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It is so strange and amazing that a book, describing entirely fictional characters, set in a world which has never existed, experiencing events that are outside of our own experiences can cause sympathy.

Sympathy, true sympathy, is the creation in us of a genuine real emotion in response to what we read. And what we read is not real.

It is, for me, one of the most bizarre, mind-blowing and awesome features of literature. I am moved by Heathcliff howling into the night for Cathy; I am moved to tears by Conor’s grief for his mother in A Monster Calls; my heart is fit to break with King Lear‘s.

And non-fiction does not affect me the same way. I can empathise with real people, I can recognise and rationalise historical events and emotions in non-fiction writing but I must confess I neither truly feel nor care in the same way.

Strange.

Perhaps this says more about my mental state than anything else!

It contains words, as books usually do, and offers clarity that can speak to people from any generation, especially women but I think the lessons apply to both sexes. It contains poetry, imagery, honesty, insight, and peace.

While I bought the Kindle version, I wish I owned a hard copy. I want to write notes in pencil in the margin, dog ear pages, and read it over and over again. I know, some of you are wincing at the thought of the desecration of the pristine pages, but I don’t see it as that. I would see it as revisiting an old friend for advice, learning from its wisdom, and giving it the sheen of a well-loved treasure.

What is this book? Perhaps some of you are thinking I stumbled my way into reading the Bible. No, despite my many attempts at reading that story, I have never really found comfort in its pages or lost myself to the beauty of its verse (except a few sections here and there). I have never found wisdom from its messages. I could never really find myself in those pages

You would think that this book, written at a time when the traditional place for women was in the home (1955) would have very little to say to me as I struggle to find my place in the world. But the opposite is true, as this book exemplifies how little some things have changed, and how much we still have to learn. I find myself in almost every chapter, as she explores the challenges of relationships and the lessons of life learned as a woman, a mother, a wife, and a member of a community.

What is this amazing book, you ask? How did I find it? Well, at the wonderful meeting I attended the other day, I learned that this book, written by a Smithie, had been given to high school juniors as a book award. Dean Walters read a passage from it, as she began to talk:

“Every person, especially every woman, should be alone sometime during the year, some part of each week, and each day. How revolutionary that sounds and impossible of attainment. [. . . ]

[. . .] The world today does not understand, in either man or woman, the need to be alone.

[. . .] What a commentary on our civilization, when being alone is considered suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it–like a secret vice!” ( 42-43)

This passage, which I’ve shortened here, trilled to the person who wrote just a few days ago “The Art of Being Alone, Still Learning”.  I knew I had to read this marvelous book.

Why does this book speak to me so clearly? Because her writing and the metaphor she uses seems timeless. Because even though she was writing from a time and a place very different from ours, everything she says seems applicable today. Here are a few more passages of Lindbergh’s that I highlighted as I read:

“What is the shape of my life?

The shape of my life today starts with a  family. I have a husband, five children and a home just beyond the suburbs of New York. I have also a craft, writing, and therefore work I want to pursue. The shape of my life is, of course, determined by many other things; my background and childhood, my mind and its education, my conscience and its pressures, my hear and its desires. I want to give and take from my children and husband, to share with friends and community, to carry out my obligations to man and to the world, as a woman, as an artist, as a citizen.

But I want first of all–in fact, as an end to these other desires–to be at peace with myself.”  (16-17)

“We must re-learn to be alone.
It is a difficult lesson to learn today–to leave one’s friends and family and deliberately practice the art of solitude for an hour or a day or a week.” (36)

“When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to.” (100) 

“A new consciousness of the dignity and rights of an individual, regardless of race, creed, class or sex. A new consciousness and questioning of  the materialistic values of the Western world. A new consciousness of our place in the universe, and a new awareness of the inter-relatedness of all life on our planet.” (128)

“For the enormous problems that face the world today, in both the private and public sphere, cannot be solved by women–or by men–alone. They can only be surmounted by men and women side by side.” (130)

I’ve said it before, words have power. The power of Lindbergh’s words lie in the fact that her word reach across time and difference to speak to the questions, concerns and challenges that we all face at different times in our lives. I would love to know that my words have that power, but for now all I can do is keep writing from the heart.

