January 2016 Weekend Writing Marathon, Day 2 — Even If You Don’t Want To! #WWMarathon
Some writing motivation for marathon day 2 from Neil Gaiman:
I did my 1k1h sprint last night and added a total of 896 words to a chapter in progress (which included re-reading and lightly revising the 875 words of that chapter already written). I haven’t added these 1,770 words to the word-count meter yet—I want to wait until the chapter is complete and add the whole chapter’s count at that point.
I’ll be doing two 1k1h sprints today:
10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Central time Saturday 1/16/16
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central time Saturday 1/16/16
What did you accomplish yesterday?
January 2016 Weekend Writing Marathon — Ready, Set, Go! #WWMarathon
It’s time for our January Weekend Writing Marathon! Here are the parameters (not rules, just guidelines!):
- The marathon runs from 5 p.m. (your time) Friday evening until bedtime (your time) Monday night (in the US, Monday 1/18/16 is a holiday for most people; if it isn’t for you, you can use the standard bedtime Sunday night as your cutoff).
- I will be doing my own 1k1h sprints throughout the weekend, and I’ll send out a reminder on Twitter about 30 minutes before with the hashtag #WWMarathon if you’d like to sprint with me:
…….9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Central time Friday 1/15/16…….10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Central time Saturday 1/16/16
…….3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central time Saturday 1/16/16…….1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Central time Sunday 1/17/16
…….4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central time Sunday 1/17/16…….9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Central time Monday 1/18/16
…….1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Central time Monday 1/18/16
…….4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central time Monday 1/18/16
…….9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Central time Monday 1/18/16 - I’ll publish a new post each day of the marathon here on the blog in which I’ll share tips and tricks and/or motivation, and we can use the comments section to check in with our progress.
- Set your own goal—and try to be realistic about it!—and post it below in the comments. What do you want to accomplish on your Work in Progress (WIP) this weekend? Check back in often and share your encouragement with the other participants (whether you’re participating or not).
- Your goal doesn’t have to be a writing goal, it just needs to be something manuscript-related—whether it’s adding word count, editing, revising, getting some submissions sent off, marketing (writing blog posts, answering interview questions, etc.), or even research or background work on your story.
- If something comes up that interrupts your writing time this weekend, don’t stress out over it! Just readjust and jump right back in whenever you can.
- Helpful links/articles:
#FirstDraft60 Day 29 — Using the #1k1h Method for Marathon Writing
1k1h Writing-Sprint Tips
#FirstDraft60 Day 14 — Don’t Think. Just Write
Tips and Advice for Marathon Writing
Quick Reference Resources for NaNo or other Writing Marathons
Draft Writing vs. Regular Writing
What is your goal for the marathon this weekend?
Who’s Up for a Writing Marathon Weekend?
Back before my local writing group disbanded, for years we held a “writing marathon weekend” every month. What that meant was making a commitment that from “after work” Friday evening until Sunday bedtime (or Monday, on a holiday weekend like this one), we’d try to get as much work done as possible on our stories/manuscripts in progress, whether that meant writing or editing or whatever other book-related work needed to be done.
I miss having an accountability group to do that with, so I thought I’d see if y’all would be interested in doing it. There are no prizes or penalties for meeting or not meeting your goal for the weekend—just the reward of having accomplished something.
If you’re interested in participating, or if you have questions, please leave a comment below!
Books Read in 2016: THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater
As mentioned in my Reading Challenge Categories post, one of the challenges I’m working on in 2016 is a Readings in Genres challenge for the alumni of my grad school program. We have one book in each of the six official genres (Young Adult, Romance, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Mystery) and an additional bonus book in an unofficial genre (Historical Fiction) to read, one assigned for each month, with the expectation for participation being a 500-word response/review posted for discussion. I’m also challenging myself to write reviews of a minimum of 250 words for at least 75% of the books (challenge goal of 60 total) that I read this year. And since I’ve also challenged myself to post on the blog more regularly, of course these challenges will converge.
That said, here’s my first review of 2016—for The Scorpio Races, the Alumni Readings in Genres (ARIG) Young Adult selection for January.
