The Weekend Came Early
One of the few (in my opinion) perks of military life are the extended holiday weekends…that’s right…when everyone else is whooping about a three-day weekend, we get four. So after a day that started much later than I anticipated and an afternoon of writing, Ethan picked me up and treated me like a queen with dinner at Paris Cafe. We’d only even been for breakfast and lunch, and let me tell you, dinner was faaaan-cy. I splurged with a creamy pasta and breaded veal and NY cheesecake, I promise I ate daintily for breakfast and lunch! Ethan got the Steak Oscar, which was just a funny name for filet mignon and crab fondue…and he let me try a bite of his lemon chocolate cake (glorious!!). We came home with a blu-ray copy of The Avengers and then we called it a night! This weekend I’m crossing my fingers for some Memorial Day sales, as well as looking quite forward to Monday–which I will share with you, of course, on Tuesday.
Happy weekending lovelies! Do you have any exciting plans?
The Way Life Looks Lately
| glorious sunshine |
| kills me with cuteness |
| beautifully colored dinner, so fresh and filling |
The Ernest Hemingway Proposal
Ernest Hemingway once said, “write hard and clear about what hurts.”
I saw this recently and it made me wonder…is that what I am missing from my writing?
As an aspiring author who has started countless stories throughout my life and only really finished one, I have pondered many a night about what I want my stories to evoke. Do I want a happy ending? Is it something readers can escape with? All sorts of questions go through my mind, and I have to answer them if I want to proceed at all with my writing.
When I first set my fingers to the keys, looking to get a solid idea down “on paper,” I decided to write something I would want to read. For me, my favorite kind of book is a descriptive work of fiction set in a beautifully idyllic place with a good amount of conflict and romance to keep things interesting. If some tasteful science fiction or supernatural elements are thrown in, all the better. What Hemingway proposes however completely conflicts with the formula of my favorite book and thus the formula I’ve chosen for my own.
I will admit, this hits me at a time of my fourth rejection. Saddening and maddening at the same time. But when I think about the books I’ve read that are raw and unforgiving, I can honestly say I didn’t enjoy them. I would hate to put my heart and soul into a story that didn’t make the reader feel good. I suppose my heart and soul wouldn’t even be able to make something like that up…I’m a hopeful romantic after all.
But still, I wonder.
