugh.
These next three should look familiar...
Agatha Christie's Autobiography! Yep, still reading this one. I've gotten to World War One. Agatha has begun to write (finally!) and she's married her first husband. Hoping to finish this one in July...
The World of Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. There are about six more short stories in this collection and I'll be finished with this one too.
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. I'm hoping to finish this one in July as well. I'm really enjoying it, but it's size daunts me. Thankfully, we're going camping in July for a week or so and I am free to spend most of my time reading and writing.
So far my summer reading list is not coming as planned. At all. Other than A.C's Autobiography and To the Lighthouse, I haven't even looked at or started any of the other books on the list. I might make a new one.
***
Speaking of writing... This month I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo!
My project is a fantasy story I started at the beginning of the year, which I am writing out by hand. It came to a screeching halt roundabout March or April because of some plot and character problems, but I really wanted to finish this story, so I decided to try get it done (at least, most of it) this month for Camp NaNo! I work better on a schedule, where I can see my progress as I go along. The plot and character problems have sorted themselves out, thankfully, and while I'm sure I will have numerous plot holes to deal with in Draft Two (because since I'm not using an outline for the first time in forever, my plot keep changing), I no longer feel debilitated because of a character's not so glorious past.
(Notebook no. 2, and Trusty Pencil)
Princess Rozella has been waiting twenty years to be rescued from her bubble on the peak of Tallest Mountain. Finally, she is saved by a mysterious duo... The Prisoner and The Hag. They take her back to First Country, where she is supposed to marry King John, whose plans include more than marriage... they include taking over the world!
The Prisoner, even though he rescued Rozella, like King John wanted, is thrown back into the dungeon where he has spent the last decade and a half, for the simple crime of being different, for being unknown.
And what about those shadows permeating the woods, the rumors penetrating the towns? Are they just shadows, are they just rumors, or are the shadows a darker, more sinister threat, come from over mountains and across deserts, to wreak havoc in the land of humans?
I'm not sure how much of the story I already have... Maybe between 40,000 and 50,000 words. And for Camp NaNoWriMo, I have another 2,000+ to add to that already. My goal is 30,000 words, which puts me at about 1000 words a day - or four notebook pages.
And even with these extra 30,000 words, I'm not sure if I'll actually finish the story! It's turning out to be reeeeeeeeeaaaalllyyy long. Which is actually kind of nice, because I can take time with the story. It's also nice not working with an outline. It gives me more freedom, breathing room. I can let the story travel on its own. I do have a sort-of outline in my head, of course... I know the key moments (what happens in the middle, what happens in the end), but getting to those key moments, and what exactly happens in those key moments, I'm just letting happen.
If I do manage to finish the story this month, I will most likely read through it in the next three months and write up a detailed outline then, so that when NaNoWriMo comes around in November, I can use it to type up the story. Technically that's not allowed... but I don't think they'd mind. Besides, it'll almost be a whole new novel, because it will need a complete overhaul and rewrite as I type it up.
I'm really excited for this project! Over the next few months and years, I'm hoping to rewrite this book several times to fully develop the plot and characters so they seem real (even if it is a fantasy world). I also hope to fully develop the fantasy world as well. It's an interesting place, and I only know about a small corner of it. That's all my characters know too. The humans daren't pass over the mountains that border their land (not that they have any reason to anyway). Unfortunately, there's nothing stopping other creatures from coming over the mountains into human territory.
Anyway, by the time I'm finished with it, I'm hoping to have something epic, along the lines of The Faerie Queene or Beowulf or The Lord of the Rings.
***
To look out for in the next few weeks...
1. Book review of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
2. Book review of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.
3. The final four days of our Holland trip, and two extra posts on Holland (roads and churches).
So what are you up to this summer? Reading any good books? Writing? Are you doing Camp NaNoWriMo? Are you going camping?
Today was an important day for the Netherlands (also known as Holland). Not only was it Queen's Day (a holiday for the country) but Queen Beatrix, who has been queen over the Netherlands for 33 years, abdicated her throne. Her son, Willem-Alexander took over as king. He's the first king Holland has had in a century!
