So, this year, I decided that I would start NaNoWriMo on day one. For once. So I did. I managed to get out around 1,670 words.
Without having any idea what I was writing about. And as much as I’ve done that in the past and loved it, for some reason, this year, I was really struggling with it.
Probably because I decided to write Science Fiction. Which tends to need some thought, etc.
So in the end, I hated what I was writing so much that I decided I needed to start again. And, after thinking about it, and coming up with an actual PLOT and a PLAN and WRITING IT DOWN ON PAPER…. I did.
Now, it’s Day 7, and I have 11,065words (which is almost 5,000words written just this evening). And I’m enjoying it.
I have a plot, I know where I’m going with this. And I’m liking it.
Although, I am wondering whether 50,000words are going to be enough to fit everything in my plot in.
Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to see how I go.

Well, it’s Day One of NaNoWriMo… I thought I’d try and get my month of writing off to a good start by actually writing something on the first day this time.

So, I have.

1,670 words.

Still have no idea what my story’s about, though.

In Short: Star Trek, is awesome. And now mine. Seaquest is still awesome, all these years later (and Lucas is still hot). NaNoWriMo is on the horizon, and locked in my calendar. It looks like I’ll be focusing on Science Fiction this year. Oh, and I, Robot is also awesome.

Not In Short:

I’ve spent a lot more time than I usually do watching DVDs this week. Or rather, the last few days. Most likely because I finally bought a DVD player, so I was actually able to.

Of course, the DVD player was bought so that I could then buy (and watch) the new Star Trek film. Which I’d only been waiting for since watching in the cinemas the first time.

Of course, in shopping around for Star Trek, I also managed to find a copy of Seaquest season one. So that also got bought.

Seaquest is one of those series that I remember rather fondly – the way I do quite a few things from when I was younger. It’s also one of the few tv series I ever remember watching and having Dad actually enjoy instead of poking fun at everything they did wrong.

Naturally, I was a bit worried that my rose-tinted glasses of the past weren’t entirely acurate. So I only bought season one, instead of it and season two.

Having just watched the pilot episode again – I can say they weren’t really rose-tinted. Everything that I loved about Seaquest the first time around is still there. Including Lucas still being incredibly hot.

That and the fact that Seaquest is wonderfully unique. Science Fiction means the stars, right? Or time travel. Alternate dimensions. Artificial Intelligence. Above and beyond. Space, the final frontier (which is not to knock my other favourite).

But Seaquest went the opposite route. Down and deeper. Afterall, there’s so much we don’t know about our oceans. So many possibilities. And, of course, it was unique in that. Which makes it all the more exciting.

Which brings me finally to the fact that October is almost over. In fact, a couple of times today I almost wrote the date as the 30/11 instead of the 30/10. So why is the end of October important?

Because November follows it of course.

And November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

Which means that soon (like Sunday), I’ll be buckling down to do some serious (or not so serious, but rather lengthy) writing. I’m not quite sure how that’ll go – this being my first month acutally working full-time while attempting it. But I figure if in the past I could leave it ’til halfway through the month before churning out my wordcounts, I can still hit 50,000 while working full-time.

Also, I figure, considering the theme of my week so far, that it’s time I went back to the Science Fiction route. After all, my first NaNo was Fantasy, the second one a mix of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the third back to all Fantasy. So why not but the fourth as Science Fiction?

Which means I’m going to need an idea.

Which I don’t have.

Oh well – I have two days to come up with something. Although I’m tempted to just go the other route which is to simply start writing and see where it takes me.

On the topic of Science Fiction, let me just plug the film I, Robot, which I also saw recently. Very good. The first film I’ve seen in ages where I couldn’t guess the ending in the first five minutes. But I guess considering it was based on the work of Isaac Asimov I shouldn’t be too surprised.

“Aslan, I’m not who you think I am.”

“Peter Pevensie, formerly of Finchley.”

Now, maybe I’m stretching it a bit in places, but I really, really love this quote from the latest film version of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Because it says so many things in just two lines. So many things which I can relate to myself. And to the Christian life.

One – that God knows exactly who we are.

I’m not sure about anyone else, but there are times that I feel like Peter. It’s not that I doubt God’s love or mercy or the truth of His Word. But I wonder how it can ever apply to me. Does He know who I really am?

