#FirstDraft120 Day 101: Timer Tuesday (New Year, Revised Goals) | #amwriting #1k1hr
Moving forward with our “New Year, Revised Goals” theme for the remainder of FD120, our challenge on Timer Tuesdays will be to schedule and complete a solid one-hour block of writing-related work during the day. If you’re still working on a word-count goal for your first draft, please continue with a regular 1k1hr sprint, if you so desire. For those of us who are now looking at a goal of spending more time writing, the focus of that scheduled, uninterrupted hour isn’t trying to hit a word-count but just making sure we’re completely focused on something fiction-writing related for the entire hour with no distractions.
IT’S TIMER TUESDAY!
I’m going to try to do my #1k1h fiction-focused hour today at 4:30 PM US Central time*.
*To determine the time of the 1k1hr sprint in your time zone, go to the Time Converter website by clicking the image above and inputting my time (as Nashville or Central Standard Time) on the left, and your city/location on the right. For example, 4:30 PM Tuesday in Nashville is 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Sydney, Australia.
What time will you be doing your 1k1hr today? Or if you absolutely cannot do one full hour, how will you make sure you get at least one hour of writing-related work done today?
Remember, the more support (and accountability) there is, the more successful we’ll all be!
1k1h Tips for Success (Updated for New Year, Revised Goals)
- Prevent Interruptions.
Let anyone within your household know that you need one uninterrupted hour to try to head off at the pass any interruptions. - Set a Timer.
This is most important. Don’t do this by just watching the clock. You’ll find yourself only watching the clock and not getting anything accomplished. Setting a timer allows you to forget about the time and concentrate fully on your project. - Prepare Ahead of Time.
Schedule your 1k1hr time far enough in advance (allow yourself at least an hour if not more) in order to start thinking about what you’re going to work on. Even if you’re doing something else until just about time to work, you can still use part of your brain to be thinking ahead as to what scene you’re going to write or what story idea you’re going to work on. Be sure to allow a few minutes before your work time starts in order to truly prepare, though.–For Sprint Writing: Re-read the last few pages you wrote (without editing/revising!) to get your head back into the story and figure out where you need to pick up. Review your outline and/or character pages in your Story Bible. If you’re going to be sprint writing, put all of that away so you don’t use those to procrastinate during the hour.
–For Project Time: If you’re focused on building time rather than word-count, surround yourself with all of these things in order to keep from having to stop to find stuff as you work. The more things you have that will spark your creativity and present new ideas to you, the better.
- Music:
–For Sprint Writing: If you listen to music while writing (I recommend instrumental so that you don’t get distracted by the lyrics), have it set up and playing before starting your timer. Use earphones, even if you’re working at home, to block out any sounds that might pull you out of your story.–For Project Time: Have you considered setting up a “playlist” for your story/idea? Do you have a theme song for each of your main characters? How does/could music play into your story idea/character development. (See this post for an example.)
- Wear Earphones.
If you can’t listen to music while writing/working, I recommend wearing the earphones anyway. People are less likely to interrupt you (at home or working somewhere like a coffee shop) if you have them in/on—and they help block out other distracting sounds. - Prepare Your Work Space.
Make sure your work space (both physical and mental) is set up and ready to go before you start your timer, whether your sprint writing or working on a writing-related project for the hour. In other words, make sure that about five to ten minutes before you start the 1k1h time begins, you’re in the process of getting ready to work. - Eliminate all distractions!
Silence or turn off your cell phone (unless you’re using it as your timer—then don’t turn it off, just put your phone in Airplane Mode; or if there are people who may absolutely need to get in touch with you—spouse, kids, etc.—set up your Do Not Disturb with exceptions for those few people.). Close your Internet browser. Close Facebook and Twitter. Close your email program if you use something like Outlook that isn’t web-based.
Can’t figure out how to get started sprint writing? Check out one of the previous Timer Tuesday posts for ideas.
Don’t forget to check in with your progress and how you do with your own 1k1hr writing/project time today!
