On Tornado C and the OYAN Summer Workshop

Today is my last day of school.

That means a variety of things, among them being jubilation and a tangible sense of freedom from slavery.

Probably one of the most important things is that I'll finally have time to focus on Tornado C.  I've been writing in it here and there as the weeks have gone by.  The current word count is somewhere north of fifty-five thousand words, and I'm about halfway through.

This poses a problem, however.

Much to my delight, last month I registered for this year's OYAN Summer Workshop (referred to by OYANers as the "SW").  The Workshop will be graced by the presence of some famous authors (among them being Jill Williamson and Jeff Gerke), and numerous internet friends.  If my count is correct, there are just twenty five or twenty four days left until the SW begins.

How does this pose a problem?

Well, the good news is, I'm halfway through my novel.  The bad news is, I'm halfway through my novel.  It's taken me a year to get there, and I've got roughly twenty-four days to get to the end—or at least the beginning of the end.  The Workshop involves bringing copies of your manuscript, four pages from each of your "four defining scenes".  Unfortunately two of those scenes haven't been written yet.

So if I don't blog at all, you'll know why.

On the flip side, if you're going to the SW, perhaps we'll meet in person!  That would more than make up for the silence, wouldn't it?

I'll try to periodically update and perhaps even write something interesting (for once), but like always - there are no guarantees!  (That sounds familiar, doesn't it?)

Review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

(Note: this is a fairly exhaustive review. Rather long and meandering – kind of like the movie, come to think of it. ;) There are probably some minor spoilers, but I stayed away from revealing major plot points.)

As hard as it might be to believe, until very recently I had yet to see the Hobbit movie, despite having been in America for some time.

Being a writer, the best way I process things is by, well, writing. So write I will! Here are my hasty and sincere thoughts on Peter Jackson's adaption of Tolkien's “fairy-tale”.

The Book and the Movie

The best way to approach the movie, I think, is to view it as an entirely different story than the book; or, as I put it to a friend of mine, two different adaptions of the same essential story. One in words, and the other in pictures.

But before I do that, how did the movie compare to the book?

Peter Jackson had a tough issue, and that was marketing the Hobbit to a Lord of the Rings audience while simultaneously “setting up” the saga that follows, something the original story didn't do at all. This required several things, such as removing some of the “whimsical”, fairy-story feel and adding in more “epic fantasy” elements. This is a hard job, and he's bound to make both purists and Lord of the Rings movie fans mad in the making.

Overall, I think he did well. Jackson compromised between a purist standpoint and an epic fantasy standpoint in finding elements that were not in the Hobbit itself but were part of Tolkien's story-world nonetheless. This would include the White Council (taken out of order), Azog the White Orc (who really was from Moria but had actually been killed), Radagast (who had a very minor role in The Fellowship of the Ring book but did exist), the Necromancer (taken out of the Return of the King appendices and other sources), and giants (who were hardly as colossal in the book). This allowed Jackson to use Tolkien's own works in a way that would work better on the big screen.

Okay, now that I've finished with that, I'll address the movie itself, purely on its own merits, not how it measures up to the book.

1) Plot.

As could be expected from a three-hour movie made from one hundred pages of a children's fantasy novel, the plot meandered from place to place. The introduction of the White Orc and the Necromancer helped move the plot along some, but the main reason why they didn't propel much was because there was little to no resolution of their plotlines at the end of the movie. Really, I think that was the most disappointing thing about the Hobbit: zero resolution. We jumped around some, had some adventures and whatnot, but the only resolution was in the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin (more on that later). Everything else was left open-ended.

This is a trilogy, however, but even with that excuse the end of the movie failed to completely satisfy. In comparison to the ending of the Fellowship of the Ring, it was stale. (Perhaps that was, in part, due to the fact that The Fellowship of the Ring followed the plotline of the book and ended in the same place.)

This isn't to say, however, that I wasn't interested. Sure, the plot meandered, but I had a lot of fun meandering with it. Sure, it could have gone faster, but I didn't mind going slowly. So that lets Peter Jackson off the hook, a little bit.

2) Dialogue and Quality.

I must say, one of my favorite parts of the Hobbit was the dialogue and overall quality of the work. The dialogue is easily as good as the original three LotR movies, and perhaps, in some places, better. Certainly it's a lot lighter. The movie was peppered with humorous quips and one-liners, something that was lacking in LotR. And, as I discovered the day after I watched the movie, it's just as quotable as LotR, especially in the troll and Gollum scenes respectively. (“Teefes! We has nine!”)

And by “quality”, I mean the little things throughout the movie that don't get their own “category” like plot or character, but enrich the movie in innumerable ways. Gollum's facial expressions, for instance, were priceless. The filming was simply beautiful. The soundtrack was incredible. (Howard Shore's mix of old and new themes was excellent.) The sets were tastefully done, the costumes were fantastic, the dwarves were distinctive—you get the point. There are a lot of little things that make the movie great.

The only thing I thought was off was the Goblin King. He was kind of...weird. A little cheesy. He would have gone down better if he hadn't had such a strange voice. I mean, normally goblins and orcs are hoarse and brutal-sounding, but this guy had no voice editing at all. And he was kind of sarcastic and weird and had a massive double chin.

3) Character.

Something that was distinctive about The Lord of the Rings was that, despite the action/adventure feel, the character development was incredibly good. How did it work out in the Hobbit?

