The Lady of Shalott

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.

An update

So, anyone who has facebook knows my semi-big news: I finished the first draft of my book yesterday. It was pretty exciting, as it is a first for me. To celebrate, Steve and I went to a Legos store (turned out to be a disaster: it took forever to find a parking spot, and the store was full of obnoxious kids) and then Applebee's. While we were at Applebee's, we caught the back end of a really terrible football game, which killed the mood a little. But regardless, I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

Then, back in rational-thinking-mode, I remembered that the story is going to require extensive revisions to turn it into something viable. I'm sorry to say it, but the first 25 pages are extremely boring. Even I get bored reading them, and I have a personal investment in the character! So I need to start the editing process. I expect this will take longer than actually writing the book took. Sadness. But I hope to have a book worthy of being published when I'm done, so bring on the red pen!

Writing

I can't believe it is already October 11. This month is going by so quickly. Of course, I encourage time to go as quickly as possible, because the more it goes, the closer we get to hopefully having a family!

Anyway, today in church, one of my good friends cornered me and asked if I would like to join in a writing group she wanted to start. She had been working on a book, and another of our friends has also been writing one. I hesitantly revealed that I am also working on a book (as usual, I am almost always working on a book . . . ask me how many I've finished). So we all agreed to form this writing group and get together to offer suggestions and constructive criticism.

Here's the problem: I am really self-conscious about my writing. There are only a few people scattered throughout my past that have been allowed to read anything I've written. Although I do want to be published, I have a hard time allowing other people to see things in rough form. Also, for the book I'm currently writing, I keep changing lots of things, and I need to re-write quite a bit of it. So how do I gain the courage to allow these two good friends to see into the part of me that I usually keep locked away and hidden? I don't know. But I think they will provide a good impetus for me to get writing. I love to write, I really do. I get sucked into stories and have a hard time coming out. It is relaxing and enjoyable, and invigorating at the same time. I just need help getting things finished. So, this writing group could be perfect.

Updates to come . . .