R.M. Archer's Blog, page 30

6 Tips and Tricks for NaNoWriMo Success

We’re down to a month until NaNoWriMo, and Preptober has officially begun! As we officially enter NaNo mode, I’d like to share a handful of tips and tricks that have helped me achieve NaNoWriMo success and will hopefully help you, whether it’s your first time or your fifteenth.

1. Make Sure Your Project is NaNoWriMo Compatible

All writing projects are not equal when it comes to NaNoWriMo. Some writing projects are significantly better suited to being written quickly than others, as I’ve learned the hard way over the past couple of years. In my experience, a NaNoWriMo project should fit the following criteria:

1. Fully novel length

Unless it’s your specific intention, you don’t want to end up writing a novella for NaNoWriMo and undershooting the word count. Make sure your idea is big enough to become a full novel, or have a plan for filling in the last few thousand words (again, unless your intention is to shoot for a lower word count in November).

2. Fun to write/A story you’re passionate about

If you’re not excited about your project, it’s not going to be easy to write quickly. You want a story that’s fun or that you’re really passionate about telling; one that you really want to write and not one that you just want to finish.

3. Not super heavy

This will vary from person to person, but generally you don’t want to write too heavy a story during NaNoWriMo because they generally take longer to write. Deep issues need to be focused on and thought about, so they’re generally not written quickly. Again, it will depend on the person what is “heavy” and how their specific writing process works, but this has been my experience.

2. Use Rewards

These can be little rewards like “Once I meet my word count for today I can read for an hour,” big rewards like “Once I hit 25k I’m going to bake myself cookies,” or both. Developing some sort of incentive to reach your goals can be super helpful in motivating you to actually achieve them.

Two years ago, my goal was 100k (I don’t know what I was thinking), and I arranged that if I hit 25k I would bake myself peanut butter cookies, at 50k I’d buy myself a NaNoWriMo winner t-shirt, at 75k I’d bake myself pumpkin bread, and at 100k I’d buy the book I was super excited to read (Echoes by Miranda Marie).

Think about what rewards would be both practical and effective for you.

3. Participate in Word Wars

I can’t tell you how helpful these have been for me every year I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo. If you’re competitive, especially, and/or if you love cheering on others, these are a great option. Word wars are where you decide a certain amount of time that you and a friend (or multiple friends) are going to write (usually about 10-20 minutes, but I’ve also participated in half hour and hour-long word wars) and at the end of it you figure out which of you got the higher word count in that time frame. Personally, I’m competitive, so these get me writing like crazy; but I also love cheering on others, so I love encouraging/congratulating the other person/people, as well.

Generally, if you’re part of a writing group, word wars are easy to find or start. Just post asking if anyone’s up for a word war, and work together to sort out a time.

Another option is myWriteClub, which is a tool for tracking writing projects that also has a section for word sprints. There’s a global sprint, if you can’t find anyone else to word war with, but it also allows you to set up a custom sprint that you can invite specific people to via link. One thing I like about myWriteClub’s sprints is that you can see your opponents’ progress in more-or-less real-time, which can be really motivating for getting your writing speed up.

4. Use Fighter’s Block

This is another sprinting tool for when you don’t have anyone to word war with or just want to go, go, go on your own time. You select a character, set a word count to beat, and hit start. You type directly into the site, and as long as you’re typing you’re lowering your opponent’s health points, he can’t hit you, and you build up your own HP. If you stop typing, though, your HP starts to deteriorate. Fighter’s Block has settings for monster speed (how quickly your HP fades if you stop), monster strength (how much HP disappears at a time if you stop), and the look of the word processor (font, size, background color, etc.). It’s a really handy tool, and it’s helped me out a lot over the years since I discovered it.

5. Share Snippets

This is a personal preference thing, I know some people are cautious about sharing their writing, but it can be fun and helpful to share short pieces of your writing with friends as you go. Positive feedback can be great fuel for motivation, and, depending on your writing process, sharing your writing can also be a great opportunity to get constructive critique and improve your writing as you go. (Not editing what you’ve already written, because that slows you down and that’s not something we want during NaNoWriMo, but learning your strengths and weaknesses so you can build on that knowledge moving forward through the month.)

If you’re not sure about sharing your writing publicly in a writing group, try finding just one or two friends who will read your writing and encourage you through the month.

