When the Going Gets Tough, the Simple Ability To Write Coherent Thoughts Just Abandons Me Entirely

Some people have natural born talents. Some struggle with things that come very easily to others. I, however, feel like the abilities that sometimes come so naturally from me will occasionally just stop existing.

I'm speaking in particular about my ability to write.

It's a real shame when my capability to write multiple coherent sentences in a row absolutely abandons me, say, mid-paragraph.

I'm editing chapter four about abortion history. You know, the chapter that I complain about incessantly. Because I'm not happy with any of the numerous versions of it I have written, I'm going over all of them and picking and choosing what is necessary. Sarah Weddington sued to change the abortion laws in Texas, creating the case Roe v Wade which legalized abortion in America. When I was part way through explaining Weddington's oral arguments, I wrote this:

She continued in saying that pregnancy interrupts a woman's life: areas of education, body, employment, family, and other relationships are often sacrificed because of an unplanned pregnancy. Because it so drastically effects her life, it should be her fundamental right to decide whether or not she continues her pregnancy. She keeps going on and on, but I'm sick of writing about this. Is it necessary or can I just say it sucks? 

Oh, but it gets better. Next come's Joy Floyd's oral argument after Weddington. (He was arguing for Wade, the anti-abortion position):

Floyd’s argument is feeble at best. When I first listened to the arguments I was expecting an epic battle for some reason. Really, it was just a pretty woman giving an emotional and passionate plea for “all women” (I wonder how she knew all women agreed with her points) and Floyd just flopping around not making any sense. He played ping pong with the justices arguing whether or not it’s a moot point because Roe delivered her baby already. “It’s a moot point,” “no it’s not, it’s for the good of all women,” “it’s a moot point,” “no it’s not, it’s for the good of all women,” “it’s a moot point,” “you’re stupid,” ect. After a while, he finally brings up the question of when life begins and whether or not abortion is murder. They just tell him that the beginning of life cannot be determined (see chapter two) and he gives it up. 

Ahem. Using verbs such as "flopping" and "played ping pong" is not advised when writing about a Supreme Court Case. Not to mention creating your own dialogue, inserting random parenthetical thoughts that could be considered an insult toward feminists, and this killer last paragraph:

The oral arguments of Roe v Wade are pretty surprising. Weddington gives a passionate plea for women’s rights and goes on about how a pregnancy restricts her freedoms. I can’t help but picture Floyd as an awkward teenage boy who wants to be anywhere but there. 

Ok, that's all. I just needed to humble myself.

3 Down, 4 to Go!

I've been editing my heart out and fingers off. My deadline is Saturday, and I've finished three chapters with four more to go.

Of my completed chapters, I have 12,899 words, 33 printed pages, or 51 paperback book pages. That's just three of my nine chapters, so it's looking like this book will be around 150 pages. That's exactly the range I wanted it to be!

What is a good book size for you? Do you like nonfiction books to be around 150 pages, or longer, or shorter? Let me know what you think. I can't promise I'll make changes because of your request, my goal is content over size. However, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

This is how diligent I am. Except I sit on the floor and my hair doesn't look like that and I use a laptop, not a desktop. 

Post. (Part Two)

Yesterday I edited chapter 1, today I got 2/3s of the way through chapter 2. Tomorrow I have the entire day to work on it, so my goal is to finish two, edit three, and start four tomorrow. 

Things have been going remarkably well lately. I feel so blessed. God is providing me with not only the patients to sit still for hours on end, but the ability to make quick decisions and fast changes and move on. I hate editing because I struggle so much with that, but lately I've been flying through it. It feels so good, especially after how tough last week was! 

My goal is to get my book to proof readers soon, hence the crazed editing right now. If anyone knows of a good way I can print in bulk (preferably inexpensively and quickly), then please let me know in the comments! 

Goodnight, dear reader. You are loved and not forgotten! 

(P.S. The title of this post still shows my inability to think of good titles.) 

Post.

Look at me,  I'm a party animal. 

This past week I had my highschool graduation party. The French family does not take the topic of graduation parties lightly, so I spent a whole lot of time cooking and cleaning and doing other such homely tasks as spray painting a twister board on my lawn and eating cookie dough.