#FirstDraft120 Day 100: Monday Momentum–A Literary Agent on PASSION for Writing | #amwriting
Now that I’m back from my holiday travels and sitting at my own desk with my brand-new laptop all set up and ready to go, it’s time to get back on track for our final push of FirstDraft120! As a reminder, here are the regular “events” during the week:
Monday: Motivation for building momentum
Tuesday: Timer Tuesday (1k1hr sprints/blocks of writing-work time)
Wednesday: Story bible update/new story idea work
Thursday: THORsday–timed, handwritten, offline, remote
Friday: SWAT–Self-evaluation, Word count (or total time), Awesome accomplishments, Tidbits to share
Today’s Motivational Moment to Build Momentum
Today’s motivational moment comes from the Author Learning Center channel on YouTube. It’s part of an interview with literary agent Harvey Klinger in which he talks about what it takes for authors to be successful. And around this blog, “success” means meeting your goals, whether that’s to get published or just to get something (anything) written.
What’s motivating you today? How will you build momentum going into this new week?
#FirstDraft120 Day 97: Check in for SWAT Day! (New Year, Revised Goals) | #amwriting
It’s Friday! And that means I want to know about your full writing week. What were your greatest successes during the week? What was your favorite line/bit that you wrote? What did you learn about yourself, your characters, and/or your story during the week’s work? What are you most proud of yourself for doing this week when it came to your writing? What are you proud of yourself for accomplishing?
In the business world, there’s a planning model called SWOT—which is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Around here, we’re going to use SWAT, but we’re going to do it differently, so check in with the following recap for your week:
- Self-Evaluation (how do you think you did? what can/do you want to do differently next week? what did you learn about yourself as a person or as a writer? what didn’t you do or finish that you wanted to? etc.)
- Word count (total for the week, Tuesday through today)
- Awesome Accomplishments (breakthroughs, discoveries, highest daily word-count ever, etc.)
- Tidbits to share—something you wrote that’s just too good not to share or that struck you as funny or whatever.
If you don’t want to share this stuff publicly, that’s okay. You can add a section to your Story Bible or start a journal (or add this to your existing journal) to keep track of this. But don’t skip doing this—I think that in the future, when you look back either on what you accomplished during this challenge or (heaven forbid) why you gave up on it, the insights you’ll gather later with hindsight on your thoughts during the challenge will be invaluable.
Happy writing!
#FirstDraft120 Day 96: THORsday Thursday (New Year, Revised Goals) | #amwriting #handwriting
On Thursdays, we do an alternate version of Timer Tuesday—instead of challenging ourselves to sit at the computer and try to crank out as many words as fast as we can, the challenge is to get away from the computer.
What Does THORsday Mean?
It’s pretty simple. Our writing challenge for today is:
Timed
Handwritten
Offline
Remote
What that means is that for the length of time you designate (half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour, etc.), you will write by hand (on actual paper). You will turn off all of your Internet-connected devices (or put them away/get away from them). And you will find a remote spot in which to work—in other words, don’t do this at the same place where you usually write. Go into a different room. Go outside. If you can, get out of the house and go work somewhere else, like your public library or a coffee shop.
Otherwise, try to follow all of the [revised] suggestions that we use for regular 1k1hr writing sprints.
Assignment: Leave a comment with your THORsday goal—when, where, and for how long do you plan to do your handwritten challenge today? If you’d like to, for accountability’s sake, come back afterward and post an image of your handwritten work.
#FirstDraft120 Day 95: Story Bible Update/Story Idea Notebook | #amwriting
As a reminder for those still keeping up with the FirstDraft120 challenge, Wednesday is the day to review your story bible and see what needs to be updated or revised.
If you’ve gotten out of touch with what’s in your story bible, today would be a good day to do a quick skim of all of your sections/pages as a reminder. If you’re on top of most of it, pick a few sections you haven’t updated recently and go ahead and work on those. But don’t forget to get your word count in, too!
If you’re doing project time instead of word count (like me) and you aren’t sure what writing-related work you want to do today, consider setting up a OneNote Notebook (or other kind of organizational method) of “Story Ideas” and start filling it up!
Assignment: Be sure to check in with your progress/accomplishments!