6. Hype Yourself Up Beforehand

Use this month to get yourself excited for your project. Build a story playlist, participate in Preptober Prompts, fill out Pinterest boards, write snippets to get yourself into the mindsets of your characters… Whatever gets you excited for a project, do it. The more excited you are for your project, the easier it will be to write.

How about you? If you’ve done NaNoWriMo before, what tips and tricks have worked for you? If this is your first time, what tricks are you excited to try? Let’s help each other get pumped up and ready!

The 20 Questions Book Tag

I’m back with another book tag! I was tagged to do this by Dekreel at The Inky RambleBeast, so a big thank you to her. :)

Apparently this tag doesn’t have any rules, so let’s just jump in!

1. How many books are too many in a series?

Um… *counts Shannara books* About 20. After that, they started to all feel the same and were more in keeping with modern secular culture and I just slowly lost interest. But if I like your characters, I’ll stick with them for years.

2. How do you feel about cliff-hangers?

As chapter endings, they’re fairly effective. (Just don’t leave us on a cliffhanger and then cut to a different group of characters that I don’t care about for two chapters. Please and thank you.) As book endings… I don’t actually think I’ve read a lot of books that ended on cliffhangers? Or maybe my memory is just totally failing me. So I don’t know.

3. Hardcover or paperback?

Paperback. No contest. They’re way easier to handle, in my opinion, because they’re flexible and you don’t have to deal with a dust jacket sliding around.

4. Favorite book?

May I direct you to my entire shelf of favorites? But I suppose if I had to pick one… *sighs* The Warden and the Wolf King legitimately surprised me and made me sob (the first is a near-impossible feat and the second had literally never happened prior to this book), so it’s a pretty good contender.

5. Least favorite book?

I’m torn between The Collective by R.S. Williams, which had a cool premise but was atrociously written and contained all the tropes you can possibly think of, to the extent of my covering it in red ink for the second half because I couldn’t just sit and read this royally bad writing; and The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, which I was required to read for school, hated everything about until the last couple of chapters when it finally got interesting, and wanted to burn by the time I was done.

(*cough* can you tell I hated these books?)

6. Love triangles, yes or no?

In general, no. However, if they serve an actual purpose and don’t take precedence over an actual plot (who’s actually going to be trying to decide which guy she likes better in a life-or-death situation?) then I might not mind them.

7. The most recent book you couldn’t finish?

This had nothing to do with the books, but I borrowed Rook by Sharon Cameron and The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor from the library and didn’t get around to reading either before they were due… after three renewals.

8. A book you are currently reading?

Again, I can give you a list, although this one is significantly shorter. I guess I’ll focus on Counter Culture by David Platt, which is a non-fiction book about living in accordance with scripture despite the anti-Christian culture around us. I’m about a quarter of the way through and so far it’s been really good.

9. Last book you recommended to someone?

Looks like The Wingfeather Saga. Because The Warden the the Wolf King wrecked me and I want my friends to feel that same emotional destruction.

10. Oldest book you’ve read? (publication date)

Besides the Bible, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving Washington, published in 1819. (I think. I have a set of that and Rip Van Winkle on my Goodreads list and that’s what I’m going off of.)

11. Newest book you’ve read? (publication date)

100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons. Which was FANTASTIC and I highly recommend.

12. Favorite author?

Probably Andrew Peterson. But Hannah Heath is also fantastic.

13. Buying books or borrowing?

If a book isn’t by an author who I automatically support and buy from (The Phoenix Fiction Writers, Wayne Thomas Batson, or authors I know personally) then I generally prefer to borrow it first to make sure I like it and then buy it later. Generally a lot later, because I usually go a long time before I reread a book. But I like to have books on my shelves (too many of them… they don’t all fit…).

14. A book you dislike that everyone seems to love?

The Maze Runner series. The first book was fine, but The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure? Oof. No thank you. I will not be rereading those ever. Those were just painful to read. I wanted to throw The Scorch Trials at a wall, and The Death Cure served no purpose whatsoever. But the movies were good. The movies resolved most of the issues I had with the books.

15. Bookmarks or dog-ears?

BOOKMARKS.

16. A book you can always reread?

Well, seeing as I’ve reread each series 3-5 times… The Door Within trilogy and the Dreamtreaders trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson. I’ve reread Dreamtreaders the most, simply because the second book in The Door Within series follows a second main character who I don’t like very much and it’s kind of frustrating because I LOVE so many of the side characters, and I love the world, but that main character… just bugs me. But anyway. Moving on. (I’m ranting way too much in this post. XD)

17. Can you read while hearing music?

Ehhh? I probably could if it was solely instrumental, but I don’t especially want to. I feel like if the tone of the music didn’t match the tone of the scene I was reading it would bug me.

