Own your shit

own your shit

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog.

I’m a huge fan of J.R. Ward’s writing. There. I’ve said it, again and again.

I’m a fan. And not because of the steamy scenes. Even though I like those. They were kind of a slap in the face back in the day.

I’m an enthusiast of her so distinctive writer’s voice. She’s a badass writer. The work shows it and the fans know it.

I have been an admirer for more than a decade, since her “Dark Lover” first came out. I have induced others to read her work, and it didn’t disappoint. I know men that read Ward’s work. And I find her writing-craft-personality very masculine.

And now?! In this moment of my life?

Now, I’m a huge fan of J.R.Ward’s as a person-writer… to the extent of what I can perceive about her (which I may say it is not much on the personal side, but enough in the writer’s one).

I did not pay much attention to her online presence over the years. I don’t remember her to be that present there.

I usually don’t go down the rabbit hole for most writer’s that I know. Too much time to waste in that. If I’m am intrigued by something, or I admire their work and want to know more about them, I’ll go investigate their website or blog, or buy some kind of Memoir or Letters written.

The rest? The YouTube and social media stuff? I figure that, it’s just stuff to occupy idly the time I have. So I try to avoid that.

Quaint detail about J.R. Ward: her looks kind of surprised me.

It was not what I was expecting. And, at first, I couldn’t wrap my head around how a vanilla-like-lady could write so many cuss words, hard-core relations and witty remarks. The lesson’s on me.

Her works had been a constant in my life, since I first bought the first book.

I collect the Portuguese editions every time-o-money I can. Also, I buy the English originals every time a book truly speaks to me.

Because I am all in for an original.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood had been a constant, but also the Jessica Bird’s books and The Fallen Angels. I have still The Bourbon Kings saga to pick up… and now there’s a new pet project of Ward’s, in a more Dark Academia theme, which I’m putting in my tbr.

Then Ward got herself a YouTube channel. It has two videos, and two shorts, in a bit of insight into herself and her life.

The simplicity, and fun in them got me wandering if I had been missing something online about her work and her author’s mindset and routines. Did I ever…

It has been a while since I searched for anything online about this author so this came as a surprise: There are basically two types of content about J.R.Ward on YouTube: fan made videos about books and characters AND J.R.Ward’s interviews and public events.

First, were the usual stuff being filtered through magnifying glass search. The fan videos are fun. And that’s it.

The second type of content out in the virtual world consists of interviews and public events. And…

She sure can draw a crowd in. Entertain it too.

In these, we get to know a bit about the writer behind the successful writing. Commercial success, as she puts it. But I figure it’s a Writing success with no bullshit about it.

I have been listening attentively to her answers. She’s big on giving insight to her listeners. And not just about her routines and creative process.

No. If we listen carefully, we find an inspiring kind of justifiable obsession with writing. A true, not emphasized by wanting to sell books on the craft business side of things, genuine life experience on devoting herself to writing.

Writers Write and that’s it, isn’t it? And she puts it as it is.

All the career stuff, and public relations stuff, and fame stuff is an expensive accessory that entangles an author in a too-self-important trip… instead of writing.

All they have to do, their first and foremost activity, is Writing.

All we have to do for our Writing is Write.

And own our shit frankly.

She has a big kind of speech in this video that culminates in:

So drop your emotions at the door, pull in your big girl pants, and if wanna do that, than you fucking own that shit. – J.R.Ward in Unabridged: J.R. Ward @LFPL @LFPL_Foundation @JRWard1

It’s a good, inspiring piece of knowledge. Of Writer’s professional knowledge.

Maybe we should all own out shit. Just saying… I know we suffer more when we don’t.

In all that Insta wisdom’ness look for Mel Robbins full post (find it here…)

hard stuff

All things we avoid become breaking point harder.

Let’s not avoid writing… or own our weird shit. There’s no easy way to go about it. Just

Own your wants and dreams. Own your shit, not your bullshit.

