All About Writing

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Posted on October 20, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Finding New Funny Websites

Since I sit and write all day, I sometimes have to kill time by taking frequent breaks for a funny tv show, a comedy movie or even a funny website. I’m not always looking for funny stuff during my breaks, sometimes I’m tweeting and sometimes I’m looking for inspiration or researching something on a plot point I am working on. But I won’t lie, the funny stuff is what I tend to come back to, over and over.

I recently discovered a rather hilarious site with great some super funny autocorrect photos. I really wish I could tell you why these make me laugh so much, but I think it’s because it has happened to me at times. I find real life humor much funnier than made up stuff I guess. I don’t know. If you can’t laugh at life, what can you laugh at?

After reading through almost every auto correct fail they had, I moved on to the Photoshop Fail photos which also pretty much made me laugh out loud over and over again. I called my kids in to check out a lot of them and some of them you just sit and stare at and wonder why?

A long time ago, I was on my daughter’s facebook page while she was showing me pictures of a friend. I kept seeing a trend showing up over and over again in the photos. They would purse their lips and do these ridiculous things with their mouths and it was almost every photo. I thought it looked ridiculous, but it was happening everywhere and it just continued to happen. I even noticed it on adults pages and just kept thinking, WTF? Well, apparently I’m covered on the thinking it’s ridiculous, because I found a whole section dedicated to duckface photos. Can I tell how hilarious it is that people actually call it “duckface” because honestly that’s what it looks like!

Do you enjoy any “laugh out loud” visual photo sites that you’re willing to share with me? I’d love to be able to kill some more time looking at other sites. If you know of one, feel free to leave it in the comments below.

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Posted on August 29, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Don’t Start Over: What To Do When You Feel Like Giving Up

Everyone, at some point feels like giving up. So what do you do when you feel like throwing in the towel and scrapping all the hard work you’ve put into a piece of writing – whether article, manuscript or otherwise?

You don’t give up!!

Characters-Try getting to know your characters better. You can ask them questions, or try writing in a more natural voice. Sometimes just making minor tweaks to dialogue or knowing a character better, why they do the things they do, etc. can make such a difference in your writing.

Editing-Don’t do it. Unless you can actually see how editing yourself is going to change the direction your book is going, avoid it at all cost. Try to just plow through and make changes later. If you absolutely have to edit, try choosing small parts to fix and leave the bigger things for later.

Inspiration-There are so many different places to find inspiration when you feel like there isn’t any. Try looking at Inspirational Photographs. Put yourself inside the photograph or write what is happening in the photograph. Is there somewhere in your story that could fit in? Try to incorporate it into your current WIP. Another trick, is to change where you’re writing from. Try writing at a coffee house or outside in your backyard. Sometimes a scenery change can help a lot.

If you feel like you have to walk away, do it for now. Put it away somewhere, file it away on your computer, but do it with the intent to come back to it. It would help to even set a date that you plan to come back to it. A couple of weeks, a month, six months – whatever. But don’t completely scrap it and throw it away.

Don’t Give Up!

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Posted on August 15, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

I Would Hate to Live With a Writer

Have you ever thought about what it must be like to live with a writer? I mean, it can’t be easy, can it?