18. One POV or multiple POVs?

It depends. Both have their benefits. One risk with multiple POVs, though, is that you’ll end up with chapters in between where the reader just really doesn’t care and wants to get back to the characters they like, whereas in a single-POV book a reader will just stop reading if they don’t like the POV character. It’s kind of frustrating as a reader to love most of a book but then be bored every two or three chapters because you’ve switched POVs. But it’s also really cool to see a story from multiple perspectives. So it depends.

19. Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?

It depends. Usually over multiple days, but if the circumstances are right (I’m avoiding sleep, I’ve been challenged by someone, I’m stressed and need to unwind, the book is short, the book is really good and sucking me in, etc.) then I can definitely finish a book in one sitting. One week in May I finished roughly a full Harry Potter book in each sitting because I’d been bet I couldn’t read the whole series by the next weekend.

20. Who do you tag?

Allie at Of Rainy Days and Stardust Veins

Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea

Eden at The Happy Hedgehog

And anyone else who wants to do it! :)

Book Review: Child of the Kaites by Beth Wangler

Star rating: 3.5 stars.

I’d been super excited to read this story since January, and two weeks ago I was finally able to finish it. It took me longer to read than I’d hoped (about two months), mostly because I was reading it on kindle rather than paperback, so some of the details from the first quarter or so are a bit fuzzy, but here are my basic thoughts on it.

I went into this book expecting a grand adventure set in a really vivid desert fantasy world, but I quickly realized this is a much more character-driven story and the first quarter was all about establishing those characters and fleshing out their relationships, which I found myself pretty okay with. I was rooting for the characters, I wanted to see them resolve the initial relational conflict, and that was really cool. The character dynamics were really compelling in that first quarter, and while I didn’t especially connect with most of the characters, that’s pretty normal for me, and I was still able to like them, so it didn’t really bother me.

Interestingly enough, it was when the adventure I was expecting set in that I started to connect with the book less and less. Part of this was my own high expectations. I was looking forward to incredibly immersive worldbuilding, and this book just wasn’t quite there, for me. I think if I hadn’t had the expectations I did, I would have enjoyed the world just fine, because the worldbuilding is definitely strong, it just didn’t pull me in as much as I was hoping it would. The aivenkaites were especially interesting, and the battles between them and the main characters and the kaites were cool to read. And the axex! I loved the axex.

I was also anticipating more action surrounding the plagues and other Moses-based events, and those aren’t really dwelt on very much. The plagues, especially, felt kind of rushed to me, and I would have liked to be able to see the effects of the plagues on the land and the Izyphorns rather than just hearing their reactions?

When the main plot set in, there was also less time to focus on the characters, and additional characters were introduced who I feel like didn’t get enough attention as they maybe could have or weren’t used to their full potential. When we meet the bandits, for instance, a lot of page space is spent reminding the reader of each character’s ethnicity instead of showing the details of their ethnicity or letting the character speak for themselves, and I wasn’t able to really connect each character with the details that came with them because I was too busy trying to keep their nationalities straight.

In the writing, I was a little put-off by the inconsistencies in the language and wording of things. Sometimes it seemed very old-fashioned and fantastical, but then there would be lines or phrases thrown in that felt very modern, and it was a little awkward. But I loved the conlang Wangler created for the world, and it was super cool to see that woven in throughout the book!

I want to look at some of the characters more specifically, and then I’ll wrap up the review.

Forziel. I was slightly frustrated I couldn’t get a firm grip on how old Forziel was (I got the impression from Rai’s calling him a “young boy” that he was closer to 10 or 11, but most of the writing seemed to indicate he was more of a teenager?), but overall I really enjoyed his character. He was fun, he was loyal, and his relationship with his axex was fun to read. I did feel like his backstory was kind of shoehorned in and more told than shown, and I would have liked to see that played out more and be more nuanced, but that was a short section of the book and was just a minor disappointment.

Rai. As with most characters, I didn’t have any strong feelings toward Rai, either good or bad. There were a couple points where I felt like she was overly remorseless, but I do understand where she was coming from and why she would have thought that way, and they were really brief. I loved her relationship with Savi, and it was really cool to see a couple tackling a mission together and supporting each other the whole way, and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.

