Tag Archives: novel

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

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Step one:  Stand in front of a mirror.  Any mirror will do.

Step two:  Look at yourself.  Be serious now, quit making that face.

Step three:  Ok now REALLY look at yourself.  Leave your hair alone it looks fine.

Step four:  Say to your reflection, “I am a writer.”

Step five:  Stop laughing

Step six: No really, stop laughing

Step seven: Say it again, but this time say it like you mean it, “I AM A WRITER.”

Step eight: Really it’s not that funny, stop laughing

Step nine: Try to remember which book you got this exercise in so you can throw it away.

What kind of girl do you think I am?

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In my current novel my female villain is about to be introduced into the story, but there is a dilemma.

I have no idea who she is. In my mind she is standing there with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot with a very frustrated look on her face. But the rest of her features keep morphing and changing while she looks at me with impatience.

Blond to brunette, skinny to plump, tall to petite, fit to fatigued. My female villain throws her arms up in the air in disgust, “Make up your mind already.”

But it’s difficult to commit (there goes those commitment issues again) after all, I will be spending a lot of time with her over what could be a year or more. This unknown villainess and I going to put my main character through some very hard times and I just want to make sure she is the right one for the job.

What I do know is this…I know exactly what horrible things my villain is going to do. I have master plan of destruction and mayhem all mapped out.

She is still standing there tapping her foot at me.

The question isn’t what “is” she going to do, it’s “how” is she going to do it. Is she deceptively sweet or just plan up front and evil? Does she swear in every sentence or hide behind soothing sweet words? Does she smile or just cross her arms and stare at people like their an idiot. What kind of villain is she and is she the right one for the job?

I close my eyes and picture her again…she is still tapping her foot and rolling her eyes at me.

A Guy Walks Into a Bar

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“A guy walks into a bar; he had a conversation with a strange woman and then left the bar.”

This is one of the reasons my writing lingers at the novice level.  Description, description, description….

Description and those pesky five senses will be the death of me.

What did the bar look like; sports bar, dive bar, strip bar?  What did the bar smell like; stale cigarettes, aged vomit, high school locker room?  Was the beer flat and the peanuts stale?  Was it loud with crowds or quiet and empty?  Did the jukebox play love songs or a thump’en dance mix?  Were the bar stools hard and leather booths comfortable?

Details that make the reader feel they are in the bar, not outside peering through a cloudy window, the ability to weave the perfect amount of description without being cliché or droning on page after page over every little speck of boring detail.

A perfect balance of detail is the goal and every day I write to achieve that goal.

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Fiction-Writing-Monica-Wood/dp/0898799082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367861077&sr=8-1&keywords=elements+of+fiction+description

Nanowrimo Throwup

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I have been a member of Nanowrimo since 2007. (http://www.nanowrimo.org)   I have participated in the November event every year since and have even been successful in the monstrous goal of 50,000 words in 30 days,five of the eight years.

I am a HUGE fan of Nanowrimo!

Every October I start thinking about what project I could work on during the Nano-riffic event. I put whatever current project I’m working on aside and come up with a new and improved writing project.  Characters, plots catastrophes start floating through my head.  I feel like an evil mastermind, rubbing my hands together…this will be the best book idea ever.

November comes and I take off running! The thrill of the speed and the goals push me forward.  Quantity has never been an issue for me.  I can throw up 1,667 words a day and not even break a sweat.

First week is great and it feels easy to keep up.  Then second week hits and life begins to interrupt my stride.  I start to miss a day here and a day there.   But I know I can catch up on the weekend.

It’s around November 15th, I slam smack into the wall.  My plot completely falls through and I am overwhelmed with the feeling of this is by far the dumbest idea I have ever had.

This is the point of failure for me on the years I was not Nano successful.  The inner critic beat me down and then did a jig on my head while I lay there moaning about how my writing sucks.

But then there are the years I am successful and I punch the inner critic in the face and trudge through the mud to the finish line.  YES…I’m a winner!  The winner of 50,000+ words of pure writer throw up.

This is where the real work begins.  Where I have to rummage through all the puke and decide whether to flush it all down the toilet or dig out a few good chunks.

This is where I am now, rummaging around with a few good chunks attempting to create a novel that is a step above colorful vomit.

Yes, I Have Commitment Issues

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My name is Nicolle and I have severe commitmentitis.

It’s true..  I admit it…  I have commitment issues.

They say on average it takes ten years to write your first novel. I am in this VERY LARGE group of writers that dream of the finished novel, but I have sailed over the ten year mark and have no novel to speak of. Each year I spout, “This is the year I am going to finish my novel”  My friends and family smile kindly each time and provide positive support, but I see the look in their eyes, I see into their doubting souls.  And then things come up, life goes on and another year passes me by.

I can commit to my marriage, to my children and even my day job with ease and grace, but when it comes to making a commitment to myself…crash and burn.

Committing to “me” is my biggest challenge.  Committing to my novel.

A novel that has morphed, changed, revised, been tossed away, reorganized , forgotten and started again.  Nothing ever finished.  Nothing but a pile of unfinished, uncommitted effort. (big sigh)

But the writer in me is never satisfied, always that little voice gnawing at me and pushing me forward.

I have been a writer for a lifetime, but I WILL BE A NOVELIST.