I did a lot of writing last year; not just with regards to this blog, but for other websites and fan works, original works, competitions, etc. It was fun and challenging and distressing all at once.
At one stage, I even promised my mum that I would have a book written by the summer of 2019… but that didn’t quite materialise in the way I hoped. The book is finished; it has a storyline, target age group, and so on – it just needs tidied up and a few pretty illustrations here and there. Okay, so maybe it’s more a WIP (work-in-progress), but I guess what I’m trying to say is that last year was the first year that I chose to seriously focus on my writing (when I wasn’t working or carrying out other commitments).
I’m digressing, but I enjoyed throwing ideas around and creating stories, but it does take up a lot of time and it can be incredibly exhausting (it feels like my brain never stops) so when I fell ill over the Christmas holidays and couldn’t really do anything, it gave me a breather. I rested for a while and it was nice but then the boredom started to creep in – only I still wasn’t well enough to focus on writing anything. So, instead I decided to pick up a novel that had been stashed in my bookcase for the best part of last year. I read it within a matter of hours and was left wondering how long it had been since I’d actually taken time to physically sit down (or lie down in my case) with a good book. I read all the time, don’t get me wrong, but it has tended to be a chapter here or there as I rush in between places or getting ready for work or during the adverts on TV. As a result, if I get bored or the storyline doesn’t catch my attention, I quickly move on to another story. It’s like I simultaneously read, but don’t.
Then I remembered a few of my friends had taken up the Goodreads Reading Challenge last year and I thought this is just what I need to help me get back on track and reading properly. So, as deadlines are my jam, I signed up for the challenge. You simply set a goal of how many books you want to read in a year and Goodreads will help you track your progress.
I decided to start easy with 24 books – that’s two a month, which seems pretty achievable, given that I don’t have a lot of free time. But I’m a fast reader by nature and within one week of agreeing to the task, I’ve already managed to read four books. I am genuinely enjoying holding a proper book in my hands; and it’s nice to take a break from technology and noise and everything else for an hour or two.
So, I thought I might share my progress here and every month provide a little snapshot of what I’ve been reading – and if there’s any books I’d subsequently recommend. Recommendations are also welcome!
Lastly, if you’d like to join the Goodreads Challenge too, you can do so here. You need to set up an account but it’s free and you can look through what other users are reading and search through different reading lists, recommendations, etc.
Now, I’m off to start another book…