I am Lame.

It's been over a year since I last posted.  I've been busy.  The end.

True Love?

Why is it that sitting at a table of four in a remote cabin in Alaska I am the only one who believes that a relationship between a man and a woman is meant to be permanent?  That there is something to the concept of "LOVE" beyond romance and lust. 

And I'm the embittered 30-year-old bachelor.

Yes this blog is still Active

I've definitely been losing steam on this blogging thing.  Not because I don't want to be writing on here, it's basically more a lack of subject matter.

However, today I want to announce that I'm officially beginning the final editing process for my book.  I've edited about 50 pages so far and things weren't as odious as I had thought.  There are some flaws, but I've had some pretty good brainstorms on how to fix them.  For those of you who read the first draft, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the difference these changes are going to make.  One change that I hope to do today is the addition of a prologue which will add more depth to some of the characters while at the same time creating a hook at the beginning of the story. 

Editing is going to be a long process.  I've been spending anywhere between 5-20 minutes on each page during my reading sessions.  Some pages get a lot of red ink, and some get very little.  It doesn't help that I'm working a lot more than I expected this summer--so far I've been working 50 hour weeks--which doesn't leave a lot of time or energy for editing at the end of the day.  Still, I hope to have a significant chunk of the revision done by the time I return to Utah in September.  Then End.

Dirty Politics. . .and Anti-Mormonism

Ten years ago I spent two years as an LDS missionary deep in the Southern Georgia Bible Belt, where every other person you talked too was a preacher.  I heard a lot of falsehoods and smear campaigns directed at the Mormon Church.  It's good to know that the hate against Mormonism is still going strong.  Check out this video:


 How original. . .spreading lies about Mormonism to undermine Romney's campaign. 

Face Time

Is it just me or are Atheists becoming everything they hate about Christianity?

Now I don't know for sure, but my general opinion (arrived at by careful observation) is that Atheists believe that Christians are a bunch of self-righteous-morally-superior-prigs who shove their beliefs down everybody's throat.

But lately I am starting to believe (once again through careful observation) that Atheism breeds the exact same thing, a bunch of self-righteous-intellectually-superior-prigs who shove their beliefs down everybody's throat.

That's the one constant about humanity, isn't it?  Each of us likes to believe that we are better than everybody else and that attitude spreads to the way people socially arrange themselves as well, be it politically, sexually, religiously, or whatever.  I just wish there wasn't so much of the shoving those beliefs in the faces of everybody else.

Facebook: The Death of Logic and Critical Thinking

Don't get me wrong.  I like Facebook.  As a whole I find social networking to be quite useful.  However, sometimes I am frustrated by the lack of critical thinking displayed by a good portion of Facebook users.  We often see something that strikes us as humorous, or wise, and we share it without thinking about whatever it is that we are sharing.

It'll be easier if I just show you.  Example #1:

Here we have a verse from Frank Sinatra's "The way you look tonight" compared to a snippet of Justin Bieber's "Baby."

It's funny, and at first look we really wonder what has happened to the music industry.  Then you realize that the Bieber segment is just the chorus.  Here's an actual verse from Bieber's song.

"You know you love me, I know you care
Just shout whenever, and I'll be there
You want my love, you want my heart
And we will never ever ever be apart"

It's not Shakespeare, certainly, but really Bieber's song isn't as stupid as this graphic is making it seem.  I'd go as far as saying that Bieber's lyrics are comparable to Sinatra's, not quite the same level, but really not that far off either.  The truth is that there's plenty of brilliance left in the music industry, especially once you get away from the teen-pop-machine.  But graphics like this draw people into accepting a narrow minded perception of things.  (For the record, I do not listen to Justin Bieber.)

Example #2:

I am not defending Twilight.  However, the love story in Up (a lovely movie, btw.) is depicted through a filmic technique called a "montage."  The essence of a montage is to briefly hit a series of high points in a particular story.  Montages are very, very easy to do.  And they evoke huge emotional responses in the audience.  Ask people how pumped they are to work out after they watch a Rocky training montage.   The point here is that it isn't fair comparing an 8 minute montage to a 4 book series of novels.  Novels are hard to write, I know this from experience.  Characters, plot, tension, romance, intrigue, dialogue, and setting must be developed and created over a sequence of 100,000 or so words.  Montages deal with none of that.  They skip the meat of a story, which makes this a very unfair comparison.  Stephanie Meyer's novels may have a lot of issues, but we could create a Twilight montage that would actually be quite engaging.  That's why you should always distrust the power of a montage.

