A New Writer: Write Every Day Challenge, Day #9

So I completely forgot to write yesterday!  Shame on me!  But instead of starting all over again, today will be Day #9 (yesterday was supposed to be Day #9), and I will write two different ways today:  this blog and another type (free write, work on my old Script Frenzy script or NaNoWriMo novel, etc.).  I know this kind of negates the "Write Every Day" idea, but I can't keep starting over every time I miss one day.  I really will try not to miss any more days, though.


So since I've been doing this Write Every Day Challenge (or actually, since I participated in NaNoWriMo last year), I've been feeling like my old self again.  I can actually say I'm a writer again.  I've always considered myself a writer, but for a long time I hadn't written much of anything, so I felt like a poser when I would call myself a writer.  But now I feel like I'm telling the truth.  So I started doing this challenge and I even bought myself an issue of Writer's Digest (I know, fancy, right?).  [Note:  I wanted to make a link to their webpage but every time I try to go to the page, it says "Server Error."  I'm not sure if this is an error on my end or their's - my husband would know, but alas, he is not home right now (he's at work - he's the one who makes the money in this family until I find my big story and become a famous novelist ;) )]


Anyway I read the magazine and have been looking at things online and suddenly I feel like I'm a new writer.  Like I don't have years of experience writing and a Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing.  I do have these things, but all this advice on character and plot, tips on getting a literary agent, and terms like "blurb" and "beta reader" have me baffled.  I feel so green.


Luckily I have some friends who know way more about this than I do, and NaNo is coming up fast, so I'll have other writers to talk to.  I also hope to go to a writer's conference next year.


But until then, I'll just keep on writing, just keep up with my Write Every Day Challenge, and my writing can only get better!

Love Conquers Hate: Write Every Day Challenge, Day #8

It's been a couple days since I posted a blog, but I still wrote in other ways, so the challenge continues!  Write Every Day, Day #8 - one week down!


First of all, I would like to make a little disclaimer.  I know that my opinions are just that:  my opinions.  We all have our own, and they are all a bit different.  In fact, that's what makes this world so interesting:  we are all different.  And the thing that makes the U.S.A. so wonderful is that we are free to state, discuss, and display our own opinions.  I know that I am a Democrat in a mostly Republican state and that many of my friends are Republican.  When I say "some Republicans" or "many Republicans," I don't mean all Republicans.  I don't wish to create enemies.  I also know that I don't know everything about politics and religion and things like that, and I do not claim to.  I will never claim to.  Actually, in my day-to-day life you might often hear me stating something, and then saying, "But I could be wrong," because I could be wrong, and I know it.  I am also mostly Agnostic, with a hint of the Lutheran religion mixed in (I was raised Lutheran), which is also not the norm in my state.  Christianity is big here.  But that's another wonderful thing about America:  our forefathers came to this country to escape religious persecution of any kind, and we now are free to worship as we wish.


And there's the rub.  I hear a lot of Christians speaking of Christianity as if it is The Religion in America.  It may be the most popular religion in America, but it is not the National Religion, like English is the National Language (and that's a whole different bag of opinions there, but I won't get into that).  Also, our government is not ruled by religion.  Many people base their daily lives on The Bible, and that is fine.  But The Bible is not our constitution.  It is not the rules of America.  It may be the rules to many people, and, like I said, that is fine.  But it does not govern us all.  It also may be the largest religion in the world (I looked this up - I thought that it wasn't the largest, but several sources showed that it was the largest, closely followed by Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Non-Religious/Secular/Atheist/Agnostic - not necessarily in that order.  But then again, these sources that I found may be old, biased, or simply wrong - or they may be correct.  They were all a tad different, though.) but it does not rule the world.


My whole post today stemmed from the fact that I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately, mostly about religion and homosexuality.  First I watched Jesus Camp (see my previous post, "Harry Potter and Jesus Camp," dated 09/10/10), which was about children attending an Evangelical camp which "trained" them to be soldiers of God and where the adults preached to them not only about The Bible, but about how Harry Potter is evil(@#$!), and inundated them with Pro-Life propaganda.  Then, yesterday, I watched two documentaries about the war between Christianity and homosexuals:  Fall From Grace and One Nation Under God (1993).