I finished a book today, and I am glad I did.

So, I’ve been staring at this empty space for quite a while, now. And I thought I should be writing something… It’s 1:00am. I’m not sleepy. But my little sister (who loves staying up with me) is already dozing off near me. I tried keeping her busy by giving her some  funny stuff to watch but that doesn’t seem to be working.

I guess I should just blog and be done with this, so that Ann and I can go sleep. When I wrote the post about how I was feeling down, I mentioned a blog that had inspired me to write it out – hastywords. I was catching up on her posts, today. And I found another post that I could relate to so amazingly – My Heart The Traitor. Basically, it’s about how she discovered the source to her negativity and the way to destroy it. Beautiful post. And there were so many parts in it which touched me beyond words!

I loved her thought about positivity being all around us, how looking up at the stars and the miracles all around us can give us a sense of it. ‘From darkness…there is light.’ So so so true! It’s something I believe in but when it turns dark, I forget to remember that I’ll find light at the other end.

Anyway, I think I’m getting there…finally seeing light. Trying to break through the layer of darkness and see beyond, into the enlivening light. And go sailing in a small boat on the vast ocean…

Photography by Martin Vincent

I think I should get to sleep…or I’ll sleep-blog! By the way, it’s just past 2am and Ann’s already gone off to bed. [ Luckily, I stopped right here, or you would have had to read some of the nonsense I write when I'm on the verge of sleeping off!] 

A new day. And guess what? When I logged in to my WP account, I was in for a wonderful surprise. It just made my day! Matt (aka theotherwatson) at Wanton Creation nominated me for the Reader Appreciation Award!!!! I can’t tell you how happy I was. Even though I know you love me so much, these awards are like an awesome extra-bit of appreciation! And it always feels great! But the best part, for me, is that these awards seem to come right when I need them. As in, when I’m going through a low-time or having writer’s block, I get nominated for an award and it completely changes my mood! Thank you so so so much, Matt. You have no idea how happy I’m!

Like with every other award, this one comes with some rules. Apart from  linking back to the person who nominated me (check), including the image (check) and nominating 6 other bloggers, I’m supposed to say something about what I’ve been upto.

Well, I had been experiencing a down-time. But now, I’m almost out of it. I’ve been watching some movies, listening to a lot of music, reading some really lovely blogs, talking to and spending time with Ann and basically, just making most of my time here at the heaven I call ‘home’! Yesterday, Ann and I did some crazy stuff together. And yeah, I made her stay up while I was writing a post that I didn’t even publish! So, that’s what I’ve been upto!

Now, to pass on the award… Well, there are so many bloggers I like. And I’m going to choose 6 bloggers whom I haven’t nominated before. So, here goes:

emotional salad - Love her thoughts!

Live, Learn, Mature - My awesome blog-friend

kkeilly - I stumbled upon her blog one day. And it was love at first sight!

hastywords – She’s sort of an emotional soul-mate, as you might have understood by now!

Personal Concerns - Because I love the thought-provoking stuff he writes!

PIECES - Love his poems!

Check out their blogs, I’m sure you’ll find them super-awesome!

Love y’all!

Music is the only remedy
Taking away suffering
Nothing else will be the same
Plug into my remedy..my remedy
Listen..listen to the cure for all
Rhythm, lyrics..living in me
Music is the remedy…the only remedy for me

Can you ever see what I see
How you fix it, no more numbness anymore
Give me a song to be okay…
Dukka is all the world will give me
Can’t you hear me calling?
Can’t you see me changing?
All the things you put me through
What am I to do?
I need you…
I’m glad it’s you
Heal me…free me..