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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Alumni Readings in Genres (ARIG) “book club” Young Adult selection for January.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Book Description (from Goodreads):
It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
As a girl in the 1970s, I was obsessed with horses. I read the Black Stallion books and then moved on to the innumerable “girl and her horse” books, both contemporary and historical, as many as I could get my hands on through the Scholastic Book Club order forms. This love eventually morphed into young adult historical romances (in which horses still appeared but the girl was usually riding the horse to meet up with her first crush/love). When I read the description of this book, I hoped that it might be reminiscent of those books and let me reach back 30+ years to experience some of those same emotions. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. There were three main areas in which I had trouble with this book: the choice of dual (dueling?) first-person viewpoint characters, the inconsistent worldbuilding, and the unbelievable premise.
I’ve never been a fan of books written in first-person POV. It works in genres such as Gothic Romance, in which the reader needs to be locked inside the head of the main character. But in a book with two main characters, I find that using first-person POV for each almost never works well—and I’ve read many examples in different genres from different authors. The problem with this book is that there wasn’t enough differentiation between the two viewpoints. I never felt like the narrative settled well within Puck’s or Sean’s personalities—but that each was actually written from the author’s viewpoint instead. One of my other big issues with first-person viewpoint stories is not being able to get away from the main character if I don’t connect with and/or like him or her. That wasn’t as big of a deal here, since there were two of them—not like it was in Mockingjay, when I was actively rooting for Katniss to die the first time I read it—but it was problematic because they weren’t unique, individual characters. So I ended up not really caring about either of them.
Beyond the problem with the characters, though, I had a hard time with the building of the world this was supposed to be set in. The idea of someone taking a real-world place and adding fantastical elements to it is not new, but it has been done so much better so many times that this came across as completely unbelievable. If this is a world in which there are magical/paranormal/supernatural creatures, I want to see more that’s magical/paranormal/supernatural. Why were the waterhorses the only non-mundane things in this world? Also, I couldn’t quite figure out the physical location or time period. It was sort of modern-day, but then there was Puck’s brother’s car with running boards, like an old Model-T or something. Was this island supposed to be off the coast of Ireland? The names suggested that, but then there are plenty of islands off the coast of North America where a single immigrant group settled, so it could have been on this side of the Pond, too. But then there were too many minor details given about things/people who were really unimportant to the story, and that frustrated me, when I wanted to know more about the main settings and workings of this world.
Ultimately, the thing that kept me from enjoying this book was the unbelievable premise. The entire time I was reading, I could never quite suspend my disbelief—I kept coming back to the question of why. Why would a group of people have settled on this island however many hundreds of years ago when these magical creatures come out of the sea every year and try to eat them and their livestock? Why would they stay here? Then, why would they attempt to capture these creatures and race them when they know it’s going to lead to horrific, bloody deaths every single time? And this is where it comes back to worldbuilding—and back to the Hunger Games books. If this had been created as a world in which a powerful leader is commanding people to do this for the sport of seeing who survives and who dies, then it would make sense that people do it. But to do this just to do it? I couldn’t buy in to that. Especially for a character like Sean, who witnessed firsthand what these creatures are capable of.
Because I do have the background of reading the horse books as a girl, I wasn’t surprised that most of the book focused on the training and slow-build of action/anticipation and that the race itself was a very short percentage of the book. However, by the time the race did finally come around, I didn’t find it very interesting because of my lack of connection with the characters and setting and my disbelief in the premise of which it was supposed to be the climax. That said, this author does have an interesting writing style, and I may look for something else of hers to read later.
2016 Reading Challenge Theme!
I didn’t do a very good job at all last year of fulfilling all of the categories in my self-set reading challenge. So this year, I decided to try something a little different—something which would also work with the idea of trying to read a variety of genres and a variety of new-to-me authors in both fiction and nonfiction.
I actually have two challenges this year, but they mesh well together so it all becomes one big challenge: An Alphabet Challenge!