Let's start with the main character, Bilbo Baggins. He starts off as a quiet well-to-do hobbit who doesn't want any adventures—thank you, good morning. He ends up as a volunteer on a quest to take back the dwarf kingdom of Erebor, where he could get roasted or skewered or be late for dinner. Is it done well?

I think so. While I think the spotlight was on Thorin a little too much, Bilbo's character evolved fairly well, with some really shining moments—his last scene with Gollum, for instance, or his scene with the White Orc. I was afraid that I'd think of Martin Freeman, the actor for Bilbo, as 'Watson' the whole time (he acts as Dr. Watson in BBC's “Sherlock” TV show), but I think he did a good job. Perhaps a little too skittish, but that should resolve itself in the coming sequels.

While most of the dwarves didn't get enough screen time to really “show” their character (other than Balin, I think, who was very well done), they were distinctive enough that you could tell them apart. (Except for Fili and Kili. I always get them mixed up.)

Gandalf is his old grey self—the acting was superb. 'Nuff said.

Gollum was in top form in the Hobbit. He's funnier and, in some ways, even better than he was in LotR. The events that would happen later, in LotR, were foreshadowed well.

And I feel I must mention the White Orc for a moment. Zero characterization there, even for an orc. Basically, his only motivation for trying to kill Thorin is that he “swore to wipe out the line of Durin”. He might have cause for revenge on Thorin, but that was barely noted. He might be a character necessary for plot, but at least they could make him more interesting.

The last major character was Thorin. I have mixed feelings about him. While he's a brash character and very pigheaded, he's likeable in some ways as well. Two scenes really helped endear me to him, I think—the “flashback” where Balin is telling Thorin's story to Bilbo, and the final scene of the movie.

Overall, while the character wasn't quite as stunning as the original trilogy, it was adequate enough for the first movie.

4) Theme.

My favorite subject. It's usually tied to characters, so how did it do this time around?

There was really one theme in the Hobbit, but it was expressed in various ways. The main one was the relationship between Bilbo and the Company, mostly played out with Bilbo's interactions with Thorin. Did Bilbo belong? Why should he stay?

I was a little surprised by Bilbo's answer when asked why he stayed with the Company. “Because I have a home, and you don't have a home.” While it's a nice theme, it had the potential to be a lot stronger, especially when contrasted with the main themes of Lord of the Rings. I think a better motivation would be tied to the need for justice and the cause of good.

But really, the main theme of the Hobbit was said by Galadriel: “Why Bilbo Baggins?”

And Gandalf's answer to that question makes that scene my favorite in the entire movie. The soundtrack (beautiful), the acting, the placement, all of it supplements the words that Gandalf says at that part and sums up the theme of the Hobbit. And really, the theme of the entire “Lord of the Rings” saga, the Hobbit included.

I won't spoil anything. (And part of it is that I can't remember the exact quotation off the top of my head.) But it is definitely a fantastic theme. I hope it comes out a lot more in the later movies!

It's Not The Book

The Hobbit movie is not the Hobbit book. Some people hate the movie because of that. Some people think it's a money-making franchise.

Taken apart from the book, however, and being seen as a prequel to the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, the Hobbit delivers. The plot meanders, but the same themes and characters are woven throughout the movie. It's witty, it's well-made, it's a continuation of the well-beloved saga. More importantly, it promises a lot more epicness to come.

And my goodness, I could quote it all day.

Concerning My Long Absence

I'm sure apologies are in order, but I hate repeating myself, and you have all heard it before.  So I'll jump right in.

To put a very long story short, I am again in America, and GOODNESS, how can you stand how cold and dry it is?

(Despite my complaining and my numb fingers, I really am enjoying the cold.  I arrived last week, just in time to see the last of the snow melt from Kansas soil.  The wheat is looking beautiful and green in the fields!)

I have done an awful job at keeping you all updated, but quite a bit of what has been happening is under wraps.  At least, what has been happening in my "real" life.  (My writing is coming along nicely.  Tornado C has been relaunched and is now standing above 40,000 words.) I hope, however, that by mid-April I should be able to give you the whole story, from start to finish, of the great drama that God has been unfolding in Liberia.

I should be able to blog before then, but I'm learning from my mistakes - not promising anything besides that post.  But that update is set in stone.  I will update you all later this month.

How have you all been?  I heard the winter has been crazy!

Till then,

Adjectives and Adverbs: Why You Shouldn't Use Them (And Why You Should)

When I first started doing the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum, I was flabbergasted to see that Mr. S (wise as he was) wouldn't let me use adverbs and adjectives – at least, not many of them.

As time has passed, I've come to understand why it's not advisable to use them. Though it seems at first to be a direct attack against description, avoiding the two really is a good way to strengthen your novel.

As a quick review, adverbs are words that modify verbs, and adjectives modify nouns. Thus, in the green fish, “green” is the adjective. It modifies the noun; it makes the fish green. In he laughed sarcastically, sarcastically is the adverb; it modifies the laugh, making it a sarcastic laugh.

So why shouldn't you use them?

Because, while they are useful, they often clutter prose. The two things that drive your prose are your verbs and your nouns. Those must be as good as they can be. Too often we rely on adverbs and adjectives to help “move” our prose along, making the verbs and nouns weak.

Take these two examples:

The colorful bird flew gracefully downwards.

The brown-striped cat walked stealthily down the hall.

Both of these examples rely on both adjectives and adverbs to make the prose move. That makes them a prime example of what not to do.

I said earlier that nouns and adverbs drive your prose. Let's strip these two sentences of everything except those “driving” forces.

The bird flew downwards.

The cat walked down the hall.

