One Year from Today

Today is a special day, because a year from today will be the most special day of my life.

Guys are allowed to get sentimental about weddings, too, you know.

I met my fiancée over five years ago, and we were just in high school at the time. All the statistics in the world told us that we'd remain high school sweethearts, and our future together would consist only of fond memories of our foolish teenage love.

Here's exactly what we looked like
on the night we met. True love?

We've never really felt like we were part of the majority. We always felt like the exception, not the rule.

"Everyone feels that way," my friends would tell me, "you won't last through your first year of college. You shouldn't even be going to the same college, one of you is going to resent the other for it." It's true that our first two years of college were perhaps the worst in all five so far, but we made it through, because each of us felt a pull that we couldn't deny. Even when I failed her, my fiancée gave me another chance, knowing me better than anyone else and trusting that deep down I really wanted to and was capable of doing better for her. Even when we were uncertain of our feelings for each other, we trusted our love.

This is not a method that usually works for people. At the risk of sounding like a dork while quoting Nine Inch Nails; love is not enough.

You need to be willing and capable of working through the rough times, and even then, you may realize that you just don't work together. Love is a complicated feeling that doesn't always pull us in the right direction.

But when it does, boy is it worth it! I write this one year before I get married to the young woman I've loved since she was an awkward teen, and I can confidently say that I love her now more than ever, and am so proud of the woman she's grown up to be. The qualities I loved about her from the very beginning are still there in her, but over the years she's changed in ways that have made me love her even more.

Here's to the day that comes a year from now; my wedding day!
-Ryan

Continuing the Women's Perspective

For those of you who've been following this blog for at least a month, you know that I wrote a short story from the perspective of a woman that my college class loved. For those of you who have just joined us, feel free to re-read the post in which I talk more about that (that big link I cleverly hid in the text of my blog).

One thing it seems I failed to mention is that some of the women in my class started suggesting, or even demanding, that I continue the story, if only for one more scene. Obviously I had struck a chord and written something these students not only identified with, but felt the need to be completely lost in.

I don't take this lightly. This is the highest compliment I've ever received regarding my writing.

I knew I'd have to get around to writing more eventually, but for the time being simply decided I would add only one more scene to the short story, and get around to planning a novel in the future when I felt more prepared for such a task.

A creative mind is rarely a patient one in this kind of situation.

At completely random times during the following days, an idea would form out of thin air that my brain latched on to and held tightly for use in the novel. They were not simply "ideas," though, they matched the tone and plot that I was going for perfectly. It was as if I was finding hidden pieces of a puzzle that I had long given up on, and I suddenly needed to complete the puzzle.

Having received the writing program Scrivener as a graduation present from my parents (thanks mom and dad!) I set out a bit of time for myself one day and plotted the outline for what I expected to be a three-part story. I've never really attempted to outline a whole novel before, but Scrivener made it so easy and fun that once I started I became completely consumed with the task! After an hour or so, I had a draft outline for a novel in four parts with potential for a sequel!

To put this into perspective, the last time I tried to write a novel I saw it as a challenge, and eventually lost interest in it, instead opting to write a collection of short stories. This time, I see it as something incredibly fun to do, feel more capable and ready to do it, and it happens to be based on one of those short stories! In short, I feel a bit better about this attempt at a novel than my last.

A usual, I'll keep you updated, and thanks for reading!
-Ryan