Consider that plot hole a main character.
WORD COUNT: 25,026
[And I get it ... for the first half of November this year, I haven't collected -- or I'm not posting, you figure it out (insert maniacal laugh) -- as many favorite posts as usual. But November is usually pretty intense for me. Still, I think we've got some good ones ;) -- David]
1. Hey guys. As we've all seen, there are some writers who have already obliterated the NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month, the usual reason for my November intensity -- me] challenge. To them, I tip my hat in congratulations.
I'm concerned that their success has gotten them accused of cheating. I'll admit that I was also skeptical, but as an Engineer I did some quick math. One gentleman finished his book in 17 hours. That means he wrote at a pace of 50 word per minute. That seems crazy to me, but it's actually on the VERY low end for professional typis...ts (who can have speeds up to 120 wpm). So this is physically possible. Also remember that NaNo runs on an honor system, and all of our brothers-in-arms deserve the benefit of the doubt, if not our trust.
[And I get it ... for the first half of November this year, I haven't collected -- or I'm not posting, you figure it out (insert maniacal laugh) -- as many favorite posts as usual. But November is usually pretty intense for me. Still, I think we've got some good ones ;) -- David]
1. Hey guys. As we've all seen, there are some writers who have already obliterated the NaNoWriMo [National Novel Writing Month, the usual reason for my November intensity -- me] challenge. To them, I tip my hat in congratulations.
I'm concerned that their success has gotten them accused of cheating. I'll admit that I was also skeptical, but as an Engineer I did some quick math. One gentleman finished his book in 17 hours. That means he wrote at a pace of 50 word per minute. That seems crazy to me, but it's actually on the VERY low end for professional typis...ts (who can have speeds up to 120 wpm). So this is physically possible. Also remember that NaNo runs on an honor system, and all of our brothers-in-arms deserve the benefit of the doubt, if not our trust.
Please also remember that NaNo is all about writing so fast your editor can't keep up. Saying that the one-day-writers are producing crap because they wrote too quickly is contrary to the entire basis of our enterprise.
I say this having not started yet. It's 08:20 where I am. You and I still have the lions share of 30 days to complete our own stories. That's 30 days of literary abandon to enjoy. Let's enjoy it, ok?
2. It's like a verbal Ouroboros. I dig it.
3. My husband doesn't understand that characters take on a life of their own when you write them. I had been complaining that my MC turned out to be shy upon meeting new people and clams right up (not something I had intended) and my husband says "Just write her the way you want her, she's your character!"
UGH! No, honey, it doesn't work like that...
— 
writing a novel about caffeine and magic.
4. So I am trying to get ahead of my word count goals in case I need days off from writing and I didn't allow the cat to sleep in my lap, because I need my arms and can't focus on making sure he doesn't crash to the floor. He did not approve, and as I'm engrossed with writing I suddenly see a black ball flying through the air and it lands on my shoulders. He's happy now haha.
5. Abject apologies to my fellow pantsers [read: writing by the seat of your pants; i.e. in a hurry] out there in NaNo land, for I have done the unthinkable.
Instead of writing last night -- I plotted.
And I think I kinda liked it.
6. The only writer to whom you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday!
7. In August, 1968, the country was still reeling from the assassination of Martin Luther King four months earlier, and the race riots that followed on its heels. ...Nightly news showed burning cities, white flight, radicals and reactionaries snarling at each other across the cultural divide.
A brand new children's show out of Pittsburgh, which had gone national the previous year, took a different approach. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood introduced Officer Clemmons, a black police officer who was a kindly, responsible authority figure, kept his neighborhood safe, and was Mr. Roger's equal, colleague and neighbor.
Around the first anniversary of Martin Luther King's death, Mr. Rogers invited Officer Clemmons to join him in soaking their tired feet in a plastic wading pool. And there they were, brown feet and pasty white feet, side by side in the water. Silently, contemplatively, without comment.
25 years later, when the actor playing Officer Clemmons retired, his last scene on the show revisited that same wading pool, this time reminiscing. Officer Clemmons asked Mr. Rogers what he'd been thinking during their silent interlude a quarter century before. Fred Rogers' answer was that he'd been thinking of the many ways people say "I love you."
8. When I was 5 years old, I begged my father to get me a lion. He said, "Okay, Baby, I will." Then a few days later, he gave me a cat.
9. The problem with these theories [about why the Star Wars prequel trilogy is "bad"] is that they really miss the point. The films were not well written, nor were they well directed. Jar Jar was NOT the problem with The Phantom Menace. The pacing, editing, and bizarre choices in writing and directing were the problems.
And it's a pity. The bones of a good story are there. There are hints of great things. Anakin dreams of returning as a Jedi and freeing the slaves. Maybe he does this as Vader, but there's no evidence of it. The creation of the clone army by a Jedi Master who died ten years prior (right around the time of the Phantom Menace) strongly implies Qui Gon, but I understand that The Clone Wars cartoon spells out that it was Dooku. I have my own theory that Dooku was originally supposed to be Qui Gon. Which is great and all, except...
It doesn't matter. The prequels are what they are. They're not great, but they're also not terrible. They don't need to be redeemed. Enjoy them for what they are, and keep your fingers crossed that the best is yet to come.
10. My husband and I found each other after about 30 yrs each of being single. We celebrated our first anniversary this year with ring tattoos of the Celtic heart knot we tied during our wedding ceremony.
11. I haven't gotten my tattoo yet, but as soon as I have the money and the will, I'm getting a semi-colon on my wrist. If this isn't familiar, you should look up the semi-colon movement. It's really beautiful actually. A semi-colon is when a writer could have ended a sentence and decided not to. As someone who battles depression every day, this is really meaningful to me.
