Two More Days…

Wow, I can scarcely believe it’s almost November. The sixth week of classes ended today, leaving only five more in the quarter. This whole year has flown by so fast… But I’ll leave musings along that line for December.

My Nano novel outline is progressing only a tad bit faster than a snail. Fortunately minus the slimy trail. I’m bent on making this novel a bit more complicated so I won’t run out of steam at 30K like last time. I’m pretty sure that won’t happen, though, but whether or not your story will keep going is something you don’t know until you’re at least 2 weeks in…

On a side note (have you noticed my posts are getting more and more devoid of spiritual revelations and mainly just concern daily life now? This must be the pit daily bloggers fall into. They start out with something brilliant to say and continue along that line for about a year, than gradually decline into uninteresting things to share about their everyday lives that they somehow feel they have to share with the world). Again, on a side note I’m working at Subway this weekend. I was rather bummed because there goes another weekend, flying out the window like your pet canary, but on the upside it’s Halloween and I get to give candy to the little kids and dress up. =D Plus a chance to see one of my writer friends who is also doing Nanowrimo!!!

I thank God so much for the summer I had. I didn’t do a lot of exciting things, but I got to spend a lot of time with my friends. Namely the friends I don’t get to see now that college and work has taken over my life. Looking back I treasure those moments we spend together so much! I thank God SOOOO much for the friends He’s given me, I truly have been blessed til my cup has run over!

Are you doing Nanowrimo? Have you been blessed? Please share. =)

Yo estoy… finito!

I can’t believe it’s over… *typing forlornly while surrounded by empty kleenex boxes*. Now what do I do? More specifically – what do I do with this story! =) It’s not in a form I would want to give anyone, yet I’m not sure how to reshape it a bit into what I want it to say. Right now it looks pretty good to me! Maybe I’ll just wait until my interior critic kicks in – but there’s always the danger of deleting everything I wrote in the outrage of how awful it is. =)

But right now I am excited about my next book! My imagination was temporarily set on hold as I focused on word counts, and now that it’s set free to dream I am looking forward to seeing what it comes up with. =)

God has really been confirming that although I do not feel especially called to be a full-time writer, writing is one of the talents and passions He has given me. While talking to my mom and dad I thought how strange it is that they have never had a story that they wanted to write down. Never an idea popping up out of nowhere. Nada. I can’t imagine my life without that! As they say (well, really, as I say) you don’t fully know something until you know or see its absence. Looking at the absence of a passion for writing in others’ lives – because God has given them talents in other areas – solidifies my own passion.

Thankful for God’s blessing this past month and looking forward to the days to come!

Sarah

Another sampling…

To accomplish the official NaNoWriMo goal, in the next week I would have to write as much as I’ve written in the last 23 days. (which isn’t going to happen) But I still have excedded my goal of 20,000. (which was 17,000 and started out in the very beginning as 15,000…) I’ve also written much more on ONE story than I’ve ever written before – which makes me very happy!

The words were flowing rather well today. At last count, I’ve called my main character a madman four times, thrown him down a flight of stairs, nearly sunburnt him to death in a desert, and (recently) had him whipped. I had mused I wanted to make my main characters ‘feel’ a bit more so they weren’t simply tripping through life happily, but I think this is a little extreme. =) No, not really. It makes sense for this main character’s situation.

Anyhow, I thought I would share with all of you another small excerpt from my novel. So enjoy, and God bless!

“Did you hear that?”

The gruff voice of a soldier echoed down the hallway.

“It’s just our minds playing trick from being down here too long, Samuel”. Another deeper voice responded. “None’s in this prison but the man Darius beat to death.”

A laugh. “An’ the dead can’t sing.”

The torchlight grew stronger. “But I could’ve sworn…”

A tall guard came around the corner, peering into the cells. He stopped when he came to Joash’s. “Issachar…” His voice wobbled and broke.

Joash blinked against the bright light as another guard came to stand by the first.

“By the beard of Rama…” The second guard breathed.

Joash shifted, starting to stand, and everything went black as the guards dropped their torches in their hurry to run.

He stared in the darkness. Dead?

“Elyon, what happened to me?” he whispered.

An excerpt from my NaNoWriMo novel…

I’m hoping all you fellow writers will understand, but still, please note that this is a ROUGH draft!! I haven’t gone back to edit anything. I just figured y’all would like a sneak peak. =) In the slim chance I never publish this book and it turns into a bestseller. Yeah, I know the chance is really slim but just in case… So enjoy!

