Happy solstice, friends. While the weather is less than wintry in New York, where 60 degrees is tee shirt weather, there are some books out there which make you want to cozy up with a mug of tea in front of a fire (or Fireplace for Your Home). Here are five of my favorites.
Tag Archives: Ramblings
Writing is Hard Part 5: On Anxiety
Anxiety is a vicious thing. Something is wrong, but the fear’s cause is unknown. Sometimes, it’s jealousy-fueled nervousness. Sometimes, it’s crippling self-doubt. Most times, it’s nothing. With my prior lack of proper coping mechanisms, my reaction to the onset of nerves was to just work. And work. And work. Until I’d be crying, wondering why I’m not anywhere I want to be, motivation replaced by complete exhaustion.
And then, I sought help.
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Writing is Hard 4: Rewriting Hell
Made by the incredible Rey Noble (@reylikescats)
Thieves Project is the work in which, I think, I saw myself for the first time in my own writing. And parts of the plot simply didn’t work in the way I wanted them to, so I took it upon myself to do a rewrite. Because I’m always at a lack of resources, this is a post for pre-revisions me. Here is the action plan I took which brought a book down from 112,000 words to 89,000 words.
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#12DaysofReading 2017-2018 Recap
Just like last year, I attempted my annual reading challenge inspired by “The 12 Days of Christmas” in which I wanted to read 12 books between December 25th and January 5th. I got even closer than last year, reading 10. Here are my thoughts.
Writing is Hard Part 2: Pantsing is a Myth
Part 2 of a 4-part series about my writing process and learnings. The first part was about going on a hiatus. This second part is about my discovery that I am not a “pantser” whatsoever.
Writing is Hard Part 1: Hiatus
Originally, this was going to be about how I always hit a point in my writing where I want to delete my book. Turns out, it was just a symptom of burning out. So, I’m talking about the necessity to take a break sometimes and common thought processes that can interrupt it.
(Photo by Ilham Rahmansyah on Unsplash)
Writing Tip: Take a Retreat
For whatever reason, my to-do post came up blank. Anyway, for spring break from graduate school, I went to Portland, OR for 9 days to get back into writing. Here is an overview of what I did while I was there and why it was so necessary. Continue reading
#WriteGripe: On Commas
My first language is Polish, the most comma-happy language ever. If I were to write that first sentence, there would be one after “Polish” and before “ever.” English doesn’t work this way. For clarity’s sake, commas are so helpful and I get into back-and-forth edits about them too often. Here are some tips.
#12DaysofReading: Insights
Because I don’t believe in relaxing or free time, I took on a reading challenge inspired by “The 12 Days of Christmas” in which I wanted to read 12 books between December 25th and January 5th. I got pretty close to 12, reading nine.
Grad Life Meets Writer Life
Yeah, I haven’t blogged since the first Reading Recap, so I’m doing a quick dump on a tip that really is helping me churn some words out a day in the middle of readings, assignments, etc. I’m going to use headlines from my consumer insights class because my mind is breaking in real time.
Jo Writes Fantasy 