Nory Report III: In the Third Person! After 3 Years, the Final Update! NEW 2/6

[norybell]

Hi! Welcome to my third TR!

To those of you I’ve already met (well, met on the Internet, anyway): It’s so good to see you again!

To those of you I haven’t met: It’s so good to see you, too! Thanks for coming over and checking out my TR. My name’s Nory, and if you want some background, you can read more about me here (the only real difference between then and now is that now I’m married, and have developed a dangerous addiction to solo Disney trips).

An old picture of me, from my first solo trip in October '09.

This TR requires a bit of an explanation. If you followed my last TR or PTR, then you know that I’m in the middle of writing a novel, for kids, set in Disney World. This TR covers my trip from this past October, when I went to the World alone to do some research for the book. The best sort of research there is, obviously.

At some point early on, I decided to write the novel in the third person instead of the first person. You know, saying “She went to Disney World” instead of “I went to Disney World.”

Since I’m much more used to writing in the first person, I decided I needed some practice with the third. So I figured, hey, why not write my TR in the third person? Just for kicks?

Of course, this is a truly bizarre way to write a TR, since it’s about my personal experience of traveling. But once I passed the ten-page mark, I didn’t want to go back and start all over again! And it was fun writing it this way, just for a change. I hope it’s fun to read, too, for the novelty of it if nothing else!

I’ll still comment as myself, obviously. Cuz, you know, I don’t typically go around referring to myself as “she.” Really, I don’t.

One more thing, about the dialogue…clearly I didn’t record all the conversations I had with random people during my trip, so I can’t claim it’s word-for-word accurate. But I did take lots of notes, so I can say I’ve at least left the spirit of the conversations intact. Not like any of them were about anything particularly crucial, anyway, like nuclear codes or steamy love affairs. They were more along the lines of Mickey waffles and parade-viewing spots.

Oh, and I’ve changed all the names. Let’s pretend it’s because I’m super-ethical, and not because I never remember names. Yeah, ethics. That’s why.

Enough with the disclaimers! Here we go! And because the first update or two will be photo free (no matter how good my intentions, I can never bring myself to dig out my camera at the airport), I’ll give you some teaser pics…one from each day of my trip.

Day 1 - Port Orleans Riverside, the Magic Kingdom, and Epcot

Day 2 - Coronado Springs and Epcot

Day 3 - The Poly, Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom (MNSSHP!)

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom (MNSSHP take 2!)

Day 5 - The Magic Kingdom

 

[norybell]

NORY REPORT III: IN THE THIRD PERSON!
1 Solo Traveler + 2 Halloweens + 3 Resorts + 4 Nights + Over 1200 Photos = A Truly Perfect Trip (and a Book, Too)

Introduction

Tuesday, October 19, 2010
A Perfect Way to Fly
Finding Side B
A Few Unavoidable Stops
Welcome to the Castle
It Was Worth Being a Pirate (Parts I, II, and III)
Constructionland
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Blah Blah Family
Nory's Castle
Freestyle Frontierland
Finding a Star
A Lovely Evening, a Lovely Walk
An Elusive Bottle
Nory Battles a Corkscrew

Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Nory's First Visit (to Coronado Springs)
Discovering Deluxe-Lite
Epcot Cheese, Part I
Epcot Cheese, Part II
The One-Minute Steak (Sandwich)
Hammock Joy, Coronado Edition
Soarin', Soup, and Spicy Cocktails
Personal Space & Conversational Skills
Epcot, After Hours

Thursday, October 21, 2010
Just for the Mountain
A Coronado Stroll
Hammock Joy, Poly Edition
Nory's Epic Main Street Tour, Part I
The Little Blue House

REAL LIFE UPDATE

Here Adventure Beckons
And Halloween Begins (includes baby pictures!)
A Star to Show Evil, Part I
A Star to Show Evil, Part II
Finding the Path

