Excuses, excuses

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I know I haven’t updated this blog as much as I set out to for my resolution and I only have myself to blame for that, but I’m been busy. It all boils down to one word: school.

This has probably been the worst and best time of my college career. 

I’m graduating in a month (eek!) and this is the first time in about 15 years that I won’t be in school. It also doesn’t help that I’m graduating without my closest friends because I’m graduating a year early. And it definitely doesn’t help that I’ve lost complete motivation for anything remotely related to class. Worst of all, I really don’t know what I’m doing with my life or where I’m headed. To make it worse, it’s all anyone can ask me about.

But it is the best time I’ve had in college. One, I’m so close to being free (free I tell you!). Two, this past year, I’ve figured out some rather important things about myself. What I love. What I need to do. What I can’t survive without. For the first time in my college career, I’ve actually had some free time. I’ve explored my true passion and fallen even deeper in love with it (if that’s possible). I’ve been able to balance school, friends, reading, and writing. (At least I think I did a good job—we shall see once grades are released at the end of April). Nothing is better than being done with homework before it’s dark out because of the small amount of classes I’m taking. 

But I’m still busy. Stressful is an understatement some days. If you want to call my last semester terrifying, stressful, anxiety inducing experience of my life, then I will agree with you. I thought starting college was bad. 

Long story short—there have been too many things competing for my attention lately and I just haven’t had the energy or time to blog. I know it’s an excuse, but I swear I’ll do better. I’m going to try to stick to my resolution of updating my blog twice a week (I’m thinking Mondays and Friday). 

I’m not giving up. I made myself a promise and I’m going to work as hard as I can to keep it. 

The Long Road: Revisions

Getting a book ready to query is a long road. It’s easy to get discouraged at how much more I have to do, but today is not one of those days.

I recently completed my first revisions on my manuscript, THE LOY. (Notice how I said my first revisions. I have a lot more revisions to get through for this book to be ready.)

Revisions are different for every writer. There’s no perfect formula (trust me, I’ve looked and looked). Revising is tough. No other way to put it. Revisions for me will always be difficult. It's obvious how much I struggle with revising because up until this set of revisions, I would always stop a couple of chapters in because I got discouraged.

So being able to say that I have now revised a book is an accomplishment in itself. (One I’ll keep saying while I dance in my chair a little bit.)

In my first revision pass, I focused on perfecting the plot. This involved scraping entire scenes and chapters, cutting and adding characters, removing one subplot and beefing up another, etc. I did a lot in this first draft of revisions and I’m proud of myself. 

But what I love is that I get to do again. I never thought I would say this. I really didn’t, but I’m starting to grow fond of the revising process.

I’m excited to start my second round of revisions because I have so many other things to tackle. The plot isn’t quite where it needs to be in terms of pacing. The world building is a little lacking. Then there are all these characters that I haven’t really touched in my revisions. I can’t wait to start working with character arcs.The list is really never ending and for the first time, I don’t feel overwhelmed. I’m in no rush because I know I can make this story a lot better. 

And yes, I may not be able to get an agent with this story. I’m starting to see that it’s just a little too cliche and a little too unoriginal, but is that going to stop me? Hell, no! 

I started writing for myself and I’m going to continue to write for myself. And even though it’s my absolute dream to get published and share my story with others, my love of writing comes first. I absolutely love it. No matter what happens, I’m going to keep writing. 

Every book I write is only going to make me a better writer. So that one day, I will be ready for whatever’s out there for me. 

I’ve overcome my fear of revising (a long battle). That’s one large step down the long road and yes, I have a thousand more steps to go, but if I take it one step at a time, I’ll eventually make it.

Any one else struggling with revisions? 

Need To Read (1)

This is the start of a series of posts that I’m going to try to do early every month for the books I NEED to read. Not because I really have to. I’m still a new book blogger so I haven’t received ARCs or anything like that. These are books I need to read because I really want to read them.

Now onto my list (in no particular order other than what comes to mind first)! 

1. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray: It’s pitched as Orphan Black meets Cloud Atlas—two works I absolutely love. The cover is gorgeous. The second book is coming out sometime this year. Why wouldn’t I want to read this book? 

2. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: This has been on my TBR list for a long time. I’m a sucker for historical fiction. It’s one of the first genres I remember reading as a kid. I’ve also heard so many great things about this book and I am determined to read it this month. 

3. On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta: I’ve heard this is a great book. An agent I admire loved this book. It’s not something I would usually read, but I’m trying to be more open to all sorts of books. It will be a great break from sci-fi and fantasy.