2017 Reading Challenge Goal(s), Challenge(s), and List(s) #amreading
As you may have seen on Sunday, I posted the results of my 2016 Reading Challenge (I use Goodreads to track this—I’ve linked all the titles in the list to my review/status-update page on GR; most with a text review have also been posted here on the blog, so you’ve probably seen them.)
My goal last year was to read 60 books—or, one more than I read in 2015. As you can see . . .
I more than met that goal! (Of course, when I say “books,” what I mean is individual titles that can be found on GR. These may be short stories that are included in a single anthology, novellas, and even children’s books. The technicality of what I’m including isn’t important; it’s important that I’m reading more and doing it more often!)
As I’ve done for the past several years, I’ve set this year’s goal by simply adding one to the previous year’s total. That puts me at a goal of 65 titles to be read in 2017 (an average of 5.4 titles per month).
And with the exception of the letter X, I completed my A to Z author-name challenge in 2016 as well. And so, this year, I’m one-upping myself on that, too. While there were many letters of the alphabet for which I read more than one author’s books (so only counting one tick mark for the letter for books by the same author, e.g., Rowling or Wilder, even though I read multiple books by each of them), my goal this year is to read at least two authors’ books for each letter of the alphabet. (X being optional, since it’s hard to come by authors with names starting with X, though I may extend it to first names just to get that one in.)
I went through both my Goodreads and public library wishlists and compiled a TBR list for 2017 with two authors for each title. (I appears to have only one, because my first I author, Kara Isaacs, is already on my Currently Reading list.)
How did you do with your reading goal(s)/challenge(s) in 2016? What goal(s)/challenge(s) have you set for yourself? Are there any books coming out in 2017 that you’re particularly looking forward to reading? Please feel free to share links!
#FirstDraft120 Day 94: Timer Tuesday! (New Year, Revised Goals) #amwriting #1k1hr
Happy New Year!
Moving forward with our “New Year, Revised Goals” theme for the remainder of FD120, our challenge on Timer Tuesdays will be to schedule and complete a solid one-hour block of writing-related work during the day. If you’re still working on a word-count goal for your first draft, please continue with a regular 1k1hr sprint, if you so desire. For those of us who are now looking at a goal of spending more time writing, the focus of that scheduled, uninterrupted hour isn’t trying to hit a word-count but just making sure we’re completely focused on something fiction-writing related for the entire hour with no distractions.
IT’S TIMER TUESDAY!
I’m going to try to do my #1k1h fiction-focused hour today at 3:30 PM US Central time*.
*To determine the time of the 1k1hr sprint in your time zone, go to the Time Converter website by clicking the image above and inputting my time (as Nashville or Central Standard Time) on the left, and your city/location on the right. For example, 3:30 PM Tuesday in Nashville is 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Sydney, Australia.
What time will you be doing your 1k1hr today? Or if you absolutely cannot do one full hour, how will you make sure you get at least one hour of writing-related work done today?
Remember, the more support (and accountability) there is, the more successful we’ll all be!
1k1h Tips for Success (Updated for New Year, Revised Goals)
- Prevent Interruptions.
Let anyone within your household know that you need one uninterrupted hour to try to head off at the pass any interruptions. - Set a Timer.
This is most important. Don’t do this by just watching the clock. You’ll find yourself only watching the clock and not getting anything accomplished. Setting a timer allows you to forget about the time and concentrate fully on your project. - Prepare Ahead of Time.
Schedule your 1k1hr time far enough in advance (allow yourself at least an hour if not more) in order to start thinking about what you’re going to work on. Even if you’re doing something else until just about time to work, you can still use part of your brain to be thinking ahead as to what scene you’re going to write or what story idea you’re going to work on. Be sure to allow a few minutes before your work time starts in order to truly prepare, though.–For Sprint Writing: Re-read the last few pages you wrote (without editing/revising!) to get your head back into the story and figure out where you need to pick up. Review your outline and/or character pages in your Story Bible. If you’re going to be sprint writing, put all of that away so you don’t use those to procrastinate during the hour.
