Blogger Summer Reading Program: Week 1

whoops, I forgot to post this on Saturday.

• I failed to read 100 pages a day last week :( Fingers crossed I do better this week!
• I finished Princess in the Spotlight and started reading Wendy Darling: Stars. Hopefully I'll finish that this week (it's only 200-odd pages) and then I'll finish Wit'ch Storm and (possibly) Isla and the Happily Ever After.
• I didn't review Princess in the Spotlight (I think because the Princess Diaries books are such quick reads for me, I'll review them in batches of 3 instead), but I posted a review of Wit'ch Fire, instead.

That's 2/3 goals achieved, not bad I think!

Review: Wit'ch Fire

Wit'ch Fire (The Banned and the Banished #1) by James Clemens - ✮✮✮.5

This is a book I really enjoyed when I was about 10 or so - so much so that I literally broke the book in half reading it so often! Recently I got a new copy, so I was able to re-read it and, hopefully, read the rest of the series too, if I can get my hands on them. This review is more spoilery than usual. You have been warned.

Mid-year Book Freakout

I'm officially halfway through my reading goal for this 2016! Yay! Even though it still feels like I'm not reading 'enough' & I have a billion books on my TBR, I think I've done really well so far. So here we go, my mid-year book freakout:

Blogger Summer Reading Program - Pledge

So I saw that Reading With a Vengeance is doing a reading challenge during July & I thought it might be fun to set myself a couple of goals.

My goals for July are to:

• Read 100 pages a day
• Read at least 1 book a week (to keep on top of my 52-book goal for the entire year)
• Review each book I read

I'll check back each Saturday during July to let you know how I'm getting on.

Beating Writer's Block

I know, I know. How many times have you seen a post about writer's block? How many times have you scrolled through a list of writing prompts; gone for a walk to clear your head; sat at your desk, hands poised to type yet unable to think of a single. interesting. thing to write?
I won't say that my methods are guaranteed to work, but I've had some success: hopefully you will, too.

Workshopping

There's no point denying it. Somewhere on your computer, or in your email inbox, there is a document. You know the one I mean. Your writer friend sent it to you ages ago for feedback but somehow you never got around to it. So, while you're not too busy with your own projects, give it a really thorough read and some careful commentary, to make up for that fact that you've kept them waiting for weeks. Some part of their work might even inspire your own muse.

Adaptation

Something I've been loving right now is adapting some of my favourite books into scripts. There's no pressure, because it's purely for me, but it's a lot of fun to think about how I'd like my favourite stories to come to life. This is an ideal block-beater, because someone else has already done the hard work of coming up with the plot; all you have to do is tweak the format a little.

Talk it Out

Sometimes writer's block is your subconscious telling you that something just isn't working. In these cases, you can sit down with pen and paper and go through every detail of your plot to find the issue - or you can get together with a trusted friend and give them the blow-by-blow. You'll find that they ask questions that never even occurred to you, and might offer solutions you'd never think of. I'd also add that it's good to do this somewhere other than your designated writing spot: a change of scenery can help both you and your friend look at the work with fresh eyes and provide inspiration.

Get Your Facts Straight

We all know the pitfalls of research. You're busily writing away, then BAM: a fact you're not entirely certain of crops up. Of course you pause your writing to Google it...and ten minutes later you're following a rabbit-warren of Wikipedia links, work forgotten.
But what if you saved up all your research for a time when you've got writer's block? Simply stick a reminder in the pertinent point of your work and come back to it later. Then, when you truly feel out of inspiration and words, you can get on with researching and discovering curious facts, content in the knowledge that you're being productive in some way.

Just Do It!

And now for the piece of advice you've probably seen a billion times - but have you ever really done it? Set a timer for five minutes, or give yourself a word count goal of, say, 300 words. By the time the five minutes is up, or you've reached your goal, you may find that you've gotten some inspiration. And if not, you still wrote 300 words, which is 300 more than you might have otherwise.

Verbomania: an Astral collection

Verbomania (n): an obsession or love for words
This is the first in a series. For many of my works in progress, I like to collect words that inspire or add to the atmosphere. One of my stories, currently dubbed Astrolatry, is set in a culture that values the skies above all else.

Aeon: a very long time; or, a thousand million years.
Astrolatry: the worship of stars and other heavenly bodies.
Atavistic: relating to something ancient.

Atramentous: black as ink.

Celestial: relating to heaven, the skies, or outer space.
Cinnabar: brick red or scarlet in colour; a mercury sulphide mineral.
Deisial: clockwise.
Ethereal: heavenly.
Helios: the ancient greek deity of the sun.
Ichor: the blood of ancient greek gods that is golden in colour.
Gibbous: a moon that is more than half-full but not yet a full moon.
Luminous: bright and shining; giving off light.
Redamancy: reciprocal love; a love returned in full.
Selene: the ancient greek deity of the moon.
Selenelion: a lunar eclipse where both the sun and the eclipsed moon are visible on opposite points of the horizon. occurs at dawn or dusk.
Selenophilia: worship of the moon.
Syzygy: connected or corresponding things, often relating to planetary bodies.
Temenos: a place dedicated to a god; the sacred ground adjacent to a temple.
Umbra: the dark shadow created by an eclipse.
Verdant: richly populated with vegetation; bright grass-green in colour.

(note: as a writer, I've taken a certain amount of creative licence with my definitions, so please check an actual dictionary for the official meanings!)

Review: Glass Sword

Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard - ✮✮✮✮✮

I teamed up with my BFF Becky from The Worlds I Live In to review Glass Sword, because we feed one another's love for this series.
Spoilerific review below.

Review: Think Twice

Think Twice (Don't Even Think About It #2) by Sarah Mlynowski - ✮✮✮.5

It's funny; 3.5 stars doesn't seem like a great score, but it's actually 70%, which in Uni terms is a First. So don't be fooled by my rating of Think Twice; I really enjoyed it.

Spoilers below the cut.

Building a World

Hi there! So. I created a blog and now I'm staring at a blank 'new post' wondering what the hell to do with it. Presumably at some point I'll write book reviews, but right now I'm smack in the middle of a book, and who knows when I'll finish it and - when I do finish it - who knows when I'll be able to school my emotions into a coherent post.

So for now, I thought I'd compile a post of the sites I use most frequently when I write, which might be useful for you and, if not, I can at least use for my own future reference.