I won’t turn from you
Nothing else will do
Cuts or booze won’t get me through
Music is the remedy…the only remedy
It gives me another day
All there’s left to say
“Thank you for the remedy! God’s given remedy!”

By: Caitlin Lambert

p.s: this was once a song I had written about a year ago, but songs are only poetry put to music.

Last night, three girls walked into a not really swanky but definitely trendy bar in down town Santa Monica.  We’ve been friends since high school, went to three different colleges, and are back together.  We’re all in the same situation, unemployed and living at home, and for having impeccable english the only way I could describe the feeling to them last night was “it’s so weird.”

But maybe Chad with a C, with a job, had the right idea using the word impeccable: im·pec·ca·ble adjective 1.) faultless; flawless; irreproachable. 2.) not liable to sin; incapable of sin.

My life right now is not faultless or flawless and my life in college, god knows, was not faultless or flawless but somehow life is impeccable.  Just the way it is.  In what doesn’t make sense, in not knowing what’s next, in remembering what happened and laughing about those fault-filled, flaw-filled nights we can never have back.  It’s irreproachable.  Free from blame. Free from everything, because college already happened and I can’t go back.  I’m just here.  Free from everything because I have, essentially, nothing and there’s, potentially, everything ahead of me.  Impeccable.

So with all the words in the english language why is it that I hardly ever use the word impeccable but can’t get enough of weird?

Gibbon howls echo through emerald layers,
a red tail swishes, catfish barrels through mud.

~~~

Half tame deer await a hermits feast,
chrysanthemums idly fall to the ground.

A catfish clatters through azure fathoms,
woodcutter footfalls send rocks into the water.

~~~

Just like that, peach blossoms fall,
gibbons fly under yawns of tigers.