–For Project Time: If you’re focused on building time rather than word-count, surround yourself with all of these things in order to keep from having to stop to find stuff as you work. The more things you have that will spark your creativity and present new ideas to you, the better.
- Music:
–For Sprint Writing: If you listen to music while writing (I recommend instrumental so that you don’t get distracted by the lyrics), have it set up and playing before starting your timer. Use earphones, even if you’re working at home, to block out any sounds that might pull you out of your story.–For Project Time: Have you considered setting up a “playlist” for your story/idea? Do you have a theme song for each of your main characters? How does/could music play into your story idea/character development. (See this post for an example.)
- Wear Earphones.
If you can’t listen to music while writing/working, I recommend wearing the earphones anyway. People are less likely to interrupt you (at home or working somewhere like a coffee shop) if you have them in/on—and they help block out other distracting sounds. - Prepare Your Work Space.
Make sure your work space (both physical and mental) is set up and ready to go before you start your timer, whether your sprint writing or working on a writing-related project for the hour. In other words, make sure that about five to ten minutes before you start the 1k1h time begins, you’re in the process of getting ready to work. - Eliminate all distractions!
Silence or turn off your cell phone (unless you’re using it as your timer—then don’t turn it off, just put your phone in Airplane Mode; or if there are people who may absolutely need to get in touch with you—spouse, kids, etc.—set up your Do Not Disturb with exceptions for those few people.). Close your Internet browser. Close Facebook and Twitter. Close your email program if you use something like Outlook that isn’t web-based.
Can’t figure out how to get started sprint writing? Check out one of the previous Timer Tuesday posts for ideas.
Don’t forget to check in with your progress and how you do with your own 1k1hr writing/project time today!
Books Read in 2016: A Recap of My Reading Challenge #amreading #bookreport
This year, I decided that for my reading challenge, I’d do an A to Z challenge. You can see how I came up with it here. (As for the other part of my challenge with the books for my grad school reading group, it petered out about halfway through the six-month list of books.)
Now that the year is over, here’s what I read in 2016. The link on each title will go to Goodreads in a new tab. (See my star ratings matrix here.)
Austen, Jane — Persuasion [Annual Austen | 5 stars]
- Also Read:
- Alexander, Victoria — Secrets of a Proper Lady (Last Man Standing, #3) [Historical Romance, Regency | 1 star/DNF]
- Abercrombie, Joe — “Some Desperado” (Anthology: Dangerous Women) [Short Story, Historical Fiction | 3 stars]
- Abbott, Megan — “My Heart Is Either Broken” (Anthology: Dangerous Women) [Short Story, Contemporary Mystery | 3 stars]
.
Balogh, Mary — Only Beloved (The Survivors’ Club, #7) [Historical Romance, Regency | 4 stars]
- Also Read:
- Banks, Maya — In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #1) [Historical Romance, Medieval | 2.5 stars]
.
Cather, Willa — O Pioneers! [Historical Fiction, Classic American Lit | 4 stars]
- Also Read:
- Cleary, Beverly — The Ramona Quimby Audio Collection [Classic Children’s Lit | 4 stars]
.
Doescher, Ian — William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope [Star Wars | 5 stars]
- Also Read:
- Dickens, Charles — Bleak House [Classic British Lit | 4 stars]
.
Evanovich, Janet — Wife for Hire (Elsie Hawkins #3) [Contemporary Romance | 3.5 stars]
.
Forester, C. S. — Hornblower During the Crisis (Hornblower Saga: Chronological Order, #4) [Historical Fiction, Georgian/Napoleonic | 5 stars]
- Also Read:
- Featherstone, Charlotte — Seduction & Scandal (The Brethren Guardians, #1) [Historical Romance, Victorian | 4.25 stars]
- Foster, Alan Dean — The Force Awakens [Star Wars movie novelization | 4 stars]
.
Gray, Claudia — Star Wars: Bloodline [Star Wars | 4 stars]
- Also Read:
- Gaskell, Elizabeth — North and South [Classic British Literature | 3 stars]
- Gregory, Philippa — The Boleyn Inheritance [Historical Fiction, Tudor Era | 4.5 stars]
.