12. If you are reading this God has blessed you with another day. We should make it count for his glory.
13. The rule of law hinges on two things: 1) that the laws are both just, and legitimately derived & 2) that the laws are applied equally, throughout the country and for all its citizens. Regavim, whose mission is to protect state land and ensure the equal application of the law, has found that hundreds of illegal mosques nationwide are being ignored or retroactively legalized, even as a synagogue is slated for destruction. Read more about our findings in the article here. Please like & share widely. This travesty of justice needs to be exposed!!
14. Them: "I really look up to you."
Me: "Oh... My bad... Please make wiser choices."
Follow me and I'll lead you to a better place... A place with a much more capable and responsible leader... A leader that doesn't tell you to wait 10min while they get themselves together in the bathroom every 40min...
15. "Mom, can we pretty please watch the food network and snuggle?"
[This poster's son] clearly knows the secret to getting to stay up past bedtime.
I say this having not started yet. It's 08:20 where I am. You and I still have the lions share of 30 days to complete our own stories. That's 30 days of literary abandon to enjoy. Let's enjoy it, ok?
2. It's like a verbal Ouroboros. I dig it.
3. My husband doesn't understand that characters take on a life of their own when you write them. I had been complaining that my MC turned out to be shy upon meeting new people and clams right up (not something I had intended) and my husband says "Just write her the way you want her, she's your character!"
UGH! No, honey, it doesn't work like that...
writing a novel about caffeine and magic.4. So I am trying to get ahead of my word count goals in case I need days off from writing and I didn't allow the cat to sleep in my lap, because I need my arms and can't focus on making sure he doesn't crash to the floor. He did not approve, and as I'm engrossed with writing I suddenly see a black ball flying through the air and it lands on my shoulders. He's happy now haha.
5. Abject apologies to my fellow pantsers [read: writing by the seat of your pants; i.e. in a hurry] out there in NaNo land, for I have done the unthinkable.
Instead of writing last night -- I plotted.
And I think I kinda liked it.
6. The only writer to whom you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday!
7. In August, 1968, the country was still reeling from the assassination of Martin Luther King four months earlier, and the race riots that followed on its heels. ...Nightly news showed burning cities, white flight, radicals and reactionaries snarling at each other across the cultural divide.
A brand new children's show out of Pittsburgh, which had gone national the previous year, took a different approach. Mr. Roger's Neighborhood introduced Officer Clemmons, a black police officer who was a kindly, responsible authority figure, kept his neighborhood safe, and was Mr. Roger's equal, colleague and neighbor.
Around the first anniversary of Martin Luther King's death, Mr. Rogers invited Officer Clemmons to join him in soaking their tired feet in a plastic wading pool. And there they were, brown feet and pasty white feet, side by side in the water. Silently, contemplatively, without comment.
25 years later, when the actor playing Officer Clemmons retired, his last scene on the show revisited that same wading pool, this time reminiscing. Officer Clemmons asked Mr. Rogers what he'd been thinking during their silent interlude a quarter century before. Fred Rogers' answer was that he'd been thinking of the many ways people say "I love you."
8. When I was 5 years old, I begged my father to get me a lion. He said, "Okay, Baby, I will." Then a few days later, he gave me a cat.
9. The problem with these theories [about why the Star Wars prequel trilogy is "bad"] is that they really miss the point. The films were not well written, nor were they well directed. Jar Jar was NOT the problem with The Phantom Menace. The pacing, editing, and bizarre choices in writing and directing were the problems.
And it's a pity. The bones of a good story are there. There are hints of great things. Anakin dreams of returning as a Jedi and freeing the slaves. Maybe he does this as Vader, but there's no evidence of it. The creation of the clone army by a Jedi Master who died ten years prior (right around the time of the Phantom Menace) strongly implies Qui Gon, but I understand that The Clone Wars cartoon spells out that it was Dooku. I have my own theory that Dooku was originally supposed to be Qui Gon. Which is great and all, except...
It doesn't matter. The prequels are what they are. They're not great, but they're also not terrible. They don't need to be redeemed. Enjoy them for what they are, and keep your fingers crossed that the best is yet to come.
10. My husband and I found each other after about 30 yrs each of being single. We celebrated our first anniversary this year with ring tattoos of the Celtic heart knot we tied during our wedding ceremony.
11. I haven't gotten my tattoo yet, but as soon as I have the money and the will, I'm getting a semi-colon on my wrist. If this isn't familiar, you should look up the semi-colon movement. It's really beautiful actually. A semi-colon is when a writer could have ended a sentence and decided not to. As someone who battles depression every day, this is really meaningful to me.
12. If you are reading this God has blessed you with another day. We should make it count for his glory.
13. The rule of law hinges on two things: 1) that the laws are both just, and legitimately derived & 2) that the laws are applied equally, throughout the country and for all its citizens. Regavim, whose mission is to protect state land and ensure the equal application of the law, has found that hundreds of illegal mosques nationwide are being ignored or retroactively legalized, even as a synagogue is slated for destruction. Read more about our findings in the article here. Please like & share widely. This travesty of justice needs to be exposed!!
14. Them: "I really look up to you."
Me: "Oh... My bad... Please make wiser choices."
Follow me and I'll lead you to a better place... A place with a much more capable and responsible leader... A leader that doesn't tell you to wait 10min while they get themselves together in the bathroom every 40min...
15. "Mom, can we pretty please watch the food network and snuggle?"
[This poster's son] clearly knows the secret to getting to stay up past bedtime.
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