My writing was put on hold for over two years after I completed the first draft; I did not know how to edit something 80K words long. I tried editing it probably twice or three times but the method I was trying wasn't working--I was reading the manuscript while make changes, next I tried reading the manuscript while taking notes on what it was about.

A few weeks ago I read the chapters of 'Nail Your Novel' by Roz Morris about what to do before you rewrite. It promotes making a Beat Sheet, so now I am reading my entire manuscript while making notes on MS Excel under certain headings so that I can see my entire manuscript in a few pages.

You must make sure not to edit while reading, because it is a complete waste of time at this stage since you may have to make major changes which will make your edits completely unnecessary. I tried this before and it will make you unwilling to make the major changes because of all the time you put into editing the scene unnecessarily.

With the Beat Sheet completed, it will be easier to move around scenes, see if things work, delete/insert entire scenes, and be able to see the big picture rather than getting lost in the words. I have yet to read the chapter on what to do after I am done creating a Beat Sheet.

The times I tried to edit, I normally gave up after reading 25% or so of my manuscript, but this time around I have read almost 80% of it. I am hoping to make it to the finish line and not have to reread the manuscript because I will have the Beat Sheet handy to work from until I am ready to make changes.

At the same time that I am excited that I will soon know what I wrote three or so years ago, I am fearful of the huge edits I will need to make and how much work that will take but I hope it will make me a better writer. I will have 'Nail Your Novel' handy to answer questions about rewriting. I may even read the chapters about what to do before writing the manuscript and when writing the first draft to see what insights those hold.

If you have a completed manuscript that you don't know what to do about, do pick up this book and see if it helps.

5/5

At the beginning we see Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman) in her singing lessons. She has fallen in love. Unfortunately for her, her lover, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), wants to move to London, the very place that Paula's aunt was murdered.

She loves him enough to tell him that her aunt left her a house in London. Soon after, they get married and move there. Unfortunately for her, he's not as he once seemed.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!:
We see Paula getting driven mad by her husband. She does not leave the house, she does not have any friends. The best part about this film was that everything was done so gradually and the husband acted in such a way that Paula didn't even realise what was happening.

What is Paula's husband after?

An impressive film.

8/10

A beautiful eighteen-year-old girl named Eden thought she could have everything, that she even set her eyes on her new music teacher who is four years older than her. After seeing him, James Christian, Eden can think of nothing but him. She no longer wishes to be with her current boyfriend, Matt, since she feels that any excitement their relationship had died long ago, and that she and Matt were only together so that they would have someone to date.

Not only that, Eden starts to feel too immature compared to her twenty-two-year-old teacher. She starts listening to classical music, which James refers to as food, while all other types of music are referred to as junk food. She starts to find her pastimes, such as partying, childish compared to what she imagines James would do during his pastimes. Eden starts coming to school early to get a chance to talk to him alone before class begins, and to help pass out any papers, and even to give him hints about her thoughts of him.

Will Matt let go of Eden so easily? How will Eden get her teacher to like her enough to forget that they're not allowed to date? Will James succumb and fall for his beautiful student? If so, will Eden and James get caught?

Every here and there, there are word omissions, indicating the need for more editing. At times the sentences were too short. But those errors are easy to avoid because of the gripping story. At first I thought the progression that Eden experienced of leaving her boyfriend and of no longer partying happened too quickly. But then I thought about it and remembered that she just used to party because she didn't really have a family to go home to ever since her mother died and her father remarried. Thus, perhaps Eden was looking to move on for a long time and her new teacher gave her enough motivation to do so.

I wish the ending had been more precise of what to imagine would happen, but even without that, it was a great story about a girl neglected from parental love for about ten years.

Overall, if the book had been edited a few more times it could have been much better to read. But regardless of that, it was a great story and it left me thinking about the characters after I had completed the novel.

Quotes (may contain spoilers)

Eden describing James: "His skin wasn't the honey tan of most southern California boys I knew, but rather a pale luminescence, like a candle just starting to glow." (2)

"At first only the piano, light trickling notes that danced on the fringe of heaven. Then the voice. The sound stopped me." (11)

"My heart started to thump as his fingers swept the keys, taking my pulse and blending it with the melody." (11)

Eden: "Matt and I had really only been two people playing at liking each other because being alone was the lame alternative. We'd both be news tomorrow. I'd be barraged by leftover guys." (20)

Eden describes James playing the piano: "His fingers taunted the ivory keys." (33)

"Boys could be disgusted by honesty. But then I realized he wasn't a boy. He was a man. Were men disgusted by honesty?" (40-1)

