This Afternoon I Learned Something Valuable

As November creeps closer and NaNoWriMo starts to enter my mind, I shift my focus to analyze my writing process as a whole. And I realized my mentality toward it as a whole is crappy. 

Last Monday, I wrote in my planner: consider NaNoWriMo. It was a note to myself to decide if I would participate this year, since of course, I had already considered it before. And for some reason, it took me a long time to reach my conclusion. But upon writing in my handy writing journal this afternoon, I discovered I would never get anything done if I always let my fear of not passing or succeeding get in the way. Which it has been, for years. 

Why am I not out writing, busting my tail and trying my hardest? Two reasons. I'm lazy, that's one. But two, I focus so much on the upkeep of having a perfect track record that I never stop to think about the limits this places on me. 

So of course I will try NaNoWriMo this year. If I only get to plotting a little or even just write 50 words, it would be 50 words more than I would have written otherwise. 

Why did it take me so long to get this through my head? Ah, the clouded mind of a perfectionist. 

Summer Favorites

More than anything this summer, I felt that I was finally becoming my own person. I was able to hang out with friends, get a job, break the rules, eat a lot of food, and all of it contributed to this awesome experience that I can't bear to see end.

So here are some of my favorites from this summer. Favorite moments, favorite places, favorite people, favorite books, favorite movies, favorite music, all of it in one post.

Let's start somewhere easy.

Favorite Places
This one is easy because I have always been so enamored with nature's beauty. My cottage, Seidman Park, my own backyard, my trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes. But there are others, too, ones that give me comfort and ease. Such places include Central Michigan University for band camp and most of all, my friends' basements, which I've spent countless hours in (gouging my face with food and playing board games).

Favorite Movies
And I only saw a few. The Sisterhood of Night, The House at the End of the Street, The Babadook. I watched How to Train Your Dragon and its sequel numerable times, and those are my favorites too.

Favorite People
My friends certainly stand out. They really made my experiences possible. But I also babysat these sweet kids two doors down, and I think they deserve to be on this list. My sister and my brother, whom I said goodbye to very recently. I will miss them a lot, but I look forward to my newfound alone-ness.

Favorite Music
I listened to so many different things. Such a variety. Stand-outs include: the Blurryface album, MØ's No Mythologies to Follow album. I listened to a whole lot of Smallpools and Bleachers, a fair amount of Snakadaktal, and went through a faze of Sylvan Esso. Quite recently I'm jumping back into Neon Trees. The 1975, Wild Child, and Walk the Moon are always present. Oh Wonder was like the jam of August. And Misterwives. Oh how I love thee. Your concert was godsent, and your music is from the heavens. Never stop making more. Florence's How Big album melted my heart. And I spent a good/weird few weeks only listening to the HTTYD score. Nice.

Favorite Books
For this, I have to consult my Goodreads. And I should do a summer wrap-up to get them all in there. I loved all of the Morgan Matson books I read. They just made me really happy inside (especially Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and how Since You've Been Gone focused on friendship !!!! so much). Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson was like a hidden gem I wouldn't have found without Booktube and a trip to my favorite used book store, but I'm glad it made its way into my life. Not sure how I feel about The Well of Ascension yet, as I still have yet to finish it. Lastly, I read Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac and Paper Towns back to back. Memoirs was good, but not nearly as good as Paper Towns. It remains as my favorite contemporary. I know it's really angsty, but I can't find a book I relate to more. HUGE SHOUT OUT to Eve: The Awakening by Jenna Moreci. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm 75% through the book AND IT'S SO GOOD. 10/10 would recommend. It literally has a 4.62 rating on Goodreads right now. Check it out.
P.S. I didn't receive Queen of Shadows until I was half way through Eve, so I'm waiting to start. But I know that if I read it in the summer, it would be on this list, without a doubt.

Favorite Moments
Having bonfires with my friends. Working at six in the morning with my sister. Speed reading books. Reading books together with my friends. Cashing my first paycheck. Watching The Lion King with my brother, helping him move in. Teaching my sister how to play SimCity on her last night in the country. Pool parties, and jumping in pools with clothes on. Trying to letter-box, and it not working. All of our sleepovers. Paint twister. Slip 'n sliding. Walking down train tracks. Skinny dipping. Every single time at Jam 'n Bean. Band camp (all of it, but especially the mini pool and Piano Man). The first football game (homecoming getting lined up). The playground was great (you know the one). My newfound love for Taco bell. Hostage was a dream (a really hot dream). We cooked our own meal, which was great. Every single time we listened to MUS in the car. And danced along. Swimming in Lake Michigan with and without friends. Taking ratchet pictures on the pier. Random put-put golfing with the fam. Eating s'more dip in the morning. The countless board games. Salvation Army (wow....finally!). My Misterwives concert.

It wouldn't have been this much fun without all my friends. I have high hopes for next summer (I know we can top it). I'm feeling sorta nostalgic so I might as well stop listing the good times. I honestly can't say whether or not the school year will be this cool. Probably not, to be honest. We did a lot of great things this summer.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Book Review

I don't normally write reviews, but I also don't normally have such confusing feelings about a book.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs took me two days to complete. So I must have enjoyed it. I must have been entertained. Indeed, I feel that I was. But each time I picked it up, my head hurt a little bit. 