• Writer’s for the most part, tend to be very solitary people. A little on the reclusive side. Obviously not always, but as a general rule. We’d rather talk to our characters, than those around us.
• And about those characters, nobody understands the agonizing decisions we have to make for them. It can stress us out. To a normal, non-writer, this looks like we’re going crazy.
• Your house probably borders on chaos a lot of the time. Probably not immediately ready for guests at any given point. Dishes pile up in the sink, dust bunnies hide under the couch, piles of items need to be put away.
• And what do they think of us when we are sitting at our computer or laptop, furiously pounding away at the keys, or scribbling in a notebook? Arguing with the screen, talking about plot holes and bunnies, crying when your favorite character does something you didn’t see coming. I’m sure the men in white coats are on speed dial.
• The editing, oh the editing. The editing that goes on in my head as I listen to someone elses conversation, or when I hear them say something like “all intensive purposes” or about laundry and “warshing” their clothing. I cringe, do you cringe? Friends tell me they are afraid to send me typos. I get so many emails from people saying, “don’t mind the spelling, I’m not a writer like you.” They think I’m constantly editing them. They must think that’s all I do. Except it is.
• And dinner around our house, scarce on nights when I’m in a writing mode. Kids have to fend for themselves, my son is brewing coffee for me at all times of day, as I score a hot cup of my liquid sustenance to keep me going just a few more hours.
• Oh, and about that coffee, we can’t keep it stocked in the house. And for writers who drink tea or soda, the cost is ridiculous because we can’t get enough. It helps, doesn’t it? I mean, without it, I might not get much done. At least that’s what I tell myself.
• Imagine the rude awakening those that live with writer’s must have, when in the middle of the night, the light turns on and they roll over to find their spouse writing furiously in a notebook at 3 o’clock in the morning, because we just had an amazing dream that would totally work for our current book.
• When a female writer asks her husband to hold her purse, he must cringe. It usually weighs twice as much as normal peoples do, especially if we have it full of notebooks and pens. And don’t even mention the netbook I purchased just so I could carry a laptop with me everywhere that fits in my purse.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Posted on August 12, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Shh! It’s a Secret Writing Project

Where in the world did the time go? I have been away for a few weeks and it seems like a lifetime. I always think I’ll find time, I even open it up and open a new post and then I get sidetracked. I mean, I guess it wasn’t all my fault, I have 5 kids right? So it’s difficult to find time sometimes. That isn’t really an excuse.

School started Monday, so I started to organize my time and get back on track on my writing. I’m not completely there yet, but I’m on my way. In my spare time (what’s that?) I have been working on a Super Secret Writing Project. I don’t know how far I’ll get with it, but I’m not giving up. The problem is, it’s requiring me to hone my photography skills, so I’ve had to do a lot of practicing there. This is not bad, because I actually enjoy taking photos, but it’s just a lot of work.

I also tried participating in CampNaNoWriMo in July, but gave up about a week before the end, when I knew it wasn’t going to work. I did however more than double my words on a story that I already had half written, so that’s a huge perk. Plus lots of editing got done.

Other than that, my focus has been a little more on my food blog and a little less over here, but I promise that is all changing.

I promise to release details of my super secret writing project soon! In the meantime, tell me what you all are up to? What are you working on?

Please let me know I didn’t lose all my followers/readers. lol

P.S. Did you notice the redesign of my blog? I am loving it!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Posted on June 12, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Day 3 with the Kittens

Today was all about getting the kittens used to one of the most traffic heavy areas of our home. The living room. We brought their cage out into the middle of the floor and allowed the dogs to sniff it, the kittens to sniff them, and our cat Maple to check it all out from her perch on the back of the couch.

We wound up putting the dogs in the yard for a bit, to allow the kittens to come out of their cage at their own pace. They did rather quickly and have been running around the living room ever since. Maple still has not warmed up to them just yet, however she did get really curious about their pen. She sniffed it for about twenty minutes cautiously before putting a paw inside and then her entire body inside. So funny. Don’t laugh at my attempt to photoshop the images all together. I’ve never done this before and since its my first time ever doing it, I’m rather pleased with my end result (even though I kinda wish I had thought to figure out how to blend the photos a bit better so they wouldn’t have the edges showing as much – but that’s for another time.)

And, since I’m showing off pet photos… here’s the rest of the clan. I’m really just missing photos of our aquatic turtle, our mouse, and our fish. lol

and our two new babies:

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Posted on June 9, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Pinterest Addict

It’s official…I am an addict. I have made the move into Pinterest and I have unpacked my bags. I’m not leaving anytime soon. Absolutely in love with that website. It’s so much better than book mark apps, etc. I can just save a photo, which reminds me of whatever it was I wanted and voila – a beautiful photo board of visual goodness.

These are just a few of my boards on Pinterest. Every topic under the sun is covered on Pinterest too. And you can add your own things complete with comments. I have found some amazing stuff on there.  Are you on Pinterest?