Harrison, Audrey — The Captain’s Wallflower [Historical Romance, Regency | 2.5 stars]
- Also Read:
- Hedlund, Jody — Out of the Storm (Beacons of Hope #0.5) [Historical Inspy Romance, American 19th Century | 3 stars]
- Hunter, Elizabeth — “A Very Proper Monster” (Duology: Beneath a Waning Moon) [Historical Paranormal Romance, Victorian | 3.75 stars]
- Hunter, Kristi Ann — A Noble Masquerade (Hawthorne House, #1) [Historical Inspy Romance, Regency | 3.5 stars]
.
Ireland, Liz — Trouble in Paradise [Historical Romance, American 19th Century | 3 stars]
.
Johnson, Liz — The Red Door Inn (Prince Edward Island Dreams, #1) [Contemporary Inspy Romance | 4.5 stars]
.
Keene, Carolyn — The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew: #1) [Young Adult, Mystery | 4 stars]
- Also Read:
- Kenyon, Sherrilyn — Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter, #1) [Paranormal Romance | 1 star/DNF]
.
Lorret, Vivienne — Tempting Mr. Weatherstone (Wallflower Weddings, #0.5) [Historical Romance, Regency | 4 stars]
.
McCullough, David — 1776 [Nonfiction, American Revolution | 4 stars]
- Also Read:
- Marlowe, Mia — The Curse of Lord Stanstead (The Order of the MUSE, #1) [Paranormal Historical Romance, Regency | 4 stars]
- McMillan, Rachel — A Singular and Whimsical Problem (Herringford and Watts Mysteries #0.5) [Historical Mystery, Edwardian | 3.75 stars]
.
Novik, Naomi — Uprooted [Young Adult Fantasy | 3 stars]
.
Oliveira, Robin — My Name is Mary Sutter [Historical Fiction, American Civil War | 2 stars]
.
Phillips, Susan Elizabeth — Nobody’s Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars, #3) [Contemporary Romance | 1 star/DNF]
- Also Read:
- Petersen, Jenna — From London With Love (Lady Spies, #1) [Historical Romance, Regency | 2 stars]
.
Quinn, Spencer — Dog on It (A Chet and Bernie Mystery, #1) [Humorous Mystery | 4.25 stars]
.
Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone [Young Adult Fantasy | 4 stars]
- Also Read:
- Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [Young Adult Fantasy | 4 stars]
- Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Young Adult Fantasy | 4.5 stars]
- Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [Young Adult Fantasy | 5 stars]
- Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [Young Adult Fantasy | 4 stars]
- Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [Young Adult Fantasy | 4 stars]
- Rowling, J. K. — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [Young Adult Fantasy | 5 stars]
.
St. James, Simone — The Other Side of Midnight [Historical Paranormal Romance, 1920s | 4.25 stars]
- Also Read:
- Schiff, Stacy — The Witches: Salem, 1692 [Nonfiction, American 17th Century | 1 star/DNF]
- Stiefvater, Maggie — The Scorpio Races [Young Adult Historical(?) Fantasy | 2 stars]
.
Thomas, Sherry — The Burning Sky (The Elemental Trilogy, #1) [Young Adult Historical Fantasy, Victorian | 4.25 stars]
- Also Read:
- Toler, Pamela D. — Heroines of Mercy Street [Nonfiction, American Civil War | 4 stars]
.
Ulrich, Lucie — Diamonds Or Donuts [Contemporary Sweet Romance | 3.25 stars]
.