Speaking of Savi… He’s another character I really enjoyed. He was sweet and supportive and diplomatic, and it was really cool to see how he and Rai balanced each other and used their skills to complement each other through  their mission. And I appreciated that he was firm in his faith, but also had doubts, especially when it came to difficult life events.

Nhardah was an awesome character. I found him especially interesting in the first quarter, when he was still a bit of a mystery and a little bit of a cryptic mentor sort, but I still enjoyed following and reading about him in the rest of the book and enjoyed his mentor-student relationship with the rest of the group.

Overall, I was able to enjoy this book even though it wasn’t what I expected, and I’m curious what I would think of it if I reread it now that I know what to expect. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of character-driven Christian fantasy and strong relationship dynamics.

5 Benefits of NaNoWriMo

As fall approaches, chances are that most of us authors are thinking about NaNoWriMo or have at least seen other authors talking about their plans for November. Maybe you’re a veteran author who’s done NaNoWriMo before, maybe you’re a veteran author who’s never been sold on it working for you, or maybe you’re new to the community and you’re wondering what on earth “NaNoWriMo” even means. Wherever you stand, here are five benefits I’ve found of participating in NaNoWriMo.

First of all, a quick explanation of NaNoWriMo for anyone who’s new to the term: NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It refers to an event that spans the month of November, in which authors are challenged to write 50,000 words in a month. This is the average length of a novel, and the idea is that the month results in a completed first draft of a novel you haven’t started yet. That’s not always the case, since some novels are longer, or some authors (myself included) choose to work on an already-started draft, but that’s the basic idea.

Now, on to the benefits.

1. NaNoWriMo provides a concrete goal

This isn’t a struggle for everyone, but if you’re someone who finds it difficult to set concrete goals in your writing, NaNoWriMo could be just the solution. The event has a built in goal and deadline, so it’s perfectly simple to shoot for that. Having a concrete goal allows you to split the project into manageable pieces and know what your aim is for each day or writing session, which makes it easier to actually achieve your goal. Knowing that your goal is 50,000 words in 30 days, for instance, allows you to determine that your daily word count should be 1,667, or you can divide it in whatever way works best for you and your schedule. But having a concrete starting point makes the smaller goals possible to figure out.

2. NaNoWriMo provides outside accountability

It can be hard to keep yourself motivated and disciplined to keep working on your writing project, but NaNoWriMo provides accountability–through the community, or even just through the goal itself and your progress through the month–and can help to keep you on task and motivated. Whether you’re competitive and get spurred to write by trying to keep your word count higher than your best friend’s, or you just want to hit the word count each day, or you want to challenge yourself to hit the goal as fast as you can, or it just helps to have someone there cheering you on… Whatever your accountability style, NaNoWriMo can be a great opportunity to revive that determined spark and get you writing consistently.

3. NaNoWriMo provides an automatic, encouraging community

When you decide to do NaNoWriMo, you’re joining thousands of authors all over the world who are undertaking the same challenge, and the majority of them are going to be super excited to cheer on a fellow writer. Whether you find a community on the official NaNoWriMo website, find people in your existing writing groups who are participating, or attend write-ins* in your area, chances are you’ll have at least one person you can turn to when that mid-month writing slump sets in. (If you ever need a writing pep talk, feel free to shoot me an email!)

*Write-ins are in-person meet-ups in a community, where local writers get together to work on their NaNoWriMo novels. They usually include writing prompts, word wars, and snacks. Write-ins are often hosted by libraries or coffee shops, so check out your local venues to see if they have anything set up, or join your “home region” on the NaNoWriMo site and get notifications of write-ins that way.

4. NaNoWriMo provides an excuse to carve out writing time

Whether your family isn’t good about letting you get time to write, or you have too many engagements to make time, or you just keep putting off the novel you’ve been wanting to write for ages, NaNoWriMo provides one month out of the year where you have a clear excuse to give people (or yourself). Having an official event makes it way easier to tell people you need time to yourself to write and get them to take you seriously.

Of course, there are some things you simply can’t shrug off (work, for instance–although I’ve known some people who have taken a week off work during November to give themselves additional hours to write), and you should always make sure you’re flexible and aren’t totally shutting people out for a month (I see you, introverts). But it does provide a solution to something I know is a legitimate problem for a lot of people.

