"It must have been the way/ Today was a fairytale"

I finally saw the movie 500 Days of Summer this weekend since I sat on my couch recovering for 48+ hours (I also watched the Teen Mom Marathon, the episodes of Jersey Shore I had missed, Superbad, the SAG awards, and most of The Pregnancy Pact, Lifetime's finest original movie. Productivity at its finest people). I liked it. It was good. But I mean you know all along it's not a love story; that it's most likely not going to end well. I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (he's come a long way since his days of luscious locks on 3rd Rock from the Sun) and I find Zooey Deschanel strangely enchanting. So I sort of loved/hated her character. All in all, a good movie. But the scene that stuck out most to me, the one where I jolted up in my seat and was like "They get it!" was the brilliant Expectations vs. Reality scene. (PS Don't watch past the 2:30 mark if you don't want a spoiler!)

500 days of Summer - Expectations vs Reality from G. on Vimeo.

Amazing! Because this is how I think I view writing the book: Expectations vs. Reality. Allow me to explain:

My brother asked me over Christmas if anything funny or interesting happens to me, whether or not that means it automatically ends up in the book. My reply: Sort of. I don't know if this is a trait common in all people that want to write, but I think we are always kind of writing our own story. And maybe that means we are a little delusional. After all, we all have a very impossible feat in mind: to get published one day. But by writing our own story, I mean having an overactive imagination. Like something can happen, or something can be about to happen, and I can bend and twist and imagine something in my head as to how I want it to play out. Does it ever actual happen? Rarely. It's sort of like I have the figurines to my old doll house (that I spent HOURS playing with and that is probably still my favorite Christmas gift I have ever received) and I am making them act out my story. Just like how I have used my friends names and some of my friends and family members have highly influenced characters but I am weaving it all together.

Sort of like a quilt! Well this thing happened to me junior year of high school but I can alter and shape it for this character at this point in time and it's all brand new. Does that make sense? I'm streaming together all of these events and instances and people in my life into this story. Now does that mean that I am writing a biography? No way. Am I borrowing scenes from my life that I've actually experienced but changed outcomes for the better and in some cases, the worst? Yep. Do I have snippets of conversations that I've had with people that have had an impact on me? You bet! Do some of the scenes play straight out of my life like it was movie? Unfortunately yes. I think I have lost so many potential readers after today's posts. Sad. Oh well, moving on...

See sometimes I read through what I've written and I'm think, "Wow people are going to think I have no imagination. I just borrowed from real life SO much" but in reality, it was the idealized or wanted version of reality. My expectations of reality before I knew what reality held. Is this making any sense? Probably not. Just like the book.

All in all, yes some of the stuff I am writing has actually happened, some I wished had happened, and others hadn't. But at the same time I obviously know myself better than anyone else so I know what's real and what is made up. The only risk I run is my family truly knowing some of the stuff. But I'll lay it out right here right now: Since all of the family characters are based on the real people, there is little imagination there in certain aspects. The appearance, character traits, and professions are mostly the same. I mean the way I look at it, I could write what I know or I could write the opposite. But what's the point of doing the opposite? I'm already keeping track of these 10+ characters (sometimes even accidentally putting the "real" name instead of the "character" name. whoops!) so keeping with an alternate reality would just be too hard. Sister AE is named Sutton in the book. Her profession should be.... a doctor? no. a CEO? no. .... uh.... a teacher? Like she is in real life? Cause that's just a part of who she is. So I'm keeping it simple. But at the same time, random people don't know my family. Heck, I don't think my friends could name all my siblings and nieces. So I don't think I run the risk of it being too obvious. Well, minus the fact I just admitted it.

Plus, I've found when you read the About the Author section when it is their first novel, you see a lot of parallels. One of the funniest books I have ever read is Notes from the Underbelly by Risa Green. The book is about a woman named Lara (kind of close to Risa) and she is a former lawyer who is now a guidance counselor at a private prep school. Even though she hasn't always wanted kids, once her husband gets bitten by the baby bug, she is fully on board and wouldn't you know it? She gets pregnant even though she has no idea about becoming a mother and you get to laugh along with her/ at her baby blunders and mistakes. Now if you read the about the author: Risa is a former lawyer, now guidance counselor who is now experiencing being a mother for the first time with her husband. She admits a lot of what her character did and said are things she did and the misconceptions she had about pregnancy and having children. I'm just saying, I think this Expectations/Reality thing is more common than people think. Especially with authors. Particularly first-time authors.

Oh and another thing. People might have thought my whole "naming characters after people I know" was weird BUT I cannot tell you how many times I have read the acknowledgments and then lo and behold, there are characters with the same name! Shocking! I mean I don't know JK Rowling personally. How do I know she doesn't have a best friend named Harry? Or she doesn't know twins named Fred and George. Maybe her mean old uncle was named Vernon. Or she had a favorite professor named Lupin. You just never know! And look at Nicholas Sparks: almost all of his main characters are named after his children. And I think that's a pretty sweet deal for them.

So I'm just saying, all of these things I feel somewhat embarrassed about, I'd like to think are more common than I originally thought! Whew!

And finally, since I am in such an honest mood today. There are five things that have highly influenced my life and are major players in the book:

1. My family.

2. My friends.

3. _____ _____.

4. ___ ____ ______.

5. __ _____.

Oh you didn't think I was just going to give everything away did you? I'm not that brave! At least not yet. Maybe one day. Guess you'll just have to keep reading. :)