Tracking the Odyssey

" Speak, Memory- of the cunning hero, the wanderer, blown off course time and again, after he plundered Troy's sacred heights."

- Odyssey 1

So it's ironic that my blog is chronicling my odyssey of writing stories, novels and poems on the road to publication, and in my honors class, I'm actually reading the book I took the name from. But I'm super excited, because I love love Greek mythology, always have. That's why I loved reading the Greek myth anthologies (and comparing them to the copycat Romans lol), Magic Tree House series, watching any Wishbone episodes of the Odyssey, King Midas etc and of course, the Percy Jackson series.

What's interesting is that the paper I have to write is not simply writing about an element in the Odyssey, but actually writing an argument about it. I can only use the textual evidence to support my thesis and write a 5-7 page paper. This is due in more or less 2 weeks. Yeah, and I haven't started.

Well, I've at least narrowed down the 2 prompts I'm interested in, but I can't seem to figure out which one would be worth pursuing, or which one would be easier to defend.I'm stuck between arguing the significance of women in the Odyssey or the significance of gods.

I'm also worried about plagiarism, which is a huge no-no, especially in college. But I can't help that my basic ideas seem to agree with what Sparknotes has, so what am i supposed to do??

I need owl-eyed Athena to guide me through this haha. I love the symbolism in Greek mythology, but come on, how many times do they have to repeat "owl-eyed" or "grey-eyed" Athena? It loses its specialness after a while...

I guess I've just always enjoyed the Odyssey as a story and never thought about it analytically. Greek myths are usually pretty obvious in their meanings, because they're meant to explain natural occurrences in our world that the Greeks couldn't explain. Sometimes I think authors don't really plan out any deeper meanings or motifs and all that stuff. They just tell the story the way it's supposed to be told and readers find all these underlying coincidences and such.

But you have to admit, the Odysseus is an amazing piece of literature. It has probably the only fictionalized couple that I actually cared about- Odysseus and Penelope. I really feel sad thinking about how long they were apart from each other, how she remained loyal to him, and how happy he was to see his family again. There's real hardship and suffering, which creates real emotions. Unlike a certain group of sparkling vampires we all now:)

Anyways, I will be plunging through the Odyssey at full speed to write this paper, but I have not forgotten my other mission-to prepare my novel for NaNoWriMo in November. It sounds far away, but I know it'll be just around the corner, teasing me to keep my pact. As long as I have the right tools and preparation, it should be smooth sailing for me.

Unless Poseidon decides to take his anger out on me along the way....

NaNoWriMo

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.

- Steve Prefontaine

pic copyright munfitnessblog.com

so i signed up for NaNoWriMo 2009 for the first time ever. Basically this means I am attempting to write an entire novel from Nov 1- Nov 30. I doubt I will be able to finish the 50,000 word count, but I think just being in the whole project alone will be an awesome experience and hopefully the right motivator to finish my novel. I know you can't start writing until midnight on November 1st, but there aren't any rules on outlining and plotting ahead of time right? because that's what takes me time. If I can have a decent outline and know where I'm going with my story, I think I'll have a much much easier time just writing away. It's sort of like a marathon, getting all hyped up and in shape. Some of my secrets are changing fonts, writing centered and in places other than my room(or dorm room.) maybe I'll set up shop in the cliche Starbucks downstairs. I'll need fuel:)
There's something strange about writing for quantity and not quality. Normally, I would feel like it's a waste of time, but in a way, writing crap really helps me unblock and write better. Plus I think it's really cool that I'll be on a website where millions of other people are writing novels and have the potential to have their book published! I don't know how anyone can write a book in a month and get an agent or publishing house interested. I guess they have to do rewrites and then they send up queries. I already have a list of agencies and publishing houses I want to submit to and I don't even have anything finished-very lame.
First rule of publishing is write the book first! So I'm hoping NaNoWriMo helps me do just that. I don't really want to make a schedule for myself, but my goal is to write every day. You even get pep talks sent to keep up the motivation from published authors like Meg Cabot(!), Phillip Pullman, and Katherine Paterson-I love that! I think it would so awesome to be a winner, even though there's no prize as the website says. So I encourage anyone to sign up for this crazy adventure with me at nanowrimo.org. Let me know if you do! Oh and I'll leave you with a Meg Cabot NaNoWriMo pep talk that perfectly address the dilemma in my last post:)

Dear NaNoWriMo Author,

I know what you're doing. You're thinking about cheating, aren't you?

Ha! Caught you!

Come on. One cheater knows another. You think I've never been there?

Maybe for some of you it's not too late: you haven't crossed the line...maybe you're just entertaining the idea of abandoning the story you're currently working on.

Maybe you're just thinking of taking a break to jot down a few notes about the story you just thought of; that ultra-fresh, totally cool, sure-to-be-a-bestseller you dreamed up the other morning while you were supposed to be figuring out where you took the wrong turn on your work-in-progress.

But I'm here to let you know: That's how it starts. The next thing you know, you're doing character sketches. Then a little dialogue. Then whole scenes.

And then you're through. You've given up on your work-in-progress entirely, and the next thing you know, you've started working full-time on this new story you thought up.

I know only too well what comes next. The excuses. The rationalization: "So what? So I switched stories. I've still got a work-in-progress. It's just not my original work-in-progress. So I'm a little behind in my word count. I'm still writing, right?"

Sure, it seems innocent enough. But the problem with doing this is that of course the new story always seems better than that old busted up, out-of-control story you've been working on for so long. That new story has the aura of dewy freshness to it. It's calling to you! It's all, "Yoo-hoo...look at me! I don't have any plot problems and my characters are way-intriguing and some of them wear leather jackets and oh, yeah, you know that weird transition thing you've got going on near chapter four that you can't figure out? I don't have that!"

I know. It sounds good.

But how long until some other story idea comes along and twitches its enticing little characters at you, and you decide to abandon this new one for it? How many words will you have then?

Not enough for a whole book, that's how many. And here's the thing: If you keep doing this, you never will.

Do you think I haven't been there? Cheating on your current work-in-progress with a new one is the oldest trick in the book! I have a plastic milk crate crammed full of stories I started and never finished because I cheated on them, then got so enamored of my new story, I never went back to the old one. Over and over and over again.

And that, my friends, is how you never finish a book. Take it from someone who has hundreds (maybe even a few thousand) of unfinished stories because of this phenomenon.

So stop right now! Stop using a new story idea (or whatever excuse you've come up with) to avoid the work you still have to do on your current work-in-progress!

Put the Shiny New Story away for later, when you're done with your WIP! If your Shiny New Story is that good, it will still be there waiting for you.

And please...don't end up like me, with a plastic milk crate full of half-finished stories. Think about what made you fall in love with your work-in-progress in the first place. Shower it with the attention it deserves.

And whatever you do, don't let it end up in the Milk Crate of Shame. Think of where we'd be if all the great stories we love today ended up there, uncared for and forgotten by their authors, because they got distracted by some Shiny New Idea while they were working.

Take a deep breath. There. Feel better?

Yeah. So do I.

Now let's get back to work.

And about the cheating...I won't tell if you won't.

Meg