5. NaNoWriMo is just plain fun

Whether you “win” or “lose,” NaNoWriMo is a ton of fun. Chances are you’ll make new writing friends, or better get to know the friends you already have, and be challenged to write more than you would ordinarily. You’ll have a chance to participate in word wars, to read other authors’ snippets and share snippets of your own, and maybe to push yourself out of your comfort zone with your writing. If you’ve never tried it before, I definitely recommend participating at least once and checking it out. :)

Bonus: Preptober Prompts is made for NaNoWriMo

Preptober Prompts is an event I designed last year to get writers excited and prepared for their NaNoWriMo novels, using themed writing prompts. You can absolutely participate even if you’re not doing NaNoWriMo and just use it as a challenge for whatever project you’re currently working on, but if you’re getting excited for your project and getting to know your story better right before November, why not participate in NaNoWriMo too?

Whatever your plans for November, preparations for Preptober Prompts are in full swing and prompt submissions are OPEN! There are three days at the end of October that aren’t part of the main four weeks, and for those three days I’ll be featuring reader-submitted prompts. All you need to do is submit your prompt idea through the form, but you can also improve the chances of your prompt being chosen by sharing and participating in the event through the month. Share posts on social media, post your prompt results in the comments, etc. and you’ll get more entries to be chosen for one of those three spots.

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The readers whose prompts are chosen will get a special shout-out and a graphic for their prompt, and if they’re bloggers then they’ll get to host their prompt and I’ll share their blog here and on social media.

But all of your prompts will be shared! I’ll be putting together a list of bonus prompts at the end of the month, including any prompts that weren’t selected for the last three days, and sharing it on social media and on the blog.

Preptober Prompts Announcement!

Last year, I started an event called Preptober Prompts to get people excited and thinking about their NaNoWriMo novels for the month of October (also known, in writer circles, as Preptober). Well, I’m bringing it back this year! I’ve made a few adjustments and worked out kinks from last year, and I’m hoping that this year will be even more fun.

Here’s how the event works. The prompts are centered around a theme (“music,” this year), and each week features a different category of prompts: worldbuilding prompts, character prompts, plot prompts, and flash fiction prompts. In addition, each week is hosted by a different blogger. I’m super happy to announce this year’s co-hosts!

Hosting character prompts for the second week of October (mainly from Twitter), Julia of Lit Aflame.
Hosting plot prompts for the third week of October, Julian of Saver of Memories.
Hosting flash fiction prompts for the fourth week of October, Sarah of The Sarcastic Elf.

All of these ladies are great bloggers and lovely people, so definitely go check out their blogs, subscribe, follow them, all that jazz. I’m super excited to be working with all of them on this event. ^-^

Every day of October (except Sundays) will have a prompt. Each prompt will be posted by its week’s respective host, along with their response to the prompt for their own NaNoWriMo project.

How does Preptober Prompts work for you, if you’d like to be a participant? You can interact through social media by sharing the day’s prompt graphic (I’ll release a folder of the graphics closer to October) and your response, tagging me (@rysaarcher on Twitter and Instagram, R.M. Archer on Facebook), and using the #PreptoberPrompts hashtag; or through the host blogs by putting your response in the comments of the day’s prompt post.

In addition, there are three extra days at the end of October, and for those three days we’re going to be using reader-submitted prompts. I’ll open up a submissions form on September 17th, and all you’ll need to do is submit your prompt idea through that form, but you can also improve the chances of your prompt being chosen by sharing and participating in the event through the month. Share posts on social media, post your prompt results in the comments, etc. and you’ll get more entries to be chosen for one of those three spots.

The readers whose prompts are chosen will get a special shout-out and a graphic for their prompt, and if they’re bloggers then they’ll get to host their prompt and I’ll share their blog here and on social media.

But all of your prompts will be shared! I’ll be putting together a list of bonus prompts at the end of the month, including any prompts that weren’t selected for the last three days, and sharing it on social media and on the blog.

 

The Book Buddy Collab Tag

Jenna Terese has created a new blog tag, and this one is collaborative! The way it works, you and a blogger buddy coordinate to answer questions about each other and post the tag on the same day and then see how you did. It’s going to be super fun, and of course I’m doing it with my eleven-year best friend, Allie, over at Of Rainy Days and Stardust Veins.