***

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

 

we are what we believe we are & to be of service

we are

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog.

Wondering about what means to be a writer seems to be part of this thing that I have chosen to be.

We choose and we become that which we have chosen. Even if it seems a dream. Even if it doesn’t seems feasible. Even if it’s so damn hard to do.

But the Truth is, if we choose to do it, an put in the actions to have it, we are it.

This argument is part of a few books. Works about the writing craft, books by those who struggled in the pursuit of this work, even philosophical, and religious spokespersons believe firmly in this idea: We are what we believe ourselves to be.

It took me a while to understand it.

After all, we are told that, it is through outside validation of our work, through making money with it, that we believe ourselves to be validated in our choices.

But should it be? Are we what we believe we are?

Is it not by doing the work itself that we become professionals? Is it not by writing that we become writers?

Is it not that by writing, I become a writer? That I am what I believe myself to be? 

This is a rationalisation that I find myself drawn to, for the good and the bad parts of it.

Good because we feel that we are something, and feel proud by being it, getting ourselves more motivated to pursue it.

It’s kind of fulfilling our dream without actually having the solid proofs to back it up, but building the structural base as we go along.

Bad because, if we are not willing to put the work in, we end up convincing ourselves that we have already achieved it, we are already writers, and we want what is due to us… without actually becoming the thing that we want to be. Without actually Writing and learn to write.

Quoting from the already mentioned poet  Jacqueline Suskin:

“What it means to be a writer in this day and age?”

Jacqueline answers this for herself with the following words:

“My job is to be in service as a writer, and my specific outlet is this kind of accessibility, this thing that I can write for anyone. I can write a poem for any type of person.” – in The Poem Store: A Life Changer | Jacqueline Suskin | TEDxSouthPasadenaHigh 

It’s not without great effort that we try to find our own answer to this question. Specially if we consider all the writing-for-hire and AI-knock-off’s out there.

I know I keep searching for my particular answers.

What does it mean to me to be of service? What does it mean to be a writer? What can I consider Writing?

I do write loads of blog posts. Are they, in due legitimacy, Writing? – is one of my most asked questions.

This reminded me of…

I have served. I will be of service.

in John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum

… and it’s kind of like that, isn’t it?!

We have served by writing. We will continue to be of service by writing. We might find other venues that support our writing efforts. We might teach, perform, add other means to one’s end. But we will be contributing through Writing.

Each one of us have to find our own answer to what means to be of service to mankind.

What means to be of service to people? What means to contribute to this big, huge, world of ours?

And how our own experience will provide something for others to discover their own questions and answer them.

For me, it’s being here, writing my way through books, articles, poems, short-stories, videos, notes, journalling and all that brings this activity alive.

For me, it’s to provide entertainment, to pass inspiration along, to connect and feel connected, to share my journey and hope it will be useful for other’s pursuit.

To be of service is to serve our passions. So that, through them, we may be here for someone else. We may be here, and let them know that they are not alone.

We believe so we can serve, and that is what has some chance to make a difference in this weird world. 

***

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

***

References: 

Writing Awesome Characters

characters

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog.

Telling stories is all about creating awesome characters.

Think of it like this, in a world of our own volition, even the dog can, and must, be a great character.

An awesome character is not just the more likeable, or the most evil, or the better constructed. An awesome character has something in him that captivates the reader.

It’s like when we meet someone and we get all these vibes about who that person might be, and all the secrets that are hers, and the little details that make us wonder who, what, and how she really is. And, ultimately, why someone is the way she is.

The process that goes from those first impressions, to knowing a character a bit better, to understanding him, and where he is coming from, is kind of comparable to knowing a new person in real life.

All about the characters

In some stories, it’s all about the characters. This reminds me of the characters of a movie I have seen recently: ‘Elvis‘, 2022, with Tom Hanks and Austin Butler. Just, UAU!

I guess it’s a truth well acknowledged that Tom Hanks is a spectacular actor. At least, I think so.