This week I am attempting an entire book edit in a week. I have a looming deadline of the end of June, which is shortened by a family vacation, so I'm trying to get everything ready for proof readers by... Friday. Originally my list of things to do included rewriting a chapter, researching and outlining and drafting and editing (at least once) my two last chapters, and editing the remaining six. However, due to said graduation party and a pathetic spout of discouragement, I'm only managing to somewhat-research and outline the two chapters, edit the chapter I wanted to rewrite (which is much smarter and I feel dumb for not just doing that in the beginning), and edit the remaining six. All. Of. That. To. Say. :

This week is so much editing.

I'm off to my editing cave, I'll try to crawl out at some point and let you know how I'm doing. Or write about my feelings or a movie or an article I just read or how pathetic I feel when I write to much. Right now I'm feeling good, I just finished editing chapter 1! Solid start. Now back to work.

(The title of this post shows my inability to think of good titles.)

((Photo credit to Mrs. Huntington.))

When I Want to Burn Everything I've Ever Written

You know what I hate? Spending hours writing, then at the end of the day deciding all of what you wrote needed to be trashed. It's all worthless. It can't be used, and salvaging it would take as long as it took to write. Monkeys could have sat at a computer and typed random letters, and come up with something better than this.

It's on this kind of day I want to stand on my roof and scream for the entire world to hear,

"IT'S NOT WORTH IT!"

However, like every other day like this that I've experienced, it usually means I just need to move on. Copy and paste the 4,205 words of nonsense and an entire week of work to a file of such passages, and work on something else. I wonder if actually printing the pages and burning it would help me feel better. I bet on a good day I could think of some nice way to conclude this post with something meaningful that would make me feel better, but nothing's coming to me. So I conclude with the wise words of April Ludgate: "hard work never pays off."

Chapter 4

Today's goal: write chapter four (currently titled "'73") in under 5,500 words in four and a half hours.

Remember me complaining here and here and a bunch of other times too? Same chapter, only I finally feel like I'm starting to understand the material I'm writing about. Spending a semester studying this topic, writing a research paper on it, and finally giving a speech about it really made it click. Imagine that. Unfortunately, I'm scrapping most of the previous draft I have and starting fresh. I'm so hard to please sometimes!

Announcements Galore!

Originally posted on tumblr, hopefully for the last time! 

Oh, hey there! Long time no see! 

I haven’t posted anything in quite a while, as you’ve probably noticed. I took a much needed break from blogged to focus on researching, writing, editing, spending time with my family in Montana, spending time with friends in Michigan, and catching up on summer reading. It’s been a great last few weeks of summer and I’m getting geared up for my second to last semester of highschool! 

Now, drumroll please, I have a somewhat-large blog announcement. After much thought and prayer during the last few weeks, I’ve decided to move my blog. While Tumblr is great and it allowed me to do a lot, it didn’t fit my blog entirely. I would love to have an opportunity for people to comment and a way to follow or subscribe without having a Tumblr account. Because Tumblr offers neither of these, I couldn’t tell if my blog was actually going anywhere or if I was just filling the internet with more never-seen blog posts. I’ve learned a lot about blogging on Tumblr, so thank you all for allowing me to make classic blogging mistakes and learn from them here! My new blog can be found here (thankfully the address is similar enough to my Tumblr that it shouldn’t be too hard to remember): beccafrench.blogspot.com. I’ll probably keep the Tumblr and update it a few times after the switch and check it periodically, but I wont make any promises other than that. I’ve already moved some of my best (judged by my own humble opinion) posts to the blogspot address. But good news, you've already found this blog! 

Another announcement! On Tuesday, a week from this very day, I will be beginning my senior year of highschool. My schedule will be pretty packed, but I’ve done my best to account blogging into it. I’m hoping to get a good blogging routine and post at the same times each week so it’s easier for you to keep up with. I’m not telling you when that/those time(s) will be, I’m keeping it nice and ambiguous for you. Once school gets rolling I’ll see what I’m capable of :) 

And while I’m at it, how’s about another announcement. Apparently, combining your professional and personal social media accounts is the number one way to kill your writing career according to this. So, despite it feeling incredibly weird and awful, I’ve created for myself a second email and facebook account. I changed my personal facebook name to avoid unnecessary confusion, so look for the new (and currently quite unpopular) Becca French on facebook. 

