A Bit More On That Last Post

I've started writing the faerie tale on my computer. Usually I do all of my primary writing in a notebook. I like how my computer tells me how many words I have written.
The biggest challenge has been that I have decided to write this in the first person. Of course you know, that is, if you read my blog, you know that I've been writing a screenplay for so long that writing in this manner is a huge challenge. What is really difficult is not writing everything in the present tense!
Anyway, I think that I addressed this issue in an earlier blog. So I won't go on about it.
Also, I have to take a break from writing all together with the exception for an occasional spurt of idea writing. I have an advancement exam to take in February and I have a lot of studying to do.
Ok, that's all.

New Story and Newly Found Friends

About 15 months ago (I only specify the number of months instead of "a little over a year" because the subject came up earlier today. Someone wanted to know the exact number of months ago an event that took place around the same time occurred. So, yeah, about 15 months ago I got an inspiration to write a dark faerie tale. I won't talk about where I got the inspiration because it takes me back to a dark time in my life that I do not wish to relive.

I had some basic idea of what I wanted to write. I then started writing an outline. After a few pages of outline, ADD kicked in and I put that notebook away. I started working on the Jonathan Livingston project of course. I always went back to that when anything else failed to keep my attention. I believe that I even, at some point, forgot about my faerie tale. It sat in its notebook on my bookshelf for over a year, waiting for me to remember it and to get the inspiration I needed to develop my ideas and start working on it again. Of course, I needed to complete Jonathan Livingston, which I did, sort of, recently.

But a couple of months ago it all came to me. I hadn't written in a while so I pulled out that old notebook and started reading over my old notebook. I started thinking hard about the story that I wanted to tell. There were still gaping holes that I could not fill. So I got the idea to read the masters of dark faerie tales: The Germans and the Russians. Thinking hard about my story, I realized that basically what I had written, or rather the premise that I wrote, could be kind of a reverse Sleeping Beauty. The princess is being raised by a kind uncle, the kingdom falls asleep, the prince is the bad guy and the princess must go complete harrowing tasks to save the day by confronting, and defeating the witch who had no part in bewitching the kingdom in the first place!

I found several Russian faerie tales that gave me some ideas where I'd been stuck before. She has several tasks that she most complete before she can save her kingdom. The idea was for three. I could only think of 2 the first time i stopped writing it. Coming up with the 3rd is part of what held up this story for so long. Not only did reading classic Russian faerie tales help me figure out how to write the third task, it's helping me develop the witch that she must defeat.

Ok, enough about that. The second thing that I wanted to talk about is something that happened to me the other day. It is one of the things that makes me MOST happy in life. I found a friend that I have lost. Actually I found 2. One that I have known since middle school. The other I have known since first grade. I wanted to take this time to tell them that I really appreciate that they continue their friendship with me. It has always been treasured and finding them, thanks to the internet, has been a serendipitous surprise. I hope that I never lose touch with them again.

Did that come out too mushy? I hope not.