Vatsal, Radha — A Front Page Affair (Kitty Weeks Mystery, #1) [Historical Mystery, 1910s New York | 3.75 stars]
- Also Read:
- Valentin, Barbara — False Start (Assignment: Romance, #1) [Contemporary Romance | 1 star/DNF]
.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls — Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography (Pamela Smith Hill, Ed.) [Nonfiction/Memoir, American 19th Century | 5 stars]
‘Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography’ | Review Part 1
‘Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography’ | Review Part 2
‘Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography’ | Review Part 3
- Also Read:
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — Little House in the Big Woods [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 4 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — Little House on the Prairie [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 4 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — On the Banks of Plum Creek [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 4.5 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — By the Shores of Silver Lake [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 4 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — The Long Winter [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 4 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — Little Town on the Prairie [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 4.5 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — These Happy Golden Years [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 5 stars]
- Wilder, Laura Ingalls — The First Four Years [Children’s/YA Historical Fiction, American 19th Century | 3 stars]
- Weir, Alison — The Six Wives of Henry VIII [Nonfiction, Tudor Era | 4 stars]
- Weir, Alison — Innocent Traitor [Historical Fiction, Tudor Era | 4 stars]
- Wendell, Sarah and Candy Tan — Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels [Nonfiction, Literary Criticism | 3 stars]
.
Yankovic, Al — My New Teacher and Me! (audiobook read by the author) [Children’s Book | 4.5 stars]
- Also Read:
- Yankovic, Al — When I Grow Up (audiobook read by the author) [Children’s Book | 4.5 stars]
.
Zarr, Sara and Tara Altebrando– Roomies [Young/New Adult | 3.5 stars]
.
If I had to pick a favorite book from this list, it would have to be Pioneer Girl, in combination with re-reading the Little House books along side it.
If you have a recap of your 2016 reading list, please share a link in the comments. What was your favorite book you read in 2016?
_______
My rating matrix:
5 STARS = one of the best I’ve ever read
4 STARS = a great read, highly recommended
3 STARS = it was okay
2 STARS = I didn’t enjoy it all that much, not recommended
1 STAR = DNF (did not finish)
Goodbye, 2016. Hello, 2017. New Year, Revised Goals.
As I look back over the past twelve months, with as much stress as it’s brought, I have to be proud of myself. I’ve read more books this year (for pleasure) than I have in more than a decade. I’ve lost weight (about 40 pounds). And I’ve done more blogging and fiction writing this year than I have in the past several. So, all in all, I can’t say that 2016 was quite such a bad year.
Oh, yeah, and I did this, too:
What I Wish I’d Done Better in 2016
I always wish I’d done everything better, so I guess I should say the top thing I wish I’d done better. I wish I’d eased myself back into writing the way I’ve done it in the past. While doing the FirstDraft120 challenge has been helpful for me—and I’m by no means quitting on it!—trying to jump right in and write a full novel wasn’t the greatest idea. Especially not when I’d gotten completely out of practice of writing at all for the past several years. I’d give you some kind of sports analogy of an athlete who gets injured and spends several years not doing anything physical at all trying to jump back into pro-level sports, but I think you know what I’m talking about.
So instead of castigating myself for not meeting the goal I set back in the beginning of October of finishing a first draft of a new historical romance novel—or, worse, just throwing up my hands and quitting—I’m taking my own advice and restructuring/resetting my goal.
For the remainder of FirstDraft120 (until 1/31/17), my new goal is to do something fiction-writing related for at least one hour (combined) every day.
That means that I might work on writing up a treatment of a new story idea and cast the characters. I might write a scene or two of the story I started for FirstDraft120. I might work on character development for that story or for others I’ve started and then not done anything with over the past year or two.
And I might work on my “imaginary husband” story. Which is what I did for part of the time in the car with my parents traveling to see family in Louisiana last week.
I spent a little while feeling guilty about writing on that instead of on the Spymaster story. But then I made myself stop. You see, almost twenty-five years ago when I had my first bout with extreme depression, I wrote myself out of it by writing something that started out as a “where will we all be in five years” scenario for me and my closest friends from college and turned into a 200,000-word unfinished fictional story that got me through a whole lot of stress and out of which developed Bonneterre, Louisiana, and my first published trilogy.
And when I reminded myself of that, I realized, subconsciously, I’ve been trying to do the same thing with the “imaginary husband” stuff but negating any good it might be doing for me by making myself feel guilty and telling myself it’s not worthwhile.
So in 2017, my goal is to write/work on something fictional every day, whether it’s something I think might be publishable eventually or something just for me. Because my goal at this point (and should have been when I started the FD120 challenge) shouldn’t be to “write a publishable book,” but to “relearn the joy that writing daily can bring.”
