Article of the Month

For those who know me, know that I am an informational-holic. I can spend hours upon hours searching for anything on google. I sometimes call myself the Google Princess as most of the time I can find just about anything. With that said, I have come across thousands of articles all about the different aspects of writing. I am one who loves to share information (and music) with anyone who would love to listen. So here's my vow to you, my wonderful readers.

During the final week of each month I am going to post an Article of the Month containing an article that I found interesting, that I would like to share with you. Most of the time it will be about writing unless I find an article that is just too funny not to share.

For the first Article of the Month, a person I met from The Muse Writer's Conference tweeted the link to this article. Her name is Karina Fabian http://www.fabianspace.com and this article is called Tips to Cut the Clutter. It's a great article to help tweek those pesky sentences that seem okay but are not quite right.

You can click Cut the Clutter to read it now.

Also if you have a favourite article that you would like to share leave a comment.

Until next time, have a great week and take care!

Review: The Lovely Bones (Movie)

I promised myself to try to write more reviews this year. I recently finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold just in time for me to see the movie. I wanted to give my first review a try with comparing the movie and the novel. So I apologize for a not so good review. It is my first.....and I strongly believe practice makes perfect. (Hopefully by December they'll be great hehe) Enjoy!

The Lovely Bones Movie

* * * out of 5

When I went to the movies to see this particular movie I wasn't sure about how the movie would turn out. As the movie began I was immediately drawn into the fictional story of a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, who was murdered by her neighbour on December 6 1973. Though a few tears fell upon my face as Susie Salmon was lured by a monsterous murderer named George Harvey into homemade contraption in the middle of a cornfield, the images and the storyline blended beautifully. The portrayal of Susie's heaven were beyond remarkable.

However I found the movie did not stay true to the essence of the book, which is acceptable in my view as movies and books are completely different. There were many plot holes in the second part of the movie in which I will not mention as I do not want to give anything away. Though I will be the first to admit that I went to the movie to see Mark Wahlberg (I just adore him for no known reason...okay he's hot) the acting was a bit stale in some parts among all the characters, including him. I found there just wasn't enough of all the characters and found that the story line seemed to be rushed.

On a high note, there was one character/actor who blew me away. Stanley Tucci did an incredible job in my view, of playing George Harvey. I am used to seeing this actor in more light hearted roles and was surprised to find out he was to play this character. Reading the book, I always found the character of Mr. Harvey to be a dark creepy fellow. In the movie I personally believed Stanley Tucci did a wonderful job with that particular character making George Harvey come alive and become more creepy than ever. He was rightfully nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture during the Golden Globes. If you ever get to see the movie you will definitely see why. There are just no words to describe his performance.

Challenge Yourself

This year I decided to challenge myself more than ever before. For the past few years I noticed I had a never ending decline heading towards hating to read. (I know shocking!)This year I wanted to end that hatred for reading by signing up for a reading challenge. I shall read 50 novels in a year! So far I have read one novel (The Host by Stephanie Meyer) and I'm in the middle of reading a second (The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold which I'm trying to finish before the movie comes out this Friday) which means so far so good. I am hoping to gain some experience with writing reviews for books so throughout the year I am going to try to post at least one review per month for all you wonderful people!

Another challenge I have signed up for is called WriYe or Writing Year (http://www.wriye.webs.com/) I have challenged myself to write 200 000 words during the entire year. I believe it shall be easy to accomplish (I hope) as I have NaNoWriMo, Editing/Rewrites, finishing a few novels and maybe a random novel in the middle of the year. I love to write so I am excited about this challenge for sure.

If I could not get any busier than that I have challenged myself to finish my Web Design Course by June. For those who do not know me well enough yet, I am a part time child care giver, part time writer and student who is taking at home courses for Web Design. I am hoping to get involved with a Youth Business Program run by the government, during the summer, and hopefully begin the process of opening my own web design business by the end of the year. In order to open that business of mine I have to finish that darn course! I hope mentioning it here will motivate me enough to finish it sooner hehe.

This is going to be one heck of a year and I will make sure to keep you all posted with the process and outcomes of each. It is so amazing how far anyone can go with a few challenges along the way.

So I must ask, what are you doing to challenge yourself this year?

Have a great week everyone! Until Next Time!

Writing Advice/Tips

Since a the age of about six, I began writing stories for fun. One of my most vivid memories of my very young writing life was writing my first puppet play, to be performed in front of my grade three class. I was never so proud to accomplish such a big writing task than at that moment. Throughout the many years since I have grown to love writing more than anything and have worked hard at perfecting my babies to the best of my ability. I might be only twenty one but I have learned plenty from some amazing people along the way. With their writing tips and guidance I am finding I am slowly getting better with each word I write.

With that, I would love to share with you some writing tips and advice I have received from those wonderful people along the way. I hope that they will be as useful to you as they have been for me.