Popularity: 10% [?]

Posted on May 19, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Guest Post: Author Liz Borino – Writing Natural Dialogue

Hey ladies and gents! Please welcome Liz Borino, debut author of Expectations and its sequel, What Money Can’t Buy published by Lazy Day Publishing to All About Writing. She stopped in to talk about dialogue, and making it sound more natural in your writing. Take it away, Liz.

Writing Natural Dialogue

by Liz Borino

In my day to day life, I talk a lot. Or I would, if I didn’t spend so much time by myself. Therefore, when I write my fiction, it’s riddled with dialogue. It’s important for me to make this as natural and realistic as possible. Any author can benefit from improving their dialogue use. Here’s why:

1. Good dialogue enhances a story. It shows the emotions your character goes through during a given scene. Being able to accomplish this through the words a character uses cuts down on those dreaded adverbs. Below is a few lines from a scene in What Money Can’t Buy, the sequel to Expectations. You’ll see there’s no confusion on the emotions the characters are feeling.

“What the hell happened to you?” Aiden sat up on the couch and turned off the television.

Matt put his hands up, “Where. Is. Chris?”

Chris walked out of the kitchen before Aiden could answer. “Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah, let’s talk about what happened today. Because you know what? I missed something huge.” Matt rubbed his arms and watched Chris and Aiden exchange a look. “No, no secrets. I have a right to know what’s going on.”

1. Dialogue is also an effective way to give information without exposition. In the following excerpt from Expectations, Aiden reveals a few things about himself, he’s bi, dated an older woman, and kept his private life private until he and Chris began dating.

“One of the designers we’ll be working with is my ex.” Aiden said tentatively to gauge Chris’s reaction.

“Man or woman?”

“Woman, quite a bit older then me.”

“What’s quite a bit?” Chris asked.

“When we dated I was 18 and she was turning 45.”

“Jesus Christ!” Chris practically screamed and then quickly lowered his voice. “What’d you two possibly have in common?”

Great sex. Aiden thought, blushing. “Oh, we found things to talk about.”

So, what’s the best way to accomplish strong dialogue? I don’t know, but I can tell you what works for me.

1. Know your characters. Every word they say, every thought they have has to make sense for them. Factor in things like education level, family life, past experiences, and religious belief. A college educated man is going to speak very differently than one who stopped going to school after eighth grade. Perhaps if your character is very religious, they’ll be less likely to use profanity.
2. Make a habit of listening to conversations around you. You’re likely to notice one person dominates most of them. It can switch, but usually one person is more passionate about a given topic than the other person is. It should be like this in writing too.
3. Read your dialogue aloud. If it seems off, it probably is. Most people use contractions in informal speech, something else to keep in mind when composing it for your characters. If you decide not to use contractions, make it deliberate. Use it make a point.

Finally, have fun with writing dialogue. It’s a great way to introduce the world to your characters, allowing them to show their story, as opposed to you telling it.

Liz Borino is the debut author of Expectations and its sequel, What Money Can’t Buy published by Lazy Day. Throughout her education, including a Bachelor’s Degree from Hofstra University, she’s kept her stories to herself, but this only child is all grown up and wants to share them with the world. Her roots are in Bethlehem, Pa, but she loves to experience new cultures. As fun as that is, Liz likes nothing better than curling up at home with a good book or her work in progress.

Expectations:

Expectations depicts the struggle between what we desire for ourselves and our familial obligations. The struggle is personified by Chris and Matt Taylor, identical twins, who are trying to win their overbearing father’s approval and acquire their trust funds. Love, money, and desire collide as Matt and Chris decide what’s really important to them.  Amazon: http://amzn.to/gBh9M3 B&N: http://bit.ly/e7mwDj

What Money Can’t Buy:

What Money Can’t Buy, the sequel to Expectations, finds the two couples, Chris and Aiden and Matt and Carley, eagerly anticipating parenthood. However, their personal struggles continue. Though Matt overcame his dependency on alcohol, new temptations present themselves. And with Carley on bed rest, these temptations put a greater strain on their relationship. Chris continues to deal with issues regarding his father. These issues increase with greater proximity.  When tragedy strikes, the best and worst in everyone is revealed. Can they stick together, or will their reactions tear them apart? B&N http://bit.ly/lzDLqY and Amazon: http://amzn.to/iYZ5vk

 

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Posted on January 13, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Not a bit Writerly – But awesome just the same…

I wrote this awhile back and for some reason instead of publishing it (which I thought I had) it remains in draft format. Explains why I couldn’t find it! LOL So I’m posting it, because I am so in love with these photographs!

