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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hey, Yoda! I Beg to Differ

Okay, so I was teaching my third graders about chemistry (I know!!) and one of my students brought this in:


Could it be any cooler?  No.  It could not be any cooler.

Anyway, I was reading it (and cracking up!) when I discovered that on the bottom row are the elements :
Do (do) and Dn (do not) and Tr (there is no Try) and I thought, "Now wait a minute, Jedi Master."

There IS a Try.

Because sometimes we start things that we aren't even certain if we can finish them, so we challenge ourselves.  Is it the not knowing that makes the challenge all the more.....um...challenging?  I mean, if I knew I could do something, and then I did it, well, that would be wonderful, right?  But what if I didn't know if I would be successful, but I threw myself into it anyway, wouldn't that be even more risky?  And wouldn't the pay-off be (maybe) even more wonderful?

Perhaps because I lead a fairly safe life, I test myself by taking risks in my writing.  I start things that I have no idea how to finish.  And sometimes, I have not finished them.

But other times, that Try turns into an accomplishment.

With that in mind, I am going to Try my own twist on NaNoWriMo--NaNoFiMo.  I will be attempting to finish a book.  I am about halfway there.  

But even if I don't make it, the cool thing is that I will  be a lot closer than I was.

Take that, Yoda.

(Or "That you will take," for those who understand Yoda-speak.)

Who's with me?  Who else is going to Try something this November?

hrh

17 comments:

Stephanie Thornton said...

I do love Yoda--I have a smattering of his quotes as Quotes of the Day. And yes, there is a Try. And hopefully that Try turns into Do.

This November I plan to have my WIP totally shiny. It's so close!

Janet Johnson said...

How awesome is this! And I'm afraid I have to disagree with Yoda, too. Sometimes, trying is all you can do.

I plan to finish editing a novel, too. :)

Catherine Denton said...

*whips hand in the air* I'm with you! Try, try again.
My Blog

Joanne R. Fritz said...

With you I am! NaNoFiMo. I love that! I'd already planned to use November to TRY to finish my second novel, which is about half written.

Yay for us!! Or um, in Yoda-speak: Wonderful we are. Yes, hmmm.

You should create a button for it.

Creepy Query Girl said...

I'm doing nano this year too for the first time! No idea if I'll succeed. But I will Try:)

Sarah Allen said...

Love love love that poster! I've never been a big chemistry fan, but I could deal with this kind of chemistry :)

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

LOVE it!!! Love the Yoda periodic table and love your philosophy of TRY! I'm with you, Shelley! :-)

Kelly Polark said...

That is a hilarious periodic table!

And yes, I agree, there is a try.

I am tweaking Nano for my purposes as well and finishing a novel next month.
Good luck to you!

Julie Dao said...

Take that, Yoda! I agree - there is so totally a "try." A "try" is so much better than a "do not."

Myrna Foster said...

I agree with you, but the crossed out Tr is totally funny.

MG Higgins said...

Yeah, that whole "do don't try" philosophy has always bugged me, and you do an excellent job explaining why. I'm doing my own version of NaNo--1,000 words a day. Yippee!

Sarah said...

NaNoFiMo--how clever :) Good luck! I'm going to try to add to my painting portfolio and begin applying to grad schools this month. I'm also going to try to finish my English portfolio two days early. (I am so looking forward to handing each of the English faculty upwards of 50 pages of reading homework. Revenge?)

And yes, the first time I noticed your books was at the circulation desk. Later, when I saw a comment of yours somewhere or something, I went, oh, that's that Shelley Thomas! The Good Knight books! And I couldn't not post a video . . .

Julie Hedlund said...

Too funny! Your kids are so lucky. You must be the most awesome teacher in the world.

I always thought the "no try" quote was pretty harsh too. But it's hard to argue with a Jedi master! :-)

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

You are so funny! I loved teaching my kiddos stuff that they weren't supposed to know yet. :) I think it gives them confidence.

Dawn Simon said...

Storyqueen for President! Who is with me, people?!

Anonymous said...

NaNoFiMo - how cool! I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year. This time I plan on reaching the 50,000 word count.

Anonymous said...

<3

You rock, Shelley.