Monthly Report Cards: December 2015 : GOALS

It's December, that means my sister's birthday, Christmas,  & New Years Eve.
 Let the holidays begin!

Put the finishing touches on the Cinderella dress
If I get to this I'll have a blog post or two and a photo shoot 

Put the finishing touches on the Monster Project 
Unless I change my mind and change the plot (again) I have a bunch of little things to do

Listen to lots of Christmas Music
I made  a play list, but there's room for more, what are your favourite Christmas tunes?

Do a bunch of the things on my Christmas to do List
I made a list, and by golly I'ma gonna cross off those things
(Especially making eggnog and brownies. Very Important)

Monthly Report Cards: November 2015 : REPORT

I only had one goal this month, and I'm proud to say that I completed it with flying colours. My Monster Project now has 50,000 words!! I feel like it’s mostly done now, all it needs is some tweaking in places and a careful round or two of Spell Check ;)

Though I was editing and not technically doing NaNoWriMo I made my self a certificate anyways. The story I have now is extremely different from the one I had in June, so I think I'm justified! I'll be back in a snap with some goals for December.
- Nicole

40,000 Words (PARTY!)

I looked up today and realized that November is drawing to a close. The good news? Me reaching my goal of 50,000 words in my Monster Project is actually looking probable. I hit the 40K mark this evening, and I thought I'd take a moment to celebrate.
I've been working hard this past month, editing nearly everyday, I've added some new scenes and I like to think I've made it better. However, I've reached the point where I understand what's going on, but I'm not sure I've told the reader what they need to know...
But 40K! That's awesome! Only 10,000 more words (5 to edit 5 to pull from thin air)  and I'll have punched my goal in the face (in a triumphant, kindly way).
So yay for attainable goals! Feel free to eat a cookie or a whole cake in my honour, you know you want to. ;)

Monthly Report Cards: November 2015 GOALS

It's November already! This month I only have one goal, and that is:

Finish editing my Monster Project 
November is Na No Wri Mo month, so I'm buckling down to get version 8.5 under my belt. This will take a lot of effort as I'm tweaking the plot as well as fixing 44,900 words.
Wish me luck!

The Pain! The Agony! (the emotional sting of cutting good scenes)

I have a story novel  headache that I’ve been working on since January 2015. I’ve worked on it exclusively, and as of September I had around 44,900 words.
November is National Novel Writing Month, and instead of writing another story, I’ve decided that I will spend this month editing my Monster Project.
 And that was going really, really well.
Until a few days ago.
it was then that I entered the Problem Zone. The Problem Zone has given me trouble since day one, it’s the part of the story where a lot of important information is introduced and my MC (main character) learns of her father’s death.
I’ve spent hours and hours writing, editing and weeping over these few chapters, trying to make my favourite scenes work with my ever evolving plot. And because of all those hours, I couldn’t bear the thought of removing those scenes.
But tonight I faced the facts and started cutting.
I cut the scene that has two really funny lines.
I cut the scene where my elderly guardian ships the MC and her male friend.
I cut the well written scene where I give an answer that was supposed to be a surprise.
I cut and cut and cut.
And it hurt while I did it, but now I’m starting to think that it was the right choice. The bulk of those scenes supported plot devices I abandoned months days ago. They were just dead weight, holding me back.
If this goes sour and I realize that I really do need some of these scenes, I can always go dumpster-diving in my ‘out takes’ file. But to find out for sure, I need to try the story without those scenes.
So yeah, Johanna you were right. I did have to kill my darlings. 

Reasons to love Prince Charming from Once Upon a Time

He's Snow White's prince, and he's awesome.


 He teaches the Evil Queen how to dance.
 


He cleans up goooood


He has plenty of personality, sometimes he gets mad and kicks things.


He and his daughter make a pretty sweet team


The actor who plays him is married to the actress who plays Snow White in real life.

Hello again

No, I didn’t forget about this blog; I keep on meaning to write something, but I’ve had a stunning lack of motivation lately.
In spite of my indifference, October has been shaping up into a fairly interesting month, what with school starting, my birthday and octopuses. (You can read about that here.)
I brought back a ton (it literally felt like a ton) of new art supplies and fabric in my suitcase. I’ve got several projects in mind for my new stash, but when I’ll get to them is still a mystery.
I’ve been participating in Inktober this month and you can see some of my work here.
That’s all for now, folks.

-Nicole