Friday, October 22, 2010
Toast and Tower
Movies and Munchkins, without any Mania
Torture in the Boiler Room
Torture in the Boiler Room, continued
The Driver on the Bus Is a Little Strange
Some Quality Poly Time

PTR LINK

Bears, Bears, and More Bears
Nory's Epic Main Street Tour, Part II
Nory's Epic Main Street Tour, Part II, continued
A Wavy Meal
Splash Mountain Insurance
Getting into Character
Perfectly Spooky
Too Many Hallowishes Pics
Treats Tomorrow and Treats Yesterday
The Final Ride
The Prophecy

Saturday, October 23, 2010
The Last Day, Part I
The Last Day, Part II
The Last Day, Part III

 

[norybell]

beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

Nory groaned, then blindly reached over and smacked the snooze button. She squinted as she raised her watch to her face: 4:30. Then she remembered. There would be no snoozing today; today she was flying to Disney World.

Too sleepy to feel excited, she forced herself up out of bed and into the shower, rushing to get ready before the car arrived to take her from her Greenwich Village apartment to JFK International. The weather reports had called for rain in the city, and Nory's fingers were crossed that everything would be on time -- with only four nights at Disney World, she couldn't afford to lose any more time than she had to in an airport.

A half hour later, Nory kissed her husband and her dog goodbye.

Her dog kissed her back.

Her husband rolled over and muttered something unintelligible in his sleep.

Light rain greeted her as she wheeled her suitcase outside, and the sky was just beginning to lighten to gray. But soon her driver was speeding through the deserted downtown streets, and they had no problems getting to the airport on time.

Nory typically traveled from LaGuardia airport, not JFK, because LaGuardia was closer to her apartment and cheaper to get to. She had assumed the airports were probably comparable, quality-wise. But when she saw the newness of the JetBlue terminal at JFK, the large number of shops and restaurants (actually open, even though it was before six in the morning!), the extra-long stalls in the bathroom (with plenty of room to wheel your suitcase into, without banging into the toilet!), and the rows of seats with enough space to comfortably walk between without bumping strangers knees, she realized she'd been wrong. LGA belonged in a third-world country, in comparison.

She sat at the spacious gate with her trip journal on her knees, and pondered the real reason for this trip: research. A few months ago, the broad outlines for a children's novel, set in Disney World, had popped into her mind: a girl finds a secret passage into the castle, only to discover it's being taken over by some sort of grand Evil, which the girl must defeat not only to save the Magic Kingdom, but to keep the true meaning of all fairy tales from being destroyed forever. Nory had lots of random ideas, about characters the girl would meet and things that would happen to her and places she would go, but she had no idea how to turn them into some sort of coherent plot. She had never planned on writing a novel; after years of being a book editor and being married to a writer, she was under no illusions that it would be easy. She wasn't sure she could do it at all.

A prophecy, maybe? she thought to herself. Once the girl gets to the World, she finds a prophecy that puts her on a quest, the type of prophecy thats a puzzle to figure out, too, for her and for the readers?

The flight boarded on time.

Having upgraded to a More Legroom window seat, Nory carefully put in her Earplanes earplugs, which served the dual purposes of (a) equalizing the oversensitive sinus pressure in her head, and (b) somewhat drowning out the screams of unhappy babies.

Oh, I hope I can sleep! she thought. I hope it's not like last time, when I got to Disney so tired I could barely see straight, and didn't recover for a whole wasted day!

The next thing she knew, they were landing in Orlando. Shed slept through the entire flight. This trip was starting out very, very well.

***

NEXT CHAPTER: Finding Side B

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Ooooh, am I first? Nory, I can't wait to follow along! Please try to keep your lengthy absences to a minimum. Gorgeous assortment of pics too.

ETA: Ok, I LOVE the third person style here! It works, just like reading a novel. Cool.

 

[norybell]

Ooooh, am I first? Nory, I can't wait to follow along! Please try to keep your lengthy absences to a minimum. Gorgeous assortment of pics too.