The story starts off normal enough with plenty of room to grow. Since it's the beginning of the book, and every book is different, I expect the plot to pick up as I got further in. In my opinion, I don't believe it did much. The middle was faster and more exciting, but I felt the beginning and even the end really dragged. 

*Spoiler,* but I didn't know this was going to be a time travel book. Which I didn't have an issue with, it just surprised me. I also didn't know this would be a book with magical birds, named an unpronounceable name. AGH. 

There were times where I waited for more information to be shared or revealed. I found this quite confusing, like pieces of important information were being left out of the story. Confusing things would happen, and Miss Peregrine would go on to explain something else entirely to Jacob, so I had trouble keeping up with the story. 

I didn't find many of the characters to be particularly likable. We didn't get the chance to know many of the peculiar uses very well. I don't like Miss Peregrine at all. Emma annoys me, Jacob's father's an ass, and Jacob is boring and sort of one dimensional. 

I enjoyed the book, though it was more plot driven than I tend to read, so hopefully there's character growth to be seen in Hollow City and Library of Souls. I like the premise a lot, but unfortunately the plot is kind of boring to me. 

I'm struggling to understand how I gave this a four star rating. Why did I read it so fast? Did I actually enjoy it? Am I just talking about the bad things right now?, leaving out all I liked about the book? 

I'd definitely give this book more of a three-and-a-half star rating. Again, I'm confused why it amused me so. 

Summer's End TBR

There are so many books I would like to get at before the end of my summer vacation. I know I will not be able to read them all, but hopefully I can read some. 

If I could get to even half of these, I would be ecstatic. Here they are:

-Brave New World

-EVE: The Awakening

-Sea of Monsters

-Dear Aurora

-Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

-Queen of Shadows

I know that seven is a lofty goal, but when broken down, it's not quite so bad. I have to read Brave New World for school, so that's one. And I plan on listening to Harry Potter on audiobook, which hardly counts as reading. Queen of Shadows is a new release (and it's Sarah J. Maas so I'll devour that shit). That's almost half already. 

I have no doubt that I can read three or four books before my summer ends. 

What were your reading goals for this  summer? Did you reach them? We're you far off? Were you close?

Camps for Band and Writing

NaNoWriMo update, as promised. I won, and it was a terrible win. Or maybe epic. 

I won in the last half hour, which is pretty on edge for me. But I was out ALL MONTH having fun and serving the community and spending time reading and being around friends and family. 

Not focusing on writing. 

I never adjusted my word goal. I guess things worked out okay in the end. I'm not sure how to handle August. I'll be busy, but I'd love to have a draft of my project by September 30. Far fetched? Maybe. Can I do it? If I work hard. 

Camp number two--marching band camp. I'm pumped. I don't have enough energy to type how pumped I am. I've been cooked like a lobster from pre-band practices. 

Which is alright. I'll tan/peel if off. Until next time (when I'm probably even more tired than now--which is exhausted). 

I'm ready, let's go, RMB. 

NaNoWriMo Struggles

I shouldn't be complaining that my summer has been fun and busy, but I for real need to buckle down and write about 5000 words now.

Last week I was at a service camp through my church. It was an incredible experience, and I got to serve the elderly and disabled in my community by singing in different nursing/retirement homes. But I'm glad to be in my own bed again.

I went a solid two weeks without working on my story, which I'm ashamed to admit. My July goal of writing every day lasted about ten days, and I'm back to scrambling to get words in (like always).

How did I ever like participating in NaNoWriMo? But I guess at the end of it all, this isn't about NaNoWriMo, but rather about me having discipline and getting down to writing. If I want to have my first draft done by September 30, I will need to pick up the pace. In the past few weeks, I'm completely lost focus and sight of my writing goals. By blogging and documenting, I hope to change that.

Goal: I'll check in with a successful writing update before the end of the month. Either I'll have won NaNoWriMo or not.

Carrot: I can feel good about myself and go to band camp stress free!

Stick: There will be an even bigger writing goal for August.

Truth: There will probably be an even bigger writing goal for August anyway because this story won't write itself.

Apologies for rambling. It's tired, I'm late.

Summer TBR (or Rather, a Lack Thereof)

Summer is a time of spontaneity. It is a time of not planning. It is a time perfect for deciding on the spot. 

That is why I am officially not giving myself a firm summer TBR. 

Of course there are books I would love to read this summer. Things I've had for awhile or things I want to purchase but don't have money for yet. But it's important I make my decision of what to read next only after I finish a book. 

This past week, I plowed through Mistborn: The Final Empire. Spontaneity lead me to drive to Barnes & Nobles, pick up a copy of The Well of Ascension, and start reading the sequel early the next day. All school year, I loved for the freedom to make choices like these; I was sick of the meticulous planning of what I'd do and when. Now, I don't need to worry anymore. Now I just read. 

I think that's the way I need things to be for now. Because as long as I'm reading, I'm happy. It doesn't really matter what I'm reading so much as I'm making the most of my summer.