In honor of this, I've been wearing an orange ribbon in my hair all day (you can also see my new glasses!):
I've been decorating everyone in the house with pieces of orange yarn as well (because orange is Holland's color. The royal family is "the House of Oranje" (the House of Orange).
Rosey was not very happy that I tied so many things onto her fur. But they are all still in and it has been a few hours... she must have forgotten about them.
I was also inspired to do a Holland-themed photoshoot with Kirsten.... but more on that at the end of the blog post.
First, my top nine things that come from Holland!
8. Hans Brinker (or the Silver Skates).
A children's book about Hans and his sister who skate in a contest to win a pair of silver skates. I read a condensed version of this a few years ago (I didn't know that it was a condensed version) and need to pick up the adult version, which is sitting on the bookshelf.
7. Stroopwafels (and other delicious goodies).
Mmmmmmm.... Two thin layers of batter with syrup inside.
6. Windmills!
5. Cool names.
Such as Jaap, Engalina, Luitzen, Jan, Pieter, etc...
4. Tulips!
My favorite flower.
3. Corrie Ten Boom and her book The Hiding Place.
This is a wonderful book. It tells all about how Corrie trusted God when she was brought to a concentration camp during WW2. A true story and a wonderful, wonderful read. I highly recommend this book.
2. GOUDA!!!!!! (Pronounced gow-da not goo-da. Or, if you want to say it in Dutch, how-da.)
The best cheese in the entire world.
1. My Grandparents and all my other family members/ancestors that have come from Holland.
(My Grama)
So there you have it! Now a few of my favorite pictures from the photoshoot I did with Kirsten. Her dress is from a second hand American Girl store which I think is in Iowa.... It is a traditional Dutch dress from either Gelderland (where my Grama is from) or Groningin (where my Grandpa is from).
(Reading from the Dutch cookbook... which is in Dutch.... therefore, we can't actually cook out of it. Maybe someday.)
(Dutch shoes: klompen.)
(With a book of Psalms - in Dutch!)
(Dolls in Trees! And Rosey all ribboned up.)
In other news, I finished Camp NaNoWriMo last night! I wrote 4,500 words last night just to finish... I hit the 50k mark just before 10:00 and then spent the next hour writing the ending - which was only 800 words. Hip hip! I'm finished! Now I don't have to look at it again for 10 years.
And finally some exciting breaking news.... Next jaar sometime mijn oma, mijn vader, mijn moeder, en Ik, zal bezoek het Nederland! (next year sometime my grama, my dad, my mom, and I, will visit the Netherlands! I only had to look up one word. =D)
Lang zal ze leven! Hiep hiep hoera! (Long may she live. Hip hip hurrah!)
I've been hurriedly writing writing writing tonight! The weekend at the Hot Springs got me behind on my Camp NaNoWriMo progress but I finally buckled down and caught up tonight.
I reached my climax today and am hoping I can find 9,882 words of denouement somewhere.... I have a few things planned.
Since I haven't been the most motivated writer the past few days (hence the need to get caught up) I came up with a way to get myself motivated today. I told myself that if I wrote 1,000 words in half an hour, I could watch one episode of Get Smart (which are also half an hour long).
Get Smart is a spy TV show that was on during the '60's (and also a movie in 2008 starring different people than in the TV show).
My friend Jen first told me about the show... but I really had no clue what she was talking about. Just that it was a super funny slapstick spy show with a girl named 99.
Then Miss Jack Baillot started posting about the show on her blog and I thought, "hey, why not check it out?" So a few months ago I watched the first episode and loved it. I think I watched one or two other episode after that... And haven't watched any since.
Maxwell Smart, the main character, with his shoe phone - my favorite gadget from the show.
Last night I re-watched the first episode. Today, after I wrote 1,000 words, I watched the second episode. Then 1,000 more words and the third episode... Then 500ish more words and I was all caught up! My word count is now 40,118.
