NaNoWriMo

November is almost here! And you know what that means? NaNoWriMo is back!!!

For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo is the abbreviation for "National Novel Writing Month." This month is dedicated to all the writers out there who have brilliant story ideas that never have the time to put them down on paper (or today, I guess that would be in black and white binary code.)

The goal is to write a 50,000 word story (novel) in the 30 days of November -- that averages to 1,667 words a day (but we'll just say 1700). I like to plan things out before I do them, so I'm already working on an outline and main characters for my story, but there are really are no rules on what can and can't be done.

Prize? The satisfaction of a job well done ;) This is just a fun way to motivate people to start writing! Leave your fear and preconceived notions at the door! And get past that procrastination! This is a month to make those writing fantasies come true. This is story-land -- anything that you can (and maybe even some things you can't) imagine are possible.

HERE is a link to the NaNoWriMo website if you want to join and make it official. But if you're more like me, who likes to stay under the radar, just buckle down and get started! No official registration required!

Tips that may help writers:

Tea. For some of you that might be coffee or ice water, but for some reason, tea helps me think more quickly and work faster.

Make a outline. This does not have to be a point 3 subsection c type of outline. Just a general overview of how you want the characters introduced, how they interact with each other, what you want the purpose of the story to be. I like to include the character's background stories in the outline, but I don't think you'll need more than 10 pages (although I do know writers who make 30 page outlines). Just a general overview so that you as the writer can keep things straight in your head.

Make character profiles. Unless you are a writer, few people understand the difficulty in creating a character. The writer must know and understand a character inside and out in order to be able to correctly determine the actions of the character. Family, background and appearance are important factors that are easily forgotten in the mass of letters used in telling a story. HERE is a link to the a post of THE BEST character profile I have come across, and HERE and HERE are two online character templates that are not as good, but shorter.

Write straight through THEN go back and rewrite and edit. This was always a sticker for me. The trick to getting the story done is to run headlong and don't stop until you reach "The End." Constantly going back, rereading and revising causes the writer to become stuck and bored with the story. So bored that they don't care to finish. I have a little sticky note stuck to my computer that says "Let the words flow" to remind me to simply write and to not worry about polish until it's over. Sometimes it helps if I close my eyes and type so that I don't get distracted by little errors in either the story OR my typing.

If you have any good tips, post them in the comments below -- I'd love to hear them!

Danté -- The Divine Comedy

I was reading Danté's Divine comedy for school, and I noticed something interesting...

What many people today probably don't know, it that most people's idea of hell comes from The Divine Comedy rather than the Bible. Kinda sad since there is so much clear doctinal error in Danté, but people will beleive what is popularly told, not necessarily what is true.

The section (or canto III as it is called in the book) goes over the region in hell where the people who didn't make a descision go. As in they neither chose God's team nor the Devil's team.

"They are mixed with that repulsive chior of angels
     neither faithful nor unfaithful to their God,
     who undecided stood but for themselves.
Heaven, to keep it's beauty cast them out,
     but even Hell itself should not receive them,
     to fear the damned might glory over them." (37-42)

Danté seems to believe that it is possible to be a neutral force in the universe -- neither for God nor against Him. Neither entirely good nor entirely evil. Danté must have either forgotten or simply ignored Matthew 12:30:

"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters."

There is no middle ground with God. If one is not fully and wholeheartedly for the cause of Jesus Christ he is automatically set against Him. There is no limbotic, neutral middle ground. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way, as much as we'd like to believe so.


I'm sorry, Danté, but there are somethings that you believe (or at the very least, you wrote about) that don't line up with scripture. Your name is either in the book of life, or it is not. There is no arbitrary list that says, "These people never made up their mind." Not making a decision is a decision in and of itself, a decision of rejection. Rejection of Jesus Christ's provision.

Me Time: Final Registration

(This was a post I did forever ago, but never got around to publishing.)

So school has just barely started for me and I'm already filling out scholarship applications for the spring semester. I've got a stack of books at my elbow and a camera (instead of a photocopy machine). I started thinking about how much God has blessed me personally.

It was final registration today (which is what got me to start looking at scholarships) and I had a blast just spending the day with my buddies from last semester. This reminded me of how Jesus Christ has given me more than I could ever ask for through my family and friends.

I've mentioned before how my family used to moved -- no less than -- every two years. Building strong friendships was hard when we knew we were just going to leave again. Sometimes we didn't want to make friends because the people around us were, shall we say, less than Godly. Don't get me wrong, I loved all the traveling. New places! New faces! God allowed me to see more of our country than most people in a life-time. However, the familiarity of old friends and "going to see grandma" was something I'd never experienced.

Another aspect of my family was that a lot of my extended family doesn't like my immediate family (specifically my Mom and Dad.) They believe that their traditions overrule both the Bible and God's personal direction. So, when it came to interacting with family, everything was muddled and awkward.

Yet, God was faithful.

Wherever we went, God provided peace for us, whether in the solace of our four-person family or in encouragement from the Body of Christ. God always provided for us when we needed him most.

Now, after the new stage of actually living in one place for almost seven years, God is showing me what it's like to be surrounded by friends. People whom you've gotten to know over time and care about. My best friend just left for school. I know I won't be able to see her for a long time, but I know that our bond is so strong, that if I need to call her at 2 o'clock in the morning to cry, she will answer and cry with me.

I had one of the greatest days of my life today, getting to see my friends from last semester. Catching up on our activities, family news and over all well-being... It amazed me how many people I knew and enjoyed.

God abandons no one. We abandon ourselves. God will provide for us, all we need to do is use what He gives -- physically and emotionally.

When days and nights meet

And sun and moon compete

There world's alive with nothing but sound

And sound brings nothing but life

My mind spins 'round

And thoughts end their strife.

Memories fly by

Faster than wind

Quickly I find 

I never mind

That there's more to each moment

Than meets the eye.

They become more and more potent

As time goes by.

And there's nothing I can't see

When God's eyes are in me.

The End

Oh, let's see... where to start. There has been so very much that it becomes difficult to think one can simply pick up where one has left off. Yet it seems less so an impossible task than at first. Everything begins, but I believe that not everything must end.

The adage "all good things must come to an end" does not make sense to my mind. Why must all good things come to an end. There is no such phrase which states that "all bad things must come to an end." Why is this so? These ideas that good must end, yet evil is permitted to continue leave a great void in the hearts of those who know this cannot be true.

Let us look. We know that there are several good things that will never come to an end... Jesus the Christ, God's love for humanity, the certainty we as Christians have that there will be a place for us in Heaven -- a place which also will have no end. As for evil, Satan's dominion over the earth will end, the misery on earth will end, and sin will be taken away from us who love the LORD.

This leads me to believe that the phrase, "all god things must come to an end," must have come from a very sad, lost soul. One who looked at the magnificence of the world -- the sky above and the heart within -- and saw nothing. They felt the hopeless emptiness gnawing away at their soul begging for redemption, but refusing to accept the provision that Christ offered. The fleetingness of everything in the world was seen and felt and the lamentation of, "all good things must come to and end," was the only explanation that could be mustered.

Therefore, through the empty eyes of one lost in the darkness, yes, it seems that anything good upon this earth must indeed come to an end. But, for the kindled heart that has been lit by that everlasting fire that is the Holy Spirit -- take joy! For there are things more marvelous that can ever be imagined that will never... NEVER come to an end.