My first challenge includes seven books for my “book club”—the group of alumni from my grad school program. Because our creative writing program focuses on Popular Fiction, and because each semester, each student participates in a Readings in Genre seminar, as alumni, we’ve decided to try a Readings in Genres program, spanning the first six months of the year with a book in each of the genres represented in the program. After reading, we’re to post a response of at least 500 words, so I know I’ll be posting reviews of at least those six (with a possible bonus 7th book) this year.
Then I decided that for my bigger challenge this year, I’d do an A to Z reading challenge. I enjoy reading reviews on the book blogs I follow (mostly romance) as well as looking through the updates on the main page of Goodreads to see what everyone I’m connected with there is reading or recommending or putting in their virtual TBR piles. And I enjoy curating my own TBR list there, which is currently sitting at 280 titles.
To make my list, I downloaded my database from Goodreads, sorted to get my “sounds interesting” list, and then sorted that list alphabetically by author name. Then I started culling, using the books from my school challenge for those letters.
Because this is a challenge that allows more flexibility, I’ve already changed one of the books on the list to something else—and I know there will be duplicates on several letters—I already have a duplicate for the letters B, F, and M, and we’re only in the second week of the year!
But because it’s easier to stick to a challenge if I have a list to go by, here’s my “suggested” title list for my 2016 Reading Challenge:
- Adamek, Dorothy — Carry Me Home (Blue Wren Shallows, #1)
Genre: Historical Inspirational Romance - Butcher, Jim* — The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires, #1)
Genre: Science Fiction
*Alumni Readings in Genres (ARIG), May 2016CURRENTLY READING: Banks, Maya — In Bed with a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy, #1)
Genre: Historical Romance (12th Century Scotland) - Carr, Patrick W. — The Shock of Night (The Darkwater Saga, #1)
Genre: Historical Fantasy/Mystery - Doerr, Anthony* — All the Light We Cannot See
Genre: Historical Fiction (WWII)
*ARIG “bonus” book, July 2016 - Ellis, Joseph J. — The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789
Genre: Nonfiction, American History, Biography - Frantz, Sarah S. G. — New Approaches to Popular Romance Fiction
Genre: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Career DevelopmentCOMPLETED: Foster, Alan Dean — Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy, Media Tie-In - Givens, Kathleen — Rivals for the Crown (Highland, #2)
Genre: Historical Romance (13th Century Scotland) - Huber, Anna Lee* — The Anatomist’s Wife (Lady Darby, #1)
Genre: Historical Mystery (1830s)
*ARIG, June 2016 - Ibbotson, Eva — The Morning Gift
Genre: Historical Romance (WWII) - Johnson, Liz — The Red Door Inn (Prince Edward Island Dreams, #1)
Genre: Contemporary Inspirational Romance - Kelly, Carla — Doing No Harm
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency/Napoleonic War) - Loch, Kathryn — Mist Warrior (Legacy of the Mist Clans #1)
Genre: Historical Romance (15th Century Scotland) - Marlowe, Mia — The Madness of Lord Westfall (The Order of the MUSE, #2)
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance (Regency)COMPLETED: McMillan, Rachel — A Singular and Whimsical Problem (Herringford and Watts Mysteries #0.5)
Genre: Historical Mystery (Early 20th Century) - Novik, Naomi* — Uprooted
Genre: Fantasy
*ARIG, March 2016 - Ostler, Rosemarie — Founding Grammars: How Early America’s War over Words Shaped Today’s Language
Genre: Nonfiction, Linguistics, Career Development - Phillips, Susan Elizabeth* — Nobody’s Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars, #3)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
*ARIG, February 2016 - Quinn, Julia — The Sum of All Kisses (Smythe-Smith Quartet, #3)
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency) - Regis, Pamela — A Natural History of the Romance Novel
Genre: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Career Development - COMPLETED: Stiefvater, Maggie* — The Scorpio Races <–Click for my response/review
Genre: Young Adult
*ARIG, January 2016 - Tremblay, Paul* — A Head Full of Ghosts
Genre: Horror
*ARIG, April 2016 - Utley, Robert M. — High Noon in Lincoln: Violence on the Western Frontier
Genre: Nonfiction, New Mexico History (Late 19th Century/Billy the Kid/Lincoln County Cattle War) - Viguié, Debbie — Kiss of Night (Kiss Trilogy, #1)
Genre: Paranormal Inspirational Fiction - Wendell, Sarah — Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels
Genre: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Career Development - Xiaolong, Qiu — Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao #1)
Genre: Contemporary Mystery/Suspense - Young, Felicity — The Anatomy of Death (Dr Dody McCleland, #1)
Genre: Historical Mystery (Early 20th Century) - Zelazny, Roger — Nine Princes in Amber
Genre: Fantasy
In addition to those specific goals, my overall challenge is to read a total of 60 “books” this year (this includes novellas and longer short stories, too, as I counted “Young Goodman Brown,” a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, as one of my “books” last year).