Here’s a little recap for you with all these new changes: 

Facebook: Becca French, Cincinnati Ohio (same picture as here) 

Email: beccafrenchauthor@gmail.com 

Blog: beccafrench.blogspot.com 

Abortion History Jeopardy (because we both know you always wanted to know this)

This was originally posted in June of 2011 using tumblr. 

This week I’m working on a chapter about the history of abortion and how it became legalized in the United States. And ohhh boy. I have two books that are over 1200 pages long, and countless other books and articles that I’m trying to make heads or tails out of. I’m not very bright when it comes to law, so this has definitely been the most exhausting and excruciating chapter thus far. 

HOWEVER. I’ve found a way to make it interesting. 

There are some remarkable, crazy facts in the history of abortion. So I’ve been keeping track of them, you know, to whip out at that perfect time in conversation. Here’s a few of my favorites: 

• Margaret Sanger (the founder of Planned Parenthood), her first husband, William Sanger, was an architect who helped design Grand Central Station. He was also a Communist and Socialist. 
• Margaret Sanger got started politically when she heard the propagandist for the Bolshevik party (I forget his name) speak, then she became a Marxist. 
• Numerous cases (I could think of around 5) about birth control and abortion that lead up to Roe v. Wade all rhymed with Roe, including the companion case, Doe v. Bolton. 
• The case that legalized abortion, Roe v. Wade, happened when a woman named Jane Roe and her attorney Sarah Weddington sued the state of Texas for an abortion. Although Sarah Weddington had an illegal abortion a few years prior to the case and ran an abortion referral organization, she never helped Roe get an abortion. Roe put her child up for adoption and has never had an abortion. 
• The idea for Roe v. Wade began at a garage sale. 
• Sarah Weddington’s first case was Roe v. Wade. 
• Quite a few years after the case, Jane Roe (or her real name, Norma McCorvey) worked in an abortion clinic until a pro-life crisis pregnancy center moved in next door. Because of their love and kindness to her, she converted to Christianity and became pro-life. 
• Jane Roe/Norma McCorvey was almost aborted. 
• The companion case, Doe v. Bolton, was about the alleged Mary Doe suing for an abortion because she had health problems keeping her from using birth control. The real Mary Doe, Sandra Cano-Bensing, never wanted an abortion. She thought she was signing papers to get her children back in her custody. When her attorney made an appointment for an abortion for her, she left the state to protect her unborn child. 

See? I knew you always wanted to know that. You’re welcome, world. 

(If you’re interested about citations, ha, because I’m sure you’re as cool as me and are, email me: beccafrenchauthor@gmail.com) 

Why the Heck Are You Writing a Book?

Originally posted in February, 2011 on tumblr. 

Woo-hoo. Little Book Girl’s got herself a blog. 

For my first blog post ever, I wanted to explain the question I get asked more than any other: “Why the heck are you writing a book?” I’m a sixteen year old highschool girl who’s setting out on the ridiculous mission of writing a book. For teenagers. About abortion. Believe me, I’m still in shock too. It’s still an absurd thought that I would be doing something like this, and I laugh about it frequently. Let me try to explain why I’m doing this. 

In the Beginning, There Was a Research Paper

It started with a research paper, assigned to me in early 2009. The assignment was a 7-9 page paper on an American “anti-hero;” certainly a daunting task for ninth-grade me. The list of people we could choose from included Betty Friedan, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Margaret Sanger, and many more. While my topic was still undecided, one day my teacher came up to me at church and asked me about my paper. She told me, “You should write your paper on Margaret Sanger!” For some reason, I completely agreed with her and just took her word for it. From that moment on, I knew that’s what my paper needed to be about. It’s odd explaining it, but I felt as if it had already been decided. 

2.5 billion: Dead. 