Not too impressive, are they? That's because they relied on their modifiers to get them moving. They're rather dull and unspecific.

So how do we fix it? We start by changing the verbs and nouns themselves, compacting the most specific information as possible into one word. Let's change colorful bird into parrot, and brown-striped cat into tabby. Not only does it condense prose, but in the case of the first sentence, it makes the description more specific, not less!

Now that we've dealt with the adjectives, take a look at the adverbs. Flew gracefully can be changed to glided – again, this gives more information than the original sentence – and walked stealthily can be changed to snaked. (This isn't the only word you could use, however. Slunk, padded, and ghosted are all words that could have been used as well.)

All right, so we've strengthened our nouns and verbs and gotten rid of the adjectives, let's put everything back into our “stripped” sentences.

The parrot glided downwards.

The tabby snaked down the hall.

You can see that the prose is now much more vivid and descriptive than our original examples. And there isn't a single adverb or adjective!

Getting rid of adjectives and adverbs helps your prose immensely. Normally they cloak weak verbs and nouns, but once those are stripped away, the weaknesses are evident to see and can be modified accordingly. (Pun intended. Or was that pun too vague for anyone to get it?)

Before I move on, I must note one exception to this rule: the word “said”. As I've said before, “said” is essentially invisible as a dialogue tag. No one notices it when the author writes “he said” simply because it's so common. Dialogue tags are merely a means to an end; they indicate who is speaking. Now, if you wrote “expostulated” or “interjected” as a dialogue tag, it tends to jerk your reader out of the dialogue.

Thus, rather than use a “specific” dialogue tag, I often use “said [adverb]”. He said dryly is more interesting and less noticeable (in my own humble opinion) than he deadpanned, even though the latter is more specific.

Now, there is one problem that may come out of this: a paranoid extermination of adverbs and adjectives altogether. This is one thing I've witnessed myself. In fact, when I let a OYANer critique my stuff, I give this disclaimer: “All of those adverbs are there on purpose.”

Because, as long as your verbs and nouns are strong, adverbs and adjectives can strengthen your prose even more.

Take this passage from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, for instance.

“The wastes of his weary brain were haunted by shadowy images now—images of wealth and fame revolving obsequiously round his unextinguishable gift of noble and lofty expression.”

Take a look at those verbs and nouns: haunted, images, revolving, gift, expression. Those are powerful, specific words. But look what happens when you take out all of the adverbs and adjectives.

The wastes of his brain were haunted by images now—images of wealth and fame revolving round his gift of expression.

Not half as powerful, is it? The adjectives as well as the nouns, adverbs as well as the verbs; they were all powerful. Weary, shadowy, obsequiously, unextinguishable, noble, lofty; those modifiers made the prose sweeping.

This illustrates my final point: adverbs and adjectives can actually help prose when used right. That's why wholesale extermination of modifiers can be detrimental to your novel.

In fact, you could say that the entire point of this post is this: adverbs and adjectives, when used with a strong verb or noun, strengthen the prose; but when used with a weak verb or noun, they clutter the prose.

The key is to make sure your central, essential words – your nouns and adverbs – are powerhouses. Once you've achieved that, your prose will be a powerhouse too – and sweep your reader off of their feet.

New Blog: Reflecting the Mirror

Greetings, readers!  I know I've been less-than-garrulous on this blog (and believe me, I have excuses to back it up; they seem to be getting more plentiful by the day).

For now, we'll leave the excuses be and continue on to the subject of this post: I'm happy to announce the debut of my new blog, Reflecting the Mirror!

(If you can't see the hyperlink, here's a good old-fashioned copy-and-paste.  http://reflectingthemirror.blogspot.com/ )

What is it about?  That's the subject of my first post on there, and I hope you find it entertaining.  In brief, I've started a new blog, not to replace this one, but to supplement it.  While I will certainly continue writing on this blog, Reflecting the Mirror will allow me to blog about more things unrelated to writing, such as life here in Africa.

In fact, you may find (horrors!) that it can be even more interesting than this blog.  At any rate, I hope you go and check it out!

And here's to hoping I can keep both blogs up.  I seem to be having a hard time with this one! ;)

Review: A Hero's Throne

Deep beneath the streets of England lies another realm . . . one few in our modern world know exists. Daniel and Freya, however, know it all too well. Eight years ago, these friends first journeyed through portals into the hidden land of Niðergeard—discovering a city filled with stones, secrets, and sleeping knights that serve to protect the world they call home.

 But Niðergeard has fallen to dark forces, overrun by its enemies. Gates are being opened between the worlds that should have been kept closed. The battle lines for the war at the end of time have been drawn, and opposing forces are starting to gather.

Having served for centuries as the first and last outpost at the borders to other worlds, Niðergeard must be reclaimed and the mystery of its fall discovered. Daniel and Freya, along with an ancient knight and a Scottish police officer, must return to the legendary city, rally the surviving citizens, and awaken the sleeping knights—knights who are being killed, one by one, as they sleep.

 But time is running out faster than they know.

(Description taken from Amazon.com.)

A Hero's Throne is Book Two in Ross Lawhead's “The Ancient Earth Trilogy”, and in many ways it follows the pattern of the previous book: modern fantasy mixed with ancient myth to create a tale that feels as ancient as the earth.

One of the primary characteristics of this book is the dreamlike – and in some cases, nightmarish – quality of the prose and story. A Hero's Throne often feels like it was taken straight out of a dream – strange and macabre visions where your friend might be your enemy, and your enemy always stays your enemy.