If you’ve been following me for any length of time,  you would know that I try to keep the personal  posts to a minimum on this blog. I seem to have picked that up a little bit more recently though.  I just had to show off just a tiny bit. I try to keep those posts down, but here’s a quick brag.

Four of my five children are in a Fife & Drum corps. – to explain the corps better, this is a blurb off one of our websites:

The corps is one of America’s few all-youth corps, with members ranging in age from 10-18. The young musicians play replicas of the six- and ten-hole wooden fifes and rope-tension drums used during the 18th and 19th centuries. Their uniforms are red wool coats and bearskin crested round hats, patterned after those of US Army field musicians of the period 1804-1810.

The color guard and flag bearer are dressed identical to the musicians, but with opposite colors since they were considered part of the infantry. They carry the 15-star “Star-Spangled Banner” (our nation’s flag from 1795-1818).”

Well, my daughter is that aforementioned Flag Bearer – carrying the beautiful 15 star Star Spangled Banner. It makes a mama proud and warms the heart to see her so patriotic at only 12. I love it!

Anyway, this past weekend (side note, this was written November 29!) was the kick off for Christmas Traditions in St. Charles, Missouri and of course our Fife & Drum corps. which is a huge part of St. Charles, led the parade down main street all three days. We’ll be there every weekend until December 26th, when Christmas Traditions 2010 will come to a close. (Saddest day ever… it was so hard to finish the season…)

There were photographers everywhere. Some professional, and some just clicking with a cell phone. It’s sometimes odd to see my children on a site I didn’t know about or find a video on youtube with my kiddo in it, but its part of being in the corps. With that said, a photographer over the weekend, who is obviously quite skilled and professional, sent us some photos this morning. These pictures were taken by David Counts. I tried to google a photography studio or somewhere I could link to him, but the only one I could find was out of California. So unless he was in town for the weekend, probably not him. At any rate, I am so thankful that David Counts took these photos this weekend. My daughter is the single Flag Bearer – the tiny little munchkin between the two big guys! I am so in love with these pictures and I had to share. I’ll get back to the writing posts tomorrow, but today I had to share.

*Update* David and I are now friendly on Facebook – he is an amazing photographer, I’ve met him in person and is just as wonderful, smart and funny and I am happy to report that he got me and my girls involved in a Flash Mob group that was the best part of our Holiday Season next to Christmas Traditions – he simply rocks!

So you can’t see her in this photo, because the Town Crier is blocking her… but just wait…

This is Braden, my other daughters (not pictured) boyfriend
& Color Guard Sergeant (means he gets to boss Brielle (with the flag) around.

This is Lakin – Brielle’s best friend. She is a fifer!

This is Carly – she is also a Fifer!

On behalf of the entire Lewis & Clark Fife and Drum corps. I would like to thank you David, for these amazing pictures. Not only did you capture the historical beauty that is our corps., you caught priceless images during a time that we, the parents were otherwise occupied (walking behind them and couldn’t get these shots).

As a P.S. to David – thank you so very much for being my friend, for introducing me to speegg and the Flash Mob. Never before has my family experienced a Christmas like this one – what with Christmas Traditions and the flash mob and all the amazing events because of these two things – it was a Christmas like no other. I am thankful that God led you to us and that you happened to be down on mainstreet that day taking pictures of the FlashMob practice which led you to take these photos. I am blessed to call you friend.

