A writer, sharing advice and experiences along the way
To be a good writer, you need to be a good reader. And that means making a regular habit of reading and reading widely. But what happens when you get into a reading slump and don’t really feel like reading?
Continue reading “Monday Minute: How to Get Out of a Reading Slump”
I’m calling it a day for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. It was good and it’s made me realize I should set more time aside for reading. Continue reading “Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon Update #2”
So far so good. My 24-hour readathon got off to a good start and although I haven’t read as much as I hoped I would, I’m trying to go easy on myself. If anything, I’ve done more reading today than I usually do! Continue reading “Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon Update #1”
Tomorrow is Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, a reading challenge in which all participants read all day and share their experiences on blogs and social media platforms. Readers also participate in mini-challenges and win prizes. To prepare for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, I’m selecting all the books I plan to read through the day. Continue reading “Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon TBR”
Happy Friday everyone! As Easter weekend commences for me, I’m getting ready for get-togethers with family and friends, and hopefully a bit of chocolate too. Even though it’s a fairly busy time, I thought I’d share some of my favourite blogs this week. Continue reading “Follow Friday: March 25, 2016”
This week’s Wednesday Words of Wisdom come from Harper Lee, the author best known for the books, To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. While the book To Kill a Mockingbird has had a mixed reception, it’s still regarded as an American classic and addresses such themes as racism, class structures, injustice, gender roles and laws. I think this quote is fitting of a writer such as Harper Lee, whose novel clearly caused people to reflect on society and life in the American south.
Great post about how what you read and how often you read is connected to your skill as a writer.
This is a rework of a post that I put up two years ago and it still stands today.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am an avid reader as well as a writer. I tend to pick authors that I enjoy and read their entire body of work in chronological order. This not only brings me enjoyment, but it shows me their development as an author from their early to contemporary work.
One of my favorite authors is Stephen King. His early work is strong and definitely got stronger. When he suffered his accident and nearly died, his work suffered a bit after his recovery. He even threatened to retire, but thankfully, did not. I use him as an example because he also has one of my favorite quotes by an author:
If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools…
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This week I thought I’d try something different from my usual Wednesday Words of Wisdom. I found out about WWW Wednesday, which is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Along with talking about writing, I love talking about books.
After a busy weekend of volunteering at a conference, I’ve finally gotten to my 3rd day of this challenge 🙂 This quote is about reading and how it transports us to wonderful worlds. In a lot of ways, reading is a lot like travelling: you’re exposed to a new and unfamiliar world, finding out along the way (as you get lost a couple times) that you really enjoy it. After a while, the unfamiliar becomes familiar… Continue reading “3 Quotes, 3 Days Challenge: Day 3, Adventures”
I was chosen to take the 3 Quotes, 3 Days Challenge by At Milliways with a Pen. Thanks again, JRose88. 🙂 Check out this blog: it features a great blend of posts about gratitude, musings, writing updates and quotes. These are usually writing or reading related but also cover other interesting topics.
For this challenge, you have to write a post with a quote for 3 days and nominate 3 bloggers every day.
Here are the 3 bloggers I nominate for the 3 Quotes, 3 Days Challenge:
Now that I’ve finally found the time to do this, I’ve selected this quote for today:
“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” -John C. Maxwell
As someone who is interested in self-improvement, I’ve heard this repeated by people time and time again. Like others, I’ve made New Year’s resolutions in the past and written down goals I want to achieve. However, I didn’t really get anywhere by making really broad, general goals without numbers or timelines. I never gave myself a deadline to reach or a specific measure to keep myself on track. I always went about it willy-nilly.
I’ve since learned that it’s not the goals or milestones we reach (although those are important and certainly cause for celebration), it’s about the daily routines and habits that we establish. The habits that will lay the foundation for success later down the road.
The past year has been a lesson in this. When I made a habit of writing at least 500-1,000 words daily, I won NaNoWriMo. When I set aside some time for reading, either before bed or in the morning, I not only met my 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge but I exceeded it, reading 18 books in total compared to the 15 I had set out to read. When I made a daily schedule for my job hunt, I was more organized in how I spent my day and felt more confident in my job search. I also set a target number of jobs I would apply for in a week. Since then, I’ve achieved some progress in my job search.
As I’ve said though, it’s not the milestones that are as important as the habits you form. Winning NaNoWriMo was great but even more important was the habit of writing I’ve formed for myself. The true success of creating a writing habit lies in the fact that I’m dedicating time to my craft and enjoying it. The same is true with a reading challenge: it’s fun to challenge and push yourself but in the end…the true reward lies in what you gain from these rewarding activities. Reading makes me feel calm, inspired and more enriched.
And by forming a routine for my job search, I’ve honed my organizational skills and my creative thinking abilities. I feel more in control of my situation and I’ve learned to think outside of the box in using different job search strategies.
I don’t think it’s unusual that some of the most successful people have formed daily habits and routines. I’ve read articles about how successful people are normally early risers and get ahead of their day before it really starts. My daily routine is something I still have to work on and although I don’t write and read everyday or always reach my targets, I still have those habits to fall back on. John C. Maxwell has it right when he says that “the secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” I believe our daily routine says a lot about us.
Creative Writing For Me 