In fact, that was my main problem with this book: that there didn't seem to be any sides. “How do you fight with the wind?” says one character. “I have seen the hand that moves us in the darkness – a game of chess with all the pieces of one colour. A game of chance with a die that has just one side.”

Another character insists on trusting Ealdstan to lead them, when Ealdstan seems to be on no one's side but his own. (“Seems” being the key word. There “seems” to be a lot of things in this book, but as the characters find out, nothing is as it seems.) Freya struggles with herself and also chooses to be on her own side, rejecting both the words of her friends and the words of the evil Gád. Daniel trusts in his own “righteousness” and motives and ends up delirious; from lack of sleep or from being driven mad by Niðergard itself, it is hard to tell.

Besides this, however, the book was surprisingly good. The plot wandered (in that way it was similar to The Realms Thereunder) and there weren't really any twists, but it was enough to keep me reading and interested. The two main characters had fairly open motives, although it seemed that the motives of the rest of the cast were almost always called into question, or never explained at all. While the characters were sometimes confusing, in a strange way many were dynamic, such as Ealdstan and Vivienne.

The best part of this book was the world, in many ways. While Elfland apparently operates on strange rules (which are never quite explained), the “real” world has many ties to ancient mythology, most of the connections being the monsters and knights, both of which are beginning to wake up. It made the book feel solidly grounded in the best kind of fairy-tale.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book, but the irrationally dreamlike feel, combined with the lack of sides (that is, evil versus less evil), were serious drawbacks. I will, however, withhold my final opinion until I read the final book, which is scheduled to come out in 2014. The epilogue seemed to hint at a better resolution. If the good-and-evil situation is indeed resolved, then I think that plowing through the series will be worthwhile.

If you enjoy reading “paranormal”-type fantasy, however, then this book should be right up your alley. All in all, I rate it 7 out of 10.  3.5 stars.

(Please note that I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

An Unexpected Hiatus

Life is my excuse, as usual, for this unexpected hiatus.  I hope not to make this a habit, but I have been forcibly removed from this blog for some time.  (Oddly enough, Facebook appeared to be a permitted site.  Interesting how that happens, isn't it?)

The hiatus isn't just from this blog, unfortunately.  I haven't written anything by way of fiction since I last blogged, and I've only read a couple of books.  (The last one should show how busy I really am; it took me almost two weeks to read the steampunk novel I received in my grandparents' Christmas package!)

School started, too, and that dragged me down into an endless pit of double literature and pre-calculus.

Still, I hope that 2013 will start looking up.  If I can get my schoolwork under control (unlikely, but I can always hope) finishing up The Voice of God will be my primary goal for January.  Then, Will Vullerman.  Then, a leisurely time on Tornado C.

What about on here?  Well, I have quite a few articles brewing in my head, and hopefully an upcoming review on a new modern fantasy novel.

Oh, and maybe a chance to get some free e-copies of The War Horn, for those of you who don't have Kindle.  Sound good?

Good!

Hopefully I'll be back soon.  If I'm not, I blame Africa.  Living here is kind of a full-time occupation!

Some Thoughts, and an Excerpt from TVOG

I haven't been avoiding this blog on purpose.  But when life has you by the neck, it's usually best to get out of the noose before browsing the internet.

That being said, I have almost zero to say; no updates, no pithy posts concerning writing, (alas) no extraordinarily eloquent exhortations.  Right now we're renovating the house in preparation for our move, and that pushes out pretty much everything else—including writing and blogging.

That doesn't include reading, thankfully.  A fellow missionary kid loaned me a omnibus of The Chronicles of Narnia a while ago, and I finished devouring it yesterday.  Ah!  Such goodness!

Aside from those random notes, I figured I'd give you something to chew on over Christmas break.  (More likely than not, this is the last time you'll hear from me in a while!)

*drumroll*

An excerpt from the Voice of God!

This scene takes place at the highest point of Myrkvar, at a building called the Seat of God.  Edon, the main character, is coming before the High Presbytery of Myrk for the first time.  (The Presbytery pretty much governs everyone in Myrk and rules from the Seat of God.)

And again, this is woefully unedited and rather choppy.  The description is a bit much and needs to be refined. ^_^  Thoughts on the whole would be appreciated!

--

A massive arch without doors guarded the front entrance, and into it were carved many symbols that Edon didn't recognize.  The tall walls of the hall fanned out from both sides, pocketed with designs and reliefs, so many of which that Edon didn't see half of them before they had reached the arch. 

On either side of the arch—which was wide enough for three men to pass without touching each other—stood two men. They wore simple white tunics and trousers, and wore a white cap on their heads. They both held smooth, bone-white staffs.

 “Welcome,” one said. “Sentinel Iorkus?”

The Sentinel knelt and touched his forehead to the stone floor before the arch. “I come in the name of God.”

The man inclined his head slightly, and enunciated his words carefully. “Welcome in the most holy Name of God. The Presbytery expects thee, and thy companions.”

“Thank ye.”

The man bowed and gestured inside. Sentinel Iorkus rose and unwound his shoes, motioning for the rest to do likewise. Edon pulled off the straps holding his shoe in place and kicked them off, following Iorkus, who walked reverently beneath the arch.

Edon found himself in what felt like an ancient temple built by supernatural hands. Massive, serrated columns of stone held up the straight curve of the ceiling, which didn't quite come to a point; three quarters of the way, the roof cut off and twilight shone through, a path of silver leading to the end of the hall.