And that any movie made about Elvis would be well loved by the fans.

But Tom Hank’s ‘Coronel Tom Parker’ is something else. I just couldn’t hate the guy. Not as he is being portrayed in his glorious simplicity by Tom Hanks.

And Austin Butler has made this story/character justice. He gives Elvis character some unknown animated spirit that just takes control of who’s watching.

I’ll leave a sneak peak here:

These are strong characters, in a real life inspired story, but never forgetting that ultimately, it is entertainment and fictional factors bringing this movie to life.

It is not a documentary. It’s a living, breathing, piece of art, full of color, sound, feelings and dazzle.

And so much has been said by Elvis and his life, work and career, that I never thought it could be done in a so inspiringly new perspective.

And this movie experience serves the theme of this article, because these characters are truly well constructed, whole, amazing in themselves, and in this particular rendering. 

Characters and Character-driven story

In a character-driven story (with a special focus on characters, instead of plot), having a clear notion about who the characters are, what they desire most, what they want, and what they really need, how they will evolve throughout the happenings of the plot, is imperative to create an epic story.

We need to know them profoundly in all their shortcomings and awesomeness.

An awesome character has a je ne says quoi, something in him that reels us in, in his very private, very demonically, very growth needed existence.

Usually, this is achieved through feelings.

We get an awesome character  and make him ignite feelings in our readers. Through our words, and concepts, and delivering them the right way, we are able to nurture specific feelings in our readers. Positive or negative feelings.

Even if the character is weird, out of the box, totally wrong for common sense standards, if we make people feel for him, understand him, have compassion or/and even hate him profoundly, we have created an awesome character.

Even the dog needs to be a great character

In a story all characters should have this dept. Even if they are not the focus (the main characters), they should be well constructed and feel real, instead of just a random prop, popping up here and there.

So, even the dog needs to be awesome. And not just for the empathic statement of the ‘save the defenseless to create empathy‘ scheme. 

The way he looks like, how he behaves, the role he has in the main story. But also the meaning that his presence partakes to other characters, and their own needs and actions, growing along while the plot is unravelling.

As a great side kick, or as the main character, even an animal needs to be imagined in awesome, plot contributing ways.

But these are just a few ideas to consider about creating awesome characters.

There are so much more. More practical, or inspired, and even formulaic ways to create and develop a character.

But to make it awesome, I believe we must infuse them with the power of evoking feelings. And I’m sure we will get an awesome fictional being.

So…

Make them special. Make them known to you. Make people feel for them. Work them thoroughly.

And it’s: awesomeness achieved.

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

Writing a shitty first draft

first draft

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Today, I want to talk about shitty first drafts and what it means to cope with first-draft situations.

Yes, because I’m 15 000 words into one of these myself and I’m fretting about it. And, yes. Because I need to find a way to cope with uncertainty so I figured that, maybe so do you.

Or a zero draft, as I heard Kate Cavanaugh from You Tube channel Kate Cavanaugh Writes call it. [Check it out, it’s a good channel to get me inspired for writing and think about writing themes.]

I keep repeating to myself, almost chanting if I’m being honest, that it’s okay to write a shitty first draft.

That I need to put something on the page.

That it doesn’t matter what I write on that first draft because it will be worked on, improved and thoroughly revised.

That without something on the page I have no chance to improve nothing… because there is nothing to improve upon.

[See? I’m almost making a song lyrics out of this. Just need the right tune]

I keep reminding myself of that chapter of ‘Bird by Bird’ by Anne Lamott…

anne lamott shitty first drafts

At least, I know I keep repeating all of that to myself every time I’m in that phase of the process where I need to produce a first draft. And it’s truly alright to write a shitty first draft.

It’s not my first roundabout on first-draft-land. But it’s always tricky to drive in such a bumpy, too large, full of holes road… and it’s a roundabout, so I am to expect some curves and bad angles and some drivers out of their lanes.