The Rules:

1. Thank the blogger that tagged you. Link back to the creator.

2. Pick a bookish blogger friend to do the tag with you and contact them.

3. Coordinate so that your bookish buddy posts their part of the tag on the same day as you. Be sure to link to their post/blog on yours!

4. Answers the questions given. Comment on your buddy’s post to let them know how well they answered!

5. Tag five other bookish bloggers and give them a set of 10 new questions.

The Questions:

1. What’s your buddy’s all-time favorite book?

All-time favorite… Dreamtreaders by Wayne Thomas Batson, I think? But I know there are a bunch of others she’s also really, really liked, so I’m not 100% sure it hasn’t been demoted, lol.

2. How about their favorite author?

Umm… I’m guessing either Wayne Thomas Batson or Marissa Meyer, but I’m not actually sure? I don’t even know if she would consider any specific author her favorite right now. (Gosh, I’m doing terribly so far, lol.)

3. What cliche does your buddy hate most?

Either instalove or love triangles.

4. What’s their favorite genre to read?

Either sci-fi, with fantasy in close second, or vice versa.

5. What book are they reading right now?

Hopefully On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson, both because I lent it to her months ago and she’s been saying she needs to read it and because I need her to feel the same pain I felt upon reading The Warden and the Wolf King, which means she needs to start the series. ;) But she also could be reading part of the Twisted series (I think that’s the right name?) or one of the Grishaverse novels.

6. What’s your buddy’s favorite side-character?

FAVORITE side character? Out of ALL the side characters? Yeesh. I know she likes Kaylie Keaton from Dreamtreaders. I think she likes Sam Gamgee (if she doesn’t, we need to have a talk). Then of course there’s the whole Rampion crew, depending on how you define side character… I really have no idea. It’s probably someone from something I’ve never– KEEFE. It’s probably Keefe from the Kingdom Keepers books.

7. What’s their favorite reading-time drink?

Some sort of tea, if anything. But I don’t know what kind. I think she likes oolong teas?

8. Name a book that they read but hated.

*mind goes totally blank* Um… Yeah, I know she’s ranted to me about terrible books before, but I can’t think what any of them were. *facepalm* She’s probably read books with really annoying romances that made her want to throw said books at the wall. (Meanwhile, I never manage to rant about a book only once, so she will remember the multiple books I’ve ranted about repeatedly… Or rather the one book and the one book-to-movie adaptation…)

9. What’s their favorite classic?

Lord of the Rings?

10. What book are they super excited to get their hands on?

Probably the next Grishaverse novel.

Allie, I think we need to talk about books more often again. XD

Nominees:

Sarah at Pen of a Ready Writer

Sarah at The Sarcastic Elf

Sarah at Inkdragon

Sarah at Light and Shadows

(Darn, I ran out of Sarahs)

Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea

 

New Questions:

1. What’s a cliche your buddy actually loves?

2. What’s their most recent favorite book?

3. What’s a book they read and hated?

4. What’s a book that made them cry?

5. What was the first book you two connected over?

6. What book did they most enjoy reading in school?

7. Who’s their favorite main character?

8. What’s their favorite book cover?

9. Who’s their favorite author?

10. What’s their favorite genre?

Blog Schedule Change

As I’m trying to get back into things after a summer hiatus, and also going into a new school year that’s more time-intensive than previous years have been, and trying to give more time to actual story drafting, I’m finding it difficult to keep up with my current blog schedule and produce new content and that kind of thing, so I’ve decided to cut wayyyy back on my blogging schedule and make only one post per week.

Here’s the new schedule:

First and third Tuesdays will be writing tips

Second Tuesdays will be character interviews

Fourth Tuesdays will (hopefully) be book reviews

It’s going to be very different, lol, but I’m hoping it’ll work better and I’m hoping that fewer posts will also mean better posts as I’m able to put more time into them. I’m sorry for the missed posts and hectic craziness lately. Hopefully things will settle into a rhythm again with this new schedule, at least aside from Preptober Prompts in October. (This is not an official announcement. There will be an official announcement in the beginning/middle of next month, once I have the co-hosts finalized. ;) )

Anyway… that’s the latest news. I hope this change results in my better ability to serve y’all with more helpful content, more consistent (if less frequent) content, etc. :)

The Sunshine Blogger Award

I think I may be unusual in the blogging world that I never use tags to replace my weekly posts, I just make them an extra post on Fridays or Mondays. And since today is Friday, it was a perfect day for me to be tagged for the fun Sunshine Blogger Award. ;)

Rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog so others can find them. That would be the lovely Eden over at The Happy Hedgehog. :)

2. List the rules and display an award logo on your blog post.

3. Answer the 11 questions the last blogger asked you.

4. Nominate 11 bloggers to receive the award and notify them by commenting on any of their posts.

5. Ask the nominees 11 new questions.

 

Questions:

1. Favorite season?

Either spring or summer. Spring has really nice weather (once the snow finally stops…), everything’s bright and coming back to life after the (always-too-long) winter, and choir hasn’t quite ended for the year yet. But in the summertime there’s no school for me or for my friends, I get to go to camp, it’s hot, I get to go swimming… (I think summer wins, but it’s close.)

2. Raisins in cookies. Yay or nay?

Yay! I mean, they’re not my favorite cookie ingredient, but I certainly don’t mind them. (And I don’t understand how people mistake them for chocolate chips, even at first glance? They’re a totally different texture. But that’s another topic altogether…)

3. If you could travel to Middle Earth, where would you go?

Oooooh. The Shire, Rivendell, Minas Tirith (and the Gondorian libraries!), Edoras… Maybe Lothlorien, but probably not. Heights aren’t really my thing. (I won’t be visiting Aragorn in Minas Tirith. Sorry.) Weathertop would also be cool.

4. What is one of the worst books you’ve ever read?

The Collective by R.S. Williams. I’m sorry, but… oof. If you’d like to read a full rant review of it (and also the first review I ever posted on my blog), you’ll find it here.

5. Favorite mode of transportation?

I like horseback and I like boats (water is super relaxing), but if we’re talking practically then I’m pretty happy with cars.

6. Name one random thing that makes you happy.

Only one? *sets chin on hands* Um… New music. Especially if someone recommended it to me specifically or it’s something I discovered because they mentioned they liked it, because then there’s an added element of it meaning something to them and I get to learn something new about them. ^-^

7. Favorite teen writer? (Doesn’t have to be published.)

*starts ticking off fingers* She’s not a teenager anymore, she’s not a teenager, I’ve never read her writing, she was a teenager when she wrote that but she’s not now… *also notices all of these people are female* Um… I have lots of teenage writer friends, but I haven’t read the writing of most of them so I can’t accurately say whether I like them as writers. I guess I’ll go with my best friend, Allie, ’cause I really like her writing and she’s the only one I can think of that I’ve read stories by. XP

8. Fictional character that made you REALLY mad?

Teresa from The Maze Runner was pretty awful. Especially in The Scorch Trials. There were probably others, but she’s the first one who came to mind.

9. What’s one of the most inspiring blog posts you read this year?

*blinks slowly* I don’t even know how many blog posts I’ve read this year. It’s a lot. *sighs* I guess I could point you toward a specific blog? A friend of mine kept a blog over the summer that was to document her experiences this summer and it’s pretty inspiring and encouraging at least to me personally. Dandelions Aren’t Weeds.

10. Favorite form of procrastination? (*evil laughter*)

Favorite as in most enjoyable? Building Pinterest boards. Favorite as in most frequent? Scrolling through Facebook and excusing it as “waiting for messages” and convincing myself I’m wasting way less time than I am because I’m holding conversations.

11. What’s one of the first things you would do if you became the last person on earth?

Cry. I mean, everyone I love would be gone. I wouldn’t even have internet friends anymore. I’d just be completely alone, and that’s one of my biggest fears (though usually less literally, lol). But after that I think I’d travel. With no one else around, travel is free because there’s no one to care if they’re making money. And there wouldn’t be traffic or anything, everything would be less… tarnished, I guess? So that would be cool. Except I wouldn’t have anyone to share it with. :P

 

Nominees:

1. Leila at Wildflowers and Cosmic Tea

2. Snapper

3. Sarah at The Sarcastic Elf

4. Julian at Saver of Memories

5. Sarah at Pen of a Ready Writer

6. Catherine at The Rebelling Muse

7. Acacia at Acacia’s Story Corner

8. Zoe at A Weirdo Who Writes

9. Mariposa at Dino’s Digest

10. Hope Ann

11. Keturah at Keturah’s Korner

 

New Questions:

1. What song makes you smile?

2. What’s one of your biggest fears?

3. Favorite autumn read?

4. Name one random thing that makes you happy.

5. Have you ever cried at a fictional character’s death?

6. What’s your favorite worship song?

7. Flannel: yay or nay?

8. What’s your favorite fall flavor?

9. What’s your favorite type of humor?

10. What’s the most recent song you’ve discovered and loved?

11. What was the last book that made you cry (or almost cry, for you fellow heartless readers)?

Character Interview: Saria Elfbourne

The final Elfbourne is Saria, the optimistic, exuberant one who’s excited to live in a fantasy world. I hope you enjoy her interview. :)

Saria: *enters the interview room and bounces into her chair with a wide grin* Hello!