1. I have a really good friend I met on www.writing.com a few years back. She goes by Tirzah and when you need a laugh or in my opinion, motivation, she is the girl to go to. She recently started her own blog called A Clever Whatever Blog (http://acleverwhatever.blogspot.com/) and in a recent funny post she brings up a great point and an obvious tip for all writers in my view. No matter how badly you think your novel is at the time of writing it, never give up on your novel. It might suck. It might be horrendous, but the best thing for that novel of yours is to finish it and finish it NOW!
2. When I was in high school, I was fortunate to have a wonderful English teacher who encouraged me to keep going with my writing dreams. She even set up a group for the school to help aspiring teen writers to hone their craft. The main thing I learned from being in that Writers Group for four years was how to keep the muse going by using prompts. There are many days in my own life where going to my desk to write seems like the worst chore, especially if your brain turned to mush. Random and fun prompts can be found anywhere online, and could help your mind have a mini vacation from what you are currently working on.

3. Back in October of 2009 I attended a really cool writers conference online (and for free ). It is called The Muse Online Writers Conference (www.themuseonlinewritersconference.com). The creator, Lea Schizas, did a wonderful workshop called Assaulting a Writer’s Thinking. She mentioned how Determination and Perseverance are two things a writer must have, which I personally find is true. Determination drives you forward and makes you want to accomplish the goal you have in mind. I personally do not know what to do without it. Perseverance helps you through all the critics, rejections and so forth. It is not always easy to hear the negative aspects when it comes to your writing baby, but after that workshop Lea had done, I still feel as if I could burst through those barriers and be proud of what I have done.

4. Most importantly I have learned a lot from one in particular person....or animal you might say. *Sings: Just keep swimming, just keep swimming* Sound familiar to you? Being a child caregiver on the side, I have watched Finding Nemo too many times to count. The movie is fantastic and Dory is definitely my favourite character. She taught me something incredibly important. Just keep swimming. Just keep going. Just move forward. Hard times will come and go but I promise you if you take five minutes and keep singing that song it will brighten your day. Heck, you might even get motivated to write while singing it.

I hope you enjoyed my small list of tips/advice that have helped me thus far in my little writing world.

I would love to hear from you all and have a question to ask of you:

What advice has been given to you during your life that you live by?

Until next time, Happy New Year to you all and be safe!

Holidays

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to post a small paragraph about the holidays. I know last week I promised some writing/editing tips that I find useful, but as of now I have been so busy working and getting ready for Christmas that I haven't had time to put a good list together. With that said, I am going to take this week off from blogging and come back next week with an awesome top five list of writing/editing tips I have found useful from other writers.

Until then, I Hope You Have Wonderful Holidays and please during this time of year if you are going to drink DO NOT DRIVE!

Olympic Fever

For those of you who don't know, the 2010 Olympics are coming to Vancouver Canada. Being a proud Canadian as it is, has made the anticipation of the event even more enjoyable. At this moment one of the longest torch relays in history is going on right now across Canada. Today it stopped in a nearby city from where I live and I just had to go and be there.



When the cauldron in that photo lit up, tears formed in my eyes. I was never more proud to be Canadian than at that moment. It was a moment I hope I will never forget and I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to see it.

Now you are probably wondering what does this have to do with writing as this blog is about writing. The Olympics represent unity amongst everyone in the world. It represents working together, having fun, motivating each other and holding each others hand through all the tough times and hard work. It signifies pride of ones country and I personally find it's much like the writing world.

I have been a part of the writing world for only a few years now yet I have found that, much like the Olympics, the world of writers are united. We try to work together by making our prose better. We hold each other's hands up all the little steps to someday be published and yes writing is hard work, but I find the world of writers are there ready to cheer you on across that finish line.

If I have learned anything today, I have learned that this world, this country, this town that I live in, has so much greatness to it. I have learned to be grateful to be a part of it all and am grateful to be a writer with the many other writers who have encouraged me to be better.

Okay onto something else. I have begun to edit last year's NaNo novel called "Run!". I have about five chapters slightly edited so far. This has been going pretty good so far for being my first time editing. Next week I will post tips I have found along my way for editing a manuscript.

Besides that, I still have to finish both of this year's Nano novels and yet to begin working on Kayla's script (I need a title for that script soon lol)

So I have some questions for you all:

-What has been the best and the worst part about editing your manuscript?
-What or Who encourages you to be a better writer?
-And just for random fun, what is your favourite colour?

OMG.. Too Cute

The Christmas spirit is in full bloom in my house hold, especially after yesterday. I volunteer at the local Playhouse theatre which is putting on a fantastic Christmas play called The Christmas Express. By the end of the play, most of the attendees walk out of the theatre singing Christmas songs and searching for candy canes to munch on. It is such a great atmosphere helping out there.

Afterwards, my mother and I went to Walmart and found the purr-fect gift for our cat, Smokey. We got him a castle box that you can colour. We brought it home and he instantly rubbed himself all over it, purring delightfully as he went in and out of the small entrance. Today, I sewed him a little pillow for the inside as the floor is quite hard. I swear that cat is obsessed with blankets and pillows. He sat on that little pillow for hours, refusing to leave it behind.



