NaNo WriMo

Anyone else ever heard about NaNo-WriMo? It is a website designed for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write 50,000 words in one month - the month of November. My older sister convinced me that it would be a really fun thing if we did it at the same time, so I signed up for it, wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

It is now the 23 of November, and as yet, my word count reads barely 10,000, a whole 5th of the desired goal. As far as the novel itself goes - well, maybe it would be best to not mention too much about it.

First of all, I started with almost no plot. As I started writing, the plot began to grow in my mind, and I was very satisfied with the direction the story was taking. But then, my characters rebelled against this very basic plot, and all began to fall apart. As I mentioned above, I am a 5th of the way through the novel, and so far, no exciting actions have taken place, the flow is extremely choppy, and, worse, I am no where near touching upon the plot I had in my head.

So why am I wasting valuable time I could be using to write my novel by writing this dismal blog post?

Simply because, despite all the negatives I have encountered, I wouldn't miss the experience I've had, and I think I might be easily persuaded to do it again. My reasoning? Well, just wait until you have tried it yourself....

Excerpt from story:

"Sometimes one can't say all that he thinks," Jeremiah said. Roger turned just at that moment, abandoning a conversation he had jumped into.
"Can't say all that he thinks?" he said thoughtfully. "That's what Ruby, she's my wife, you know, is always telling me! She says, 'Roger,' she says, she always does call me Roger, 'Roger,' she says, 'sometimes it's better not to say what you think.' And I always say, 'but If I'm not to say what me thinks, than I'll be telling a lie!' and Ruby, she's my wife you know, she always says to me, she says, 'Roger, you don't have to say a word!'"
"Your wife is a very wise woman," Jeremiah said.

(c) copyright - November 2009 - Curious Cognitive Content.

(hint: Roger likes to talk.)

"The Dumbest Generation"

The book sat in the pile of other library books my dad had borrowed. Its title was composed of the encouraging words: "THE DUMBEST GENERATION (by Mark Bauerlein)." Intrigued, I lifted the book and opened its cover. Inside, I was greeted by a host of statistic; "this many 12 graders failed this test," "this many college students couldn't name the three branches of government," you get the picture.
So what was the point of this book? It was to encourage more people under 30 to read and be involved in more activities other than TV and video games. A worthy cause to write a book on. But there seems to be a disconnect in the head of the author. Why would some one encourage reading due to the lack thereof, in a book form?
Either the poor guy is part of that dumb generation and doesn't realize it, or he wrote it for the concerned parents of nonreaders? Let's hope its the latter.

Prince Caspian - book v. movie

Prince Caspian, for those of you who don't know is the second book in the series The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Walden Media and Walt Disney are currently working together to recreate Narnia in a movie series based on the books.
So, I went to see Prince Caspian yesterday, and was one of the privileged few to see it on it's opening day. I was told that I had to write a blog post comparing the movie to the book. This, you must understand, is a much harder task than I expected, because the two are so different that the only thing they have in common is that they both have a prince named "Caspian." (Okay, a slight exaggeration......) But I am wondering how to start this. :)
The basic plots of the two are comparatively different; I think the movie has been "electrified," meaning that such additions as a night raid on King Miraz's castle and having Caspian actually be chased by soldiers during his escape for King Miraz appear.
The attitudes of Peter and Caspian are different from the book, as well. Peter is thinking of himself as high king once more, and a constant strife is between him and Caspian from their very meeting. It is soon cleared up, however, in a nice fashion, and you come away feeling satisfied. Edmund is as good a fighter as he is in the books and keeps his character very well. Lucy does about the same. Caspian has a sort of revenge for his uncle, which he has in the book, but here it is more prominent. He is struggling with trying to be better than his uncle was as a king, and finding it difficult.
The seemingly unimportance of Aslan continues, and this is rather disappointing. For example, instead of coming earlier like in the book, he has to be "wooed" to come, or so it would seem. You certainly don't get the idea of him being an untamed lion. The part where he throws Trumpkin up into he air is missing. However, he still heals Reepicheep's tail, and that is something that only Aslan could do.
Queen Pruniprissmea is missing her red hair, and is too pretty for her part. King Miraz is more crafty than bad-tempered, as he is in the book.
Edmund's electric torch is still present, and has a very important (and humorous) role in the movie. The torch still claims the last bit of attention in the movie.
"I left my new torch in Narnia!"

This movie, for all of its changes, was better than the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and is fun to watch. They managed to weave humor throughout the whole movie, taking away the fear and desperate feelings a child might have after watching a violent battle scene, and offering older people an almost comedy. I highly recommend it for families with, or without children.