"Verbalizing meant admitting that we were all about the show, some intricate spectacle that might run down, like a clock inevitably unwinding. Then everything would stand still. Others could examine us." (42)

"For a second I saw myself inside one of those confession boxes. I wondered what it would be like, to share my sins with a hidden stranger. I wondered if James Christian had anything to confess." (44)

«Les amours imaginaires» est un film qui était filmé à Montréal, Québec et qui a fait sa sortie en 2010. Il est un film de fiction un peu différent parce que le réalisateur et le scénariste, s'appelle Xavier Dolan, joue aussi un rôle principal dans le film. Il est très jeune, né seulement en 1989, pour avoir réalisé aussi un autre film s'appelle «J'ai tué ma mère». J'ai beaucoup aimé quelques chansons qui étaient sélectionnées pour certaines scènes, par exemple «Bang bang» de Dalida, de laquelle il y a aussi une version française s'appelle «Bang bang» de Sheila. Ce que j'ai trouvé, c'est que quelques acteurs fumaient beaucoup comme il n'y a pas d'autres choses à faire avec leurs mains.

Le film est sur une femme s'appelle Marie et un homme s'appelle Francis qui tombent amoureux du même homme s'appelle Nicolas. Mais Marie et Francis sont les meilleurs amis et à cause de ça, ils remarquent que Nicolas invite toujours tous les deux lorsqu'il les invite quelque part, et ceci provoque des problèmes avec leur amitié.

On se demande au cours de regarder ce film si Nicolas aime vraiment un des amis, Marie ou Francis, ou si Marie et Francis s'aperçoivent la situation comme ça. J'ai trouvé intéressant que dans une scène Nicolas est montré ressemblant à un dieu grec avec ses cheveux blonds et frisés. Il est comme un homme idéal pour Marie et Francis tous les deux. En tout, le film n'est pas mal. Au contraire, il est bon pour passer le temps si l'on a le temps.

Je n'ai pas pensé au début que j'aimerais beaucoup ce film québécois. J'aimais bien la façon que le film était tourné, parce que bien qu'on voit le passé et le présent se produire à la fois, l'ordre des scènes a maintenu mon intérêt. Il est un film de fiction et aussi un film à suspense parce qu'on se demande ce qui a passé dans le passé de la protagoniste s'appelle Nawal Marwan. Le film raconte l'histoire de Nawal comme les flash-backs pendant qu'on voit ce qui passe dans le présent dans la vie de sa fille s'appelle Jeanne et de son fils s'appelle Simon.

Au début du film, on voit un garçon qui a trois marques au dos de son pied et on découvre ensuite que celui-ci est un autre enfant de Nawal. Aussi ce qui passe au début du film, c'est que Nawal meurt, et Jeanne et Simon sont donnés les dernières volontés d'elle. Nawal veut que Jeanne et Simon aillent trouver leur frère et leur père pour donner à chacun une lettre. Mais, pour trouver leur frère et leur père, il faut qu'ils aillent au Moyen-Orient.

(Ne lisez pas la suite si vous ne voulez pas savoir ce qui se passe!)

On découvre que Nawal a souffert énormément à cause d'avoir été née au Moyen-Orient où les gens sont plutôt obtus. Par exemple, quand elle voulait qu'elle et son amant s'enfuient ensemble, quelqu'un de sa famille l'a tiré. Après qu'elle accouche de son enfant, on découvre qu'on ne lui permis pas de le garder. Donc, après quelques ans, elle essaye de le retrouver mais elle ne réussit pas, et par conséquent elle pense souvent de cet enfant-ci pendant toute sa vie. Nawal ne tombe jamais amoureuse à nouveau. Et ses deux autres enfants, Jeanne et Simon sont née à la suite de Nawal avoir été violée pendant qu'elle a été dans une prison. Il me semble que le nom du film indique ce qui est arrivé à la vie de la protagoniste, Nawal. À la fin du film, on se demande combien de choses de tragique peuvent arriver dans la vie d'une seule personne.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma is written from the prospective of a brother and sister, Lochan and Maya Whitely, so we know what's going on in both of their minds. Their world is well described that I felt like I was a part of it. One of the characters in particular named Kit, 13, was so realistic, with his want to bother others for no reason at all, and try to oppose authority that it seemed like Tiffin, 9, the younger brother, wasn't as real as him. The story revolves around the two protagonists, Lochan and Maya, their sister Walla, and their brothers Kit and Tiffin.

(Contains spoilers!)

