Of Novels, Sleepless Authors, and Disgustingly Nice People

I've had plenty of ideas for blog posts and I've wanted to update my blog for a while, but nothing ever seemed good enough. xD But that's just what happens when you realize that you're not just writing to yourself. Other people actually read this random thing of yours called a blog... O_O

So... I've finally decided to just write one. This has no real point to it, other than the fact I'm going to try and talk about writing. Although I might go off on a few rabbit trails. You never know.

Anyway. National Novel Writing Month is literally the day after tomorrow. I mean, who cares about Halloween when you have November 1st to look forward to?! ;)

The funny thing is... I've thought about writing a different novel than the one I had planned. I thought of writing a fanfiction novel (which isn't really accomplishing anything on my part) and I thought about writing a novel about dragons, based on a dream I had once.

I guess I've felt altogether unprepared for NaNo this year. But it took something kind of big to make me return to my original idea for a novel. I won't say what it was, but I can say that I know I need to write that novel. For other people, for myself, for God. So, I'm going to write it.

Even after making that decision, distractions are still popping up at the wrong times. I just want to focus on NaNo, but a lot is going on right now. And some distractions I could avoid.

But the lack of sleep in this house is ridiculous and I'm not sure how to avoid that - other than praying. Everyone has been kind of exhausted lately, because none of us were really sleeping well for a few nights. It's mainly the cat keeping us up. Like last night when I was trying to be nice and let him sleep in my room.

He kept me up all night long.

He likes to sleep during the day and hunt at night, but the storms have been scaring him a bit. When I was just about to fall asleep at one o'clock in the morning, he decides it's the perfect time to want to go outside. So, he meows. And keeps me awake. Until five-thirty this morning.

I ran into the same door twice and spilled cold water on my feet just in an attempt to get him outside.

Needless to say, if this blog post doesn't make sense, there's a reason.

But that's just me complaining. Although it was a nice example of annoying/distracting things. I guess the no-sleep thing might be me preparing for NaNo without realizing it. NaNoWriMo is a time for no sleep, right?

Anyway, it's not just that that's distracting me. It's a lot of stuff. Church, school, family, real life. Those are far more important than writing 50,000 words in a month. Even fanfiction is distracting me. xD I had the sudden urge to update all of my unfinished fanfictions last night, but I had to tell myself, "NO. Not two days before NaNo."

Not to mention reading fanfictions. Why is that when I'm about to write a full-length novel I have the urge to read a ton of Legend of Zelda fanfictions? And THEY'RE DISTRACTING. And addicting. >.>

But I shan't (love that word) complain anymore. Like I said, I know I need to write that novel - and I will, no matter what might be going on.

You see, it's not that my novel is so spectacular that the world needs to read it. I don't think that anyone should read it, if they don't want to. But I know someone who really needs to read it, someone who needs to know he/she isn't alone. And that's the point of my book. I suddenly want to write it, and that hasn't happened ever since I first started outlining several months ago.

Now, I've been sitting here for three or four - maybe even five - minutes trying to think of something to say after that. There's honestly nothing to add to that subject right now. This blog post is really jumping all over the place. I knew that would happen.

But at least I'm posting! :D

Uh, anyway, as for the Zelda fanfictions... yes. They are very intriguing. I read twenty-five chapters of one yesterday since I apparently had too much spare time on my hands. Everything about the Legend of Zelda has always been interesting to me. I got Skyward Sword for my birthday and I love it so far.

The first Zelda game I ever played was Ocarina of Time and I played that when I was really little. My brother had given it to my sisters and I for our Nintendo 64 (we're cool like that). But I was just starting the Great Deku Tree when those huge spider things scared the mess out of me. o_O I was little, and scared of spiders, so I dropped the controller and ran screaming to my parents. It was terrifying.

I tried to play it more over the years, but those redead things scared me more than anything. xD Still do, sometimes. But I finished the game when I was twelve, I think. After all those years.

Even though Link was the main character - and definitely awesome - I still never found him to be my favorite character. Princess Zelda wasn't even my favorite character. Out of everyone in that game, I liked Grog the best. xD

Spoilers for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (if you read these, the rest will make more sense)...

If you don't remember, or have no idea what the heck I'm talking about, I'll explain... Grog is the dude who sits under the tree in Kakariko Village when Link is a little kid. He says something along the lines of, "People are disgusting. My own father and mother are disgusting. You must be disgusting too."

And then, when Link is an adult, he finds that same dude in the Lost Woods, asleep. After Link wakes the guy up and shows him the blue cucco (chicken, I guess?), the guy is actually happy. He says that only nice people can cause the cucco to crow and that Link must be a nice guy. So, he orders Link to go get some potion from the old woman and if Link gets back in time, it will save Grog.

Link gets the potion and returns, but Grog is gone and replaced by a somewhat creepy little girl claiming that Grog had turned into a Stalfos (a skeleton monster sort of thing). Apparently anyone who stays in the forest for too long will turn into one and Grog did.

Honestly, I have no idea why Grog didn't just leave instead of asking Link to go get the potion. He could've easily saved his own life, but instead he turned into a monster.