What's the consequence of watching Get Smart? This snippet from my novel that I wrote tonight:
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
If I were you, I would put the weapon down on the ground,” the man said coolly.
“Why?” Varina asked suspiciously.
“Oh… because you’re surrounded,”
the man said casually, picking at one of his fingernails. The surrounding trees
and bushes rustled and out popped men, all dressed in black - like the man in
front of Daniel, Varina, and the Big Boss – and carrying guns surrounding the
trio. They were surrounded!
Daniel groaned. “Oh no, not the
old hide your secret agents in the woods and send one out before unveiling them
all trick! That’s the second time I’ve fallen for that this month!”
Varina stared at Daniel. “No more
Get Smart re-runs for you,” she said.
In all its unedited glory!
While writing tonight, I have been listening to my Music to Spy By CD from the International Spy Museum. I love that CD... It's great. Especially when writing a spy novel.
Today is the NaNoWriMo marathon and I thought I'd blog while doing it, updating you all on my progress!
So here goes...
Beginning word count: 23,349
Goal: 30,000.
9:58: *in bed* Two minutes until the NaNoThon starts... I could be writing.... Nah, I'll just go back to sleep. I COULD BE WRITING! *gets up*
10:00ish: *turns computer on, feeds the dog, lets her outside* NOOOOOOOOO!!! Computer! Work! Work! Turn on! *momentary moment of panic* Ah, it's working. Good.
10:00ish: Computer turns on. Whew.
10:07: Checks into the NaNoThon twitter, even though I don't have twitter.... Also tries to check the live stream but youtube won't work. -.-
10:10ish: Finally starts writing!
10:23: Starts writing this blog post.
10:27: Gets back to writing.
Word count: 23,595.
Last sentence: They looked around sneakily - just in case anyone happened to be in the office at 1:30AM on New Years; it was the right thing to do - and then entered the Big Boss' office.
Listening to: Junior's Farm by Paul McCartney
10:30: Actually gets back to writing.
10:33: Feeling sneaky because my characters are snooping around in an office where they aren't supposed to be looking for clues... and The Pink Panther theme just came on.
10:46: I'm still waking up.... Only managed 600 words in the past 40 minutes. Also, I'm having a HORRID time spelling the word 'sleuth' correctly. I think I spelled it wrong through the entire first book.... *facepalm*
Word count: 24,016.
Last sentence: "Of course."
Listening to: Nice 'N Easy by Frank Sinatra... Though something from the Master and Commander soundtrack just came on. Adagio (from concerto grosso, I think).
10:49: Finished Chapter 11. I'm actually doing chapters in this one... and they're actually pretty good in terms of chapters. Nice length, nice cliff hangers at the end... Hee hee. Now I'm going to get myself a bowl of cereal so I can escape the Christmas music that came on.
10:52: I'm baaaaaaccck! Miss me? Ha. Nevermind. I got cereal and I must be really tired because I tried to put the cereal in the fridge. *facepalm* My Christmas music has given way to Ken Medema, thank goodness. And now I'm checking the NaNoThon twitter feed.....
Also I'm trying reeeeaaallly hard not ot include a Sherlock quote in my novel.
Right now the sentence is: "Varina," his face went white, "it's the paw print of a wolf!"
I reeeeeaally want to change it to: "Varina," his face went white, "it's the paw print of a giant hound!"
10:58: Finally getting back to writing... My characters have comfy chairs.
I'm sorry. I have Doctor Who on my mind.
11:00: It's the one hour mark. I don't even have 1,000 words. I have to rectify that! I WILL have 25,000 by 12:00!!
Word count: 24,076
Last sentence:
"This adds a whole new dimension to the case!" she sunk down in the Big Boss' comfy chair.
Listening to: Secret Agent Man Theme. Fun fact - a line from this song is the title for the second novel in this spy series.
11:03: GETTING BACK TO WRITING! BYE!
11:12: Changed writing places... Now I'm in the living room instead of the kitchen. Mom's on the phone with Grama (hi Grama!) and I need to concentrate really hard so I need quiet. Music doesn't count. But if there's conversation around I want to listen.