4. Revision and Self-Editing for Publication by James Scott Bell: It’s no secret I want to publish a novel one day. I’ve finished the first draft of revisions for my novel, but I know there’a lot more to do. This book is going to help me figure out what I need to do to make my novel even better.

What books are you looking forward to reading this month? If you’ve read any of these, what did you think? 

Writing and Life Collide

A lot of authors talk about how life influences your writing. Well, I never believed them. I mean I write about dragons and royal courts and occasionally the heart-wrenching relationship. There are no dragons or royal courts in my life. I have professors and classmates. And I can definitely assure you that I don’t have a heart-wrenching relationship. I have really close friends but never anything close to a romantic relationship. My life lacks all of those things. 

Writing is my escape. I use it so that I don’t have to think about the various things going on in my life. They shouldn’t overlap. But recently I finished Draft Zero for my GUARDIANS story. It was my 2014 NaNoWriMo novel and I just got around to finishing up the last 20,000 words early this February.

I wrote 70k about a character trying to choose between two identities. Two choices that would take her in widely different directions. Once the decision was made, she wouldn’t be able to return. Therefore, she spends nearly half the book traveling through the desert (a translator, liminal phase) between her two choices. And she doesn’t even make the decision until much later, when she absolutely has to decide what to do with her life. 

Sound familiar? 

Probably not, but I’ll lay it all out for you. I’m a biochemistry major that loves writing. I have to decide between writing or medicine because I know I can’t have both. And even if I make that decision. I have to decide how much of my life I should devote to writing. Is it a part time or full time job? Is it going to my career or is it going to be a very time-consuming hobby.

I’ve been lulled into a sense of false security because I’m still in school (my liminal phase) and I know I don’t have very much time left to make my decision, but I’m waiting for the final blow in a sense. I waiting for someone to just scream at me and tell me what to do. 

I literally wrote 70,000 words about this decision I can’t make.

My character definitely made a decision, but I still don’t know what I want to do. 

Anyone else find that they unconsciously write parts of their life into their stories? How do you feel about it? 

Review: The Dream Thieves

I did a review for The Raven Boys a while ago! I’m going to try to keep this review of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater  spoiler free, but if you want to be extra careful, I would suggest not reading this review if you haven’t at least read the first book. 

Summary: (from goodreads): Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. 

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. 

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

Rating: 5/5 stars

Thoughts: 

Yes, you saw that right. I’m giving this book 5 stars, which means I would re-read this book and I hate re-reading books. (Let’s be honest, I’m most definitely going buy and re-read this series in the forthcoming years. That’s how much I love The Raven Cycle.)

What’s the reason I’m willing to re-read this book? Two words. Ronan Lynch. 

I love him so much. I didn’t realize I had a favorite Raven Boy until this book. I’m sure a lot of people felt this way. The Raven Boys was a great, interesting beginning, but it was the introduction to the world. We got to know the characters pretty well, but in The Dream Thieves we get to know Ronan very well. 

And everything I learned about him, only made him that much better. He’s a angry, tough guy. You know that from the start, but in the second book in The Raven Cycle, you find out why and how he ended up this way. I wouldn’t mind if there were four books on Ronan alone. That’s how much I love him. 

And it’s not just Ronan. Adam. Gansey. Noah. Blue. I love them so much. I just want to wrap them up in a blanket and hide them. To keep them safe from Stiefvater’s evil clutches.

And when the characters aren’t enough to keep you reading, the plot is. Oh dear, everything just got so much larger with the introduction of new characters and new threats. I couldn’t put this book down. I adored it. I will never not love these books. 

I can’t even formulate the words to review this book well. For that I apologize, but if you haven’t read this series, seriously you need to read it. You won’t regret it. 

What do you think about the 2^nd book in The Raven Cycle? Who else loves Ronan Lynch? (I better see all of your hands in the air, right now.) 

Scrivener

If you’re a new writer and you’re using Microsoft Word to write your very, very long novel, I just want to suggest a new program for you called Scrivener. 

Scrivener is a writing program from Literature and Latte and I absolutely love it. I didn’t realize how much I hated using Microsoft word until I used Scrivener for Camp NaNoWriMo 2014. It, unfortunately, isn’t a free program, but you can try it free for a month during NaNo. After that you have to pay 45 dollars to install it (there's a discount if you successful complete NaNo), but I think it’s worth every penny, despite the couple of negative aspects. 

PROS

1. Scrivener doesn’t take forever to load a document. If you use Microsoft Word, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. If you’re document is longer than a hundred pages, it take forever to load. I am not patient enough to wait that long. When I need to write, I don't have time to wait.

2. It saves automatically. I don’t remember how long it take the program to save your work, but it’s a couple of seconds. Let’s say you leave your computer and forgot to save. Well have no fear, scrivener is here. It will save your work automatically, so you don’t have to worry about whether you saved your document or not. 