I have done this first draft thing in the long format form for six times now.

I’m counting all of my finished novels, including a published one. But I’m not counting any other form of my writings, which all of them took a first-draft phase, including this article I’m currently writing, and that you are currently reading.

Maybe I should consider these also… and, suddenly, my life is made of first-drafts.

This is my seventh first draft and here I am, in overwhelm-land.

It still gets me every time. Six books in and I don’t feel prepared for this part of the process.

It’s like I keep looking for things that aren’t quite worked out yet to keep myself in the overwhelm state. I look at this first draft and wish I could make it perfect… as it is, and knowing very well that there is no such thing as perfect, I’m sustaining the eyes wide open, rapid breathing pattern and in a constant arrhythmia state, ready to flee or pass out (still haven’t decided which one yet).

But I’m not here to complain. Truly, I am not. I’m here to share that this is hard but that I can, and I will persist. And so will you.

After all, I have done it six times already for my novels and a few hundred times for all of my other writing works, like short-stories, poems, blog posts and any sort of creative texts.

I also know that, this too will pass.

I know I’ll end up moving forward, plowing ahead, or tiptoeing around obstacles. Or finding some mental assurances and some strategies to make myself cope with the first-draft situation.

Sometimes coping means:

  • writing my book plans in really big paper sheets. 
  • constructing cards for my characters.
  • writing every scene in a A5 card and have a visual of the story entirety.
  • even writing one version of it by hand in some lame notebook. 
  • enrol in any challenge that makes me forget the thing in itself and make me show up to the work (I am so doing #the100daychallenge that starts in Feb.22).

I’m even considering using the foolscap method, a Steven Pressfield’s suggestion (watch a quick introduction in his Instagram Reels).

Or any other strategy that I feel can help me cope, in this moment, with the uncertainty of it all.

Something like, remind myself why I’m writing this story. Why I’m involved in it. Why my creative path lead me here. And how I felt with a finished book in my hands (not literally).

And maybe get back to the drawing board. To plan my scenes in some way that helps me do this first-draft.

So, I have options. The only option I don’t have is to quit. And neither do you.

I’ll leave you with another inspirational quote:

writing a novel

Just keep driving!

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

***

References: 

Writing Dark Romance in Fantasy Worlds

dark romance

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Today I want to talk about some of my favorite writing genres.

Writing has its tricks. Writing in some particular genre, or cross-genres as is more frequent, also obeys to some rules. It has a certain way it should be done, it has tropes, it starts, progresses and end, in a certain way.

Even if we think we are writing something different from what is considered mainstream for the genre, truth is that it can go in one of two ways:

  • Or we are writing something that doesn’t have readers interested in it;
  • Or it fits some genre that already exist we just weren’t as well read as we thought we were, and weren’t able to categorize it properly.

Either way, we seem to be at a lost to whom our books may be of interest.

For example, I love to write romance. I love to write romance in different genres.

About this theme, I truly think that life without love isn’t easy… or worth it. I also don’t think that loving is easy. It is hard work and a discovery process that is painful enough.

But I do believe that, it is the search for love that helps us cope with the ugly demons of this world… us.

So I love to write romance in Contemporary, Fantasy, Urban, Supernatural genres. It is not fluffy, next door vibe kind of romance. It’s painful, gritty, pain induced, self-discovery journey, which Love helps set right.

I believe that a story is as compelling as characters try to chase their inner demons out of their lives or, at least, invite them to tea and lay out the ground rules for coping in the same body and mind.

Throughout the years, I have been writing some tragic short stories, some of them quite supernatural themed. I always seem to gravitate that way when I write short-stories and I frankly don’t know why.

But it’s on the longer fiction that I find solace in delivering some satisfying endings. I put them through hell but in the end they find meaning in their sufferings… The eternal hope for those that, no matter how much they suffer in life, just have to keep hoping to find some meaning in all of it.