So that was my non writing news for the week. Onto some writing chit chat. I have begun to write and think out an outline for Kayla's script. So far the whole script is going to be a split piece, where one scene will be a hilarious play by play from two angel like people watching a "movie". The other scenes are heavily dramatic ones down on Earth with a triangle of love sort of Drama. It is definitely going to be a lot of fun to write and I am hoping to begin the writing process asap.

Other writing news: I am trying to finish both of my Nanowrimo novels by doing NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month www.nanofimo.org) So far I have not accomplished much writing as the busy life of mine is getting in the way. I VOW TO FINISH BOTH OF THE NOVELS though. That is my promise to you!

I mentioned pictures of my tattoo I promised myself in the last post. Now I haven't went to get it done yet, but I wanted to show you the design I had in mind. The French translation says: "Writing Joy of my Life". I love the design and I cannot wait to get it done, hopefully on my forearm.



When January begins I will be doing another event called Writing Year (WriYe http://wriye.co.nr/) where I will be trying to reach a rather large writing goal during the year of 2010. I am quite excited about this and I am definitely and hoping to get a lot done. Maybe 2010 will be my year of accomplishment.

Okay this post is getting long as it is, so I have some questions to ask you all.

-What do you think of my design for my next tattoo?
-Are there any writing events during the year that you really love to do?
-Christmas is coming in 18 days! Are you ready? Are you excited? SANTA IS COMING SOON!

End of November... Already?

It is the end of November. Yes. It is already the end of November. I am still shocked by that.

I finished National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) this past Tuesday and I feel like I have nothing to do anymore (even though I have a long list of things I could be doing)

I am wondering where in the world my lovely November went, let alone where the rest of 2009 went.

So as I mentioned, I finished (wrote all 50 000 words) for NaNoWriMo! I have been doing my happy dance ever since I printed out my certificate on lovely glossy paper!

Since I have wrote two novels this year, I am only half complete with them. I am hoping to take two more weeks to finish them up as I really do love both stories.

So for those who have did National Novel Writing Month this year how did you do?
Did you win? If so, do you have a special something you're going to do to celebrate?

I promised myself another tattoo, which I am going to get sometimes in December. (I'll post pictures of it when I finally do get it)

For those who did not win, did you have fun anyways? Are you going to try again next year?

I am going to leave this post with another fun writers event for any writer to try in April. It is called Script Frenzy. It has been made by the creators of NaNoWriMo where you write an entire 100 page screenplay in a month. It is definitely a fun challenge to try. I urge all of you writers who are reading this to go to www.scriptfrenzy.org and find out more information about it.

For the month of December I am going to post about the progress of a new screenwriting project I am about to do with a friend, Kayla, who is in Film school. I am extremely excited about this as she is going to film my script for practice. Maybe I will put excerpts and I would love feedback from you all! Plus Christmas is coming sooner than you think. Each post I put up during December will include random Christmas quotes (and maybe some funny ones I have heard from the children I babysit), just for some good old fun.

I hope to hear from you all soon! Have a great weekend everyone! Until next time!

Half Way Through NaNoWriMo!

So it has been about 12 days since I last posted, thanks to my days being so busy that I completely forgot what my blog looked like lol.

We are now at the half way point for National Novel Writing Month!

So how is everyone doing with their novels? Any setbacks? Any "OMG Why the hell did I ever start this?" How about, "My Main Character is worst than a 2 year old child. They never do as I say"

If so, then I am in the same boat as you. I have argued with my main character in public (by the stares I received I believe I have been classified as Crazy), I have cried when something bad has happened to one of my MC's and on top of that I forgot what quality time was like with my family.

And it's only been 15 days!!

Besides all of that, I am loving both of my novels that I am writing this month. My characters are my new family and for once, I am actually excited about editing both of my novels after this shingdig.

See I am Crazy lol!

I have a bit advice for all you NaNoWriMers out there. When you feel as if you are stuck and don't know if you should continue, just remember this. You are probably less crazy than I am, and if not then just know that you CAN do it. You just have to try.

NaNoWriMo and Tips

It is Day 3 of National Novel Writing Month and boy am I ever loving what I am writing this year!

This year I wanted a bigger challenge so I decided to write two novels in a month at the same time.

There are some similarities between the books but they are different in so many ways. One of the major ways is Novel #1 (I don't have titles for them yet) is set in Third person. Novel #2 is set in First Person.

Going back and forth between the two POV's is difficult for the first five minutes but has been getting easier the more I write.

I have a tip for anyone who is writing during NaNoWriMo that I learned from others on the nano website (www.nanowrimo.org):

-divide your daily word count into small chunks (maybe divide it by the number of hours you have available to write
-at the beginning of each hour write as fast as you can until you reach your word count chunk and try not to go over it too much. Then stop! and don't write anymore until the next hour. Then you have the rest of the hour to do whatever else to keep your mind off of it.

I swear once you come back during the next hour, you cannot help write so much more or even come up with more ideas.

Anyway Happy NaNoWriMo Everyone!!!

Let me know how you're doing with your novels!