11:18: WOOOOO 1,000 words written today!
Word count: 24,405.
Last sentence: The time was 2:24AM.
Listening to: Jet by Paul McCartney.
11:38: Word count: 25,007 (wooooohooooo!) Only 1,000 words more until I get to where I'm supposed to be today.... Though, as I said yesterday, I'm hoping to get all the way to 30,000 words today!
Last sentence: "Who says I haven't figured out the code already?" Daniel said with a grin.
Listening to: I've Got You Under My Skin by Michael Buble.
12:00PM: Hour #2 is done!
Word count: 25,683. I've written 2,334 words today and I reached my goal of 25k before 12. Now I think I'll get to 26k (which is where I'm supposed to be for today) and then I will take a break. Because, as I said, I have some piano and voice to practice, a shower to take, and some editing to do!
Last sentence: "How do you know that?"
Listening to: Christmastime is Here by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Yeah.... Christmas music. My computer's playlist of music is on shuffle.
12:21: I think that sitting in that comfy chair in the living room did wonders for my writing... I got a lot more written over there than in the kitchen (where I have since moved back to). Well, I think I shall take a bit of a break now! I'm off to take a shower.
Word count: 26,032.
Last sentence: "Except a super secret code....." Daniel muttered under his breath.
Listening to: The Only Way to Have a Friend is to Be One by AD.
1:00: I'm back. And I have a sneaking suspicion that my long, wet hair will annoy me to death in the next little while.... I'm going to try write a quick 1,000 words and hopefully be done by 1:30. Then I'll have to take another break to do some music. Lunch? Who needs lunch! Granola bars are the new lunch....
I'm back in the living room now. I seemed to write quicker out here.
1:05: Writing starts... NOW
......or once I re-open my document.
1:06: Writing starts... NOW!
1:17: Awww my mom brought me a sandwich, some carrots, and some apple. THANKS MOM!!
Word count: 26,456.
Last sentence: SPOILERS SORRY!
Listening to: The Fury by AD.
1:57: The time has come.... for me to take another break.
Word count: 27,434 (I've written just over 4,000 words today!)
Last sentence: Chapter 12. Haha kidding. "Somewhere quieter!" Varina replied.
I just wrote a brilliant scene though... Daniel and Varina are laughing their heads off because "they forgot to file their paperwork, Wazowski."
Okay, break time! Before this madness continues.
2:40: Doing lip trills.... Warming up for some singing. I don't know why I'm telling you this.
8:51: Back from the banquet at my friend's church! It was fun (although all the 'banquet' consisted of was salad and fondue). I can't decide if I still want to write a bit more tonight or not... Maybe I'll do some editing for Jessica. That sounds good.
Final word count for the night: 27,434 (at the time of this blog post). I wrote just over 4,000 words today!
What did you all do this fine Saturday? Was it fine where you are? Or was the weather bad? Here the weather was bad for the first few hours... then the sun came out... then it POURED rain.
Today and last week a girl from choir came in wearing a fez with a sonic screwdriver in her pocket. Last week it was Nine/Ten's and this week it was Eleven's. I didn't have a chance to go up to her last week and comment on them because we had to leave early... But today I did comment.
Me: What, in the name of sanity, have you got on your head?
Her: *short pause* It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool.
And then I walked away.
It was epic.
Now I'm trying desperately to get my word count up to 24,000.... I decided to bump my word count goal up to 60,000 words instead of 50,000.... My reason? I didn't introduce my plot until 21,600 words. And there's a lot of plot to cover. So I think I shall have to go with 60,000 words... which means I am currently behind instead of ahead. Who knows, though. Maybe my plot will be shorter... maybe it will only be 50,000 words.... Either way, I'm trying to write. A. LOT.
Luckily tomorrow is the first ever NaNoWriMo marathon! Writing from 10AM-6PM. I'm going to try get to 30,000 words by the end of it. Not that I'll be writing the whole time.... I'll also do some editing for Jessica and I'll have to practice piano and voice. My friend's church is also having a banquet in the evening that I'm attending.