Catfish thrashes through sunken ruins,
water plumes to heavens peaks.

~~~

Pictures one and two found here: http://antigorod.com/paint/poster/8184-namazu-e-demon-zemlyatreseniy.html

Picture three found here: http://historyofgeology.fieldofscience.com/2011/01/namazu-earthshaker.html

Namazu myth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namazu_%28Japanese_mythology%29

My full name is Katherine Elizabeth Dyson.  I’m cool with having a sweet shoe for initials, and I don’t even mind my middle name so much.  I even sometimes flirted with the idea of trying to make people use my middle name instead of my first name for awhile, but it never would have taken off.  Trust me.

It’s just – my first name, Katherine – it’s not me, you know?  It doesn’t represent who I am inside.  Maybe if it was spelled with a ‘C’ instead of a ‘K’.  Or if it had some kind of cool, unique spelling, like ‘Kathryn’ or something.  Even better if it was a different but similar name, like Kathleen or Katrin.  I’m pretty sure I could deal with that.  I’m just not the biggest fan in the world of Katherine, is all.

And yet – despite my best efforts – that’s what the vast majority of people call me.  Teachers – adults in general – they all refer to me as Katherine.  Doesn’t matter how often I correct them, really.  My parents put it on my birth certificate, it’s on every bit of school correspondance – the damn thing is engrained into people’s minds and I appear to be more or less stuck with it.

I tried once – I think in grade 4 – to get everyone to call me “Katie”.  It was the first day of school that year and our teacher was just getting to know who we all were, so I felt it was the perfect opportunity to try for a change.  As soon as she got to my name on the attendance sheet, I clearly stated that I was present, and that I would like to be called “Katie”.  SHE said that was fine and made a note.  Every single other one of the little bastards in my class stared at me.  Well…maybe not the handful of new kids who hadn’t already known me for 5 years as “Katherine”, but other than that, I could tell my name change wasn’t going to fare well.  And it didn’t.  Lasted maybe a week, but eventually it even sounded weird when the teacher said it, so I gave up.  I was “Katie” no longer.  Not in any official capacity, anyway.

The next year, though, Grade 5 – something happened that would change everything.  At least as far as my name was concerned.  I met a girl – an older girl – named Kate.  She was in Grade 8, and she was a friend of one of my friend’s older sister.  Did ya follow that? 

Anyway, this Kate was cool, pretty, funny, smart and popular.  Everyone seemed to like her.  She was everything I wanted to be, and as soon as I saw her, I knew something had changed inside me.  I still had no idea who I was, but I knew better who I wanted to be, and that was Kate.  I figured the name, at least, would be an excellent start.

I actually even got to introduce myself to her one evening!  I was just leaving my friend’s place to head home, and her sister came in with Kate, completely unexpected by yours truly.  I remember catching my breath as they passed me on the stairs.  Friend’s sister said a quick hi and brushed by, but Kate stopped briefly and stuck out her hand to me.

“What’s your name?” she asked as I numbly shook her hand.

“Kate,” I breathed.

“Good name,” she responded with a smile, patting me on the shoulder and heading up the stairs after her friend.  I walked home with a shocked smile on my face, and that was that.

I’ve been Kate ever since.

Every week participants post six sentences from something they are writing – or have written. It’s a lot of fun and really a great way to meet new writers!

And I’ve met some terrific people. Thank you !

Be sure to check out the other great participants and thanks so much for stopping by.

I just wish to say a heartfelt Thank You to everyone. Nineteen Hundred is now published and I couldn’t have done it without y’all. One more snippet from the story and then I guess I’ll have to figure out something else to post here.  (click the link to go to Amazon page)

Mr. Thomas has asked Kathryn if she would like to go cycling at a near by park.

Kathryn all but ran up the stairs to change into the bloomers she had brought, for unknown reasons, to her new home, and to fetch her riding jacket.

While changing, she found herself humming a tune.

She cocked her head in thought.

What is this song?

Oh it’s ‘A Bicycle Built for Two’.  I’m so silly.

My Forty-Seven Favourite Words

1. Love – Love is an obvious favourite because when it is going well the joy it brings beats any other pleasure into the ground.  Love can, of course, be awful, painful and embarrassing but the best of love brings out the best in us and I believe it always will.
2. Justice – Justice to me is not an abstract term but a real almost living thing.  You cannot half believe in justice; in order for it to work properly, you have      to believe in it with all your heart.  I think it was Doctor King who said ‘injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere’.