Underneath the shadow of a booth, an ancient man quietly hummed as his foot rose and fell, setting his potter’s wheel swiftly twirling. His deft, wrinkled fingers guided the edges of the clay into smooth, graceful curves. His eyes, though, were closed and a peaceful smile was on his lips.
“Thank you, Elyon,” he whispered.
How long had he been waiting? He could still remember the days of his youth, when songs of praise to Elyon had been sung from the rooftops – had radiated from every face, every smile. The temple of Elyon had been filled with people, carrying gold or a lamb in their arms – returning back to their God the wealth He had blessed them with.
But those days were now distant specks on the road of time. The old man chuckled. Especially with what his sight was nowadays. His eyes could only see shades of brown where once had been shelves of urns and pots and a blur where once had been a pot steadily forming. So he trusted his fingers. And the money kept rolling in, eh?
He laughed again, feeling so, so happy. Although Elyon’s time was never what men expect, by and by – at just the right moment – his promises come to pass.
Finally this fallen city would be shaken. Once the truth is revealed, how can it be hidden? The old man shook his head. No, the truth had never completely disappeared. The people of Bethel had never forgotten Elyon and his covenant, they had just chosen to reject both. Day after day, they streamed to the numerous temples covering the city. This one promised wealth, this one love, this one power, and this one happiness. And they must fulfill their promises – at least so thinks Bethel, the old man thought – because the people lived wealthy and happy lives.
He sighed. One day all they thought they had would fall away to reveal a bleak, empty life. And that day was coming soon.
He felt a stirring in his soul and slowed his foot, brushing wet pieces of clay from his fingers as he opened his eyes and squinted at the street. A bit of white stood still among the bright, moving colors. The old man smiled, then called out, “Hello, boy!”

– Copyright Sarah Ulrich

Home again, home again, jiggity jog…

Ah, it warms my heart to see all the people stopping by my blog – even when I’m gone! =) It turns out that I had my laptop, but no internet. Ack! So I was unable to update all of you lovely people on my slow progress… but I was able to sort through millions of pictures of relatives when they were younger (and had hair!!) as well as pics of my mom – as well as spending some awesome quality time with my grandmother.

For the return trip home I took the train and spent the entire time with the notebook closed in my lap, soaking in the beautiful sights. Did you know that WA is extremely beautiful!?? Much more than a humming computer or the paint of your bedroom wall. And it smells better outside. So make it a point to step outside this week and inhale deeply. Especially if it happens to be snowing, as it did this morning here on the hill!

So yes, the novel is progressing but slower than I had thought it would at Nana’s. I am still maintaining an average of 1,000 a day (which means I currently have 13,000 – having been too busy to writ today). I will post some more updates – maybe I could even get a pic or two up of when everyone in my family was either extremely cute or youthful-looking. Til then, ttfn!

Sarah

The road goes ever on and on…

Today I’m heading down to Olympia to spend a week with my grandma (but we call her Nana – who ever calls their grandma just plain grandma??). She has about 6 decades of pictures for me to work on sorting into albums and labeling. =) But I’m still hoping to have a bit of time to work on my novel. I hit a wall yesterday (so didn’t reach the 10,000 word count goal I had set for myself) but I think I brainstormed it away.

I will be bringing my laptop with me so hopefully I’ll keep this blog updated. And on the way back I’m taking the train (joy!). Although it’s not as exciting as going to Indiana or thereabouts, it’s still neat to be riding a train to get somewhere.

To wrap up here’s Psalm 84 (it will probably sound very familiar):

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!

² My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Selah

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca, [Trouble]
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Selah

⁹ Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² O LORD Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Just looking for some quiet… maybe even inspiration. Please?

So far I have exceeded 1,000 words every day. Yeah, yeah!
Yesterday it was a bit tough as I was feeling really tired. So I wrapped up in my blankets upstairs to get some rest. I had just managed to drift partially off to sleep (having succeeded in telling my brain to turn off for the time being) when Mom & Caleb got back home. Just a few door slams and hellos, right? Well, then Mom decided to clean out the stove down below. OooOoohh… such a racket! I finally just got up, having succeeded in having about 15 or 20 minutes of rest. Not feeling quite ready to return to ‘the novel’, I rewarded myself for reaching a word count with an hour of computer games (Age of Empires 3, if ya really really wanted to know). At the end I felt really refreshed. So.. tired, play the computer? =) No, not good advice. But it worked then.
Hmmm…I would put down a quote here or some lyrics but anything good escapes me at the moment.
Til later!

And so it begins… (really random sentences on NaNoWriMo)

Yes, it has now officially begun. NaNoWriMo is on – from here the word count needs to jump and jump and jump and…! Yesterday I had a severe case of procrastination – not helped by the fact of church in the morn, drama practice then lunch then a hike (for more than 2 hours – we almost got lost), dishes, animals, and Soulfire later on. So I had a chance to write a total of 412 words yesterday – most of which I know I won’t keep in the final drafting! I crossed out tons and restarted every paragraph about three times. But really really I AM shutting down my inner judge. I’m just working down to shutting it down all the way… it’ll take a while.

But for every certain word count I reach, such as 1000 or 5000, I’ve given myself a treat – like one of those Reese’s I gained during Hungerbusters, or an hour of computer time to play games.

Sigh…. all right, no more putting it off. Time to write on today’s! =) Nah, I really do feel excited about writing. I know it’s not my best work… but maybe I’ll actually finish a book this time!

8 hours, 34 minutes, 5 seconds…….

8 and a half hours til NaNoWriMo… I’ll keep y’all updated. =) I sorta wish that it wasn’t Halloween right before November so I could have tonight to prepare, but ah well. It’s tons of fun collecting and sorting canned food w/ all of my friends. =)

NaNoWriMo… wha?

For any of you avid writers, you may have heard that November is National Novel Writing Month, or “NaNoWriMo ” for a shorty and boing-ier sounding name.  I’m probably way over my head – this imaginary novel will probably never come into existence – but I signed up. 50,000 words in… 30 days? Sure, no problem. Easy shmeasy. Piece of cake. Riiiiggght.

But I’ll keep ya updated. Wish me luck!