It's moving.

"They were the best of times, they were the worst of times."

I am talking about November. :) Remember that novel I started to write back then? I had about 50,000-something words when I won NaNoWriMo, and the first draft was far from completion. I told myself, You will finish it in December, and in a few days, too. You won't stop at this point.

Haha. The tyranny of the urgent is very real. I barely scratched that manuscript for all of December, but I did let thoughts like, It's bad, really bad, and you have no need to even try to finish something as abhorrent as that novel stay in my head for a few weeks.

So December was an off month. And so was most of this January. On my 2011 resolutions/aspirations list is "Finish Cadish the White by June". (That's when the deal is up for my own proof copy from CreateSpace.) But I... well, I just never thrust myself into it.

But now, things are moving, inching forward, again. I asked my grandpa to be my, um, drill sergeant, so he's making sure I don't skip days of writing. If I know someone is going to be asking how much I wrote, I will write enough to tell them without qualms or shame.

The novel still needs major shaping, pacing, and other important factors, but... at least I'll have a written first draft sometime soon. Then I can edit, inject all the thought-provoking facets I want, and maybe even salvage the minor characters. *wink*

Stuff to do, places to go, right? :)

The other night, I let my Inner Editor get the best of me and felt the need to open Paint and... do something with those nit-picky thoughts! So I made the official teaser to my novel:

It's sloppy, I know. But it sure felt good to laugh at myself!

Signed with a grin,
Margaret

PS-Please pray for my dear friend, Guinivera; she severely broke her wrist over the weekend.

Faith

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ~Romans 5:1-2

Faith that only Jesus can save me has been on my heart lately. There is so much to understand about Him, and so much that I never will until heaven. But He loves me, He died for me, and I know that He is my savior. And that is all that matters. I have to have faith that He can forgive my sin, even though it may be a little hard for me to believe sometimes. But all I have to do is ask. Ask for the forgiveness that only, only God can give.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ~Philippians 4:6

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Hannah wrote a great post on faith that rather inspired to me get my thoughts into the blogosphere....you really should go read it!

I get it now.

I know why people do 365 Day Projects for their photography. I just figured it out.

Photography has not been the constant companion to me that it used to be. I have been busy with other things, and have been inclined to spend my free time reading or playing the piano instead of taking pictures. (That is really okay, though; for a while there, I was hardly reading anything.)

Two of 2011 Resolutions/Aspirations were print my photographs, and create print-worthy photographs in small, beautifully disciplined amounts. But I'll be honest: I haven't taken over 10 art photographs since January 1st. I have turned on my camera to take a picture of something that needed documenting, a picture of my darling little sister reading with the dog, or the new floors in the upstairs of my house . . . life happenings like that.

But if I want my skills as an artist--and in this area photographer--to grow, I need to learn how to see and take photographs of what I do see. My new photography philosophy: don't take twenty pictures of the same thing, searching for the perfect angle or whatever, just because there is room for 1,000 more pictures on your memory card and you aren't wasting film. Take a picture because you know it will be beautiful. Work hard for the perfect shot, because that will make it so much more precious.

So I think that I have a new idea in mind. I am going to start a 365 project. Now I am smiling . . . it's gonna be exciting to take at least one photograph everyday that I can devote my willingness for perfection to. This will be great!

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Well, have a delightful day, friends! I don't know about you, but I love this harsh winter that everyone is experiencing. I am gonna miss it once March rolls around. :)
Signed with anticipation and other good feelings,
Margaret

PS-- Once again, my quote of the day gadget gives me a perfect one:

Each day provides its own gifts.
~Marcus Aurelius

It's my new job to wrap 'em up in good photographs!

Margaret Writes

I took this photo during a writing session last October, during NaNo prep. :)

When I started this blog last year, one of the things on my mind was "I can tell people about my writings! How cool will that be to get feedback and opinions?" So ever since then, I had been planning a great, big, interesting, post in writing that would be the neatest thing ever. I have read other writing blogs and love hearing about fellow writer's amazing novels in progress. But the thing is, that post I was going to make was just so cool I couldn't even bear to think about it. *Code for: I never did.* So here is that would-be legendary post, brought down to humanly manageable proportions. :) {Sorry, but I am not to good at giving details about plot, characters, etc., so these are simply the blank facts.}

I have two novels in the works right now. One is quite far along, thanks to NaNoWriMo. The other does not have more than seven consecutive pages written, but it definitely my favorite of the two. :) One of my 2011 goals is to finish (and I mean finish; write first draft, rewrite it several times, and edit) it by June. It's an almost unrealistic goal, but I think that perhaps...just maybe....I could do it. But so much has to be done. Last night, I was typing away on it, when I suddenly stopped to laugh. Because thus far, it is truly laughable. My characters have no idea how to regulate their emotions, so they're mad at each one day and happy to see each other a few days later as if nothing happened last time. And then, the plot is shambles too. So there ya have it: characters and plot, both are a mess. Is there any hope? (Funny, that's the same question my MainCharacter is asking in the story at this point...coincidence? Nooo...)

But the other novel....it's very near to my heart. If you are a writer, you will understand when I say that I love that story. I have known the characters for several years now, and they always surprise me with new facets of personality and backstory. That is truly one of the joys of being a fiction writer: you make new friends and enemies or at least companions when you make a character.

I love this one, but I am beginning ot doubt that I will ever write it. It's like the Splendid Post About Margaret's Writings. So special, so important, that it will never be satisfying enough to minimize on paper. It's better in my imagination, so maybe that is where it will stay. But there are not a lot of absolutes in my writer life, so we shall see. :)

Aside from those two stories, I have many more ides up my sleeve for the future or as inspirations calls. :)

The bottom line: I love being a writer. What else could I say? There is so much to learn and experience in life when you are. You want to live fully to make your writings vivid and fascinating, and the unsavory emotions and experiences in life are turned, in a way, interesting in your efforts to understand them and make them applicable to your characters and their situations.

I love it all.

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