While growing up, and learning about stories in books, films and series, I always thought a story benefited greatly from a good, sometimes not achieved but always latent, love interest.

Some of those stories weren’t romances at all. In some of those we were not supposed to follow that thread except as a backstory that accompanied throughout the pursuit of some main quest. Several crime series come to mind.

But, truth be told, it was in those snippets of almost conquering something that shouldn’t be (and weren’t) the main concern of the story that picked my interest. I do remember this clearly in lot’s of series and films, through my teenager ears. That and a great interest in sci-fi, supernatural and drama.

I keep trying to find my way through these genres and personal tendencies while I write my stories. I keep seeing the plots and sub-plots as worlds that are worth exploring. Worlds of pain and grief, and expectations unmet, betrayal and pure unadulterated love… or not so much. Finding demons to subdue through the oh so human need to love and feel loved.

Does this give me an all fluffy, next door vibe kind of romance? Not quite. But it gives me some dark personal universes to work with.

And I enjoy every moment of it. If I could just make it darker, as it should be… 

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

***

Marketing Writings and work out the Work

marketing writings

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Let’s talk about writing!… and how Marketing our work affects our Writings, and how our Writings affect our Marketing work.

As authors we have a difficult time in cramming all the work we have ongoing into our daily live’s, and still keep ourselves motivated and inspired to write.

At least, this is how I feel.

There are too many things to consider, too many things to learn, too many projects I wish to devote myself to, and I find it hard to put in the good work in all of them at the same time.

We must be a Jack-of-all-trades in order to do a, let’s be truthful, mediocre job at most of the tasks we have going on. We may be savvy in some things but we lack in others… like technical skills, for example.

Or we can spend lot’s of money, that we usually don’t have to begin with, in order to outsource those tasks that can be done by others. And spend more time doing all the research and trial to find some decent professionals to do them for us.

Which would be a nice to have, but it’s not doable for the initial (big) part of the time we take pursuing our dreams.

Marketing is one of those tasks

We find it simple enough to do it ourselves, so we start dabbling in it, and start seeing the immensity of juggling all of it ourselves.

But we need to know a few things first.

Learning the foundations of usable images, formatting, creating online content, sharing throughout platforms, helpful apps and gadgets, and all sorts of things that are needed, just to be able to do a somewhat decent job.

Decent, but only after a few years of a learning curve, or a steep few months if we have the strength for it.

I know this reality. I have been dancing to this tune for fifteen or more years.

Marketing is Images

First it was the images issue. All images had author rights associated and this implies having another cost. While starting a blog as a marketing tool, we have to produce content always accompanied by good, relevant, beautiful images. So I needed the images and had a passion for creating them. Uniting both I created my own images library.

So I worked my way into creating my own visual content, including all the images for each blog post.

Marketing is Brand

Also on the brand, constructing it made me meddle with logos and brand images. I got to learn how to develop the online presence imagery that I use, and spruce up when needed.

A few years ago, I discovered a new online design tool (canva.com) which gave me a lot more leverage to work on my visual content. I have learn a bit of Photoshop, back in the day, but I have never mastered anything but the strict basics of it. Also Gimp wasn’t friendly enough for me.

With Canva I got to experiment a thousand ways to create content and still use it daily.

At the same time, I had concerns about formatting the whole thing, about headlines creation, about visual presentation, tags, niche audience, and so much more. And I’m kind of allergic to SEO! Not that I don’t use it. I try to.

Marketing is Social Media

It has been a slow, but very rewarding, struggle managing all the need to know’s about the marketing experience connected to my blogs and online presence. I have been experimenting different social media tools and online presences and it requires focus and effort.

Marketing is Effective Writing

Permanently underlying all of this is the need to write good articles.

Marketing is supposed to be an accessory to our writing. It is not. It’s a full, complex, independent area of knowledge. And learn to write copy is hard work.

Writing blog posts, articles of sorts, is another type of writing that needed to be studied, and enhanced with practice. Even blog titles have a spin to it that needs to be learned.

