WriYe Blogging Circle: The Beginning and Now

Why did you start writing?

Bonus:

How has your writing improved since you first started?

When I was in the 2nd grade, my teacher encouraged me to write stories. I've always scored pretty high in reading and comprehension since I was younger, I just didn't enjoy reading. My teachers would always start me off in the lowest Language Arts class because I showed no interest in the subject, but then I would get pushed to the highest class...even then it was too easy. So, my 2nd grade teacher wanted me to write my own stories. 

I'm going to assume this was a way for her to gauge my interests because I can't really see any other reason why she pulled me aside and encouraged me to start writing. Well, let's just say, that I ended up loving it. I've always been into writing. Even research papers (I love research papers and essays). It's easy and I like the research behind it. Though, even after discovering my love for writing, I really hated reading...it took until I was in the 6th grade (11 years old...ish) when I actually found something that I actually liked. 

How has my writing improved since I first started writing...? Um...well, my grammar, syntax, and organizational skills definitely improved. I think my plots have improved too...I mean, I was 7 years old when I started writing. Needless to say, there was a lot of improvement from the time I was 7 until now (I'm 27 years old now).  

Writing Update: Making Plans

Well, I'm back in the swing of things. I just printed out all of Hourglass because I discovered that I can't revise on my computer. I'm not sure why. I just have a really hard time focusing on revisions. So, I printed my manuscript...which took a lot of paper but it was worth it. I kind of like not having to stare at a screen all day and my foot really appreciates me not sitting at a desk all day.

The revisions are going along smoothly. I want to try to finish everything by the end of the month but considering that it's already the 11th of May...It might not happen. I'll keep working on it though. I've been doing some research into some cover artists and I think I found one I really like and could possibly be a good fit for my series. While I'll still be making the cover art for my Wattpad stories, I kind of want my published novels to be professionally done until I get used to the new program I got or until I get better in general...Improvement is always nice.

I've been looking into making my own publishing company and it looks relatively easy. I'm going to look into it more though. I still have to come up with a name for it and do some more digging to figure out if it's what I really want (it probably is). There is just a lot to do for that.

Once I'm about halfway through my revision process, I'll be looking for Critique Partners. I want to make sure that I have something that I can actually give my partner(s) so I want a good portion of Hourglass finished by then.

Since I'm off school for the summer, I'm really hoping that I can continue to work on my novel and start working on my stories for Wattpad (which I've been procrastinating on). I think I'm going to take down my story Spliced until I'm done with my edits for District Pluto: Morality Sentence. Which I want to publish on the site next. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and it's something that I've been really interested in working on.

Another thing I started up again was reading. As much as I would love to go through and re-read the Tamora Pierce novels, I don't have them available for me right now. They are in my dad's basement waiting to be transferred to my apartment. I just need to clean it first. So, instead, I'm reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I will get through this story...I will. This book has been sitting on my shelf for a year now and I still haven't read it.

I'll probably write a review and post it...just to prove I actually read it. 

WriYe Blogging Circle: Genre Preference

What does genre mean to you? Do you have a "home" genre? Or are you a genre hopper and are comfortable in just about any one?

Bonus:

Do you read the same genre you write? Yes or no? If yes, why? And if no, why not?  

Genre is how to categorize books (or media). My "home" genre would have to be both Fantasy and Science Fiction but I tend to go from genre to genre.

I like coming up with worlds and creating races. I like making governments and societies but mine always end up a little messed up and dark. Oops. My District Pluto series is a good example of that. There are times when I try other genres because I don't want to build a world from scratch or I just want to write something different. I do like a good change of pace, and sometimes it's needed. It usually happens between books in a series. So, say I'm writing a fantasy series and I just finished the first book. I won't start on the next book right away. I tend to write something else in a completely different genre.

Reading for me in pretty much the same. I tend to lean toward Fantasy and Science Fiction but I do read in other genres as well - for a change of pace. I find that General Fiction is faster paced and I won't get so sucked into another world like I do with Fantasy and Science Fiction. That doesn't mean I don't get sucked in. I just don't try to piece the world together to get a bigger picture.