What’s your reading challenge for 2016?
What Did You Read in 2015?
For the last couple of years, I’ve set forth reading challenges for myself—not just to ensure I’m reading more books each year, but to make sure I’m expanding the scope of what I’m reading. In 2014, I chose different genres for my challenge categories. This year, I went for more of a Time (you know, that wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey thing) and Place challenge.
Well, I exceeded my number goal (53) by six and read (in whole or in part) a total of 59 books in 2015. But I didn’t quite meet all of the category goals I’d set for myself.
How did your 2015 reading challenge go?
Because I didn’t meet all of the preset categories, I substituted some of the books I did read for them. So it all (sorta) works out okay in the end. 😉
2015 Reading Challenge Categories
Challenge: Read a book (fiction or nonfiction) set in each of the following time periods/locations:
1. Ancient (BCE): God Is Disappointed in You. (4 stars) Okay, maybe a humorous retelling of the Bible is a bit of a stretch, but it is set in ancient times.
2. Roman Empire (to approx. 300s) Memoir: Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking (3 stars)
3. England—Roman Era to ~1060ish: The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg, audiobook read by Robert Powell. This could have actually fit all of of the dates for England. (re-read, still 5 stars)
4. Europe ~400–1100 France 1489: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1) by Robin LaFevers (4.5 stars)
5. England ~1060ish–1099 (Norman Conquest) Scotland ~1100: The Bride by Julie Garwood, audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor (3.75 stars)
6. 12th Century: Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick (2.5 stars)
7. 13th Century New-to-me Author: Murder as a Fine Art (Thomas De Quincey #1) by David Morrell, audiobook read by Matthew Wolf (4 stars)
8. 14th Century: A Sword Upon the Rose by Brenda Joyce (1 star/DNF)
9. 15th Century: By His Majesty’s Grace by Jennifer Blake (re-read, still 4 stars)
10. 16th Century: The Tudor Vendetta by C. W. Gortner, audiobook read by Steve West (4 stars)
11. 17th Century: “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (4 stars)
12. 18th Century: Monarchy: England and Her Rulers from the Tudors to the Windsors by David Starkey, audiobook read by the author. Yes, it covers more than the 18th century, but it’s the one I knew the least about! (4 stars)
13. 20th Century: Practically Seventeen (Tobey Heydon, #1) by Rosamond du Jardin (re-read, still 5 stars)
14. 21st+ Century: Red Shirts by Jon Scalzi, audiobook read by Wil Wheaton. I don’t know if it was the book or the narrator, but I just couldn’t get into this one. (1 star/DNF)
15. Australia: Jillaroo by Rachael Treasure, audiobook read by Miranda Nation (~2.5 stars)
16. New Zealand: Just This Once by Rosalind James, audiobook read by Claire Bocking (3 stars)
17. Asia Tropical Island: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, audiobook read by Scott Brick (4 stars)
18. Russia Medieval France: Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, #2) by Robin LaFevers (5 stars)
19. South or Central America California/New York: The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet by Kate Rorick and Rachel Kiley, audiobook read by Mary Kate Wiles (4 stars)
20. Canada Paranormal Regency Romance: Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories, #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal (3.5 stars)
21. Tennessee Wyoming: Her Hesitant Heart by Carla Kelly (3 stars)
22. New Mexico Washington: The Cottage on the Corner (Apple Valley #2) by Shirlee McCoy, audiobook read by Eileen Stevens (3 stars)
23. Alaska: Sleigh Bell Sweethearts by Teri Wilson (3.75 stars)
24. Louisiana Oregon: The Christmas Bargain by Shanna Hatfield (1 star/DNF)
25. Virginia Idaho: Sex, Lies, and Online Dating (Writer Friends, #1) by Rachel Gibson (4 stars)
And the rest, which didn’t fall into challenge categories:
- (Annual Austen) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (re-read, 4 stars)
- (Contemporary Inspirational Romance) Turnabout’s Fair Play (The Matchmakers #3) by Kaye Dacus (5 stars, of course)
- (Classic American Literature) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, audiobook read by Sissy Spacek (3 stars)
- (Classic British Literature) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, audiobook read by Jim Dale (re-read, 4.5 stars)
- (Austen Adaptation) The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick, audiobook read by Ashley Clements (re-read, still 5 stars)
- (Fantasy) Poison Study (Study, #1) by Maria V. Snyder, audiobook read by Gabra Zackman (re-read, still 4 stars)
- (Fantasy) Magic Study (Study, #2) by Maria V. Snyder, audiobook read by Gabra Zackman (3.75 stars)
- (Historical Mystery) Inspector of the Dead (Thomas De Quincey #2) by David Morrell, audiobook read by Matthew Wolf (4 stars)
- (Austen Adaptation/Historical Mystery) Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (2 stars—the TV adaptation is SO much better!)
- (Annual Potter) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling
- (Regency Romance) The Survivors’ Club Series by Mary Balogh (#3 was accidentally read first in 2014):
The Proposal (#1), audiobook read by Rebecca De Leeuw (4 stars)
The Suitor (#1.5), in print (4 stars)
The Arrangement (#2), in print (4 stars)
Only Enchanting (#4), audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor (4 stars)
Only a Promise (#5), audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor (4.5 stars)
Only a Kiss (#6), audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor (3 stars) - The first two books in the Captive Hearts series by Grace Burrows:
The Captive (4 stars)
The Traitor (2 stars) - Star Wars I–IV in preparation for the release of The Force Awakens:
Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks, audiobook read by Alexander Adams (3.75 stars)
Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones by R.A. Salvatore, audiobook read by Jonathan Davis (4 stars)
Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Woodring Stover, audiobook read by Jonathan Davis (4.25 stars)
Star Wars, From The Adventures Of Luke Skywalker credited to George Lucas, but actually written by Alan Dean Foster (4 stars) - (Science Fiction/Fantasy) Pines by Blake Crouch, audiobook read by Paul Michael Garcia (4 stars)
- (YA favorites from childhood) The Tobey Heydon series by Rosamond du Jardin (#1, Practically Seventeen, listed for 20th century in the challenge categories): Class Ring (#2), Boy Trouble (#3), and The Real Thing (#4) (all re-reads, all 5 stars)
- (Inspirational Regency Romance) Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen (4 stars)
- (YA Historical Fantasy) The His Fair Assassin series by Robin LaFevers (first two listed for categories #4 and #18 above): Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, #3) (3.5 to 3.75 stars)
- (Regency Romance) The Shy Duchess by Amanda McCabe (3 stars)
- (Victorian Romance) The Suffragette Scandal (Brothers Sinister, #4) by Courtney Milan, audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor (4 stars)
- (Regency Romance) The Rake by Mary Jo Putney (4 stars)
- (Regency Romance) A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith Quartet, #2) by Julia Quinn, audiobook read by Rosalyn Landor (4 stars)
- (Literary Criticism) Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature (The Great Courses) by Thomas A. Shippey (4 stars)
Monday Motivation — Unusual Writing Tips from Andrea Heckler
Happy Monday, all!
Since I enjoyed finding the videos for the Monday Motivation posts that I did back during FirstDraft60 in October, I thought I’d continue doing that.
Here’s a video with four “unusual” writing tips from Andrea Heckler. (A couple of them may sound very familiar to those of you who’ve been around my blog for a while.)
What do you think? Are these things that you already do? What “unusual” things do you do that you’d like to share?
