The Color Green and Other Blessings - djedwardson.com

The Color Green and Other Blessings

green crayons

When you write, you see things in a new light. By definition a writer must press pause on life and then play it back very slowly as he writes for writing is a long, lengthy process. One recent change in perspective which has come about due to my writing has to do with the color green.

I’ve always liked the color green. I go back and forth between it and blue as my favorite colors. Currently, I would say I’m going through one of my “blue periods” but my love for all things verdant is certainly not insignificant. I love the glowing greens of sunlight passing through leaves, of mossy Irish hills, and fresh new shoots of grass in the spring. Green is the color of growth, of life, of bounty. And, because I happen to use a certain piece of Software called Scrivener, green is also the color of accomplishment, whose emerald hues tell me I am nearing completion of a new manuscript.

Not seeing the connection? Well, I’ve written about this aspect of the software before, but there is a wonderful progress tracker in Scrivener which tells you how close you are to finishing. The sight of it quickens my authorial heart as it goes from red (beginning) to yellow (the middle) to green (finished). I thought I’d include a screenshot of the current state of my current work in progress, The Ascent of the Nebula, which will be book 3 in The Chronotrace Sequence.

Ascent of the Nebula writing progress - almost finished

So, 100,000 words is my goal and as you can see, I’m almost there. Actually, based on the point at which the story is currently at, it will likely run past 100K, but still, the end draws near and that is what I am so excited to share with you today. If novel writing were a sport, a trilogy would most clearly resemble the triathlon, not so much for the three sections, but more for the length of time and effort that goes into training for and competing in such a race.

I may not have have accomplished all that I set out to achieve in this series once it draws to a close, but I will certainly say that I have enjoyed the journey. It is far from over with this book and there are books to write beyond, but I am enjoying the process, the craft of writing as much as I ever have. It is one of life’s many blessings that the hard work put into something is a pleasure in and of itself. It doesn’t have to be so. The process could be a chore, a burden, but thankfully that has not been my experience. Creative work is its own sort of joy, separate from the joy of the finished work, but a joy nonetheless. It’s good to be alive and writing and dreaming. The words of a well-known story (which also has something to do with the color green) come to mind at this point:

Gods in his heaven, all’s right with the world

The language of praise

I believe it was Kermit the Frog who claimed “it’s not easy being green” and I suppose that applies here also. It hasn’t been easy getting this far, but “being green” sure feels good. The end is near and that’s reason for me to take a breath, write this post, and celebrate a little.

And, befitting this little fiesta, since I’ve been singing the praises of the color green because of what it means to be a writer, it seems right to end with a song. Not only because music is the natural language of praise, but because whenever I hear the phrase, “the color green”, a certain song (by that exact same name) usually pops into my head. It is really as much of a poem as it is a song. The song’s writer and singer, Rich Mullins, was certainly gifted with great lyrical talent to go along with his musical ability. Sadly, he died in a car accident in 1997. I believe there was a movie produced about him recently entitled “Ragamuffin”, but I don’t know anything else about it.

The odd thing about this video is that, though it looks like it was shot in Ireland, possibly the greenest place on earth, most of the video is in black and white (and it is rather fuzzy to boot). Odd choice that. That aside, it’s a beautiful song, about a beautiful color, and the many blessings that are given to us here, even amidst this fallen world, even on this side of Eden.

7 thoughts on “The Color Green and Other Blessings”

  1. What a lovely tribute to a beautiful color. I’m partial to blue, myself, but green is truly lovely. I have heard you talk about this manuscript progress tracker thing in Scrivener before, but I haven’t found it yet… I shall have to do some more searching, as I’ve been using Scrivener for most of my composing lately.

    Congrats on nearing the end of book 3! That’s such a great feeling!

    1. Oh, you have to try out the Project Target window. It may be my favorite feature in Scrivener. Just go to Project->Show Project Targets in the menu. Then click on the target number, type something in, and boom, you’re set.

  2. Yea for nearing manuscript completion! I do enjoy verdant valleys, trees, and what not, but I’m hard core blue. Although, I like to think green, purple, and blue make a nice trio of colors.

    This Scrivener everyone is talking about…maybe one day I’ll download a demo version or something. I have heard so many good things about it. I just don’t like learning new software, but maybe when I tackle book three. 🙂

    1. Scrivener does have a bit of a learning curve, but it’s well worth the time and effort. It’s a different way of approaching writing from a conventional word processor. I do think for your sanity, it will be better if you start out on a fresh project. When you’re ready though, you can get a 30 day free trial on their website.

      http://www.literatureandlatte.com

      And if you need any help finding your way, I’d be happy to help!

  3. Congratulations on nearly finishing your manuscript! That’s very exciting.
    Green is a wonderful color… I like it best right before the sun is about to set on a cloudy day. A burst of sunlight eliminates the whole world in an unexplainable green hue.
    I’ve never heard that Rich Mullins song before! Thanks for sharing. He was a wonderful musician. I wonder what he’d be doing right now if he hadn’t have gotten into that car accident? I wonder if the film about his life would have still been filmed?

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