Fall From Grace follows Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, and his family as they attend church, spend time together, and picket events like the funeral of an American soldier who died in combat (I think it was in Iraq).  There are so may things to say about this.  I have known about Mr. Phelps ever since one of my friends called me one night in high school, crying and severely shaken up, telling me to call a certain phone number.  I called the number and was greeted with a recording of a pastor speaking yelling about "fags" and "niggers" (two words which I never use, and only use here as quotes) and how they're all going to hell.  Then, about a year later, I heard of the story of Matthew Shepard, and how Mr. Phelps and members of his congregation were picketing Matthew's funeral.  A few years later, I heard about a controversial group being formed in my former high school, where my brother was then a senior.  An openly gay male senior formed a group for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexuals alike - a group to discuss their diversity and to accept each other.  My brother was not a part of this group, yet he and all the seniors in that class endured picketing by the Westboro Baptist Church at their graduation ceremony.  The student who formed that group, however, got the upper hand - he heard about their plans to picket ahead of time and sent out emails asking people to pledge money to GLAAD or PFLAG (I don't remember which) for every hour that Phelps and his followers picketed.  The email went viral, and more money was raised than expected.  I've heard more stories about Phelps and his followers throughout the years, as they picketed more and more events, often dealing with homosexuals.


I don't really even know where to start on this.  I feel so hurt, so angered, and so infuriated by the message that Mr. Phelps and his congregation send out into the world.  They give a horrible name to Christians everywhere.  I am so thankful that I do not live in a country or time where this is thought by the majority of the population.  But then again, it seems like many people in America believe that gays and lesbians are inferior to heterosexuals (sure, some may say that they don't believe gays are inferior, but then they disagree with the idea of same-sex marriages.  Translation:  inferior, sinful, unnatural).  At one point in the film, Mr. Phelps says something about how at one time all the churches in America preached the same message that he preaches.  Sure, that may be true.  Back in the day, everything was hell-fire and brimstone.  But many things have changed for the better in this country.  We used to have slaves, and the majority of Americans now realize that this was wrong, that racism is wrong.  Women used to be considered inferior to men, and weren't aloud to vote, and the majority of Americans now realize that this was wrong, that sexism is wrong.  Things have changed.  Things will always be changing, whether you like it or not.  And I guess the main thing that got me with this film, because I was already used to their extreme hatred of homosexuals, was their hatred for America.  They think it's already down the toilet, that we're all going to hell.  Their hatred for homosexuals aside, they believe things that most Christians, most Americans don't believe in.  And they think, because we don't believe what they believe, we're all going to hell.


Going along with that whole statement he made about previous American churches preaching what he does, I found a wonderful quote from the second film, One Nation Under God.  This film was about Christian groups who exist simply to "cure" homosexuals.  They have used shock therapy, regular therapy, and a whole myriad of things to try to turn gays straight.  They base their view of homosexuality as curable on the out-dated thought that homosexuality was a mental disorder, and they use the Bible to convince these people that homosexuality is wrong.  Now I know that apparently in the Bible (see, I say "apparently" because I don't know this for a fact) it states that homosexuality is a sin.  But take the following quote into consideration.  Reverend Dr. Rembert Truluck,  of the Metropolitan Community Church, said on One Nation Under God:

One of the great problems that we face is that the Bible has been incorrectly translated by using the word 'homosexual' to translate a word in Greek that does not mean homosexual.  And so in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, there are millions of Bibles in print that use the word 'homosexual' to translate the Greek word for 'male bed'.  The word cannot possibly mean homosexual and was not translated as homosexual in any English version of the Bible until 1946.  In fact, in the New Testament there is no Greek word for homosexual.  There is no Hebrew word for homosexual.  There is no such word as the word 'sodomite' which is used in Deuteronomy and in Judges.  This mistranslation of the bible to be used against gays and lesbians is not found parallel in any other field.