Aslan’s reply to Peter, however, is, I believe, very similar to what God would say to me. In that one line, Aslan lets Peter know that he knows exactly who Peter is. And where he’s come from.

Aslan isn’t mistaking Peter for someone else, nor is he under any illusions as to what Peter’s past was like.

In the same way, God knows exactly who I am, and where I’ve come from. He knows exactly what my past contains.

He knows me.

Psalm 139 gives a rather detailed picture of just how well God knows us.

Two – that our past is ‘formerly’

Peter is no longer in Finchley – in fact, he’s in the war camp of Aslan’s army (which is also awesomely applicable). Finchley, where he’s come from, is ‘formerly’, it’s ‘former’, as in, no longer.

I’m not always proud of my past, and there are many things I would change if I could. But when God accepted me into His family, He did so saying both that He knows exactly who I am, and accepts me; and also that that life is ‘former’.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not perfect, and there are still things in my life since becoming a Christian that I’m not proud of.

But the main thing to remember is that I am only Formerly of Finchley. Or, if you like, Formerly, of this world.

Because just as Peter is no longer of Finchley, neither am I any longer of this world.

Rather, I am in the war camp of God’s army. And just as Peter was on his way to become High King of Narnia, I’m on my way to heaven.

There are likely dozens of other things that I can pull from the film, and possibly even these lines or the circumstances surrounding them, but I’ll stop for now.

Just remember, if you ever wonder or doubt whether God really knows you – He does. Whoever you are, wherever you’ve come, whatever you’ve done. And He still loves you.

Me – I’m glad to be ‘formerly of Finchley’.

Known, and loved, and no longer of the world.

(and yeah, you can probably guess what I was watching tonight)

Well, I’ve done it!

51,935words, and the story (or part one anyway, there’s definitely heaps of room for a sequel!) is complete!

So, now I have these nifty little winner pictures, and a certificate… which means I need to decide on a name for my story. Why is it that after writing 50,000-odd words, it’s always coming up with a title that’s the hardest?

(oh, and is it just me, or does the cool ship look like the Dawn Treader?)

ETA: Well, I now have a title… Instinct. Sound interesting?

50,583!

Yes, that means I reached the target!

I do have to finish up my story… which means writing one more main scene, but I should have time to do that tomorrow (today really… just later on, after I’ve gone to sleep and woken up again!).

So while I’m really happy to have hit 50,000, I don’t feel quite finished yet. I always like to finish the story as well, so that it feels like a complete novel.

Of course, in this case, that also means that I’m ending it at ‘Part One’… the story ended up being far too epic for just 50,000 words to cover everything. So, like Lord of the RIngs, my story will have be multiple stories… a whole series I guess…

And Part One is almost finished!

So I just wanted to post that, because reaching that 50,000 mark is a really great feeling.

Here I am, yet again, sitting down at my computer and thinking about the number of words I have left to write.

It’s day twenty-eight. Which means that I have about two and half days left in which to hit 50,000 words.

I’ve already written almost 6,000 words today and my fingers were complaining after that so I took a bit of a break. Now I’m back again to try and churn out another 4,000 words.

Of course, being that I’ve reached the last 10,000 words, I need to try and also figure out just what I’m going to cover and how I’m going to end the story. Oh joy.

So, to summarise

Wordcount: 40,044

Words left to go: 9,956

Days left: 2.5

I realise I haven’t really been blogging that much (not that I have a track record of blogging all that much), so thought it was time to add another post.

It is day 26 of November, which makes it the 26th day of Nanowrimo.

I have 31,120words.

That means I only have 18,880words and 4 days (not including today) to go!

Ah well, I figured that last year I was writing 6,000 words a day towards the end in order to get the 50,000 in time, so I should be fine.

And I just wrote just under 6,000 today, which I’m rather proud of. My fingers are feeling it, but the words are written, so I’m happy.

For those who are interested… my word count record (which is kind of correct, but not entirely… although the more recent days should be correct it really depends on when I updated it), looks kind of like this…

Day 15: 2,220

Day 16: 2,271

Day 17: 7,250

Day 18: 10,837

Day 19: 10. 837

Day 20: 11,643

Day 21: 11,643

Day 22: 14,630

Day 23: 22,081

Day 24: 22,719

Day 25: 25,247

Day 26: 31,120 (today!)

