The Woes of a Writer...

I had an idea.

I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I don't normally get a lot of ideas that are cool enough to write a book about.

Then I realized that there are no new ideas under the sun, and found this at Barnes and Noble today. 

"In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion."

I need not tell you my idea, because this book is, in essence, the exact same thing. (Minus the cheesy love triangle...)

Oh, yeah. It's also a New York Times bestseller.

It ruined my day. There in my hands was the idea I got so excited over, already invested time in, had so many ideas for... and I wasn't the one who wrote it.

I wanted to look on the bright side and find differences between the author's ideas and mine, so I bought it. As we drove home, I scanned through the first few pages and concluded that my ideas were different, but not different enough to not look like I totally stole this lady's idea. I didn't have the heart to continue reading it, so I returned my buried hopes and dreams an hour later.

Now I'm writing this because I know that at least some of you have felt this terrible, sinking feeling of a stale idea. I've decided it's the writer's equivalent of dating some guy and finding out that he's married: After discovering that he belongs to someone else, continuing to think about him just feels wrong. :P

I was able to shake it off a little with some retail therapy, but every time I think of it I get that annoying sinking feeling of all my characters and their world dying off because they already live in some alternate universe... really, it sort of sounds like a Dr. Who episode or something.

I'm hoping that maybe someday I'll be able to write a book. If I do, God probably has a better idea out there for me somewhere deep in the creases of my imagination. It could take some heavy machinery to dig it out... :P

Things That Annoy Me

Yeah, well, since I'm in that kind of mood this week (the kind of mood that makes you want to rant about all the things you can't stand!), I thought I'd inform you about all the things that annoy me most, if you care to listen.

Maybe when I'm in a better mood, I'll follow this up with a post on the things I like the most, but for now... RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

People Who Brag. I think it's great that you get perfect grades, are skilled in every form of art there is, have met about 5 celebrities, have gone to several different countries and have your own ministry before the age of 12... but please, try not to brag about your accomplishments. It just makes us common-folk feel inadequate. :P

Online Role Play Games/Simulators (Second Life/Sims, mostly...) Why build a fake life on the internet when you could do the same kinds of things in REAL life? No offense to people who are into them, I just don't see the point.

When people close their clothes into dresser drawers. It just looks messy. :P

Stepping in a puddle of water while wearing socks. For some reason, we always have stray water puddles in the kitchen. I'm really not sure where they come from... they're like crop circles of the suburban household. They just... appear. And when you find them, well, it's too late.

Fingernails on a chalkboard. Ok, that's a given. Can you imagine anybody actually liking that sound? I guess the same goes for just about any other annoying, high-pitched sound: screaming, whining, dogs barking...

Dogs. Speaking of dogs... Sorry guys, I'm just not really a dog person. Well, I'm not a dog person in the sense that I wouldn't want to own another dog. I'm cool with other people's dogs, as long as they're not mine. haha They're just so... obnoxious. Obnoxious and needy. Obnoxious, needy, and loud. :P

Broccoli. Just look at it. It thinks it's so cute, looking like a little tree... it makes me sick.

Judgmental People. This one actually annoys me so much, I might make it its own blog post. :P lol But yeah. People who like to rebuild you with their own assumptions until they become justified enough to hate you. Ugh, me no likey. :P

Internet Speak. Sorry guys, it just doesn't make you look as intelligent as you really are. How much harder is it to spell out "You" instead of "U"? no 1 can take u srsly wen u write lyk dis. Just use correct english. Also... "You're" and "Your" have different meanings, as well as "There," "Their," and "They're." ;)

Dentists. "This won't hurt a bit." Liars!

When people try to correct everything you say. Sometimes, people, it's ok to let things go.

Bad movies. Those movies that make you continue watching them for the fleeting hope that it will get better, but to no avail. Thanks a lot, terrible movies, for wasting too many hours of my life!

Mustard water. You just want some mustard on your hotdog, but there's always that disgusting watery stuff that has to come out first.

*Sigh* Ok, feeling better now. Congratulations if you've made it to the end of my rant! :D

Photo credit: Annoyed Dude