November 28, 2007
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Deer, Deer Wednesday
It’s Wednesday again? I’m having a hard time getting into the swing of school since we had a week off. But, the schedule has been forgiving enough. Or, maybe I’ve just not been concerned enough!
It’s hunting season here in PA, and on Monday, our intrepid hunter, Hunter, went out. He sat in his tree stand for 20 minutes and bagged a doe. About seven minutes after the doe, he got a nice seven point buck. Quite a feat to have both deer tags filled by 7:30 a.m. We have a bulging freezer. (No, I do not process deer at home. The nice folks at Gummo’s Butcher Shop take care of all of that for me.)
How’s the NaNo-ing coming, you ask? With three days left, I’m at 46,470 words. Barring stomach flu, broken fingers, or the Rapture, I should have the required 50,000 words by midnight, November 30th. (In the case of the Rapture, I’d pass on making the NaNo goal.)
In general, the story stinks. It meanders aimlessly through various clichéswith occasional episodes of coruscating wit. But those bright spots of brilliance are as rare as…um, rare things. On the good side, though, I’ve learned so much. “It is an excellent idea to start with a plot and a sense of how to end the book” is one gem of wisdom.
A funny thing which I’ve heard writers mention and thought them daft actually happened to me. I’ve heard them say, “I didn’t expect my character to do such and such” or “I never know what my characters will do.” Excuse me? Whose fingers are on the keyboard after all? But, the reality is that the same thing has happened to me. “Aw, man! Why did he have to say that? How am I going to get him out of this situation now?” Yup. I’ve said it myself.
I’ve been reading through Isaiah of late–beautiful, powerful words. A poem I read keeps popping up in my thoughts in the midst of my reading. So, here it is. (Forgive me another poem!)
The Minor Prophets
By Michael Lind
None of the minor
prophets
knew that he was minor, of course. Habakkuk, I
imagine,
thought that his visions earned him
standing as Ezekiel’s
peer, if not indeed Elijah’s.
Then there was Obadiah,
who could be
forgiven if he thought he might be a Moses.
How they would be
remembered
Providence concealed from them all, though they could see the
future.
Maybe it doesn’t matter.
If you’re on a mission from God,
sent to rebuke a city
or to redeem a nation,
where by cannon-makers
you’re ranked may be inconsequential.
Nor is the voice within you
any
less authentic for not having a distant echo.
Seers of the world, be
heartened.
Even minor prophets can have genuine revelations.
Comments (24)
I love that poem and I love Isaiah (esp 41:10). But I have to hurry and push submit and I might be your first for today!
Wow….2 before 7:30 am! Positively, Providential!
Here are some eProps for my loving mummy!
Do you still get the first day of deer hunting season off in PA? When I lived there, it was a state holiday. I always thought that was weird. But I loved not having tax on clothes.
wow two deer! We have some deer by the country club where we live. But you can’t shoot those. Hee-hee.
And I bet your story isn’t as stinky as you think. We are often our harshest critics.
Wow the deer hunt was definitely a sucess…my hubby went out opening day here in NY and didn’t see a thing…and has only seen the waving tails the few other times he has gone out. – I have a great recipe for venison kabobs – if you are interested – it is pretty heavy on the garlic.
Thanks! Your noveling advice made me chuckle. I’d love to see some of your book
.
All I can say is, “Wow, what a vocabulary! Coruscating!!” I am humbled to say that I don’t recall ever seeing that word in my past…..
Isaiah 61:1-3 are three of the verses that really really speak to my heart. that was Jesus’ calling that he read from in the temple. i feel His heart stir deeply within my own when i read them…
i liked your poem. lol. i bet we all feel like a “minor” prophet sometimes! grace to you, Mary
PA has the most Car-deer accidents in the country.
good luck on your novel.
just come along from MrsCatherine….I love your writing / blog….to have a ‘taste’ of someone elses life, a glimpse into what they are doing it wonderful….Now. Little Women – my favourite book when I was about age 11…I read, and re-read it…
What a cleaver title, it took me a minute to get it (sad, I know). Congrats on Hunter’s deer! Do you actually eat the meat? I can’t eat anything I know was once alive, by that I mean anything I’ve seen alive once (cows from my grandfathers ranching farm), gaming meat, and of course anything that has their head still on it! I have a weak stomach when it comes to meat.
Thank you so much! To be entirely clean: I’m a real-live self-published author, or a real-live publisher who publishes her own work
. But I will say with all honesty that our production standards are really high and the book itself is publish-worthy.
Thank you so much
.
I have the book…but, haven’t read it yet! Thanks for the reminder!
My son is SOOOOO jealous of Hunter. He says that’s not even right!! LOL
I have always been mystified by authors saying that about their characters, too, so I am amused that you verify it!
That is a cool poem-good point!
ryc: I’ve updated today’s tip to include some additional advice about getting published. Thanks for asking.
Jeff
I hope your NaNo is going well. This was my fourth year completing one, and the easiest one yet. Using my husband’s laptop made all the difference in the world – as well as using a story line I’ve been thinking about for three years!
Wow, congrats, Hunter! Love the book of Isaiah – I am always encouraged in that book – always!
RYC: Thanks!!
Hunter has an appropriate name, eh?
Congrats on almost being finished with your 50K word contest. So how many pages is that? Maybe I’ll take part next year. We’ll see.
My DH is positively green with envy! All he saw this year were two does, and too much underbrush to get them. Someday we will get him a tree stand. The huge buck he saw last year walked across the road at night in front of my friend–I suspect he has made it through another year.
Is this really the book we were having a contest about? ): Maybe we can re-contest on your next book….I’ll probably still be working on the same project.
This is a little odd, I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I always enjoy reading your comments on Aimee’s blogs so I thought that I would say hey! My name is Tara, I am a good friend of the Bontreger’s, they go to my church and I have known them forever. I think it is always fun to get to know my friends friends, so if you don’t mind, can I subscribe to you? Ha! This is funny I haven’t ever done anything like this before! Let me know.
Nice post. Congrats on the deer! That is really awesome!
P.S.
I am doing Nano as well, I am around 46,000 some words too! Aimee introduced it to me!
Two deer in one day! I am impressed!
That stuff about the characters doing things you didn’t expect has happened to me too. Especially when I am writing a play, I get the sense sometimes that I am just taking dictation.