3. You don’t need to make multiple documents.  Because Microsoft Word would load so slowly for me, I just ended up making a new document for every chapter I wrote. Therefore, every time I sat down to write, I would have to open up at least three documents—the previous chapter I wrote, any notes I had in separate document, and the current chapter I was working on. The beauty of Scrivener that you can create multiple documents under one binder. It’s all in one place and I don’t have to wait for it to load. I can just flip between the chapters I need or even open up a dual window for when I need to see two documents at once. 

4. It’s great for revisions. Not only can you color your documents (I use it to signify if I’ve revised a chapter or not), there’s also a fancy cork board feature where you all of your synopses of your chapters and scenes appear. It’s great to just move scenes and chapters around while in revisions without having to physically write down all of your scene summaries on notecards and lay them on the floor. 

CONS

1. All the “bells and whistles”. Scrivener is a program made for writing novels, screenplays, etc. It’s meant for writing longer pieces of works and therefore there are a lot of different functions to aid you on that long quest. So many that it’s easy to get distracted by all the little things you can do in comparison to Microsoft Word. If you get distracted easily, Scrivener might not be the best program for you. I mean Microsoft Word does get the job done :). 

2. It’s a little difficult to use. At least if you want to use all the “bells and whistles”. I still don’t know how to do certain things on Scrivener because I just don’t have the patience to go research it. In other words, there’s a steep learning curve. 

3. It’s frustrating to import other documents. I’ll be the first to admit that I still don’t know how to use Scrivener to it’s maximum potential. And one of those things I still don’t know is how to import other documents like my previous stories I wrote on Microsoft Word. I don’t know why but it always indents it oddly, therefore I have just given up on trying to import documents. If I really need something I wrote previously, I will look up everything I can to import. But for now, I refuse to be frustrated by this program.

Overall, I love Scrivener. I think there are more benefits for writers. I know some people don’t think you should buy Scrivener, especially if you’re just going to be using it like a word document, but I disagree. By having Scrivener, I use it every day and I learn more about it everyday. I may not know everything there is to know about Scrivener right now, but at the bare minimum I know how to write in it. That’s the most important part (the bells and whistles sure don’t hurt though). 

How do you feel about Scrivener? Do you prefer Microsoft Word or some other writing program? Comment below! 

Review: The 100

I'm a pushover in terms of rating books...meaning I typically don't rate below 3 stars, but I did for this and I thought I wouldn't post this review, but all reviews (good or bad) help, right? 

Here's my review of The 100 by Kass Morgan. 

Summary: (from goodreads): In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

Rating: 2.5/5.0 stars

Thoughts: 

I love The 100 TV Show on CW. Reason one why I picked up this book. Reason two: I needed something to tide me over before I could start watching season 2. Reason three: I thought that the book would be great because it would reveal more about the characters I love and hate.  

The 100 wasn’t what I was expecting. The story is told from four main characters’ point of view, which wasn’t confusing, but it also didn’t help me. There was a lot of switching of viewpoints, so I didn’t feel close to any of the characters. Then again, the changing viewpoint was the main reason I kept reading. I didn’t breeze through this book because I wanted to know more about one character over the next, I was just reading to find out what would happen next. 

But nothing happens. Literally nothing happens. The 100 make it to Earth and that’s it until the end. There’s no growth and the “high stakes” (specifically the “radioactive” Earth) was too far removed to actually seem like a threat. It wasn’t like the Earth had a knife in its hand to hunt the 100 down. It was just there. This ever present, looming threat. It made for a boring book.

Also everything that was interesting (at least in my opinion) had already happened. Ms Morgan uses flashbacks to relay important information, but I’ve never been a fan of flashbacks. If you have that many flashbacks, shouldn’t the book be about that? The conflict in the flashbacks were more compelling than the present one.

I think the only reason I really kept reading was because I loved the concept. I was already attached to some of the characters—namely Bellamy and Clarke from the TV show.  I relate to how protective Bellamy is of his younger sister, Octavia. I would do anything for my younger siblings. And I relate to how serious and down-to-business Clarke is because that’s how I am. 

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book and largely because there was no plot. The was a “dangerous” setting and a whole cast of characters that didn’t really grow or change throughout the story. But here’s to hoping the second book will be a lot better though. I’m far to attached to TV Bellamy and Clarke to not at least try and read the second book. 

Anyone else love the TV show, but not the book like I do? Comment below if you want to talk about either the TV show or the book. (By the way, if you couldn’t tell, I ship Bellarke, so hard and I haven’t even seen the second season).