End of spoilers.

You can think me weird, if you'd like, but that dude still is my favorite LoZ character.

His fate was unfortunate. And I was really mad at the games for a while because of it, but he's in Majora's Mask, so I wasn't too frustrated with them.

It's hard to explain why I like that character. I mean... he thought the whole world was disgusting. And he was my favorite. And I'm all about optimism. So... it makes no sense, right?

I guess I liked him because of his personality. I know. You're thinking, "What personality?"

But it's like... all along he wanted people to know that he was a nice guy. And it took one guy, just one single person, to notice that and almost save his life. And when Link realized he was a nice guy, he found that someone else in the world wasn't so disgusting anymore. Someone was actually nice.

And... well, that really speaks to me. There are so many people in the world who feel that they're alone, that no one understands. They feel like Grog. They hate the world, because they view it as simply "disgusting."

They can't find beauty in anything, because their lives are so beastly. They want others to know that they're not disgusting. They want people to see that they're actually nice, but they feel like no one is looking, like no one cares. So they keep hating the world. They believe that maybe they too are disgusting.

But then someone comes along. A nice stranger, a family member, a friend, anyone. And they show that person that life isn't so disgusting. They show them that there are nice people in the world. They show them that there is something to live for. And everything turns out all right.

(Obviously, not for Grog, but his situation was very different from normal, real life ones. XD)

So, I guess the point of all that was... Life does seem disgusting sometimes. Grog was right. But some people are not disgusting. There are people out there who care and there are people who are nice, whether you can see that right now or not. God is nice. He's more than nice - He loves you. And He's always there with you as well.

He doesn't make disgusting things. He makes beautiful things with life and light and love. He wants you to open your eyes and know that you are nice, that you're not disgusting. Because He loves you. <3

So... yes. The mysterious cucco dude is my favorite. But now you know the reason. It's both good and bad that it might have taken a video game character - one named Grog, at that - for you to realize the point of this blog post. Or maybe even for you to realize something very important about life.

Anyway, yeah. This post turned out better than I thought it would. A seemingly pointless blog post has turned into something I'm quite proud of.

God's just awesome like that. ;)

<3

If We're All Outcasts...

Once upon a time...

There lived a girl who never updated her blog. Unfortunately, she even forgot about that blog for a long time, because she was experiencing something called:

Real Life.

So, as you can imagine, she was incredibly surprised when she suddenly decided to write a blog post on one, lovely evening in August.

She doesn't know what to write about, but she'll do her best.

I'm sure everyone has had those feelings where you want to write, but you don't know what to write about. It's kind of annoying, but it still feels good to know that I want to write.

There's so many things I could write about. And if I wrote to you everything that I think about in a week, you'd probably be even more confused than I am.

And anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear a long, random stream of thoughts.

Yeah.

So... NaNoWriMo is coming up. Again. This will be my third year doing it. I love it, though. It makes writing even more of an adventure. 50,000 words in one month is a lot. Plus, there's school, family, music, church, friends, etc. But it's all good. I'm sure there's a way to equally balance all of those things while writing a novel. Many, many brave people have done it before.

And besides, NaNo makes November more exciting. I look forward to it every year and it helps improve my writing.

Last year, I wrote a novel about a popular girl and an outcast boy who had to do a science project together. It was mainly about how not everyone is how they seem to be - and you can't judge a book by its cover.

Yesterday, I watched a movie with my sisters that was very similar to my book. It was almost creepy. Of course, their storyline and purpose were a bit different. But it was the same in a lot of ways, too - popular girl, outcast dude, science project. They even had the same hair color which was shocking.

Other than that, my book and their movie were different.

Still, it's interesting when stuff like that happens.

I'll probably be writing something this year that has the same message. God's shown me a lot of  stuff since last November. I've been finding out that a lot of people feel alone.

A while back, when I felt really alone, I felt like I was the only one who felt that way, like no one else understood.

But at a friend's birthday party, I found that this cool, confident dude who had it all together was going through the exact same thing I was going through. He just wanted to be accepted and to stop being ignored.

He didn't even have to tell me that, because I saw it all over his face.

And then I started noticing more and more people who felt the exact same way.

You're never alone.

I once watched a movie called Logan. In that movie, one of the characters said:

"There's always someone going through the exact same thing you're going through."

I was thinking about that last night. Sometimes we feel like no one understands and no one cares. But there's always someone out there who understands - and there's always someone who cares.

Still, I find it ridiculous that we all find ourselves as outcasts sometimes. Like we're not cool enough or important enough.

But the truth is, we are.

If someone tells you different, then it just means that they're feeling insecure themselves.

We've all felt like outcasts before - each and every one of us.

So, if we're all outcasts, then there is no "in crowd."

Why do we all try so hard to fit in and be cool? Why do we want to be normal?

What is normal, anyway?

I think it's boring. If we were all the same, then this world would be quite confusing. And that, too, would be boring.

