Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Best Laid Plans . . .

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to go to France for two weeks as a tour guide. No, I am not French scholar. And Yes, it was a LOT of work to get ready.

But as a favor to my sister (for whom I would do a lot because she is just that awesome), I went and posed as a confident tour guide. I not only learned all kinds of French history, but all kinds of random tidbits about life. For example, cobblestone may look cool, but it's really not fun to walk or drive on. 

Still, I digress . . . now that I'm back, I get to subject you with all kinds of travel log writing analogies. Bwah ha ha ha! (Your ears should be ringing with my evil laugh.)

So, here we go . . . the first thing we visited after dropping off our luggage was the Eiffel Tower.
 

This iconic building fascinates me. It was built for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889. It was meant to stand for 2 years before it would be dismantled. Then they upped its life to 20 years, and finally, with the coming of the radio and its usefulness assured, they decided to keep it.

It's hard to imagine, from our current frame of reference, that the French would ever have considered taking the Eiffel Tower apart. But back then it was something of an atrocity to many. Modern art at it's worst, so some people thought.

Now we can look back and breathe a sigh of relief that they revised their plans. Somehow, Paris just wouldn't be Paris without it.

Writing can be a bit like this. We lay out our plans. We set our goals. We write our books and think that's the end.

And then the first critiques come back.

We revise our work and sigh with relief that that's done.

And then the next batch of critiques come back. I'm sure you get the idea.

What's important to remember though, are the breathtaking results from your efforts.


Oh wait! How'd that get in there? I meant to post these . . .



So when you're working on that next draft. Just think of the Eiffel Tower and all the future audiences you will wow.

It will be worth it.

14 comments:

Vicki Rocho said...

Welcome back! Lovely pictures, can't wait to see more!

Angela said...

I'm glad you had a good trip. I loved Paris, especially going up to the Eiffel tower just before sunset and watching the lights come on in the city.

Great pictures.

Joanne said...

Welcome back, I'll bet you had an amazing time there! How interesting the Eiffel Tower's history is. Time brings such changing perspectives on life, and on art. I'm glad they never dismantled it.

Carolyn V said...

I love that analogy! I had no idea about the Eiffel Tower and that they were planning on taking it down. So glad they didn't. =)

Anonymous said...

I wonder if someone wil appreciate my work 112 years from now! Great pictures!

Creepy Query Girl said...

awe, I wish I had known you were here! I could have come into the city for a café!:(

Lydia Kang said...

Wow, I'd love to go to Paris. I've only been once and I didn't go to the Eiffel Tower.

Thanks for sharing your trip!

Kenda Turner said...

Welcome back--and I'll never look at pictures of the Eiffel Tower the same again! To think someone once thought it was temporary...

Love to hear stories of others' travels :-)

Connie Arnold said...

Thanks for sharing the great pictures and interesting information about the Eiffel Tower! This is probably the closest I'll ever come to being there.

LTM said...

ooo... I love it! what a great analogy... And now i'm thinking of my current WIP, which is set in Paris around that time. I guess they should be working on the tower~ :D

missed you!

Stina said...

And that's when you're ready to throw yourself off the Eiffel tower. ;)

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Welcome back! Thanks for sharing the great pics and the history of the Eiffel tower. I had no idea it was built as a temporary structure.

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Wow, how interesting! Thanks, Tour Guide Janet! I'm impressed you even got a writing analogy in there, too. Very good!

Welcome back. :)

Amy

Victoria Dixon said...

I'm so glad you're back! And that you obviously had a tremendous trip. Sadly, I never got to go up in the tower. The lines were too long and we were only in the city for three days, so the wait wasn't worth it to us. Sigh. I was able to see it (on a rare clear day) from our hotel room.