Example #3:

Here we delve into the realm of politics.  And seriously, this is what makes people stupid.  The sheer ridiculousness of the claims on this graphic speak for themselves.  Politics are a sticky mess because the issues involved have so many complex sides. It's pure stupidity to boil down the issues into simple power phrases that attack the opposition's stance.  In most cases there are valid points/concerns on every side, but it's all too common for people to get caught up in the rhetoric of posts like this.  Come on people!   Use your noggins and quite spreading this crap all over the internet.  
 

Example #4: 

What in the blue blazes???

There is no semblance of logic behind this.  Really.  Rapists already know they are breaking every societal rule.  They choose to do it anyway.  No amount of feel-good commandments posted on the internet like this are going to do anything.  I have no clue why this one spread so fast across Facebook.  Stupid.

Look, there are people out there who do evil things.  They choose that for themselves.  Logically, we should prepare for that, because at some point we will be affected by the evil choices of others.  Unfortunately, women will always be the targets of depraved men.  Short of a Minority Report society, the only way to stop them is if the victims take matters into their own hands.  Jiu-jitsu, knives, and guns are all rapist deterrents.  A combination of the three is what I would recommend.  That seems more logical to me than spreading a bunch of silly rules that rapists aren't going to follow anyway.  But that's just me.


In short, people should think more critically about the things they are posting all over Facebook.  If there isn't any intellectual depth to it, then don't waste my time.

Things to Read

I found a couple interesting reads through facebook this morning.

If you think it's unfair that old people, who collectively have much more money than young people, get all the cool senior discounts, then read this article.

And I found this article about motherhood quite interesting, even though I'm male.

Editing

I'm still here people.  I'm just investing much, much less time in blogging right now because I've got a head full of steam on my book.

After short break I read my rough draft with a red pen in hand.  At times it was quite depressing.

I am now in the process of editing, a more significant process than I originally envisioned because I made the choice to alter the narrative to third person.  I have a much clearer vision for the story now, so hopefully version 2.0 turns out much better.  Peace out.

The Hobbit

I just watched this trailer for the first time, and seriously, part of me wanted to cry. . .kind of.  The magic isn't over!!!  Peter Jackson is doing what he does best; bringing to life the universe created by Tolkien.  Enjoy.

A Strange Time to Get the Writing Blues

Well, I've officially finished the book that I've been writing for the last two years.  It was kind of a weird experience, I was just typing along and then all of the sudden I realized that I had nothing to type any more, so I wrote "the end."

But now the fun begins.  Now that I've finished I can't help but dwell on how. . .flawed my rough draft is.  It isn't vivid enough, the main character's voice changes throughout, there are problems with some of the plot twists, some of the major situations don't ever get resolved, the story does a complete change-of-direction about halfway through, the magic system isn't fully developed and it's hard to write about. . .I could go on for quite some time along this vein, but I think I've adequately illustrated my point. There are many, many problems.

It's strange that I'm getting so discouraged now that I've actually finished a manuscript.

Maybe it's because life is knocking on the door and it's gotten to the point that I have to make a choice to open the door and become a responsible human being or start living the life of a hobo while I try to perfect my manuscript to the point where it might be publishable.

On the positive side, the process of editing and perfecting is much easier than the writing of a story, so maybe I can get this done in a reasonable amount of time. . .a month is what I am hoping for, max.  Of course, that's what I said about finishing the story, four months ago.  I'm not very good at keeping to my timelines.

The funny thing is that I've been trying to step away from my story for a few days--it really should be months but I don't have time for that--so I can be more objective when I edit it, but I can't.  I'm itching for something to do.  I still feel like I need to be writing, so I've dragged out my original epic fantasy novel, to see if I can read through it and get it moving again. 

Funny how life is, eh?  I procrastinate and procrastinate, but now that I have the opportunity to do so without any guilt I can't.

Denouement

So, it's come to the point that I'm starting to write THE VERY END of my book that I hope is going to launch my authorial career and I've come to the realization that I have no freaking clue how I'm going to end the story.  Good heavens!  Shouldn't I have had this figured out a long time ago?

No man is an island, but a writer. . . ?