That’s also why I’m giving myself a time goal instead of a word-count goal. Because it isn’t the words I produce that are important, but making sure I spend time doing it daily. (I’ll be restarting my tracking spreadsheet in order to track this goal, too.)
Have a Goal for Every Day in 2017
In addition to doing writing-related work for at least an hour every day in 2017, my other goal is to have a goal for every single day: something I want to do, to learn, to accomplish, to complete, to start, etc. For this, I must give a tip of the hat to Mike from one of my favorite YouTube channels, Press Record. Though I’ve known this for many, many years—that I do much better on a daily basis if I’m on a schedule and working toward something specific—Mike said it in just the right way at just the right time (yesterday) for me to be able to articulate it in my own mind. (Skip ahead to 16:23 in the video, if it doesn’t automatically start there. Also, “Nora” is one of his dogs.)
What are your goals/revised goals for 2017?
Books Read in 2016: ROOMIES by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando (3.5 stars) #amreading
Roomies
by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
Audiobook read by Becca Battoe and Emily Eiden
My rating: 3.5 stars
Book Summary:
When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl’s summer — and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room.As the countdown to college begins, life at home becomes increasingly complex. With family relationships and childhood friendships strained by change, it suddenly seems that the only people Elizabeth and Lauren can rely on are the complicated new boys in their lives . . . and each other. Even though they’ve never met.
National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr and acclaimed author Tara Altebrando join forces for a novel about growing up, leaving home, and getting that one fateful e-mail that assigns your college roommate.
My GR Status Update(s):
12/15. . .marked as: currently-reading
12/16. . .25.0%
12/21. . .marked as: read
My Review:
About 3.5 stars.
It’s fitting that I ran across this book right now and decided to read (listen to) it to fulfill the “Z” opening on my A to Z reading challenge for 2016. Why fitting? Because I just finished watching Season 4 of Gilmore Girls—the season which follows Rory to her first year at Yale.
This book covers the summer between high school graduation and college matriculation for two young women: New Jersey native Elizabeth (“EB”) and San Franciscan Lauren. Both girls have family situations that make them antsy to get away for college—though Lauren, as the oldest in a very large family in a very small house, had requested a single room. So while only child EB is looking forward to having a roommate—a surrogate sibling, perhaps—Lauren is a little disappointed to learn she’s going to have to continue sharing a room with someone.
The premise of the story is the building relationship, via mostly email, between EB and Lauren once they learn they’ll be roommates their freshman year at Berkeley. It follows them through the awkward ups and downs of figuring out how much to share and being careful not to make too many inferences about each other based on perceived tone and briefness of certain messages.
In addition to this core relationship, both girls also start to develop new romantic relationships. One of the things I appreciated about the authors’ approaches to these two characters is that both girls, though having dated/had boyfriends throughout high school, are virgins when this story opens. Which made their developing romantic relationships even that much more interesting/tension-filled.
So, with all of this positive stuff, why only 3.5 stars?
EB. She really annoyed me. And it was compounded by the fact that the person (girl?) reading her part of the book had a horribly shrill girly/whiny voice that started grating on my nerves around the same time as the character of EB started making bad decisions and behaving in a way that wasn’t at all sympathy-inducing (just the opposite, in fact). And while the resolution brings her to a knowledge of how she’s behaved, it still didn’t negate the fact that she’s not someone I would be friends with—nor someone I would enjoy being around for a very long period of time, because she annoyed me so much. So having half the book in her POV is what brought down my enjoyment of it.
However, those are personal feelings/reactions to this book. It’s an interesting look at how two different people from opposite coasts and from completely different backgrounds spend their last summer before college—and get to know their first college roommate in an age of instant access through email, text messaging, social media, etc.
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My rating matrix:
5 STARS = one of the best I’ve ever read
4 STARS = a great read, highly recommended
3 STARS = it was okay
2 STARS = I didn’t enjoy it all that much, not recommended
1 STAR = DNF (did not finish)
KayeDacus.com 