I soon began researching the life and legacy of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. In my research I read books like Killer Angel by George Grant, Why Can’t We Love Them Both by Dr and Mrs Willke, and Won by Love by Norma McCorvey. I read dozens of pamphlets and brochures about everything related to abortion. I read websites like theunchoice,justfacts, and afterabortion. Everything I read lead me to one conclusion: abortion is a heinous act of murder and treachery, and somebody has to stop it. I clearly remember the moment, sitting at my desk in my room, reading Grant’s Killer Angel, when I read that 2.5 billion children have been killed by abortion. That has left far more than 2.5 billion people scarred by the abortion—mothers, fathers, siblings, family members, doctors, nurses…billions of people. I was stunned. I felt helpless against such a huge evil; there was nothing I could do. 

Do Hard Things 

Soon, I finished my paper and turned it in. I hadn’t totally forgotten about abortion, it seemed to lurk in the very back of my mind. I didn’t start thinking about it daily until later that summer. I read Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris and suddenly I could believe that teenagers could do big things too. Teenagers can, and are, changing the world. I attended their Rebelutionconference where I heard of Abort73. I looked them up when I got home, and the horrors of abortion became fresh in my mind again. Despite lots of other things going on in my life, abortion became the front and foremost thought in my mind. I memorized statistics. I littered my room with sticky notes. I read anything I could get my hands on about it. Finally, I emailed my teacher who I wrote my research paper for and asked her what to do about it. 

“Hey Becca, Write a Book”

A few weeks later, she came up to me at school and said something that, since that moment, has completely changed my life. “Becca, I think you should write a book.” She went on to explain how much teenagers need to know about this; it directly effects our lives and we have the power to do something about it. I knew right away this is what I had been waiting for; this is what I needed to do. I continued to pray about it. I was incredibly hesitant to tell even my friends and family for fear I would fail. But God gave me an incredible peace about it, and more faith than I had ever experienced before. This is what I was made to do. This is why I am here. I’ve become more comfortable with the thought of writing a book, it’s gone from terrifying to hilarious. God has provided for me in so many ways for this book—from giving me a free laptop right after first telling me to write a book, to people frequently sending me links to things right when I need them the most. It’s been an incredible growing experience for me, and I hope to share some of that with you as God moves, I write, and life goes on. I’m still figuring out how in the world you’re supposed to write a book (much less as a teenager and about abortion), and I’m blown away over and over again by God’s grace in the midst of this chaos. 

That is the condensed version of why I’m writing a book. God works in such mysterious ways, I could never write all of them in a blog. I don’t think even I will fully understand why I’m doing this—other than because God said to. Nothing brings me greater joy than doing this. I’m hoping I can share that with you through this blog. Let’s hope I actually update it :) 

Here are some more FAQs (I’ve always wanted to say that. Ha.) 

Q: What is your book going to be called? 

A: The Unborn and the Uninformed. Snazzy, huh? 

Q: How long will it be? 

A: 30,000 words. Give or take a lot. Right now it’s looking like 10 chapters,between 3,000 and 5,000 words each, which is approximately 15-20 pages each. That means the book could run between 150-300 pages. But all of that depends on font, font size, page size, publishing company, how editing goes, ect. Basically: ask me when I’m done. I don’t really have a clue. 

Q: Are you going to get it published? 

A: That’s the plan. 

Q: How will that work? 

A: Ideally, I’ll find a publisher. But that’s unlikely and very difficult to do, especially because my book is so unique. If publishing doesn’t work, I’ll self publish. 

Q: When will you be done? 

A: I’d love to be done by the time I graduate highschool, but I don’t have much control over that. The more I research, the more there is to write. The more I write, the more there is to edit. I’m relying on God’s timing for all of this, so whenever He decides He wants it done it’ll be done. James 4:13-17. 

Q: What’s the significance behind “twopointfive”?

A: 2.5 billion lives have been lost to abortion. That was the statistic that first hit me and has stuck with me the most. Long story short, when I sat down and tried writing for the first time, I named the document “2.5,” and the name just stuck. (For those of you who don’t know, twopointfive was the name of my survey project a year ago.) 

Thanks for reading :) 

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” James 1:27, ESV.