3. Dignity – Everyone deserves to have their dignity respected and everyone should respect other people’s dignity to.  Think how much better the world would be if people did that.
4. Integrity – The people I most admire and respect and those who have high integrity.  They are true to themselves and the values that they believe      in.  My sister is a very integral person, she is a church going Christian and I am a Pagan but she does not discriminate against me because of my beliefs; she has way too much integrity for that.
5. Creativity – In my humble opinion, doing creative things is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!  I also think that creativity is good for us as it helps to open up our minds.
6. Inspiration – To be inspired is wonderful, almost on a par with being in love.  It’s the feeling that you can do anything, that anything is possible and its one of the best natural highs.
7. Laugh – Oh you know we all need a good laugh!  The worst people are those who have no sense of humour, who would want to be like that?  Or spend time with anyone like that?
8. Liberal – Time to get a bit political but I sincerely believe that being liberal is the only way to be and I cannot understand anyone who thinks otherwise.
9. Democracy – Another political one but unavoidably so.  Democracy may not be perfect      but I think it is currently the best and fairest political system we have      and so it should be defended from enemies with and without.
10. Caring – Caring is in some ways the easiest thing to do, at a basic level it is simply looking out for someone you are emotionally attached to.  If you      have to care full time for a relative then it can become hard but millions of people do it, sometimes because they have to but mostly because they want to.
11. Open – I use this word in the context of an open mind, closed minds are sad things.  Everyone should be open to love, people, new cultures, etc.
12. Experimental – No-one should be afraid of trying out different things, even if it finishes in an epic fail, sometimes you need to find out what doesn’t work in order to find out what does work.
13. Exploration – Don’t just travel; explore!
14. Feminine – In the past an often under-rated quality; fortunately more people appreciate it now.
15. Strong – I’m not talking about biceps here, although there’s nothing wrong with that, but its inner strength that matters most.  Your strength of heart is what carries you through the dark.
16. Kind – Avoid at all costs anyone who isn’t kind; they are not worth bothering with.
17. Cheerful – Okay, no-one can be cheerful everyday but the people I like best are the ones who try.  I am always the cock-eyed optimist and I dislike negative people who try to bring me down.  I am quite capable of bringing myself down; I don’t need anyone else to do it for me.
18. Compliment – Isn’t it nice to get compliments?  They invariably make me blush but I like them anyway.  I do try to give other people compliments because I see no point in being mean.  I don’t compliment things I don’t like; I always try to make what I say sincere.
19. Human – Being human means being wrong a lot of the time but that’s okay.  When you think about it we humans are incredible.
20. Humane – Being humane, to me, means caring about human beings even if you don’t know them.  You care about them because they’re fellow human beings and you hope they feel the same way.
21. Natural – Natural is a great word that represents the entire natural world and all its wonders.  It also represents things that are easy in a good way.
22. Gift – To be gifted is to be given a present or to have some sort of fabulous talent; both are very good indeed.
23. Friend – A friend is a family member you got to chose for yourself.  I think its important in relationships to be friends as well as lovers.
24. Eclectic – This comes back to open mindedness; the best artists, writers, musicians etc, all tend to have very eclectic taste, really it means that they like everything.
25. Art – Art, to me, is a creative work of a very high standard that inspires people.
26. Compassion – This is the part of you that reaches out to the next person and shares their joys and sorrows; without it we are bereft.
27. Books – Books are so much more than paper we can learn from, they help us to explore, spiritually, emotionally and mentally.  They open up new worlds      of the mind and imagination.  I cannot imagine living without them.
28. Reading     – This is something that those who enjoy cannot understand why everyone doesn’t love it. Reading is a state of being in a different zone with a book, lost to the outside world and entirely absorbed in your inner one.
29. Writing – Obviously writing is a great pleasure.  It gives me the chance to      create worlds and characters, to play God.  I can moan to my diary, weave stories in my novels, and create poetry in my notebooks.  Although      sometimes it seems like a curse to be a writer, most of the time it’s a joy.
30. Joy – Joy is that sense of being so happy you could burst.  And the best thing about it is its contagious!
31. Poetry – This is sublime language put together in the most sublime way.  The best poetry bypasses the brain and speaks straight to the soul.