As for my writing articles practice, I will not call them great content because until this day, my blogues remain the desired blog experience, not quite Content, focusing on sharing my experience through the meanderings of the writing dream, not the ‘build a business type of blog‘. And I do enjoy to write for my blogs. 

Yes, I would like to have some revenue, sustaining my twenty year efforts and allowing myself to continue doing this thing I love the most: writing on its different formats.

I find that I like to put in the work but lack in other aspects.

After all, the writing dream does come with major costs associated, but I’m always struggling with how real my content is, opposed to the ‘How to write a best-seller in two days’ mentality.

And these views of the matter don’t produce good marketing content, do they? Trying to inspire others to pursue their dreams is not the same thing as promising them magical improvements by reading a single blog post.

A ‘write better’ article, a ‘devote more time to your writing’ or a ‘read from better sources’ aren’t appealing. People like to have it simple, not too much work, without too much pain. And we all know how that saying goes… 

Marketing is Blogging

Since my first days blogging, I wanted a platform for my voice, my writing voice, and the cheap-online-business model will never do it for me. Blogging is supposed to add value, inspiring others to pursue their creative callings, not take it away. Not frustrating readers when the promise on life changing magic doesn’t appear.

All I ever wanted was to add value. To help someone in the pursue of their dreams, if possible.

We can teach how to put in the time to do better, but we cannot make it magically better just by existing. You have to put in the time and effort to do it.

Just like writing fiction, or non-fiction, or in any any form or genre that we may devote ourselves into. For example, writing a book is long, hard work. And also, very fun work. If we let it be so.

Marketing is Exposure

With all of this in mind, Marketing and how to grow the exposure to what I write, is very relevant.

Choosing my platforms, my public voice, working on my content, devoting myself to my writing practices, and trying to see a bit further away than today’s viewpoint, are constant efforts.

[So I resent it immensely when the players change the game, no warnings offered, in what seems to serve only big commercial self-interests. Yes, things change, tools evolve, social media is the golden egg chicken which needs to prevail through time… and it needs to evolve to prevail. But it has evolved poorly.

And, I know that all of the things we use freely aren’t free. I am the commodity, the product, the final endgame for them is to make money out of my needs.

We need it to reach other people that maybe would like to see what we have to offer. But no ‘buying space‘ = noalgorythming‘. But I’m digressing here…]

Marketing our work, on top of all the Real Work we have to put in to create our Life’s Work, is a conundrum of sorts.

No one will do it better than ourselves. Nobody knows our book better. Nobody knows our message better. Nobody knows what we like better.

Marketing is Connection

Marketing end’s up being just me and my big dream, fighting to get it to other people, so they can find some value and maybe inspire them to pursue their dream.

Not just sharing for vanity, but always searching to add something that others can use in their creative pursuits. Even if it doesn’t seem obvious.

Not just creating different iterations of the same well studied booklet, but offering a personal view. Not just copying the trendy stuff but making our own possibilities of trendy.

Truly knowing what we want to write about, and how to go about it, is a good strategy for finding a Marketing that works for our projects… to find a Marketing that works for our Work.

We may find the commercial side of things is the way to go but we need to have the skills for it. Or develop them.

It’s like learning to walk again. We will get up and fall down. We will take a step forward and stumble. We will manage to stay upright a few more moments at a time. And even after we have learned to walk, we need to find our balance and to avoid the slippery patches, and not run ourselves into walls and street posts.

Marketing is Learning

Marketing is showing how to register all of that process, how to paint our travelling experience in a captivating way, how to make others come together in communities of sorts.

It’s a hard and fun job. Even if accumulating with all sorts of other tasks. Like writing our books.

Quick question: How can we marketing what doesn’t exist yet?

See?! Another conundrum of sorts…

What’s your marketing strategy? How do you deal with the cheap feeling of pushing your work? How do you balance time for all of the works you have to do?

