Day 17

I’m thinking about trying to write a book.  No “Great American Novel” or anything, but a book nonetheless.  If Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie and Katie Price can write books, I should be able to too, right?  Of course they probably had ghostwriters.  

I’ve been thinking about writing a book for years.  I even started trying to write one shortly after I graduated from college.  I don’t think I got past three pages.  I chickened out.  I felt like the book had to be about something.  And I thought that I had to demonstrate whatever the book was about through motifs and actions, not through description or dialogue.  I had to find my version of Gatsby’s green light.  And I froze.  I just didn’t know how to do what I thought I was supposed to do.

That book was going to be an examination of whether living happens in the mind or through interactions with the world.  Its something I’ve thought about a lot.  I’m an introvert.  Sometimes I find it scary how easy it is for me to be alone.  I’m also an escapist.  I have an overactive imagination and I probably emphasize more than most people do with fictional characters--its one of the main reasons why I can’t watch horror films or why I have to fast-forward through large parts of cringe-inducing movies like “Bridget Jones’ Diary” or “Borat.”  I spend a lot of time daydreaming.  Sometimes I wonder if my daydreaming interferes with me actually doing things in real life.  Which is how I got the idea for that book that I just couldn’t write.

I don’t think this new book that I’m going to write will be about anything in particular.  It will definitely be a reflection of me, and I think that’s going to have to be enough.  I’m an over-sharer as it is, so that shouldn’t be a problem.  And reading all these cheesy romance novels has given me courage.  I don’t need to aspire to literary greatness.  It can be a corny, cheesy story and that’s ok.

Now I’m trying to figure out how much prep work I need to do before I start writing.  Walking home last night I started to write it in my head.  I decided that my protagonist was going to be called Amy.  And I thought I’d start the story with Amy being late.  For what?  No clue.  I like the idea of the story unfolding organically.  Anyways, I tend to work better when I dump out all my thoughts onto a page and then go back and organise them.

Wish me luck!

Mood:  Giddy
Jeans:  Fat jeans
Belt notch:  4th notch in

Food	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)	Calories	Protein
Egg	trace	7.6	103
Bacon	1	5.5	83	7.3
Tomatoes	6.2	0.6	40	1.4
Smoked salmon	1.8	21.8	390	46.4
Cream cheese	2.9	11	155	11
Bresaola	0.4	5.6	146	23.3
Lamb	1	6.4	192	32.8
Salad	2.1	0.3	15	0.8
Broccoli	2.6	0.2	25	3.4