32. Tolerance – Who would want to live in a world full of excuses for people to hate each other?       I don’t and I can’t understand why anyone else would want to!
33. Wisdom – Wisdom is not intellect, wisdom is sense.  Your intellect can explain where rain comes from and how it is made.       Your wisdom will tell you if you stand out in it, you’ll get wet.
34. Acceptance – Acceptance is key to resolving pain.  Yes, you need to respect other people but most importantly, you need to accept yourself.  If you’ve made mistakes in the past, (and haven’t we all?) the worst thing you can do is dwell on them.  Accept what’s happened and then you can move on.
35. Spark – Ooh, the fire that lights up your brain, your heart, your soul!  It would be a sad world without it.
36. Flow – Being out of the flow is the feeling of being out of sync with yourself and the world.  Being in the flow is a beautiful natural feeling.  It sometimes tempting to push to get the results we want but its always a mistake to fight the flow.
37. Sensitive – This is a word that’s had a lot of bad      press because a lot of people think its means weak but in truth it means being aware of emotions, both yours and others and that is not a bad thing.
38. Ground – This relates to the earth and the feeling      of being grounded.  Working in my garden helps me to feel grounded; there’s something about the contact with the soil that is beneficial.
39. Ethical – The best people have a strong sense of ethics and being cruel and mean is anathema to them.
40. Learning – I love learning new thing!  I always have and I always will.  Its like a hunger of the brain; it one of the things that makes life interesting.
41. Shine – Everyone should shine as often as possible; what a lovely shiny world that would make!
42. Smile – The cheapest and most natural high on the planet.  Never pass up an      opportunity to use it (except on the London Underground!)
43. Listen – It’s amazing how many people find this really hard.  Take the time to      listen, especially to your loved ones, you won’t regret it!
44. Communicate – Most of us don’t have super developed psychic powers, if you’re struggling, tell us.  Most of us will be happy to help.
45. Empathise – Empathy is the thing that psychopaths don’t have.  Its what makes us      caring compassionate human beings.
46. Cuddle – Not in a sexual way, but cuddling is such a lovely sign of affection, we should do it more often.
47. Courage – Courage doesn’t involve shooting guns but having the guts to do what is right even against the worst sort of oppression, like refusing to give up your seat in a bus.  Thank you Rosa Parks; what a courageous woman!

this heart flattered by the rush

another perilous tick tock

another band of blue

in a seemingly endless veil of gray

say something for once

say something that is real

There’s a motion in the air tonight

as souls weave and collapse

through American freedom Tees

 the land of liberty

stitched up tight

with fence posts and signs

restricting passage

I am Trish

 I am Robert

 I encompass every soul

 and every broken bone

I’ve penned every sad song

 with a pair of scissors

and a blow torch

cutting, yet mending

every carnival light

reflected in her eye

the sound falters

 from a laugh, to a whisper

to an eternal sigh

Gasping breath in some lonely dream

 until I land alive beside her

when the fair light peaks at dawn

and with it

a brand new day

 making her more beautiful

 than the one before

but not anymore

So back down in the shadows of the Pines I troll

 the bleeder bell tolls

 I am running over the land

as cold mysteries of life

 lunge ever closer with outstretched claws

 and where would I be

 if I did fall off that mountain?

Not here, not anywhere

hiding my fear in a bell jar

pasting it shut with horefrost

a crystal icing so cold and clean

a white glaze with her imprint

frozen, forever

 The complicated clock

ticks recklessly

tossing time into a volcano

feeding Buddha bedtime snacks

cold strawberry cobbler

 mad, hot liquid drinks

Have I done anything remotely close

to what the Red Soldier has done?

I think

smoking cigars at a toy train station

 bring me my luggage

 I am going home with her

We smoked our last cigarette

on the train ride to New York

 it was 3:35

and the sky was losing its shape

 and I was losing mine

returning to the womb now

 to feed on mother’s blood

I’ll come back out

and start all over again …

As always, this scene picks up immediately following last week’s six sentences, so if you want to catch up or need a recap then just follow this link.

Onto the story…

    Three of the four commands had been entered when his proximity sensor went off. Suppressing a shudder, Ryan called up a schematic of the local area and overlayed it with the movement signatures. There was five of them; two from behind, one from the left and right, and one more from above. Without the artificial gravity he could expect approaches from all angles, but thankfully the zero-g also slowed them down.
    He managed to issue the final command when the first one slammed into his back. His armour protected him for serious injury, but the bone jarring impact almost caused him to release the switches before the computer could process the instructions.