Anyway, it shall be fun. I'm happy that it fell on one of my free Saturdays! Unusually, this year, almost every single one of my Saturdays has been full... I miss having a day to myself.
I am at 23,400ish words now and am stopping. I just can't write anymore tonight.... Especially since I just came up with a writing schedule for the next few months because I am DETERMINED to publish After the Twelfth Night this year. Perhaps I'll post it here tomorrow or Sunday so you guys can keep me responsible.
I've seen these around and since I want to blog about something tonight I thought I would do this. I'm kind of making up my own questions though....
What am I currently:
Reading? I just finished an Agatha Christie novel today. 'Death in the Clouds.'
Yup, the one the Agatha Christie Doctor Who episode was sort of based on.... I personally loved that episode (although the shapeshifting bee was a bit much....) and it was what got me interested in Agatha Christie.
I absolutely LOVED Death in the Clouds. It was really good! Although there is a bunch of D-words and H-words throughout the book.... which was really annoying The rest of it was amazing, though. And I even guessed the murderer! It was just a feeling I had when I started the book... and it turned out to be right.
Now I'm going around talking like Poirot: "My estomach."
I'm also reading House of Mirth by Edith Wharton for literature which I am enjoying.... And War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells which is pretty interesting. I'm not too far in it. I think I shall read some more of that tonight.
Listening to? The Only Way to Have a Friend is to Be One by the band AD. They were around in the '80's and I loooove them. I'm also listening to Ken Medema at the moment. He's a blind pianist/singer who is Christian and AMAZING! I think it would be really cool to see him in concert. He's pretty old, though, so I don't think I'll get the chance.
Writing? Camp NaNoWriMo! I reached 21,000 words today.... I'm about 2 1/2 days ahead, which is good. I was DETERMINED to introduce my plot today and I did it! HUZZAH!!! At 20,600 words... my plot was finally introduced.... I'm going to be doing a LOT of editing in those first 20k words. Although who knows, maybe I'll keep a lot of it in. I did want it to be more of character building novel than a mystery novel.
Also, I finished editing Friend's Project and will start on Kat and Kadet by Miss Jessica Hammond tomorrow (or Friday....). She introduced me to a knew way of editing which sounds a lot easier than anything I've done in the past so HUZZAH once again!
Overall, I'm feeling really good writing-wise. Sometime in the next few days I hope to write up a (second) Character Encounters for this month. I say second because I already wrote one... but it contains spoilers so I have to do another to post here, which I don't really mind. It will feature my mysterious character that I mentioned once upon a time.
Studying? I dissected a frog today. It was SO. COOL! I found its brain and saw the different brain lobes.... Also, I cut open its stomach. She GORGED herself before she died! It was amazing how much stuff was in there!
Watching? Well, Mom watched a Star Trek episode tonight. I wasn't really watching it... though I did catch a sentence here or there. It was the episode where they meet Abraham Lincoln and have to fight to the death.
Eating/drinking? Not eating anything currently. I did just have two cups of water, though.
Live long and prosper, image of Serek! (quote from the Star Trek episode).
Today I think I did too much writing.... As well as writing I am editing a project for a friend. And on Sunday Jessica at Authorly Insane will be sending me Kat and Kadet to pick apart (her words, not mine). Yay! I have been wanting to read it since last November, when it was written! I have a feeling that it will be very entertaining... I mean, come on. Anything with a robotic cat has to be entertaining!
I won't be around at all tomorrow and on Saturday as I have literature, choir, and a youth conference. So I have been trying to get waaay ahead in my word count. I'm about three days ahead right now at 11,700 words. Blah. you know you've done too much writing when you write "...whom was Daniel was assuming was Daniel...." and also when you stop paying attention to editing your friend's work for them and end up creating mistakes instead of fixing them.
