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Why I Write

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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.

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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!!

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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!!*

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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!

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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????

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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!

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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!!

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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!!

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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?

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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.

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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
February 22, 2010 at 1:14pm
February 22, 2010 at 1:14pm
#688303

It's Like Riding...Rollerblades

I had a fantastic time this weekend with friends from France, who spent Thursday through Sunday at my house. All five of them can speak some English, but we spoke French ninety-nine percent of the time. My husband was born and raised in France, but since he learned to speak English, it has become his preferred language for day-to-day conversation. This is unfortunate for me, who desperately needs to practice my French. More often than not, when I begin a conversation with him in French, he responds in English, even though it's generally considered bad manners among bilingual people to answer in "Language B" when someone initiates a conversation in "Language A" (provided, of course, that both speakers are fluent in both languages). As a result I am perpetually out of practice, and the first two and a half days of our friends' visit were torturous for me and my tongue.

It struck me, as I stumbled over pronunciation and searched for every third word, that there's actually a lot in common between being thrown back into using your second language and picking up rollerblading after a couple years off skates. How, you ask? I believe it comes down to muscle memory.

A few weeks back I took my daughter and her friends to the roller skating rink. In my twenties, I lived on the coast in Los Angeles (Hermosa Beach) and clocked more time on my rollerblades than I did in tennis shoes. However, tying a pair of skates on after all these years proved deceptively challenging. I could keep up with the girls, propel myself forward, glide, and come to a reasonably quick stop, but all my movements were jerky and barely in control.

After a few dozen laps, I felt the muscles in my shins relax. My inner thighs remembered to do most of the work. As I sat back more on softer knees, I noticed my weight transfer from over my toes to over my heels. I got my glide on. It was as if the clock had turned back a decade and the fluid, slolam sashay returned to my movements. With little effort, I sped down the straightaways and crossed my outside skate over the inside one on the curves. It was awesome, like flying.

This kind of muscle memory also comes into play when picking back up a second language. English speakers keep their tongues more or less in the center of their mouths when they speak. When speaking in French though, your tongue must perform crazy acrobatics in order to push the correct sounds out. Also, English is spoken from the front of the mouth, where French is throatier and more nasal. It took several days for my throat to relax and my lips to adopt the proper pouty purse. It wasn't something I could force, because the more I concentrated on how French I sounded, the more I lost track of the words I was trying to say. Either way, I stumbled. It was frustrating, but sure enough after a little time, my fluency came back.

Of course, as soon as that happened, it was time for our friends to leave. (*sigh*) Oh well, at least I won't have as much trouble getting back into the swing of French this summer when we spend three weeks at my husband's family's home...I hope :)

How was your weekend? Did you do something you haven't done in a long time, or did you try anything new?

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