Updating Our 2015 Reading Challenges
For the last couple of years, I’ve set forth reading challenges for myself—not just to ensure I’m reading more books each year, but to make sure I’m expanding the scope of what I’m reading. In 2014, I chose different genres for my challenge categories. This year, I went for more of a Time (you know, that wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey thing) and Place challenge. I knew I still had some categories I hadn’t checked off yet, and since I’ve been in a reading slump lately, I thought it would be a good time to check in on the list to see just how far I still need to go.
And I’ve got a long way to go—at least as far as meeting the category challenges. I’ll definitely meet the number challenge (I’ve already finished 51 of 53, and I currently have two in progress).
How is your 2015 reading challenge going?
Here are the categories I’ve yet to complete. Because there are so many and only seven weeks left of 2015, I’ve decided to add in a whole lot more short stories and/or children’s literature (many with a focus on Christmas!) in order to be able to complete these categories. But because I don’t want them to feel like “throw-aways,” I’m also challenging myself to go back to some of the writing assignments I’ve either used as an instructor or completed as a student to make sure I’m giving the books due consideration—especially children’s books which may take only a few minutes to read.
2015 Reading Challenge Categories
Read a book (romance or non, fiction or non) set in each of the following time periods/locations:
1. Ancient (BCE)
2. Roman Empire (to approx. 300s)
3. England: Roman Era to ~1060ish
4. Europe ~400–1100
5. England ~1060ish–1099 (Norman Conquest)
6. 12th Century (Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick)
7. 13th Century
8. 14th Century (A Sword Upon the Rose by Brenda Joyce)
9. 15th Century (By His Majesty’s Grace by Jennifer Blake)
10. 16th Century (The Tudor Vendetta by C. W. Gortner)
11. 17th Century (“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
12. 18th Century
13. 20th Century (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)
14. 21st+ Century (Red Shirts by Jon Scalzi)
15. Australia (Jillaroo by Rachael Treasure)
16. New Zealand (Just This Once by Rosalind James)
17. Asia
18. Russia
19. South or Central America
20. Canada
21. Tennessee (in progress: All the Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison)
22. New Mexico
23. Alaska
24. Louisiana
25. Virginia
So, of the 25 categories I set for myself, I still have fifteen to complete. However, I did spend a lot of time last night on Goodreads and my library’s website, and I think I have a pretty good plan for how I’m going to fulfill this list. And I’ve actually borrowed or placed on hold (from the library and through Kindle Unlimited) books that fulfill all of them. And a good part of it is going to involve a day spent at the library delving into some children’s literature and stretching my recently unused academic writing muscles. Which I’m really looking forward to. So much so that I’m thinking about adding writing assignments to my challenge list for 2016!
What Are You Reading? (August–September–October Catch-up Edition)
Happy First Monday of November, everyone.
It’s Reading Report time!
Open Book by Dave Dugdale
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Because of the FirstDraft60 challenge, we’ve missed our last couple of check-ins, so we’ve got lots of catching up to do. Tell us what you’ve finished reading in August, September, and October 2015, what you’re currently reading, and what’s on your To Be Read stack/list. And if you’ve reviewed the books you’ve read somewhere, please include links!
To format your text, click here for an HTML cheat-sheet. If you want to embed your links in your text (like my “click here” links) instead of just pasting the link into your comment, click here.
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- What book(s) did you finish reading (or listening to) since the last update?
- What are you currently reading and/or listening to?
- What’s the next book on your To Be Read stack/list?
#FirstDraft60 Day 61 — Wrap-up and Check-in
So . . . yes, I missed posting every day this week. And I only wrote one day out of the past seven. But you know what? I feel like I accomplished a whole lot in the last sixty days. I’ve written more since the beginning of October than I did in the previous two or three years combined. I’m thinking about my characters and the story daily, even though I’m not actually writing while I struggle with the side-effects of the medication I’m on (combined with the dreary weather we’ve been having . . . ugh). I plan to continue writing this story with a goal of writing at least a few hundred words or more every day.
How did you do with your project(s) in the last sixty days? What is your take-away from the challenge (other than word count)? What did you learn about yourself as both a storyteller and a writer?
KayeDacus.com 