The large stones of the floor were in a checkerboard pattern, alternating a glowing white and an obsidian black, and the pillars likewise alternated between black and white.

When Edon reached the end of this trail of silver, the hall billowed out into a perfect circle with no roof at all. The floor was completely white, with a solitary black star in the center, edged with gold. Around this massive circle there were walls painted with frescoes of the ages; battles and famines and centuries of peace. Some paintings were chipped in age, and some glowed as if they had been painted the day before. Directly in front of Edon, held up on a pedestal of white stone, was a larger-than-life replica of the Sacred Sword, plated in gold and beaten until it gleamed. Beneath it there was an empty throne of white stone draped in purple. The arms of the throne were carved as two roaring lions, and the pedestal holding the Sacred Sword composed the back.

On either side of the throne, smaller seats of a similar make curved symmetrically around the silver-lit circle of the hall. Counting the throne, there were forty-nine seats, seven sevens: twenty-four on either side of the great throne. Upon those seats sat forty-eight men robed in white.

And the eyes of every single man were fixed upon the newcomers.

--

Yeah, sometimes I go to town on the descriptions, at the cost of writing quality.  But hopefully the image of the silver-lit Seat of God is now as vivid in your mind as it was in mine.

What about you?  Have any awe-inspiring locations in your writings?

A Long-Overdue Post

All right, I'm an awful blogger.

I'll be the first to admit it.

I mean, I left you guys out in the cold for almost a month. 

But I swear, I have good reasons.  Life is crazy, particularly when it is in Africa.  Before you roll your eyes at this rote excuse, let me expand.

Not only was I swamped with NaNoWriMo, but we lost our internet for two weeks, are preparing to renovate a house that looks like this, have been hosting a good friend from America for a month, AND I've been repeatedly beaten up by pre-calculus, and everyone but me came down with typhoid.  

My younger sister didn't stop there, however, and got a case of 3+ malaria, which is extremely severe.  Her fever shot up to 105.7 and we had to take her to the hospital.  

Liberian hospitals are a nightmare :P at one point they refused to discharge her even though she was back in good health.

And THAT'S the condensed version of the last 30 days.  It was, unfortunately, a lot worse than this sounds.

But now that my excuses are finished, let's get down to business!  First things first, wrapping up loose ends.  

I finished NaNoWriMo a day early! ^_^

I was overshadowed by my extraordinarily word-count-happy sister, however, who wrote 100,000 words (two novels) in the month of November.  Can you all give her a chorus of YOU'RE COMPLETELY INSANE for me?

Thanks.

The Voice of God still isn't finished, however.  Because my life went even crazier shortly after NaNoWriMo, it's still unfinished and at about 56,000 words.  If I can find the time to write two more chapters, however, the book will be finished.

That being said, I've been hit by 6+ new story ideas in the past month, and I doubt any of them will see the light of day for quite a while.  I still have quite a few things on my plate, though.  Will Vullerman and Tornado C are priorities after the Voice of God is finished, although I plan to take Tornado C at a leisurely pace.

If it sounds hectic, it is.  Hopefully things will settle down soon.

Tomorrow starts my early Christmas break, which is largely due to the fact that I'll be helping with renovations.  We're supposed to move into a new place by the New Year, and it needs a lot of work.  (Prayer would be coveted!)

What about you all?  Finish NaNoWriMo?  If not, never fear!  You've written more than you might have if you hadn't done NaNoWriMo.

All you non-NaNoers, what are you writing now?  Ready for Christmas break?

Fill me in.  I haven't been around for awhile!

"Give Thanks": What Does That Actually Mean?

Today is the American Thanksgiving.

For most of you, this means that you're spending time with family and extended family, making turkey and chicken and other Thanksgiving goodies, and preparing to stuff yourself silly (if you haven't already).

For us in Liberia, it means we have a chance to relax and enjoy the company of some other Americans (and their American food).  And yes, I fully plan on stuffing myself silly.

Besides the food, though, Thanksgiving is known for (what else?) "giving thanks".  But what does this look like?  We've heard "give thanks" so often; what does it actually mean?

The sheer number of references to thanksgiving in Scripture is overwhelming.  Here's just a sampling:

--

Psalms 7:17: "I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High."

Psalms 35:18: "I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you."

Psalms 69:30: "I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."

Psalms 105:1: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

1 Corinthians 1:4: "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus."

2 Corinthians 9:11: "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

Ephesians 5:4: "Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

Ephesians 5:19-20: "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Colossians 3:17: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

--

They even had entire psalms devoted for one purpose: to give thanks.  To praise God for what He has given us.

Obviously it's important, and obviously we're supposed to do it.

How do we do it?

Recently I've been reading a book by Francis A. Schaeffer called "True Spirituality".  Listen to his notes on giving thanks:

--

Then we find in Colossians 3:15: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to that which ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful."  And verse 17: "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."  And again in Colossians 4:2: "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."

These words about thanksgiving are in one sense hard words.  They are beautiful, but they do not give us any room to move—the "all things" includes all things.

We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  And this is linked to the next verse, verse 19: "Quench not the Spirit."  Surely one thing is clear.  God says to us: in everything give thanks.

I think we can see all this in its proper perspective if we go back to Romans 1:21: "Because that, when they knew God, the glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasoning, and their foolish heart was darkened."  This is the central point: they were not thankful.  Instead of giving thanks they "became vain in their reasoning and their foolish heart was darkened."  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.  The beginning of mens' rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart.  They did not have proper, thankful hearts—seeing themselves as creatures before the Creator and being bowed not only in their knees, but in their stubborn hearts.  The rebellion is a deliberate refusal to be the creature before the Creator, to the extent of being thankful.

