Use Well the Days

[pegkerr]

I have been listening compulsively to "Use Well the Days," sung by Annie Lennox, which is a bonus track on the Return of the King soundtrack. (Lyrics and mp3 file can be found here. It's gorgeous.) I have been thinking specifically about the admonishment "Use Well the Days," which is something Galadriel says to Aragorn as they are about to leave Lothlorien. It reminds me of the story of the parable of the talent which the servant hid in the ground rather than investing, to the disgust of his master. To me, personally, that story has always been about exercising my writing talent, rather than letting it go unused.

I have not been using my days well. I've been frittering my time away on . . . oh well, never mind. I haven't been writing. It's time I got back to it. There are a couple of things that have blocked me on the book. One is a plot puzzle, which kijjohnson and minnehaha B have told me repeatedly I shouldn't get hung up on. And the other thing is a Thing About Sex in the book, which has stopped me writing out of sheer embarrassment. Am not ready to talk about it yet, if ever.

But I promise to open the diary file for the book and freewrite for awhile to try to get to the bottom of the problem. And I have saved my screensaver to read: I told no lies, and of the Truth all I could . . . Use well the Days . . .

Writing this LiveJournal is both helpful and annoying. I have talked about my novel here, and wonder of wonders, you people all expect me now to go out and write it. I now have not just my own guilt to manage; I feel as if I have been letting you all down. That's probably a good thing, if it gets me moving again.

It is time to get back to work.

Comments

[misia.livejournal.com]

If a card-carrying sex educator/sex writer can help you out in the dealing-with-your-book's-sexual-issues department, just say the word, Peg.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Heh. It's not ignorance that's the problem at all. It's just that I've plotted something, and I've found to my surprise, that I'm rather shy about writing about it, and so I've been avoiding it. The reason that it's surprising is that I realize that it's something that wouldn't bother (the majority of) my readers in the least. But the shyness has taught me something about myself that I didn't know. I'll mull it further and maybe e-mail you. Thanks!

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Writing this LiveJournal is both helpful and annoying. I have talked about my novel here, and wonder of wonders, you people all expect me now to go out and write it. I now have not just my own guilt to manage; I feel as if I have been letting you all down. That's probably a good thing, if it gets me moving again.

It's helped me for the exact same reason. (I feel like a commercial for LJ!)

And if, at some point, you are still worrying about Sex Thing in your book, I've sold erotica, and would be willing to try and help with comments or reassurance or whatever. misia is also a published erotica writer.

[kate_nepveu]

If it gets you moving, great. If it becomes unhelpful, feel free to ignore us--it's hardly any of our business, after all, and it's your writing.

[red-queen.livejournal.com]

What she said. OTOH, I *will* buy it in hardcover when it comes out :-}.

[innerslytherin]

This is an inspiring journal entry for me. ^_^ I, too, have always related that parable to my writing talent, and I've also taken it as a sort of promise--that if I keep working hard and using my talent, I will see a reward in the end.

My father is reading my latest novel manuscript right now, and he started teasing me about a kiss--so I also understand embarrassment about sex in books. Heh.

And thanks, also for the link to the MP3, because I've been very curious about this, but I can't afford to buy a second copy of the RotK soundtrack just for this song. So I really appreciate it, and I'm listening to the song as I write this.

Thanks! ^__^

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this post. It made me stop and think, and realize that I haven't been using well the days either, and I need to. It's refocused me, and I needed that really badly. I think every time I hear this song, at the back of my mind will be the reminder that I also have to use well the days.

[whapnoggin.livejournal.com]

Someone has probably mentioned it, but Barbara Kingsolver has an essay in her second collection on trying to write sex scenes for Prodigal Summer--after having been dependent on well-placed space breaks in Animal Dreams. You might look it up, if you're not familiar with it.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I wasn't aware of that one. I'll look it up.

[leaina.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for mentioning this song (and providing a link), since I hadn't heard it before, and I've been playing it now pretty constantly since I downloaded it yesterday. Which version of the soundtrack has it on (clearly I bought the wrong one!)? And do the soundtracks to the first two movies come in different versions with extra songs too?

While I'm at it, thanks for your journal too. I've been reading a while, and have enjoyed it very much.

Re:

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I got the Limited Edition soundtrack, which yes, has some extra features. I believe there was a Limited Edition for the Two Towers, too, which I also have; it includes one cut of music set in Lothlorien from the extended DVD version of Fellowship.

This track "Use Well the Days" on the ROTK soundtrack is not on the CD, you understand, but instead is recorded on the bonus DVD, which features a 20 minute interview with Howard Shore, and various images and texts of poems and songs.

I'm glad you're enjoying my LiveJournal. Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Peg