The last several months have passed in a flurry of writing activity.  This is rather unusual for me, in the past--except for a few rare cases--I've struggled to string together much more than a few sentences at any given time.  But I've found that with a new attitude and determination I can produce enough literature to be able to make a career as a writer, depending on if I can produce writing that people will want to read.

However, I've discovered something about myself during this process that I sometimes find disturbing, and it feels weird to be blurting it out, in a public forum for anybody to read, but I have the blogging mask on, so I'll spit it out anyway.

I'm an introvert.  This is something that I've always known.  People drain me.  I like them, I like being around them, but they suck me dry.  Usually I can deal with this as long as I have time alone at the end of the day, a quiet evening to unwind by reading a book, watching a movie, or eating a casserole.  Don't even ask me to do something that requires a lot of interaction with people at the end of the day.  Parties?  If I don't know most of the people there, forget it.  Dance clubs?  Maybe with a bit of caffeine and the encouragement of an attractive lady, but that's it.  I can deal with people, and even like doing so, during the morning and early afternoon, but after that, leave me alone.  That's just how it goes, I like it that way, and I'm happy with it.  As a general rule, I am at peace when I am alone (I'll qualify this by saying that being at home with family, roommates, and/or close friends also brings me peace.  I'm not that much of a hermit).

But writing is changing things for me, and not necessarily in a good way.  Now, because writing is my work, I am spending the entire day alone, isolated in my dwelling, while I struggle to find the right words to tell the right story.  And as much as I love it, that can be a draining process.  When I put away the keyboard at the end of the day I feel tired, mentally.  Can you see the problem here?  Before, be it from work or school, I always had a social network that helped me, as an introvert, to feel connected with humanity during the day and then time alone to gather myself at night.  I don't have that anymore.  I'm alone all the time.

Writing is literally turning me into a recluse.

I feel like Frodo after Galadriel tells him that "to be a ring bearer is to be alone."  Writers seem to have the same curse.  Perhaps I'm overgeneralizing, I'm sure there are social, extroverted writers out there, probably in Hollywood.

For the first time in my life, I'm frustrated by being alone.  But I don't see any way to change this without destroying the system that has allowed me to be as productive as I have been.  Somehow I get the sense that I just can't deal with people in the midst of the writing process.  The pinnacle of this was yesterday at church when a really cute girl, a happy girl with an infectious smile, tried to engage me in conversation after church had ended and I found that I didn't want to talk with her at all.  The whole conversation seemed completely superficial and ridiculous--not that it was, I was just in a dark and melancholy mood--and I wanted to leave.  It was really weird, because I do find her attractive, and I do want to talk to girls, her included, but yesterday I just couldn't.  I don't think I've ever in my life been more crotchety and short tempered than I have been over the last few months.

Luckily, I'm nearing the end of my book; the journey is almost over.  Once finished I can break away from this endless spiral of isolation I've put myself in, though honestly I don't know how I'll do so.  Get a real job I suppose, maybe go on some dates.  That would be nice.

In short, writing is a two edged sword for me right now.  I like it, but it's removing me from the world, which is frustrating because I don't want to be an island.  The end.


Now, after writing all this, I think I've come to understand something.  It's not writing that's making me short tempered.  It's being single at almost thirty.  My focus on writing is just making me more single, that's what is frustrating.

An article for Single Womens

Ok, so my first post of December is kinda cheap because it's just an article I found on facebook.

Click here to read!

The article is entertaining, but as I read it I realized that I've been the victim of a plethora of women who directly applied to this.  It's true, even if it is blunt and a little vulgar at times.

In fairness, there's probably a corresponding column that could be written about the men.

Anyway, I just wish there were a few certain ladies out there who would read it a get a clue.  The End.

Stephen King, Are you Watching?

The seeds of a magnificent psychological thriller are contained within this fascinating article.  Combined with slight elements of the supernatural, this could basically be the next great Stephen King novel. . .written by me, of course.

Writing ideas are everywhere, literally.  Pay attention and brilliance will find you.

Basketball Season!

Finally!  It's the best season of the year.  Basketball season!  BYU is now four games into their schedule and here is my assessment so far.  We look pretty good, though a little inconsistent with so many freshmen.  Everybody is playing well, about as I predicted at the end of last year's season.  I will say that I think that a starting lineup of Winder, Rogers, Abouo, Hartsock, and Davies would solve the problem of the slow starts.  I like Zylstra, he's a good shooter, but I don't think he's a threat enough to be a starter.  He'd be better as a spark off the bench.