The novel wasn't bad, however the last one hundred pages seemed to be dragging on a bit. I felt like I was emotionally connected to the story, because I didn't want the protagonists to get caught. But at the same time, I felt like the ending wasn't bad at all. In this novel, the protagonists do get caught, and we see the result of that. Which I found was different than what might have happened in other novels.

The novel is about a brother and sister, Lochan,17, and Maya, 16, who are left in charge of their three siblings, Walla, 5; Tiffin, 9; and Kit, 13, since their mother is a waitress, an alcoholic, and is currently dating the owner of the bar in which she works. Now, she is coming home less frequently. And so, Lochan and Maya must make sure to get their siblings to school on time, pick them up from school, make sure they do their homework, and be entertained until their bedtime. The two of them must also cook, clean the house, do groceries, and beg their mother for some money etc. Thus, Lochan and Maya were acting almost like the parents of their siblings.

Lochan has trouble speaking with others outside of his family. His words don't come out and when he tries to speak, the words escape him. Thus at school, he is a loner, and home is where he can be himself.

Eventually the Lochan and Maya notice how attractive the other one has become. And eventually they realise how much they depend on each other, even need each other, and how attracted they are to one another.

Incest, however, is against the law and so it's against what society considers right. Will Lochan and Maya's relationship be found out while living in a house with their three other siblings and having their mother drop by every once in a while?

3.5/5

A beautiful eighteen-year-old girl named Eden thought she could have everything, that she even set her eyes on her new music teacher who is four years older than her. After seeing him, James Christian, Eden can think of nothing but him. She no longer wishes to be with her current boyfriend, Matt, since she feels that any excitement their relationship had died long ago, and that she and Matt were only together so that they would have someone to date.

Not only that, Eden starts to feel too immature compared to her twenty-two-year-old teacher. She starts listening to classical music, which James refers to as food, while all other types of music are referred to as junk food. She starts to find her pastimes, such as partying, childish compared to what she imagines James would do during his pastimes. Eden starts coming to school early to get a chance to talk to him alone before class begins, and to help pass out any papers, and even to give him hints about her thoughts of him.

Will Matt let go of Eden so easily? How will Eden get her teacher to like her enough to forget that they're not allowed to date? Will James succumb and fall for his beautiful student? If so, will Eden and James get caught?

Every here and there, there are word omissions, indicating the need for more editing. At times the sentences were too short. But those errors are easy to avoid because of the gripping story. At first I thought the progression that Eden experienced of leaving her boyfriend and of no longer partying happened too quickly. But then I thought about it and remembered that she just used to party because she didn't really have a family to go home to ever since her mother died and her father remarried. Thus, perhaps Eden was looking to move on for a long time and her new teacher gave her enough motivation to do so.

I wish the ending had been more precise of what to imagine would happen, but even without that, it was a great story about a girl neglected from parental love for about ten years.

Overall, if the book had been edited a few more times it could have been much better to read. But regardless of that, it was a great story and it left me thinking about the characters after I had completed the novel.

Quotes (may contain spoilers)

Eden describing James: "His skin wasn't the honey tan of most southern California boys I knew, but rather a pale luminescence, like a candle just starting to glow." (2)

"At first only the piano, light trickling notes that danced on the fringe of heaven. Then the voice. The sound stopped me." (11)

"My heart started to thump as his fingers swept the keys, taking my pulse and blending it with the melody." (11)

Eden: "Matt and I had really only been two people playing at liking each other because being alone was the lame alternative. We'd both be news tomorrow. I'd be barraged by leftover guys." (20)

Eden describes James playing the piano: "His fingers taunted the ivory keys." (33)

"Boys could be disgusted by honesty. But then I realized he wasn't a boy. He was a man. Were men disgusted by honesty?" (40-1)

"Verbalizing meant admitting that we were all about the show, some intricate spectacle that might run down, like a clock inevitably unwinding. Then everything would stand still. Others could examine us." (42)

"For a second I saw myself inside one of those confession boxes. I wondered what it would be like, to share my sins with a hidden stranger. I wondered if James Christian had anything to confess." (44)

4/5

These three books were all about forbidden love between a vampires, humans, and witches. However, in these stories, the characters didn't really care about the Night World laws. The stories were a bit different, and there were some enjoyable parts, but a lot of stories revolving around the same theme do get boring. They're good as short reads since each of them is about 50,000 words, especially if you get bored of characters fast. Dark Angel, for me, was the most enjoyable read.

You can see my individual reviews for the products by clicking on their link and searching for them.

DARK ANGEL - 3.5/ 5

Dark Angel was somewhat different than the previous three stories in the series since it doesn't just introduce two characters and say that they're soul mates. Throughout a great part of the story I wondered who exactly a character named `Angel' was. The previous stories never had such a character who would speak inside the mind of the protagonist.