Hooray, you're first!

And no lengthy absences, this time, because it's all written already! That should keep me on track, right?

 

[3prettyprincesses]

And no lengthy absences, this time, because it's all written already! That should keep me on track, right?

Ya'd think.

 

[norybell]

Ya'd think.

Oh, where's the faith???

ETA (because I just saw your ETA): Thanks! I'm so glad! I have to admit, I've been a little bit nervous about writing it this way...I hope people think it's fun!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Girl, I think I proved myself on your first TR when you were MIA! We loyal followers hung around and even posted the occasional post in the hopes you'd return!

I hope this trip provided the research you needed. Once your book is published, will you let us know? I already told my DD11 about it and from the little information I gave her, she said it sounded cool. There, straight from your target audience!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm in! I'm loving the 3rd person perspective, it's fun to read! Was it strange writing about yourself like that? Great start so far!

The Even More Legroom seats are wonderful, aren't they? I was gleefully swinging my feet around in those extra few inches - I think they are SO worth it (and not just to enable me acting silly).

 

[DisDreamz]

Love your first installment. Count me in!

 

[Disneymoon09]

wooohooo! I love a Nory TR!

 

[ntikos]

I'm hooked!

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[norybell]

I hope this trip provided the research you needed. Once your book is published, will you let us know? I already told my DD11 about it and from the little information I gave her, she said it sounded cool. There, straight from your target audience!

3pp, as soon as this book is done (maybe next year? or the year after?), I'll send your DD11 a copy. She can be one of my first critics!

I'm in! I'm loving the 3rd person perspective, it's fun to read! Was it strange writing about yourself like that? Great start so far!

The Even More Legroom seats are wonderful, aren't they? I was gleefully swinging my feet around in those extra few inches - I think they are SO worth it (and not just to enable me acting silly).

It was SO STRANGE writing about myself like that! At first it made me feel ridiculously self-centered. Then I got kinda used to it.

And yes, the Even More Legroom seats rock! Especially now that they let you get on the plane first, too...no more worrying about space in the overhead!

Love your first installment. Count me in!

wooohooo! I love a Nory TR!

I'm hooked!

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[marypoppinswannabe]

Loving the third-person perspective!!!!

 

[gray2402]

oooh I like this style for a TR!!! Can't wait to read along (and def. can't wait to see where your novel goes! I have an almost 7 year old daughter who DEVOURS books and this would be right up her alley! What age range are you planning it to be for??)

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I'm in. I like the 3rd person perspective so far. I can't imagine writing like that - I think I'd start to confuse myself. but I'm really easily confused, so that's not saying much is it.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

3pp, as soon as this book is done (maybe next year? or the year after?), I'll send your DD11 a copy. She can be one of my first critics!

Awesome!

 

[norybell]

Loving the third-person perspective!!!!

Thanks! It was really fun writing it differently, for a change!

oooh I like this style for a TR!!! Can't wait to read along (and def. can't wait to see where your novel goes! I have an almost 7 year old daughter who DEVOURS books and this would be right up her alley! What age range are you planning it to be for??)

Well, right now my main character is 12, meaning it's geared at readers between 10-12, or 8-12, somewhere around there (all my friends in kids' publishing tell me that characters should always be a bit older than your target audience, on the assumption that kids want to read about kids slightly older than themselves, not younger). But that's subject to change...I'm only in my first draft right now, and my plan is to just let it come out the way it comes out, and then edit with a particular age group in mind afterwards. So we'll see what happens!

Has your daughter read the Theodisia books? I just read the first one and LOVED IT!

 

[norybell]

I'm in. I like the 3rd person perspective so far. I can't imagine writing like that - I think I'd start to confuse myself. but I'm really easily confused, so that's not saying much is it.

Yay, hi!!! (And yes, it did get confusing sometimes! Luckily I finished before I started referring to myself in the third person around the house. Or at work.)

 

[glennbo123]

Signing on!