I'm not going to segregate someone or myself just because they're different or I'm different. God made all of us. And He said (Galations 3:28):

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

So, this week, while you're doing whatever it is you do, just remember that verse. And when you see someone who is different then you, think before you judge them. They may be going through exactly what you're going through. And they may be one of the truest friends you'll have, if you get to know them.

"God dances with the outcast."

-Steven James.

Be kind to someone this week. They might need it. ;)

Adventures Are Everywhere

Look behind you.

Adventure could be right there, just waiting for you to turn around.
Now, if you can see those perfectly clear, bold words at the top of this post, then you can DEFINITELY do what they say.
I'm not saying that you should go throw something through a wall, if that's what is behind you. But I am saying that boring everyday routines are sometimes something you need to change.

I recently read a book - a really good one. It was called Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! by James Patterson.

Don't you dare judge me. ;) You know you want to read it too. Besides, James Patterson can write for all ages. And... well, if you'd read the first book right after you left middle school, you'd want to at least finish the series, no matter how old you were.

Anyway, that is so not the point of this blog post. But just a warning starting here: This has spoilers about that book (although there are not too many of them). So, you might want to skip over some of this. Or, of course, you can just keep reading - you'll probably understand this post more if you do.

In the book, the main character, Rafe, had the idea to start a genius plan called, "Operation: Get a Life."

Basically, in the plan, he had to do a large number of things he'd never done before. As long as it was something he'd never done, he could add it to his list. He did quite a bit of cool, hilarious things. I found the whole thing really awesome. 

End of spoilers. 

Ever since I read that book, though, I've been pondering the idea of Operation: Get a Life. Sometimes things, in our lives, get far too average. Routines get old. Then, we get to feeling like we need something more.

But at the same time, we don't know what that "something more" is, so we don't even try to find it.

But I think we should do what Rafe did and try new things. I actually thought about making a list for myself and doing something new as well. Nothing crazy, of course, but just something new and fun. :)

You can always look for adventure, but even so, it still manages to find you when you're least expecting it. And sometimes, when you think your so-called "adventure" will turn out terrible, it turns out great instead.

So, keep that in mind next time you have to try something new.

If a new experience suddenly pops out at you with no warning, don't freak out. It happens to all of us. Just be sure to keep calm and embrace the adventure. ^_^

Actually allowing the adventure to happen is way easier than trying to get rid of it. Trust me, I know.

So, never think of new experiences as unfortunate turns in your simple, boring routines. Think of them as adventures - new exciting places in your life to explore. Because if they're meant to happen, they will, regardless of what your mind says. ;)

I hope you enjoy your adventures! ^_^

Fire and Focus

Yes, fire.

It's bright, beautiful, and even mysterious. It truly is amazing.

I find it really cool that fire naturally draws attention. Last fall, when we had a fire going, I noticed that I stared at it a lot - even when someone was talking. It was often hard to look away from it. And when I finally did, I noticed that other people were the same way.

It has an awesome way of drawing people to look at it. I know it scares some people, but its warmth is always nice, and so is its light that shines for everyone.

Now, let's not talk about a natural fire. Let's talk about a spiritual one.

I'm sure you've heard the things people say at church, or sometimes in general, about "the fire of the Holy Ghost" and stuff like that. Maybe you haven't heard that. I don't know if you have or haven't.

Regardless, if you've read the Bible, you may have seen a few verses that talk about the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost being one. So, since They're one, that means that not only is the Holy Spirit fire, but so is Jesus and God.

All three are one.

Okay. Got it so far?

Good. :)

Well, you can call this an analogy if you'd like, but it's more than just that. It's real.

They are fire. Not only are They like fire, but They are fire.

So, what did I say fire was? A few of the adjectives I used was: Bright, beautiful, mysterious, warming, amazing.

Those are what God is.

And, as I said before, some people are afraid of fire. Yes, some people are scared of God. To fear is not only to be afraid, but also to feel reverence. I think that some people are scared of God.

I fear Him, in the reverence sense.

What do we have so far, then? God is bright, beautiful, mysterious, warming, amazing, and feared. What's next?

He draws attention. He catches people's eyes and then brings their full focus on Him. That's my favorite part about fire - my favorite part about God.

I think people should focus on Him more. Life is a lot better once we do. He is the one who directs our lives, He's the only one who entirely knows what's best for us.

So, no, when I see fire I don't think of The Hunger Games. I think of Jesus Christ, the most amazing person I have ever known and ever will know. <3

Next time you see a fire, think of the Lord. Come up with some adjectives of your own. Ponder this subject with me.

I love fire and Jesus is my best friend. :) <3

Hebrews 12:28-29:

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." "

New Blog, New Post

Hi. :)

This blog is new - as in, created today. I had a blog before, but decided to make a new one. Hopefully, this time around, I'll post more frequently.

I should get used to blogging if I'm going to keep a blog when I go to camp this year.

Anyway, I'll probably post about a lot of stuff here. Stuff like writing, life, the amazing Purple Elephants,  dreaming, and just about any other random thing you can imagine.

Hopefully my posts will be exciting. :P

So, if you're reading this, thank you! Stop by sometime in the near future and I'll probably have a blog post or two. ;)

-Jill.