Love must carry with it a "Thank you," not in a superficial or "official" way, but in being thankful and saying in the mind or with the voice, "Thank you" to God.

—"True Spirituality" by Francis A. Schaeffer, pgs. 11-12

--

Thankgiving, then, is humbling ourselves before the Creator of all and praising Him for what He has been gracious to give us.  And when we're giving thanks, we must be giving thanks in everything.

Why do we give thanks?  Because God deserves the glory.

We are creatures before an almighty God—and yet He has seen fit to give us so many things, even the death of His own Son.  How can we not be grateful?  And that's what Thanksgiving is, and must be—gratefulness and praise flowing from our mouths to the God who has graciously given us all things!

Glorify to God for what He has done this Thanksgiving: for the food, for the company, for the blessings of the past year, and yes, even for the trials of the past year.  We are strong in His presence—but we must enter His presence with a thankful heart.

In everything, give thanks.

It's the little things in life that often make us happy.

In this case, it's getting your word count after being behind-ish for a week. 

How's it going for you all?  Behind yet?  Usually by this time you're either pretty far behind, pretty far ahead, or cruising right on track.  Which one are you?

Overachievers, Part 2

Hello again.

Evidently my dear sister didn't read my post about how to encourage persons that aren't immortal and overachieving like themselves.  Take a look at these stats.  (And yes, I'm behind; I mean to make up for it this week, since I'm off school.)

Not terrible, right?  Yeah, just wait till you see what's next.

She finished her novel on the fifteenth.  Even worse, she's writing a SECOND NaNoWriMo novel with the same goal of 50k before December 1!

She's crazy.

Sheesh, I'll be happy if I can even make my goal tonight...

In Which Overachievers Are Rebuked (Nicely)

This is my word count.  (It actually isn't that bad.)

This is my sister's word count.

Anyone see the problem?

Yeah.  Seriously, overachievers, the worst way to encourage another NaNoWriMoer is to get wildly ahead. ;)

Night of the Living Writer

No, really, that's the story of my life right now.

Night of the living writer. The “living” part is kind of surprising, seeing as I often feel dead after writing. The majority of my writing is done at night, after all, and while it's fairly quiet and gives me lots of time, it does tend to wear on my energy.

Also, today is national Whale Explosion Day. Search Oregon's Whale Explosion on Google and watch the 1970 video. It kind of helps you when you're brain-dead. (:

And besides this, I really don't have much else to post about, other than I'm still on track with my word count. I hit the big 20k today: my current count is 21,130. Not bad! The story is on track. It's a bit slow right now, but it'll pick up in the next five thousand words or so and then hurtle to the finish line.

To those of you who are behind, take courage! You can do it! If you're really in need of motivation, shoot me an email for a word war. I'm usually available from 10:00 PM GMT to anytime after that. (I'm six hours ahead of CST, and five ahead of EST, if you need a conversion chart. ^_^) My email's on the Contact Me page.

Speaking of word counts, how is yours? Those of you who are doing NaNoWriMo, are you ahead or behind? Those of you who aren't doing NaNoWriMo, what's your current project and how's it coming along?

I think Tornado C's lack of brevity is rubbing off on The Voice of God. My MC is about to be launched into the plot head-first, but I'm already eighty pages into the novel! I'm hoping to wrap it up at 50k or so, but who knows?

One thing's for sure...I won't make last year's mistake. If The Voice of God does get long, I'm going to finish it before moving on to other projects. (:

May the Ninja go with you! Or to quote the Myrkian goodbye, “Fare ye well and God ye bless!” Write like the wind, and may your keyboard burn with speed!

Ho, ho, to NaNo I go!

Popping in again, folks, this time with an excerpt. I wrote this bit of dialogue and then laughed myself silly over it. Not because it was funny, but because it was so fun to write.

I was experimenting with new cultures and accents. I borrowed from some British sources for inspiration (not lingo), but for the most part this is original. The names are mostly anything I can think of that sounds different than the rather “Western” fantasy culture I set up in the previous two books.

--

“I've guests,” Iorkus called back. “If ye go that way, tell the Lieu that I'll be there presently. These ones have been on their feet all this past day and I must get them settled in the quarterhouse.”

“Larky, Ior! Call him that again and he'll string ye entrails from one end of the 'Worg to the other!”

The man spoke so fast and with such animation that Edon had trouble following the conversation. The Myrkians might have spoken a civilized tongue, but their speech was queer.

“Ye take my word to him, or no?”

“I'll take it, Ior, but only if ye join me for a cup of coff and a game of cards later on. I know a corner of the 'Worg that even the Ecclesian can't sposh.”

“I'll take the coff if ye leave the cards,” Iorkus replied.

“I was playing fun with ye, Ior. No cards, then, and I'll get the Lieutenant that message prompt, eh?”

“Many thanks.”

–

(Note: Iorkus is pronounced “your-kiss” or “your-kuss”. Ior is pronounced “your”.)

How's it going for you all? Holding steady, I hope? Forth the words and count the bluffs!

Or something like that. [insert war cry here]  

What about you lot not doing NaNoWriMo?  Doing any writing, or is school currently digesting you?

Geronimo! Er, I mean, NaNoWriMo!

Energy? What's that?

Isn't this so beautiful and relaxing?

It's our beach.  We're lucky to have a beach, I suppose, and a five minute's walk from our house.  Unfortunately, I didn't take this picture, for two reasons.  