You can find the wonderfully talented and endlessly supportive Six Sentence writers by clicking on the image below

.

Madeleine L’Engle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Stories make us more alive, more human, more courageous, more loving.”

—   Madeleine L’Engle

More favorite quotes by Madeleine L’Engle: 

• Writing With Listening: “A Ha” Moments
• Prayer and the Creative Process
• Reading Madeleine L’Engle

Stress is my mind’s focus
Hear criticism on and off again
What do you want from me?
Take a trail of mistakes and my mold is permanent

In a sleepless night, remember my prayers
Striving everyday to get back to good
Take every type of stress out of my life
Let me not cry myself to sleep no longer

My mind wants some sort of peace
In a world full of yelling, please produce silence
Let me be able to breathe easily

By: Caitlin Lambert

View on the Isle of Skye, taken on our July 2011 holiday

As mentioned on my “About” page, I’m a Gàidhlig learner. Sadly, I’m not very good at it, so far. The partner of one of my teachers suggested that I try writing in Gàidhlig. If only! I can barely write the simplest of sentences, so far.

The Seattle Fèis is coming up very quickly. Four whole days of Scottish language and culture with tradition bearers in the areas of language, song, pipes, harp, and fiddle, including native Gàidhlig speakers from Scotland and Cape Breton! I am SO looking forward to it.

What does learning Gàidhlig have to do with improving my writing (in English)?

An interesting side effect of learning (or in my case attempting to learn) Gàidhlig, is that it has made me look at the English language a little differently. Not only do I think about grammar in a more analytical way (verb, noun, adverb, adjective, preposition, dependent and independent clauses, dative case, and genitive case) but I am more aware of the way language influences the way I perceive the world.

In English the “basic” sentence structure is Subject – Verb – Object. To form a question, the order is changed to Verb – Subject – Object.

Gaelic languages (Irish, Welsh, Gàidhlig) are verb-centric. In most sentences the verb comes first, Verb – Subject – Object. Every verb has different forms that indicate tense, and whether it is positive or negative, statement or question. (Sentences using question words – who, what, how, how many, why, where – are handled a little differently). There is no word for “yes” or “no”, you answer a question with a negative or positive form of the verb used in the question.

For example, for this question:

A bheil thu sgìth? (Are you tired?)

The positive answer can be: “Tha” (yes) or “Tha mi sgìth” (I am tired).

The negative answer can be: “Chan eil” (no) or “Chan eil mi sgìth” (I am not tired).

Another example:

An do sgrìobh thu an-diugh? (Did you write today?)

Positive answer: “Sgrìobh” (yes) or “Sgriobh mi an-diugh” (I wrote today).

Negative answer: “Cha do sgrìobh” (didn’t write) or “Cha do sgrìobh mi an-diugh” (I didn’t write today).

As a writer, I wonder if thinking in English influences me to care more about who or what is doing something, rather than what they’re doing. Is that why I have to make a conscious effort to avoid lazy adverbs and come up with good verbs in my attempts at writing?

If I ever get to the point in my learning where I can think in Gaelic, maybe I’ll see the world a little differently. At the Seattle Fèis, I’m looking forward to asking the native Gàidhlig speakers how they think.

Camp NaNo is a pared-down version of National Novel Writing Month. Instead of forums it’s got ‘cabins’, so you don’t tend to talk to more than about five other people. In some ways, it’s quite cosy, although a lot of people tend to hang out on the full NaNo forums as well. The aim of the thing is the same: write 50,000 words in a month, or get eaten by plot bunnies trying.

The rules of NaNoWriMo are pretty simply: you write a novel, starting on the first day of the month, and you see if you can write 50k in that month. It’s first draft stuff. Zero draft, some writers call it, on account of the fact a lot of it is brain-splat rather than actual coherent work.

I don’t think it has to be like that, though.

NaNoWriMo is a pretty good way of working for me because I’m the sort of person who needs motivation. I can motivate myself by telling myself I have to get 2k done every day for a week, but I need a little box to put it in, a graph that tells me when I’m not hitting that target, to hold me to account. NaNo’s therefore a great tool, as I hate the idea that other people can see me falling behind target.

I’ll beat it. And the more difficult it is – exams? Ballet classes? Away for half the month without internet? – the more I’ll want to do it, the more I’ll want to win.

Why?

Just to prove that I can.

Last year I did Camp NaNoWriMo both sessions, July and August, as well as full NaNo in November. It was fun. I wrote three first drafts and I’m pretty proud of all of them, even if I haven’t managed to find time to edit them yet because of other projects getting in the way. However, this year I wasn’t so sure if I was going to be doing it.