I feel pretty accomplished for today, though. I did a good hour and a half of piano practice which made my wrists hurt. I got 2,000+ words written, and I got 40 pages of Friend's-Project edited. Only 29 more pages to go! I'm going to hopefully finish that on Sunday or possibly Monday so I don't have to be editing two things at once as well as writing my own book!
All that aside.... It feels really really good to just write in the evenings. It feels like I'm actually accomplishing something and not just doing nothing on the computer, which is what I usually end up doing in the evenings.
Now I'm watching Doctor Who Confidential.
Have a random picture of David Tennant as Hamlet:
"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio."
That is to serve as a segway into my next random point.
Yesterday I went to see Love's Labour's Lost, a play by Shakespeare (which is also featured in a Doctor Who episode). It was sooooooo good. My city's Shakespeare company is really good. This is, I believe, the third play I have seen put on by them.
They set Love's Labour's Lost in the late 1920's in England. Ahhh it was so good.... I LOVE live plays, especially Shakespeare. We are hoping to go to Much Ado About Nothing in the fall. I'm excited about that because I played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing in 2011!
"Tell me, is senior Mountanto returned from the wars, or no?" The only line that I can remember.
Anyway, Love's Labour's Lost was brilliant. Especially the part when they did Iambic Pentameter.
What is Iambic Pentameter? It is what Shakespeare wrote in, mostly. It is a da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM pattern.
Well, in Love's Labour's Lost there is a scene where the four guys are writing poetry to the four girls but they don't want the other guys to know so they are all hiding from each other. The fourth guy comes in (while everyone else was hiding) and starts reading his poem in Iambic Pentameter! It was BRILLIANT!! I wish I had said something about it at the talk-with-the-actors afterwards but I didn't... sigh. Oh well.
My other favorite part was when the four guys dressed up as Russians and went to the four girl's field (where they were staying) and danced Russian-like for them while another guy furiously "played" Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. They were all wearing ridiculous beards and looked rather like Muppets or Cousin It.
Farewell. I shall leave now because Elementary is going to come on.
Seemingly, I am one of children in the world actually likes brussel sprouts. Not raw, mind you. I love them cooked or oven roasted.
4. Flanders Fields.
3. Hercule Poirot (pwa-ro).
Agatha Christie's Belgium detective Poirot. I have only read one Poirot mystery but I was very impressed. I have about six sitting on the shelf waiting to be read (I haven't had this many library books out of the library for YEARS! I have 14 books out! Now let's see if I can get them all read....).
2. Chocolate.
Mmmmmmmmmm......... It's the best chocolate. (Not the dark kind, though... the milk kind. I don't like dark chocolate).
In other news..... I have over 5,000 words now. I'm a day or two ahead... But that's what I'm shooting for. This weekend I won't have hardly any time to write because I'm going to a youth conference and the third weekend this month is my grandma's 80th birthday party up in Canada. We'll be gone for a few days and I want to do as little writing in those few days as I can. Which means I need to get ahead in my word count.
I am facing a problem that I have never faced before. A character with a mind of his own.
I know a few authors who have this problem. The characters just seem to take off... they don't tell you things.... they change their personalities....
Well, I have never had this problem before. Usually my characters are nice and behaved and do as I tell them. But now that I've written more than one or two (serious) things... my characters are starting to misbehave. One character in particular. His name is Andrew and he has ALWAYS been in my spy stories (even if most of them are only one or two pages long... He's always been in the plans).
He's always been kind of a wimp.... Kind of a depressed wimp. Kind of a depressed wimp who wants to be an author but no one will publish his stuff. And he's a secret agent to pay the bills.
But there's a problem. HE KEEPS BEING A CHARMING GUY! He's not supposed to be charming! He's supposed to be depressed! But before I knew it, last November, when I was first writing his character, he started being charming and brave and a generally loved guy and I couldn't do anything about it!
Now I'm writing him again in the third book... and he won't stop being charming! I tried but it just doesn't sound right. It just isn't him.
Help! What do I do?? You authors out there who have experience with renegade characters, what do I do?! Do I just let him be charming? Do I just do nothing?! Heeelllppp....