Leave the comments below. We would like to talk about this more.

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

***

Reading for the Writer in you

reading for the writer in you

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog so…

Let’s talk about writing!

Today, I want to talk a bit about the importance of Reading to our Writing practices. Not just about what we read or how much, but also the variety we incorporate.

I figure this is not a strange assumption to make, that reading is truly important for our writing practices. After all, Writers are Readers and there’s no other way to go about it.

Reading helps us learn the craft, discover new and important themes, refine our own writer voice, and simply enjoy the fruits of our labor, even if made by someone else.

But what if we can’t read for a while?

Sometimes, we get ourselves into some deep holes, some occurrences to which we call reading slumps, the reader counterpart of writer’s block, forgetting the real pleasure we have while absorbing a good immersive story.

Just like when we forget the real pleasure of writing our own imagined story.

Sometimes, we try to erase the appreciation we have for these activities and instead, we start listening to what we should be doing, or enjoying, instead of what we do love doing and truly enjoy. 

Not just reading serious books is Reading, nor just writing literary fiction is Writing.

But we tend to forget this while pursuing the genres that make us feel more vibrantly alive in our literary practices.

I believe our reading habits are made not just of books, nor certain genres.

We have plenty of material around that adds up to our love for reading. Like magazines, blogs, essays, letters, manga… Our readings are, and should be, made of multiple and different materials, providing us with a wellspring of ideas difficult to match by the sheer diversity of it.

I find that reading different book genres has the same benefits. Having access to other types of literary texts will put us in contact with themes, and ideas, which would not enter our minds if we just sticked with the genre we like to read the most… Or the genre we think we should be reading.

Diversity helps us forge a clear perspective on different subjects and expands our bandwidth so we can embrace growth in our practices.

Keeping this in mind was what got me to contemplate a new reading challenge for this year.

This week I’m organising my readings for 2023, but I’ll not be giving you too many details, because I’ll be talking about it soon enough. I’ve reimagined a reading challenge, more fitted to my current situation, and reading needs, and I am fully devoted to make it work.

This challenge has already brought its fruits:

First, I have a problem! Yep. It’s official. I have made myself take a real, long look at my reading habits, and how I motivate myself to reading, and I found I have a flickering motivation. 

Second, it allowed me to go in search of all the books I own, or at least the majority of them, and have a notion of how I have been making choices just by not choosing. And not choosing is a bad thing, isn’t it?

Third, I’m feeling more energised by the attempts of organising my readings. Which already had made me do things I have been postponing for ages, like creating a sheet for all of my books, and setting a new more objective goal for this year, and not just the amount of readings I’ll be doing.

Keeping my readings organised helps me getting my head clear about what I want to read, and what I need to read, and what would be beneficial if I read.

And I guess that’s why I have not gone about it this way… too much pressure and constraints.

Also, reading for research must have a specific time bound, while reading for mere pleasure has other restraints. And these are important notions to have. Adding to our reading materials must come with a time stamp on it (so you don’t end up like me, as you’ll see soon enough).

And, never forgetting that we should be careful of what we are reading while we are working on some of our writing projects, lest we confuse our writing voice. Creativity fuels herself with all it gathers around her (us). We must be careful so it doesn’t take over while we are writing in our own voice.

I find that keeping our readings more directional towards the kind of writer we want to be is an effort that has a ton of value.

But I also believe that we should expose ourselves to the most diverse lot we can arrange. This feeds our imagination and helps create those worlds we wish to live in or just write about.

Balance is key. And unbalanced is the creative spirit. Or at least is what it seems sometimes… the constant duality of life, isn’t it?

So, the three ideas I wish you would keep in mind:

  • Reading is instrumental to Writing.
  • Choosing what to read is important.
  • Reading diversity is what makes us versatile.

What do you think about this?

Thanks for being here and for being willing to talk about writing!

Please leave a comment and subscribe for more content.

Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

***