June is a bad month. I’ve got exams, important ones. July would be better, as aside from a school show, a ballet show, and an orchestra tour, I’m free the whole lot – probably. For me, that’s not busy.

Also, I’m doing a lot of editing at the moment. As well as finishing off the line-edits on the seventh draft of Watching (which are not too major but very slow as it involves restructuring dodgy sentences…), I’m trying to second draft all three of last year’s first drafts.

I don’t have time to write a new novel at the moment.

I realised that I couldn’t think of NaNo as something which had rules I HAD to follow. By writing another first draft I’d be delaying important editing, and just giving myself more work later on. NaNo is meant to be helpful.

So I’m using this month to write the second draft of Destroying, the sequel to Watching. It’s quite a major job because of the edits I made to Watching since I wrote that first draft, and it’s going to be hard work. But unless I have a motivator, I’m not going to get it done.

And so it will be the wordcount for a second draft I’ll be plugging into the website. I won’t be word-sprinting. I won’t be doing ‘dares’ and adding ninjas to my story and breaking the fourth wall and ignoring typos and killing my inner editor. I’ll be working much slower than I do during NaNo.

But I’ll get something done that needs to be done, and Camp NaNoWriMo will help me do it.

It’s a tool, not a rule, after all.

The first thing that I noticed is that it’s very short.  It’s barely a novella.  Considering the movies that they’ve made from the material, I expected a longer book.

Second, while all of the movie versions that I’ve seen have been pretty much secular, God was mentioned a few times in the book.  In fact, it’s mentioned that Scrooge goes to church on the Christmas morning where he wakes up a new man.  That’s left out of all the movie versions that I’ve seen.

Third, the depiction of the Ghost of Christmas Past is much different.  His first description makes him a shape-shifter.  His appearance morphs every time that Scrooge looks at him, with his number of legs changing and things like that.

The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to a ship in the ocean to see its Christmas celebration.  He also takes him to other lands to see Christmas celebrations in those places, too.

The final part of the book, after his conversion, seems rushed.  It does depict him as a better person, but it doesn’t show the Cratchet’s reaction to having a giant turkey sent to them, which was one of my favorite parts of the movie versions.

The book is being told by a narrator as if he is verbally telling the story.  We never find out who the person is, but he speaks like a storyteller and refers to himself as “I” on a couple of occasions.

I’m looking forward to reading some more of the classics.

I think it’s safe to say that many people in our world are idealistic, striving for a Happily Ever After. It seems that this world puts so much emphasis on the thought of Fairy Tales and happy endings. Sure, there will be bumps in the road, but everything will always work out in the end. Take any childhood story, and they all end happily. I suppose that leads to the opposite of idealism, realism.

I’m a teenage girl who loves to read. What, you ask. Well, romance stories are obviously in that category, and, well, the majority of these stories all end up with the guy getting the girl or vice versa. I’m here to say, “Not everything works out.” Sure, you can call me a pessimist (realist), only focusing on the downs, but it’s true. Not only in romance, but in nearly everything we see ideals. Movies, where there’s a hero saving the world and always coming out on top.

And, I must add, porn. Yes, I said it. Porn! There are so many ideals there as well with people having crazy monkey sex. Some videos showing “virgins” and their first times as being fantastic. Hell, you see this in movies in the theaters. For example, I’m sorry I must say, Breaking Dawn from the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. Everywhere ideals are thrown around, and people begin to think to themselves, “Why isn’t this happening like it did in that book? What the fuck is going on? This is crazy!”

In all honesty, I also think these ideals are causing people to be unhappy, some even becoming depressed. While some may not think that’s a viable reason to become depressed, it really is. I suppose some people think they’re missing something in their life, or they want something more exciting to happen in their life; I know I do. We see in movies, television, books, etc. exciting things going on, action, adventure, romance, the whole sha-bang! It makes people think, “Why isn’t anything happening in my life? Am I doomed to a life of monotony and mundane activities?” Alright, so, that may not be exactly what they’re thinking…but, you get the gist. All I’m trying to get out there is, don’t base too many things on stuff you see, hear, or read. It will only make you miserable…somewhat. Once you go there, there’s no going back ;).

Not lookin’ back,

~ M