I stand by my prediction that we will be in the NCAA tournament this year, and we will win multiple games.

People who haven't been following BYU hoops probably don't understand a word that I just said.  It doesn't matter.  I just love basketball and I needed something to gush about.

Cold Blood

We're used to the idea of a man's blood running cold.  But when a woman does the same thing. . .well, it's a little shocking.

This story is horrifying!

It's events like this that make me realize that there are some people in the world who are just not fit to have children.  The woman in the previous story had a past that included prostitution and drugs and yet we let her be a mother.

I'm not one for the government controlling everything, but sometimes I think there should be some form of control over who is allowed to have children and who isn't.  There should be some sort of "parenting" test that married couples have to complete before they're allowed to make babies.  Of course, this brings up all sorts of moral issues because, in a way, regulating this would be basically a form of practicing Eugenics.

There isn't any comfortable solution to this problem.  But there are too many kids out there who are being abandoned and neglected by their parents.  It needs to stop.

Jekyll & Hyde

It's interesting to meet people in the college atmosphere and then watch them go out into the world and do really, really cool things.  Here's one of my friends, Garret Gibbons, who it turns out, is a remarkably talented cinematographer/director.  Check out his Steampunk themed music video that he directed for a band called Theoretics.

Cougar Fans

I've been reading some of the post BYU-TCU game write ups and am kind of blown away by how stupid and vindictive some Cougar fans can be.  How easily they can turn on the hand that has successfully fed them for the last six years.

No, Bronco does not need to be fired.

Writing Research

Today's random research topics:

History of Lingerie--Women's undergarments have undergone a complete revolution since the 1960's  (they've gotten a lot smaller, basically).  The idea that underwear should be sexually oriented is completely created by the current generation.  Before the 60's it was designed to be functional and/or comfortable.

Pocket Watches--They've been around much longer than lingerie (which kind of seems odd if you think about it).  Pocket watches are recorded as far back as 1462.  The original ones only had hour hands, the minute hand didn't come around for another couple hundred years.

Cities--Ancient Rome had a population of over 1,000,000 peoples. . . before Christ.  Basically, really huge cities have been around for a really long time.  This surprises me because I didn't think the ancient infrastructures could support that many people.  How did they supply all the food?

Climax

After what seems like years, probably because it has been, I am actually entering the final climactic scenes of the fantasy novel that I hope will launch my career as a full time author.  It's been a difficult labor of love from the beginning, and a good portion of the time I was writing blind.  But as things are coming to a close it's interesting to see how pieces are falling into place, how different segments of the story are matching up, and how the story is lending itself to a natural sequel. 

It's also quite interesting how the writing process is becoming easier and easier.  Most of my writing over the past couple years has come from writing a few sentences, or even words, after hours of staring blankly into a computer screen.  But now, it's crazy.  I got up this morning and in the process of getting ready to go to the gym I wrote almost 300 words.  Last night, right before I went to bed, I plucked out another 300 or so, without really trying.  Writing is much easier when you have a sense of purpose and a clear vision.  That's the fun part.  But nobody ever tells you about the points in between, when you are pulling out your hair trying to figure out how to develop character without being boring (I'm not saying that I've succeeded in that), or how to make a three day journey between two cities engaging (or that either). 

Writing is hard, it's work.  But you know what?  It is worth it.  Because when everything comes together, magic happens.

There's still a good portion of work to do.  I think these final scenes will expand beyond their allotted word count (25,000), and the editing process will be significant (though I think it will go much, much quicker than the actual writing process).  But here I am, staring at the writer's equivalent of the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm quivering with excitement, because I can't wait to see what happens when things in my mind finally play themselves out on the page.

There has been a lot of self doubt, but right now I'm loving this choice that I've made.


Speaking of editing: After my initial editing process to fix continuity issues and clean up some scenes, I plan on distributing a few manuscripts for some reader feedback.  If anybody is interested in doing a serious critique, send me a message through facebook or comment on this post.  I'm only going to do five or six, and I've a few people in mind already, so not everybody is going to be able to do this.  But who knows, maybe you could be a proof-reader for the next great fantasy novel!