Blog, Blog, Blog (Book)

Blog Calendar

◄ January ► 2010
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31
Archive				RSS

Why I Write

Contact Me

When I write, I draw on my experiences as a woman with a painful past, a rapturous wife and mother, a world traveler, and a spiritualist. For me, writing is an art form. Like an artist, the work becomes more than I imagined it would be. When I set out to write a story with a particular idea or character in mind, words I cannot claim as my own flow from a magical and mysterious place through me and onto paper. The work takes on a life of its own; it is living art. The process fascinates me, satiates me, and makes my life more meaningful. Please read my stories! If you would like to offer me feedback on my work, please click here and sign up for a free membership: https://heftynicki.Writing.com I hope to see you there!

Blog, Blog, Blog

Artwork by thegirlinthebigbox@deviantart.com, text by me!

Coverart by TheGirlInTheBigBox. Visit her online art portfolio by clicking here: http://thegiriInthebigbox.deviantart.com/

Welcome!

In 2011, my main focus will be on writing a novel. Since I'm a novice novelist, I've decided to come at the project from different angles, exploring the genre and experimenting with its elements. This blog and its offsite sister blog will be my journals where I attack novel-writing one day at a time.

As I was creating my BlogSpot page, the inspiration for the blog solidified in my mind. I named that blog "One Significant Moment at a Time." In essence, I want to use the format as a reminder to walk through my life with my author's eyes open, taking in the details, feeling the emotions of the day. As moments unfold and I feel their affects on me as a person, a woman, a mother, a sister, a member of the world community, I'll let the writer in me talk about it.

Creative Nonfiction is the genre most fitting to describe what I envision accomplishing here, moreso than blogging or journaling. The style is best suited, I feel, for my ambitions as a novelist.

In addition, Friday entries will not be written by me. Instead, I'll turn the keyboard over to one of the characters in my novel. He or she will relate the events of the day as s/he saw them, through the filter of his or her perception.

** Image ID #1779494 Unavailable **

Click this image to visit my Blog City neighbors!

I'd Love Your Help

If you've read my blog before, and find yourself here again, won't you click this link and check out my BlogSpot?

http://www.nicoleducleroir.blogspot.com

Leave me a comment there, and I'll send you a WDC token of my appreciation!

Become a Follower there, and I'll send you a Supportive Merit Badge! -- You don't have to go to blogspot.com each day; in fact, I post much of the same entries here in this WDC blog. But building up a verifiable readership may prove important one day when I'm knocking on literary agent/publishers' doors!

To Follow, just click "Follow" on the right margin of my blog page. You'll have to sign in using, or create, a Google account (it's free and only takes two minutes!), and then follow the short instructions. It's easy, and I'd appreciate it so much!!

Merit Badges Sent To:

~Noelle ~
~sunshine014 ( Where'd Ashy go??)~
~Mara ♣ McBain ~
~Adriana Noir ~
~Jeff ~
~Carol St.Ann ~

2011 Reading Goal = 25 Books in 52 Weeks. To see the list of books I've read so far, CLICK HERE

Leave me a comment anytime ~ even on older postings!

Thanks for reading!!

Show Recent Comments

Hide Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

NickiD89
Nov 27, 2012 at 12:19pm
In response to "Look at this Dust!"
I'm not ready for the holidays either! Do you realize Christmas will be here in 28 days?? This kids are out of school on the 18th and my parents arrive the 20th, which means I have only a little more than two weeks to get everything set to host the holidays here. And the old bank account is low...which means I have some strenuous financial juggling in my near future. Um, what am I saying? Not in my future, in my present! *go away, stress!!*

Like

Mara ♣ McBain
Nov 27, 2012 at 12:13pm
In response to "Look at this Dust!"
I had a lovely Thanksgiving! And NO I can't believe they're here already. I am sooo not ready! LOL It seems like I'm so busy lately and nothing gets done. Hope you had a blast diving and came back refreshed for the remaining holidays!

Like

NickiD89
Nov 26, 2012 at 8:29pm
In response to "Look at this Dust!"
Hi Mara! Did you have a good Thanksgiving? And can you believe the holidays are here -- already????

Like

Mara ♣ McBain
Nov 26, 2012 at 1:22pm
In response to "Look at this Dust!"
Welcome back, Nick! Hope you had a wonderful time. As insanely jealous as I am it couldn't happen to a sweeter family!