Also, on one of the films (I don't remember which one), a historian stated that this word that has been translated to mean "homosexual" actually meant something closer to "pedophile."  After taking down the above quote, I did some research on the Bible verses he referred to.  I was amazed to find that there are so many different translations of the Bible, and that, with each one, the wording was slightly different.  Some said "homosexual," some didn't.  And I'm not even talking about interpretations.  I'm simply talking about translations.


All I know is that I feel sorry for the people who are filled with so much hatred.  It is such a worthless emotion.  Why live such a life of hatred when you can live a happy life full of love?


I'll finish with another quote from Reverend Truluck:

Instead of just defending ourselves and saying that the Bible does not condemn gays and lesbians, let's go ahead and say what the Bible does condemn.  The Bible does condemn self-righteous bigots who decide what is right for other people, and try to enforce their religious prejudices and their hates and their ignorance on other people in a kind of Bible abuse that has been a great damage to the lives of many people.

Finding the Plot: Write Every Day Challenge Day #5

So with NaNoWriMo coming up in a month and a half, I've been trying to think of a plot for my novel.  As I said on a previous post ("Writing Away," on September 3rd, 2010), I came up with a plot but I think I've finally decided to save that for Script Frenzy next year.  It seems very visual to me, and I can definitely see it as a movie.  I also realized that it might be hard to put into a novel format.  


So now I'm officially on the search for a new NaNo plot.  I'm really leaning toward Science Fiction, because I really enjoy reading books (and watching movies and TV shows) in that genre.  The post-apocalyptic idea is really sticking in my head.  But I keep thinking these what-ifs (like, "What if this crazy thing happened to the earth?") and each one is immediately followed by "been done."  I mean, I know there are supposedly only so many plots, and each one has been done a million times, but that doesn't keep me from wanting to come up with something completely original.  I know, I know.  If I keep thinking like that I'll never come up with an idea.  I just hate the idea of coming up with a brilliant plot, only to discover that it's so close to something already out there.


I think I might order No Plot?  No Problem!, written by Chris Baty, director of NaNo.  It is written specifically to help you write a book in a short period of time without the luxury of a preconceived plot, characters, etc.  I am also keeping a journal of plot and character ideas.  Other than that, I really have no idea how to come up with this plot.  It's always been a creative problem of mine.  Even with my drawing, it's hard for me to come up with something in my head.  It's much easier to do still-life.  But I guess I need to quit shying away from the challenge.  There is an awesome novel inside me, somewhere, just waiting to come out.  I know that much.

Harry Potter and Jesus Camp: Write Every Day Challenge Day #4

So I saw the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer during the Vampire Diaries last night.  It was awesome!  I'm so excited!  Only 2 more months!  Head over to Mugglenet or YouTube to see the trailer.



Speaking of Harry Potter, I also saw something quite disturbing and annoying today:  the documentary Jesus Camp.  It focuses on an Evangelical Christian children's camp that believes that training children to be fighters in God's Army is the way to take back America for the Conservative agenda.  (I use that term, agenda, because I always hear conservatives use it in a derogatory way towards Democrats, Liberals, Homosexuals, etc., and because this documentary is the best example of an agenda that I've ever seen!)

The director of the camp warned them about Harry Potter, saying that Warlocks go against God, and that no matter how much of a hero he is, he is wrong because he is a warlock.  Well, first of all, I'd like to say that Harry is a wizard.  I don't recall him ever being called a warlock.  I know these are synonyms, but I just had to say that.  ;)  Second of all, Harry Potter is one of the most moral, kind, loving, and peaceful characters out there.  Third of all, he is a character in a book.  But then, I have to remember that these people take a certain book (the Bible) literally, so I guess it makes sense that they would take other books literally.

This group openly states that they need to "use" children to further their agenda.  And their agenda doesn't end at spreading God's word.  The kids might think it does, but it doesn't.  They infuse their own political beliefs into their sermons, teaching kids about abortion before they've even hit puberty, then use the kids in a political demonstration in Washington.  I feel sorry for these kids.  Not because they are being taught the Word of God, but how they are being taught (or "trained" as the adults - and kids alike! - put it).