I watched King Arthur again last night.

It’s one of those films that just make me want to write. And blog about them. A bit gory for my tastes, but it still leaves me full of ideas and inspiration, etc.

And so I was thinking (as I often do after watching films like that). I was thinking about how we have these ideas that heroes aren’t as popular in today’s world. Because people are over that. They realise they’re selfish beings, and they don’t expect anyone else to be good enough to be a hero.

But then I watch a film like King Arthur. And sure, he’s just a guy, but he’s also a hero – in the classical sense of the word. You know, good and just and selfless, etc.

As Guinevere says to Arthur at one stage, talking about what she has heard about him, “Fairy tales. The kind you hear about people so brave, so selfless, that they can’t be real.”

And despite the fact that there seems to be an idea that we’re over heroes. That people don’t want heroes anymore because they see them as unattainable, these great people that we can’t even imagine being – people are still making movies like King Arthur.

And that encourages me. Because it means that there are still people out there who want heroes. Who desire to be heroes.

Because isn’t that what we do?

We watch these films and we imagine what it would be like. To be brave and selfless like that. Because as much as we are selfish, we also desire to be selfless. To be heroes. To lead men into battle not because they fear us, but because they respect us. To commit great deeds which had a purpose, which have meaning, to leave something behind in this life so that isn’t worthless.

To have made a difference.

Isn’t that what we want?

I know that it’s what I want. But sometimes I forget. Because it’s easier to be selfish. To think about myself. But when I sit down and I think, okay, what do I really want out of life?

The answer is that I want to make a difference. To have purpose and meaning and be a hero. Not because heroes are praised but because they’re the kind of people that you want to emulate. That make you believe that great things can happen.

That life isn’t fair or just or easy, but that heroes can still make a difference.

And that difference is in the choices they make.

I don’t want to be remembered for being a selfish person. Or reaching the top of the corporate ladder. Or having a lot of money.

I want to be remembered for being a hero. For making a difference in people’s lives. (And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being successful or earning a lot of money, but that’s not what I want to be remembered for).

I want to be remembered for kind words and kind acts. For being brave and selfless. For the choices I make which make a difference – a good difference, to other people’s lives.

I want to be a hero.

And you know, I may not be fighting invading Saxons. But watching films like that often reminds me that I am fighting a battle. That I’m in the middle of a war. A Spiritual War. And I may not be Arthur, or be following Arthur into battle.

But I do have a Commander, a Captain, a Leader, Who is brave and selfless. Who is a true hero, Who I follow.

And His name is Jesus.

And He didn’t drive out the Romans the way the Jews expected the Messiah to – an earthly victory, but He conquered sin and death – a victory greater than any earthly battle. And He asks me to follow Him. To fight for Him.

I love the end of King Arthur. When the Knights finally have their deeds. Their freedom. And they’re free to go. And Tristan lets the hawk go, telling it it’s free, and it flies straight for the battle.

And they go join Arthur.

Because they’re free. And they don’t have to fight. They’re free to leave, to go, to do whatever. But they choose to return and help Arthur fight. It is their free choice.

And the Bible tells has that it is for freedom that we have been saved (Gal. 5:1). The freedom to live the way God wants us to (Gal. 5:13, 1 Peter 2: 16 (TLB)).

And it’s not always easy, and sometimes it’s easy to forget that there is a Spiritual Battle being waged around us all the time, and that we’re soldiers, knights. That we need to fight.

But you know, Jesus, He’s a real hero. So brave and selfless that it seems almost impossible that He exists. But He does.

And who wouldn’t want the Leader they’re following to be like that?

I know I do.

So i guess I’ve just been reminded, once again, that there is a Spiritual Battle going on. That I am a warrior. That I have purpose and meaning and worth to my life – if I follow my Captain, my Commander, into this battle.

And that I really do want to be a hero.

To be remembered.

Arthur may have been King, but we remember the others, too, don’t we? Tristan and Galahad and Lancelot and Gawain and so on. Because they followed Arthur. They were his knights.

Well, I want to be remembered for following my hero. For following Jesus.

Wherever He leads me, I will go.

Even into the midst of battle.

Because I want to be selfless, like Him.

2,220 words.