Like

NickiD89
Jan 29, 2012 at 11:51am
In response to "Time in a Briefcase"
@Jace ~ Hey friend!! Long time! Just today, we bought the plastic bin that will be our time capsule. We spent breakfast talking about what sorts of items each of us wanted to include. I'm really getting excited about the project!

Love the idea of writing the stories of your life for kids and grandkids to enjoy. What a precious gift to pass on!

It's now been a month and a half since I got hurt, and I've all but completely recovered. My right ear sometimes seems a bit fuzzy -- a soft hiss of white noise interfering a little with my hearing. But it isn't major and all-in-all, I feel great. I'm back to running and three weeks into my half-marathon training for the March 18 race. I feel great! Hope all's well with you. Thinking of you!!

Like

NickiD89
Jan 29, 2012 at 11:47am
In response to "Time in a Briefcase"
@Mia ~ Thanks! The stories that swirl around the project are abundant. There are the stories behind each item going into the project, the stories the kids will surely tell their children when we all open the capsule years from now, and the story ideas that come fast and furious with a prompt such as this: The Briefcase That Would Not Open." Oh how the creative geers turn!!

Like

JACE
Jan 28, 2012 at 11:25am
In response to "Time in a Briefcase"
These gals are right, Nicki. What an openiing story for your memoires. You know, get that writer in you going on a project that will really include your family.

I love that time capsule idea. I've been collecting stories of my past for my kids and grandkids, but a time capsule will get them involved as well.

I hope you're feeling better these days. How's your recovery going?

Like

Mia - craving colour
Jan 24, 2012 at 10:42pm
In response to "Time in a Briefcase"
Loved this post!

Just the thought of 'The Briefcase that Wouldn't Open" sounds like a story in the making.

And the discoveries inside could be the start of another.

Creating a family time capsule . . . that sounds like a beautiful memory in the making. Have fun.

Like

NickiD89
Jan 24, 2012 at 1:34pm
In response to "Time in a Briefcase"
Gah. Could you send me this message every day for about ten years? Then maybe, maybe it'll sink in. It's been a while since I wrote anything I'm proud of. Working hard right now so I won't be able to say that anymore! Hope your week's off to a great start. Thinking of you!!!

Like

Mara ♣ McBain
Jan 24, 2012 at 11:43am
In response to "Time in a Briefcase"
What an incredible story. I swear with just the stories of your lifetime you were destined to be a writer.

Like
January 26, 2010 at 9:11am
January 26, 2010 at 9:11am
#685365

Sensational First Lines

One of my favorite things to do in Barnes and Noble is go down a shelf row, pulling one book at a time and reading its first line. Sometimes the whole first paragraph is the hook, but I give snaps to authors who can grab my attention right out of the start block. So what is it about an opening line that makes it sensational?

For me, the best first lines have shock appeal. It’s an art form, really, because it’s so easy to do it wrong. The line must astonish rather than revolt, and possess a certain subtlety that draws readers to it instead of repelling them from it. Short, smart lines often work well.

An exceptional opening line sets the tone of the whole book. The mood descends upon you, envelopes you in its possibilities, casts its spell on you. The meaning of the first line goes beyond that of its subject and predicate; it tells you something about the entire work. And it insists you read on.

I was re-reading the first lines of books I own. Five favorite first lines from them are:

“When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily.” -- The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold.

“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” -- The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath.

“It was not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw.” -- Travels, by Michael Crichton.

“Even Grade walked past the spot on the bridge where Canaan caught the bottle with his head and saw the blood mark was still there, but just barely.” -- Mother of Pearl, by Melinda Haynes

“On the morning of her ninth birthday, the day after Madame François Derbanne slapped her, Suzette peed on the rosebushes.” -- Cane River, by Lalita Tademy.

Here is one blogger's list of literature's ten most outrageous first lines. It's even more fun to read the comments below it, especially by those debating Orwell's meaning when he used "a clock striking thirteen o'clock" in the first line of 1984:

http://www.alternativereel.com/includes/top-ten/display_review.php?id=00117

Do you have a favorite first line? Or what about a favorite book with a terrible first line? (Think Bulwer-Lytton's "It was a dark and stormy night.") What's your criteria for a sensational opening line?

Comment • View 5 comments

© Copyright 2020 NickiD89 (UN: heftynicki at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
NickiD89 has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.