All I know is, like I've said in my previous post, that hate is not a part of what I teach to my children, and although it might not seem like these children are being taught to hate, that is surely the next step.

Singapore and Stuff: Write Every Day Challenge Day #3

Write Every Day Challenge - Day # 3 - Gotta start somewhere! (I started this earlier but missed a few days so I restarted Tuesday, 09/07/10. I wrote a blog that day and then yesterday I wrote a letter to my son. I think that counts!)

So I'm not really sure what to write about today. I'm sure there will be many days like this, since I've challenged myself to write every day. So I guess I'll just make some random comments.

I was watching Top Chef and saw a shot of this awesome building in Singapore! My husband and I got out our iPad and iPhones and looked it up. It's the Singapore Sky Park at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Here are some pictures that I found online: (these are not my photos. They are copyrighted, I'm sure, but I'm not sure who I should cite)

So awesome looking, right? I'd be so scared on top of there, though. I would try to be brave and enjoy it. But I definitely wouldn't go into the infinity pool they have a the top: ↓

Forget that! I mean, I know it's supposed to be safe and all, but really? Really?!?

Apparently there's even a cathedral up there. Imagine getting married there! How crazy would that be?

So, Fall TV has started! So far, so good. I'm upset that a few of my favorite shows (Leverage, True Blood) are at the end of their seasons, but I'm looking forward to other shows returning! So far I've watched the premiers of America's Next Top Model and The Vampire Diaries. They're both off to a good start! I'm really excited about The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, and The Office. There are several other shows that will be recorded by my DVR, too. So, who knows? Maybe I'll actually write some reviews soon!

Soapbox Rant

So my challenge kind of fell by the wayside this Labor Day weekend. Instead of giving up, I'm just going to pick back up where I left off. Write Every Day.

I think I may get up on my soapbox for a minute. I'm really tired of all the hatred in this country these days. I realize there were times in the history of the United States where there was more hatred floating around, but I feel like we have evolved, learned, and become a better country. So why all the hatred?

All these people speak of "family values." Here's the problem: not everyone has the same definition of family. I have this old, 1974 edition of The Merriam-Webster Dictionary that used to be my mom's, which I use often. Here's the definition of family found there:

fam•i•ly \'fam-(ə-)lē\ n, pl -lies 1: a group of persons of common ancestry: CLAN 2: a group of individuals living under one roof and under one head: HOUSEHOLD 3: a social group composed of parents and their children 4: a group of related persons, lower animals or plants; also : a group of things having common characteristics

So, yes, this is a major definition of family. But it seems like, these days, most people automatically think of a family unit comprised of a mother and a father and children. But the thing is, that is only one type of family unit. There are families comprised of divorced parents, families where one or both of the divorced parents have remarried, families where there is only one parent (whether by neglect on one parent's side or by death), and blended families with children from each previous marriage. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are families with adopted children and foster children. There are families of married couples with no children. There are extended families, grandparents who move in with their adult children, grandparents or aunts or uncles that take care of the children. Cousins living in the same house. Children who have had both parents die, who are living with people who are not blood relatives, but godparents or friends of their parents, whom they had maybe never met but are now family. And then there are the controversial ones: the unwed mothers and unmarried couples living together with or without children, couples of mixed races, and the homosexual couples with or without children. I'm sure I've forgotten someone.

Another way to look at it is to think of yourself. How did you define your family as you've grown? As a baby, most likely your only family was you, your parents and your siblings. Maybe a few close grandparents or other family. As you got older, your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. came into the mix. You may have lost a family member or two or more. Then as you become a young adult, you may view your family as separate from you as you venture out on your own. Your parents may become extended family, especially if you find a spouse or partner. If you have children, you now become the adult in the family unit, and your whole perspective of family may change. As your own children grow and find their own spouses and have their own children, your view of family may change even more. If you do not have any children, grandchildren, etc., your view of family may stay the same as it was when you were a child, might include a spouse or partner, or it might simply be just you.

