Projects and Larabars

Writing novels, to me, is basically a kind of manual labor. Writing itself is mental labor, but finishing an entire book is closer to manual labor. It doesn’t involve heavy lifting, running fast, or leaping high. Most people, though, only see the surface reality of writing and think of writers as involved in quiet, intellectual work done in their study. If you have the strength to lift a coffee cup, they figure, you can write a novel. But once you try your hand at it, you soon find that it isn’t as peaceful a job as it seems.
The whole process—sitting at your desk, focusing your mind like a laser beam, imagining something out of a blank horizon, creating a story, selecting the right words, one by one, keeping the whole flow of the story on track—requires far more energy, over a long period, than most people ever imagine. You might not move your body around, but there’s grueling, dynamic labor going on inside you. Everybody uses their mind when they think. But a writer puts on an outfit called narrative and thinks with his entire being, and for the novelist that process requires putting into play all your physical reserve, often to the point of overexertion.


Haruki Murakami

I am quite excited to have found this author. I am going to request this book as soon as possible at the local library. I have become much more serious with my running lately and this book leap off the shelf at me.

The quote is extremely timely as well. Why? Because I am writing a book. I met with my writing coach/editor this past Thursday, expecting constructive critism and recommendations. I left with a promised book offer; I get to write in my jammies next summer.

How am I feeling? Extremely insufficient for the task, especially since it is for children. I have never written a book before, I don't even know where to start! I suppose it is quite a bit like running and the Christian life- rewarding but countless hours of work.

So other than feeling a little anxiety over the looming project, I am feeling truely blessed. My final days of summer vacation have been filled with many meals out with friends, blissful distance runs watching the sun rise, and working to put some funds in my bank account.
I am so very excited to begin classes: to feel the stress, the excitement, and to fill my head with the knowledge found in the many books I have stacked in my room.

Another thing I have been doing is a bit of baking. I am prepping the freezer for the crazy moments when I want something I love, but I have no time. One of my latest projects was recreating the Larabar.

My beloved vegetarian friend introduced me, and I have loved them passionately ever since. However, they are $2.00 a pop, and that is just a little crazy for my student funds, so I found a great recipe!

Behold, the chocolate chip Larabar!

All that I used were dates, cashews and chocolate chips...and they taste exactly like the real thing, except it was a quarter of the cost. I sense the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship. :)