[I'm a little behind on the blogging circle so I'm working on catching up.]

What I Do With My Time

Procrastination
What is your worst time waster? How long do you allow yourself to procrastinate? Do you regret it, or do you think it’s worth it?

Bonus: Try to forego one of your time wasters this month and see how much higher your WC is! But not that school, work, necessary stuff. We need you happy, healthy and not in trouble for truancy.

Lately, I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos. I have my moments but I just get really tired when I get home and just want to veg. My hours at work at changing and I'm trying to get used to it all, not to mention school has started. Sometimes I just want to kick back. YouTube videos are usually short and I try to use them as more of a character study since I don't have the energy to go out and people watch. It's really easy to pick up on certain quirks that people have. You have to go and find the right ones though. Not the scripted messes that people tend to make.

I don't know if that's considered procrastinating since I'm actually doing something but I think it's procrastinating. It's not something I do for long, maybe an hour or so before I get bored and go back to writing. My attention span for watching videos/TV/Movies is really short. I don't mind when I'm doing something while its playing in the background but I can't always just sit down and watch stuff.

Since I tend to pick up a few personality traits that I can use, I don't tend to regret it much...until I see the pile of work I have to do later - then I regret it. So, yes. Yes I do regret it. Actually, writing this post is me procrastinating from the massive amount of stuff I really should be doing...

Keeping Up with 750 words

This week was a bit tricky. My work hours make it a bit harder for me to fit in my writing time and with my class starting on Monday, it's going to make it even harder. 750 words a day becomes hard. Though I managed to keep up with it on top of the things I had to do for work.

I can't say how many words I wrote for this week, but as of right now my monthly total stands at 30,121 words. With editing, I clocked in my 10 hours for the month. Now, I'm going to prepare to work on it in February. I need to print everything out.

As far as reading goes, I'm not doing too well in that department. The book I picked isn't really holding my interest which isn't good. I'm going to push myself through it to see how it goes.
There is a whole list of books I want to read this year and I'm stuck on the first one.

Overall, it was a pretty good week.

January Goals

The beginning of the year is going to be harder to start off than my normal years. With my classes starting mid-January, I need to try to get ahead of the game before then but if I don't manage to finish, I still have the rest of the year. Because 2016, I'm taking it a bit slower than I usually do.

Here are my writing/editing/reading/etc goals for January:

• Write book #1 (no real title yet)
• Edit 10 hours in District Pluto
• Read 1 book
• Blog once a week

It's simple enough right. That's just my goals for writing. I have personal, work, and school goals that are not added to the list. For now, I'm keeping my blog strictly writing related until later in the year. Smaller lists help me stay focused. I won't feel so overwhelmed with all the things I need to do.

We'll see if it helps at all.

Planning For 2016

2015 was a huge fail. I had a lot of plans but I didn't leave any room for changes in my plans. This is where I tend to go wrong. I bite off way more than I can chew. So, in 2016, I plan on taking it easy. I'll just work on getting these goals in one at a time rather than having huge plans for myself.

• Write one whole novel series (first draft only) - There should be about 5 novels total. I need to do a lot of planning when it comes to this series but I think it's something I can do in December.
• Edit District Pluto Series (to the second draft) - I don't want to try to do too much so I'm sticking to the low end here. I'm already on the third story and I know that the last two are going to need a lot of reworking. If I happen to finish the second draft of all the the stories, then I'll work on the next edit. 
• Read some books - No set goal for this and I don't have plans for writing reviews for this unless I really feel like it. This year, my reading was on a low end of the spectrum, I plan on reading at least 10 books this year. 

My ultimate goal is to maintain some kind of balance. My work life is getting very busy. I just started a full time job 3 months ago at a daycare and my hours aren't always consistent. On top of that, I'll be going back to school to get my bachelor's degree.

It's going to be a busy year. I plan on trying to make it all work out. But the first thing that I need to do is plan out the 5 novels I want to write. I have a lot to do by the end of December.