One day, while walking home from school, Gillian hears a child crying near the creek. She has to help and thinks that the child might be drowning, so she looks into the creek only to lose her balance and falls in.

Somehow she manages to make it out of the creek, but it's wintertime and she's freezing. Her body eventually stops creating heat and she has no strength to move. She sees a tunnel with light at the end of it. Then she hears a beautiful boy who asks her if she wants to live. But she doesn't know what to live for since her mother is an alcoholic, her parents are unhappy together, and she is unpopular in school. But somehow the beautiful boy makes her see that there are things to live for and so Gillian chooses to live.

She is told by the beautiful boy's voice to go in front of the car that is passing by. It's David's car, the boy that she has had a crush on for a long time. He helps get her home.

She starts to hear the voice of the beautiful boy inside her head. He tells her what she must do in order to become popular. And he tells her to trust him and to call him `Angel' because he's her guardian angel.

But who really is Angel? And how difficult will it be for Gillian to become popular and get David, the boy she likes?

THE CHOSEN - 3/5

The Chosen by L.J. Smith did not excite me. Perhaps it was because it revolved around a vampire hunter and it was not the type of book I was looking for. After telling us the background information of the protagonist, the story seemed to start later on. I kept zoning out when I was being told of Rashel's vampire hunting adventures. I thought it was interesting that there was a secret club that teens went to who were really into death and darkness, and I also liked Quinn the vampire.

On Rashel's fifth birthday party, inside a tube structure, she saw a man with red hair who seemed to be devouring her friend, Timmy. She managed to call for help, but when her mother came, the vampire broke the mother's neck. Rashel then got sent to her only relative's house to live, but that same vampire set the house on fire, and Rashel's relative died.

After that, Rashel started moving around a lot, going from one foster family to the next. But what she knew most was that she must learn to protect herself from vampires, and that she wanted that very vampire, the one that killed her mother and Timmy, dead.

In the future, Rashel becomes a vampire hunter, and has a few vampire hunter friends. They are observing a warehouse area because they suspect something is going on there. Rashel has knocked down a vampire named Quinn and they have taken him to a room. She tells her fellow vampire hunters that she will look after the vampire until go run an errand. Secretly she is thinking about staking him and not letting the others see this happen.

Everything goes wrong and Rashel willingly allows the vampire to escape. Now, she's all on her own to discover what's going on in the warehouses and to win back the respect she has lost from her fellow vampire hunters. They no longer believe her when she finds out that something big is actually going on in those warehouses.

SOULMATE - 3/5

Soulmate by L.J. Smith was an okay story. The beginning was extremely interesting, but after a chapter or two, it somehow went downhill. I did like that the protagonist, Hannah, has had many past lives, but she fails to remember them. What I didn't like was that sometimes while I was reading the story, I felt like I was inside a box. Although the story was a little different from the previous stories in the Night World series, all the stories are about forbidden love and so in the end cannot be very different. I also didn't like the decision that Hannah made in the end.

The story starts with Hannah Snow, a girl with a large birthmark on her face, in the psychologist's office, telling him that she has finding notes in her room in her own handwriting but she has no recollection of writing them. She writes notes such as: "Dead before seventeen." (435)

Then the bell rings and Paul the psychologist goes to open the door even after Hannah instinctually warns him not to, and at the same time a wolf breaks in through the window and tries to attack Hannah.

Only with the help of her psychologist will she be able to find out why she keeps writing notes to herself about death. How many past lives has she had? And why does Hannah keep dying before the age of seventeen in each one of them? How did the birthmark on her face come to be?

The Chosen by L.J. Smith did not excite me. Perhaps it was because it revolved around a vampire hunter and it was not the type of book I was looking for. After telling us the background information of the protagonist, the story seemed to start later on. I kept zoning out when I was being told of Rashel's vampire hunting adventures. I thought it was interesting that there was a secret club that teens went to who were really into death and darkness, and I also liked Quinn the vampire.

On Rashel's fifth birthday party, inside a tube structure, she saw a man with red hair who seemed to be devouring her friend, Timmy. She managed to call for help, but when her mother came, the vampire broke the mother's neck. Rashel then got sent to her only relative's house to live, but that same vampire set the house on fire, and Rashel's relative died.

After that, Rashel started moving around a lot, going from one foster family to the next. But what she knew most was that she must learn to protect herself from vampires, and that she wanted that very vampire, the one that killed her mother and Timmy, dead.