These photos might be some of our very favorites (at least for my family in particular) Christmas Traditions is Brielle’s first major performance in her correct uniform (custom made Navy Color Guard coat – rather than the hand me down red one she had to wear before because all the extra Navy ones were big enough to fit the dude on the right of her in the picture! LOL They came to her ankles –  not very period accurate haha)

So again, thank you!

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted on January 10, 2011 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

Celtic Thunder “Heritage”

It’s almost here Celtic Thunder Fans! Celtic Thunder is ready to release their Heritage show to the public. The new album/DVD release is scheduled for February 22, 2011 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon right now.
I am really excited about this because it is a return to their “roots” (well except Scotsman George, but we won’t condemn him for that… he’s still awesome!) – The music/show seems to be compromised of mostly traditional Irish music, from “Whiskey in the Jar” (a Neil & Keith duo… and omg!) to “A Place in the Choir” (All of them.. yes!),

Boasted all over the Internet:

Following the success of their last 4 shows the new Celtic Thunder show Heritage accentuates the musical culture of Ireland. The program and accompanying CD and DVD features 12 new recordings including: An Irish Blessing, A Place In The Choir and Whiskey In The Jar. In 2011 March PBS pledge will feature Celtic Thunder’s Heritage airing the program over 1,000 times. In the fall of 2011 Celtic Thunder Heritage will be on tour.
Over the past 3 years Celtic Thunder has been one of the most successful PBS music programs

In 2010, Celtic Thunder have sold over 100,000 tickets in concert! Not a bad track record if I do say so myself.

So why am I posting this on my writing blog – no reason except I am a huge fan and have been since the very start and Damian started with a much higher voice and Neil did nothing except strum the guitar and play drums a couple of times. My how these men have grown – Damian’s voice is at least an octave lower and Neil’s voice rings out besides just in the background – The fan proclaimed Guitar God, certainly knows how to do much more than make amazing music!

At any rate, the past three novels I have worked on, have all centered around an Irish theme, so of course Celtic Thunder has played over and over on my iPod during many a long writing session. The only complaint I can possibly think of, with these guys is, its a true shame that they are just now revisiting their roots – but I know they needed to build a fan base first before they crossed that road. I’m so amazed.

Here’s a little sneak peek:

***BREAKING NEWS****By the way, if you haven’t already heard the news, Celtic Thunder Tenor, Paul Byrom has sadly left Celtic Thunder to pursue other musical endeavors, but has already been replaced with Emmit Cahill, who is currently in the recording studio with the guys. He is a-mA-Zing!

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Posted on December 29, 2010 - by Nicole Humphrey Cook

New Years Writing Resolutions… To Do or Not To Do?

That is the question.

Every year I struggle around this time trying to decide if I should create resolutions to commit to (among other things) writing more, blogging more, spending more time with _____, doing more ______ …you get the idea.
Once upon a time I used to create New Years Resolutions every single year. I even scrapbooked them – and they were page 1 in each years scrapbooks. I stopped doing that several years ago because I had personal resolutions I didn’t feel like sharing with the world. The world, of course, consisting of primarily my family since who else is browsing my bookshelves of scrapbooks. Right?

My goals typically revolve around family, my writing and photography – the primary things in my life. Last year I did not actually set resolutions or even a goal of any kind, except that I hoped I would finish writing one novel from start to finish. Problem is, I didn’t really specify what that means. I did finish a novel from start to finish in the sense that it might actually make sense if it was published, but it really needs major editing. So did I succeed or fail? Does it matter?

Do you set New Years goals and/or resolutions? This year I would like to make all of my goals center around my writing (which may or may not also include blogging) because I already feel I am comfortable in my role as a mother and wife, and while everyone could use a little nudge in the right direction to be better, I feel okay with all of that. So what kind of goals do you set for yourself? Help me create a great resolution list either by leaving a comment below, sending me an @ message on twitter or by sending me an email.

I have a few in mind that I’d like to figure out how to make work, I’m all about manageable and attainable goals, or else I’ll be honest – they aren’t happening. Remember, I’ve got 5 kids and don’t have THAT much time. LOL
Happy New Year Friends! Please help me figure this all out.

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