Interviewer: *smiles* Hello. How are you?

Saria: Doing fabulously. And you?

Interviewer: I’m doing well, myself. Are you ready to get started?

Saria: *nods quickly*

Interviewer: What’s your name?

Saria: Saria Blissany Alary.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Saria: I just turned ten.

Interviewer: You have five siblings?

Saria: *nods* Twilight, Elk, Sarabrina, Arthur, and Leafman.

Interviewer: What’s your relationship like with them?

Saria: *grins* I love them all! They’re all great siblings and we do all sorts of stuff together. Twilight and I go horseback riding, Elk and I play football, Sarabrina and I stargaze, Arthur and I read, Leafman and I go on walks… I do pretty much everything with my siblings.

Interviewer: Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Saria: Extrovert.

Interviewer: It must be great having so many automatic friends around.

Saria: *nods* It is. They do get annoying sometimes, but doesn’t everybody? *chuckles*

Interviewer: What’s your favorite food?

Saria: Rye’s waffles. She’s my foster mom.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite color?

Saria: All of them! *laughs* But I think bright blue, yellow, and pink are near the top. Bright, happy colors are my favorite.

Interviewer: Do you prefer movies or books?

Saria: Books.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite?

Saria: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite animal?

Saria: Dogs, horses, cats… I guess anything I can have as a pet. *laughs*

Interviewer: Do you have any pets?

Saria: The Coopers–my foster family–have a boxer named Codi, and my birth parents have horses and dogs.

Interviewer: What are some of your hobbies?

Saria: Drawing, painting, going on walks, horseback riding, gymnastics, gardening, singing, playing the flute, reading… I like to do lots of things.

Interviewer: Which of these is most important to you: kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Saria: Kindness.

Interviewer: And honesty or selflessness?

Saria: Selflessness.

Interviewer: Is there anything you can’t leave home without?

Saria: I like to carry my camera with me. I have a little polaroid, but I forgot to bring it today.

Interviewer: That was the last question. *smiles* Have a good day.

Saria: *grins and hops out of her chair* You too! *shakes the interviewer’s hand and leaves*

5 Favorite Writing Reference Books

Full disclosure: I don’t read writing books as much as I maybe should. I tend to wing things, or read blog posts, or take courses (mostly wing things… I’m working on it). But I do have a pretty decent writing resource library, and I have actually read a few of the books in it, and they’re worth recommending, so here are five writing books that I’ve found helpful. (Images are buy links.)

1. The Extroverted Writer by Amanda Luedeke

 This is a short book, but has a bunch of helpful information on building a platform, what size your platform really should be, what platforms to use, etc. Definitely helpful for us indies, in particular, but really for all writers.

2. Project Canvas by Caroline Meek and Olivia Rogers

While the copy-editing for this book leaves something to be desired, the actual content is really good. The articles in this book cover everything from worldbuilding to overcoming writer’s block to editing to blogging to specific genre tips, and they’re written by young authors from 11 different countries. This is a super awesome resource and I found it really inspiring.

(Read my full review here)

3. Platform by Michael Hyatt

This is another marketing book that I found really helpful, especially for discovering how to promote my work without sounding salesy and how to better utilize my website. (I should go back and give myself a refresher. :P) If actually incorporated (something I’m bad at with writing books), the info in here could make a huge difference to your platform.

4. Storyworld First by Jill Williamson

This is one I’ve talked about multiple times before because it’s a really helpful book. It’s another that’s pretty small but has a ton of helpful information. You could spend weeks working straight through this book, if not longer. (Just don’t get worldbuilder’s disease.) My copy has way too many sticky notes in it.

5. Writing Vivid Settings by Rayne Hall

If you want some practical tips for making your description accurate and genuine, check out this book. In addition to the five basic senses, it tackles lighting, weather, what to best describe during climax scenes or opening scenes, etc. It’s super in-depth and helpful.