In the future, Rashel becomes a vampire hunter, and has a few vampire hunter friends. They are observing a warehouse area because they suspect something is going on there. Rashel has knocked down a vampire named Quinn and they have taken him to a room. She tells her fellow vampire hunters that she will look after the vampire until go run an errand. Secretly she is thinking about staking him and not letting the others see this happen.

May contain spoilers ahead:

But she can't stake a vampire that hasn't done anything to her, especially one that's knocked out. Nothing goes according to plan. Once she starts speaking to John Quinn the vampire, she starts to see him as a person, not as a rogue vampires that she often kills, and she doesn't want to kill him.

When Quinn escapes from his wooden handcuffs, Rashel fights him with her hands because she doesn't want to use her blade. And once their hands brush together, she feels a shock going through her and everything changes. Quinn starts to take the scarf off her face to see how she looks, just when her fellow vampire hunters walk in.

Rashel doesn't want Quinn to get hurt and tells him to leave, and eventually he does. But with this, she has lost all respect from her fellow vampire hunters who start to think that she is in fact a vampire lover.

Now, Rashel is all on her own to discover what's going on in the warehouses and to win back the respect she has lost from her fellow vampire hunters. They no longer believe her when she finds out that something big is actually going on in those warehouses.

QUOTES (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!)

Definition of `rogue': "a depraved monster who killed human kids foolishly close to human habitations." (233)

Poem written by Daphne: "There's warmth in ice; there's cooling peace in fire, / And midnight light to show us all the way. / The dancing flame becomes a funeral pyre; / The Dark was more enticing than the Day." (307)

Quinn's thoughts: "He let the cold air soak into him, permeating his body, mixing with the cold he felt inside. He imagined himself freezing solid--a rather pleasant thought." (342)

Quinn to Rashel: "Besides, now that I have seen your face, I can't stand the sight of myself in your eyes. I know what you think of me." (379)

Quinn to Rashel when she's unable to hit him: "I told you before. You're an idiot." (379)

Quinn to Rashel, speaking in her mind: "It's the idea that everyone has one and just one soulmate in the world, and that if you find them, you recognize them immediately." (399)

Rashel's description: "It was as if a dragon had breathed suddenly into the room, sending a roaring gale of fire through it." (415)

Rashel: "The night has a thousand eyes." (234)
Elliot: ""And the day only one," came the reply from the intercom." (234)

Soulmate by L.J. Smith was an okay story. The beginning was extremely interesting, but after a chapter or two, it somehow went downhill. I did like that the protagonist, Hannah, has had many past lives, but she fails to remember them. What I didn't like was that sometimes while I was reading the story, I felt like I was inside a box. Although the story was a little different from the previous stories in the Night World series, all the stories are about forbidden love and so in the end cannot be very different. I also didn't like the decision that Hannah made in the end.

The story starts with Hannah Snow, a girl with a large birthmark on her face, in the psychologist's office, telling him that she has finding notes in her room in her own handwriting but she has no recollection of writing them. She writes notes such as: "Dead before seventeen." (435)

Then the bell rings and Paul the psychologist goes to open the door even after Hannah instinctually warns him not to, and at the same time a wolf breaks in through the window and tries to attack Hannah.

Only with the help of her psychologist will she be able to find out why she keeps writing notes to herself about death. How many past lives has she had? And why does Hannah keep dying before the age of seventeen in each one of them? How did the birthmark on her face come to be?

QUOTES (CONTAIN SPOILERS!)

Hannah's thoughts: "She didn't know why she felt this way--but it hurt her terribly. It was as if she were losing something . . . infinitely precious . . . before she'd had a chance to know it." (496)

About Thierry: "He wanted her. He loved her . . . adored her. He thought of her the way poets think of the moon and the stars--in ridiculous hyperbole. He actually saw her surrounded by a sort of silvery halo." (513)

Hannah's thoughts: "I don't know why people are afraid of vampires, she thought. A human could tease or torture a vampire this way, driving him insane--if she were cruel." (516)

About Hannah: "The house was too bright. The clock on the kitchen wall was too loud. She had the distracted feeling that it wasn't either night or daytime. It was like coming out of a theatre and being surprised to find that it's still light outside. She felt that this couldn't be the same house she'd left an hour ago. She wasn't the same person who had left. Everything around her seemed like some carefully staged movie set that was supposed to be real, but wasn't, and only she could tell the difference." (521)

Hannah's thoughts about Thierry: "His dark eyes seemed pensive again, the sort of expression a star might have if it cared about anything that was going on underneath it. Infinitely remote, but infinitely sad, too." (576)

3/5