First, because I take awful pictures.

Second, because I was holed up in the house either writing, thinking about writing, procrastinating about writing, or listening to music (in order to brainstorm for writing).

#nanowrimo

Life resembles my mom's tea bag more than my beach paradise, however.

#africa

I need to write 1,500 words tonight in order to squeak by and achieve my goal, much less work ahead.

And I just now remembered that I had a word war scheduled two minutes ago.

Gotta go.

Go and write, people.

So It Begins

That's it. I've finally started NaNoWriMo. Book Three of the Prophecies is officially underway. After midnight last night, I wrote a flurry of words; my current word count is 1,748, or it was at the time of this writing.  (That's the problem with scheduled posts...)

How's your writing coming, folks? Reached that 1,667 word goal yet? It seems easy, doesn't it? Too easy, in fact. And it is. Believe me, just two hundred words will seem like a million a couple weeks from now. Enjoy the easy going while it lasts. ;)

Oh, and my apologies for not getting it up sooner, but I have written up a rough (and rather long) synopsis for The Voice of God. Feast your eyes upon this, mates!

–

“Everything you know, everything you thought you knew...it's all wrong.”

Far beneath the ground, the realm of Myrk stirs for the first time in eras. They've tunneled deep and confined themselves from the rest of the world, but the coming of five strangers is going to change everything.

Edon Silversword is one of those five strangers. Once called the Champion, he discovers in Myrk that Arowdae has been lied to for generations. Combined with the news of his parents' deaths, he struggles to keep his faith. He's found the Prophecy of Einarr, but wracked with a strange illness and grappling with this news, he has to set out on a quest he's barely prepared for. Accompanied only by a Myrkian guide who won't stop talking, and his faithful friend Knerath, Edon must go far to the north, to the fabled Icedelves...and into the unnatural darkness created by the Daske.

In Myrk, his companions—Sirius, Ryni, and Rozan—have to stay behind to convince the pacifist High Presbytery of Myrk to defeat their subterranean enemies and rise up one last time to defend a country they thought they had abandoned. For a new Dreadman has arrived in Arowdae, and with new devices of war from his master, he begins to set in motion a plan to destroy all resistance against him.

At least, that's what they had planned. But when Sirius learns that the Dreadman is not the only new arrival in Arowdae, he faces a terrible decision: to disobey the strict orders of the High Presbytery and risk losing their support, or to set out on a desperate attempt to rescue the man he once called his father.

Meanwhile, in Kr'ark, the disappearance of the Silverswords leaves a gap in leadership. Farion steps in to fill the hole, but the people are growing complacent and he needs an army to fight off the encroaching darkness. With the false king Reine making moves to obtain control over the city, Farion struggles both with the burden of leadership and desperate loneliness.

The darkness is growing, and the faith of all followers of the High Lord is being tested. But there is one last promise held out in the Prophecy of Einarr, and it is the only way Edon Silversword may be able to make sense of the mess and regroup the scattered forces of good.

He holds on to the hope that he is promised: that he is the Witness, and will hear the voice of God.

–

Thoughts? Synposes of your own? Share away; but don't go reading my blog when you should be writing. Drop down and gimme 2k! ;)

To Start Off NaNoWriMo....Some Writing Advice From Snoopy

Hail and well met, NaNoers!  November has started at last.  I'd give you my word count, but alas, this post is pre-written and scheduled to post at 12:01 A.M. CST on November 1st.  By the time this posts, however, I'll have been in November for five hours already!

To start off NaNoWriMo well, I figured I'd give you something to lift your hearts and bolster your first writing surge of the month.  Presenting...writing advice from Snoopy!

How do you start a novel?  Drag in your heavy, romantic briefcase and get out your typewriters.  Snoopy lets us know how real page-turners start: with the mystery of a fantastic beginning sentence.

Next, he lets us know that real writing is hard work.  And to get to 50,000 words by the end of the month, it's going to take a LOT of hard work.  But we can get through it!

Also, Snoopy says, when presenting the beginning of your incredible work-in-progress to editors, make sure and be open to advice.  An open mind is always a good thing, so take the advice and make your story better.

In this one, Snoopy shows us how to write brilliant description: the strength is in the little details!

We all need editing, and Snoopy is no exception.  Edit as you go, but don't get so caught up in the editing that you stop writing the story!

Snoopy also lets us in on the secret to emotional scenes.  Dialogue is key!

In the next few sections, Snoopy tells us how to react to critique after the story is finished, and what to do when you send in your story to the publishers.

Well, there you have it...the complete guide to writing your NaNoWriMo novel.  (Many thanks to Snoopy for offering to make a guest appearance on my blog.) 

Happy writing, and may the best dwarf win!

Pre-NaNoWriMo Rush/Important News

Hey, folks, gonna make this quick. Two things.

1) NaNoWriMo is in four days. I'm just now working on my plot for The Voice of God. *headdesk*

2) I FINISHED THE PROPHECY OF EINARR. In case you didn't know, Book Two of The Prophecies was left unfinished from last year's NaNo; I finished it at midnight last night. It's 61,554 words long, making it my longest novel to-date, and my sixth finished "novel" (although three of those were novellas).

And yeah, that's about it. Is anyone else freaking out over NaNoWriMo?

Fighting for Christ-Centered Christian Fiction

(A note to the reader, whether a writer or no: this post is something that's been on my heart for a long time, so I'd appreciate if you read it, and I'd love hearing your thoughts. I may be repeating myself in many ways, but I think it's a message worth repeating.)