Then there are the changing roles of everyone in the family. You start out being a child, a sister, a brother, a niece, a nephew, a cousin, a grandchild. You may grow to be an aunt, an uncle, a mother, a father, a grandparent, a great aunt, a great uncle. Within those roles, you are expected to act a different way. And these expectations change with the times. Mothers were, until quite recently (and in some places, still are), expected to do all of the housework, do the child rearing, and abstain from working outside the home. I am a stay-at-home mom, but I think that I am a minority in that respect.

Then you have different cultures that come into play.

My point is, when people realize that every family unit is different, and that everyone views family differently, and that the roles of family are always changing, you can't expect everyone's "family values" to be the same. Where I live, though, it seems like this term means putting family and Christian faith first. It means that if you have "family values," you are pro-life and conservative and a Christian. Now, I know this is a generalization and that not everyone may feel this way. But it seems to me that this is what politicians, at least in my state and a few nearby, mean when they say "family values." It's like saying that you don't value your family if you don't agree with these viewpoints. They speak of morality, and I think they also don't understand that everyone has different morals, along with different "family values." Yes, we all know that murder is bad. Yes, we all know that slavery is wrong. Yes, we've all been taught the golden rule. But I also thought that, at least in America, we've kind of come to the conclusion that hate is wrong. That prejudice is wrong. That all men (and women) are created equal.

I have a son, and I plan on raising him right. Or what I think is right, which, in my state, might be considered wrong. I will raise him to be kind to his fellow humans. I will teach him to respect his elders, to be polite, and to not hurt anyone. I will raise him to be kind to animals. I will raise him to try to put himself into the shoes of others, to try and understand why people do the things that they do, rather than condemning their actions. I will raise him to understand that men and women are equal. That no one is superior to anyone else, whether you are white, black, brown, American, Mexican, British, Iraqi, Chinese, Korean, Pakistani, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, tall, short, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, straight, gay, bisexual, transsexual, rich, poor, male, female, Republican, or Democrat. He will learn that we are all human. We are all equal, and, in America, we all have the same rights and should all have the same opportunities. I will teach him, that, above all else, kindness is the highest virtue. I will not teach him to be intolerant. I will not teach him to hate.

Writing Away

So yesterday I challenged myself: Write Every Day. This is me doing it. ;)

I came up with a plot for a new book a month or so ago. I was really inspired by the movie, Inception. It's really amazing. My plot really has nothing to do with the plot of Inception, but more to do with using the actress Ellen Page as a muse. My main character is based on her and some of the characters she has played. I actually can see this story in my head, which makes me think that, instead of using it as my NaNoWriMo plot in November, I may stick it on the shelf until Script Frenzy in April, and turn it into a screenplay.

This, unfortunately, means that I need to come up with a new plot for NaNo. This is the hardest part of writing for me. I remember, back in high school and in my early college years, I would just write. I would sit down and put a pen to paper and write and write. I hardly ever crossed anything out, I was quite against revision for a while, and I never worried about coming up with a plot or metaphor or form for my poetry or stories. Even before then, I wrote tons of stories as a child, and I never seemed to have a problem coming up with a plot line, or characters, or anything. Then I took all these Creative Writing classes in college where you actually have to write in certain forms and read your work to the class and give and receive constructive criticism. My writing got better, but it slowed down. I no longer wrote several poems a day. I was lucky if I even wrote at all on any given day. I would want to write, but I'd sit down with paper and a pen or at my computer and look at a blank page. I felt the need to come up with some type of form, plot, metaphor, whatever before I could even begin to write the thing. I could no longer simply write.

It's still this way to this day. This is why this challenge will be so great for me. I've always considered myself a writer but when I have nothing to show for it, when I do no work for such a long time, I feel like I'm lying to myself and to the world. Now that I'm challenging myself to write every day, hopefully I will be able to return to that sense of freedom in writing. I need to realize that, as long as I'm writing every day, doing what I love to do, it doesn't matter if it's perfect. In fact, it's not going to be perfect. It's going to be horrible, lovely, confusing, amateurish, witty, repugnant, awesome and crazy. But it won't be perfect. But it will be me, and I'll feel more like me than I've felt in years.

Oh, and I started Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. So far, so good!