LITTLE BLESSINGS - inspired by "The sweetness of life" by Francoise Heritier

According to "The sweetness of life" by Francoise Heritier, an average European male is likely to reach the age of 85.
That's 31025 days to grow up and then grow old. Still, sometimes we feel as life is passing by too fast.

What do we do with our time? Let's see:

- 8 hours of sleep (my friends who recently turned moms would love to)

- 3 hours eating (including grocery shopping and loading the dishwasher. Unless you are Italian, then 4 hours will be just enough to get started on the appetizers)

-  2 hours dedicated to personal care (showering and grooming)

- 3 hours to get places, clean the house, fix the daily troubles (including kids)

- 6 hours working (at least! Unless you are writer, in which case, 2 hours is pushing it)

- 1 hour to socialize and attend meetings, share gossip, shovel coffees

This would leave 1 hour and 30 minutes a day to enjoy the little blessings of life (a bit more if you are not working).

What do I want to do in this 1 hour and 30 minutes? Not much. I would like to feel, more than do. To be aware, more than busy. 

I would like to remember to thank God (in a broad, unspecific, nonreligious way) for being alive and smart, not too pretty and, hopefully, healthy.

This prayer is quite surprising, to myself mostly. Let's see why.

Beside being alive, that is a universal wish, I'm thankful for my reasoning abilities, more than my looks and my social skills. I suppose that is because I've always enjoyed mental adventures and animated philosophical  disquisitions, therefore when I witness other people failing to express themselves in various subjects or languages I feel quite proud and blessed.

I'm also thankful of not being a beauty, so that I can enjoy the freedom that comes from not attracting excessive, undesired attention. I regard the gift of anonymity when I wish to be invisible (that is pretty often, having been born a solitary creature).

Last but not least, I've always been physically weak, with a tendency to dramatization, hypochondria and a delirious array of psychosomatic conditions. My life has been a long list of inexplicable sorrows that do not match my average, if not perfect, upbringing and life events.

So while Francoise Heritier throws herself in a (too long) list of little blessings to remind us of the sweetness of life, I let my mind wander to the significance of the original title, "Le sel de la vie" which literally translates "The salt of life". 

I like this title better, because what makes life worthy is the taste, more than the sugar coat. 

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HOW TO HANDLE YOUR FIRST DRAFT

NOTES ON WRITING BASED ON J.S. BELL 'WRITE GREAT FICTION: PLOT AND STRUCTURE' - by Lisa Agosti

Once you are finished writing the first draft of your novel you are faced with a new question: AND NOW WHAT?!

First of all, walk away. You need to detach yourself from your darling creature to be rational enough to judge its contents and edit it. After a few days, spent writing other projects (or more likely being lazy without feeling too bad about it), go back to it and review it, following these simple steps.

How to handle your first draft:

1. Let it cool.

2. Get mentally prepared, get pumped by telling yourself things that help your self-confidence and professional self. Print a hard copy of your novel.

3. Read it through, better if all in one go, in a quiet spot. Don't check the details, you want to get an overall impression, taking only a few notes. Mark the passages that will need editing and jot down whatever idea you will want to add. Focus your attention on some fundamental questions you will have to answer:

• Is your Lead character a compelling, unique, growing, valid choice?
• Is the Antagonist an interesting, well developed, believable choice?
• Is the Conflict between them crucial and unavoidable?
• Are the Scenes original, strong, of the right length?
• Are the Minor characters colorful and purposeful?

4. If your first draft is worse than you expected, do not panic. Think of Hemingway, take a break of a few days, jotting down notes on the way.

5. Write the second draft. Some people like to write down everything anew, others cut and paste on the first draft. See what works best for you. Be prepared, great writing is A LOT of work.

6. Refine. Take a week break (yeay!) then read your completed second draft. Cut scenes, define characters, revise subplots. Be heartless in cutting the parts that don't fit in, even if you spent hours and days sweating on them.

7. Polish. Check every scene and every dialogue. Reading out loud may be a big help, as author Lisa Malabanan has wisely taught me. 

Good luck and have a good novel!