I have been struggling with something for a quite a while. For a long time, I've been resolved to present Christian fiction that is clean, and leaves you feeling clean. In many ways, I feel that this resolution is contrary to other Christian fiction books out there. Ted Dekker comes to mind, and Travis Thrasher. As I've said many times (and I'm likely to say it many times more), fiction that is too dark leaves the reader feeling as if they've waded through muck, and it'll take a long scrubbing to get them clean again. Thus, I want to write something that cleans the reader instead of dirtying them.

I've resolved that for myself, yes. But the question is, where is the uncrossable line for any Christian writer? I believe there is one, a line that Christian writers sometimes cross in portraying depravity as too depraved, and failing to equally portray goodness. But many Christian fiction writers seem to think that there is a relativism in reading novels; if a book is “too much” for you it simply means that it's your own tastes that's the problem. Some people can handle more than the others; it's the “weaker faith” thing. What was clean and unclean food in New Testament times is the equivalent of clean and unclean books in modern day....right?

Some time ago I read a book called Avalon Falls by L. B. Graham, who wrote the excellent Christian fantasy saga The Binding of the Blade. I had read the sample (which was compelling) and convinced my sister to buy the Kindle edition, which was only $2.99.

That book once more brought these questions to my mind, not because of how good it was, but because I was surprised at how bad it was. Not in plot or character or anything, no. Stylistically it was fine, even great in spots, and certainly the first ten percent was good enough to get us to buy it.

But the content in the book, and the way it was portrayed, was almost shocking, especially after reading Graham's squeaky-clean Binding of the Blade series. There was cursing, sexual content (albeit addressed from afar, not in POV, and tactfully brief), and the scenes of two gruesome murders that could have used a lot less description. The main character was a non-Christian and the Christian themes of the book were kept at an arm's length.

In short, Graham did what I earlier described as “portraying depravity as too depraved”. In doing this, he also failed to balance it out. The rather poetic theme of the book (Avalon Falls; that is, even holy isles like the mythical Avalon have fallen) was far overshadowed by the grim mountain of human sin that had been built before it.

As I finished the book, I felt that I had wasted my time and sullied my mind. Such content from non-Christians I might have expected; but from a Christian author?

There are many times where I feel like giving up, but what carries me through is the fact that, even though mankind seems hopelessly fallen and that sometimes there doesn't seem to be a single honest person in this entire country, Christ can break through the darkness. Our depravity is expected, because mankind has fallen. But when I find this darkness in a Christian book, what am I supposed to think?

Doubtless it will be said that Avalon Falls, and books like it, are meant for non-Christian audiences. I'm sure the theme of the book may be somewhat evangelistic in that sense. But nevertheless, you do not feed a poisoned man poison. How will someone want the light if all you keep giving them is the assurance of their own darkness?

The weight of Avalon Falls has been weighing on my mind all night long. I deeply respect L. B. Graham for his dedication to his craft and to Christ, and I hope that the two-dollar royalty that he gained from our purchase of his book goes to a good purpose. But nevertheless, I feel that Avalon Falls, and books like it, have missed the mark. Christ has called us to something more.

Like I've said, after reading Avalon Falls, I felt down, almost depressed. As I'm wont to do when I have something on my mind, I wandered around and did nothing in particular for some time. Eventually my wandering led me to my Bible, and as soon as I started reading I felt as if a cloud had lifted from my mind. Here's what I read:

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16)

Even if the Bible never outright says not to write fiction that is too “dark”, and even seems to support the fiction relativists at times, I believe that the more we read the Bible, the brighter the light will shine in our writing. How can we think such thoughts, after all, if we believe that Christ himself will encourage our hearts and strengthen us in every good deed and even in our writing – our words?

Is there to be only light in fiction, then? By no means! Darkness can make the light brighter; but our job is to use that darkness only to enhance the light, not to let it “overwhelm” the light. My own novel deals with difficult subjects, but the difference is that the darkness only exists to glorify the light, just as it does in real life. In books like Avalon Falls, the author made the mistake of letting their own light go dim.

So what are we to do? We need to fight for Christ-centered Christian fiction – and better yet, write it.

The path of the New Testament is not to expose all of the bad deeds of humanity so that we all know how depraved we really are, but to let the light shine so blindingly bright that it not only burns out the bad deeds but allows the good deeds to grow. Christ has given us a righteousness from God, and He has paid with His blood; let us not waste it! May our light shine before men, so that their evil deeds look like straw before the everlasting glory of Christ!

Let it be an example to us, then. We cannot fight fire with fire. Fire consumes, but water may put out the fire, and feed the green things that grow. Words are powerful and precious; we cannot waste them!

Will we allow our words to describe the things that tarnish the mind and weigh down the heart, or will we use them to spur other Christians on toward love and good deeds? Will we not use them to put forth the gift of God – a righteousness apart from the law – to those who desperately need it?

As Christians, we are called to think about all of the things that are good – to hate what is evil, cling to what is good! We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our minds have been renewed in Christ; our spirits are alive in Him – so why would we even think for a moment to write something that lets the darkness be greater than the light?

I charge you, Christian writer: do not waste your words. We have only a short time on this earth, and then we will give an account before God on what we have done on this earth. May we answer well on that day! May we say that we were not ashamed of the Gospel – and that we have done what He has called us to: to glorify His name. Whatever we do, we do it in the name of Christ: let us not dishonor that name above all names!

May glory be to God alone, and may Christ encourage your hearts and strengthen you as you act and as you write!