52 Books in One Year: February Wrap-Up

I barely squeaked by meeting my goals this month of 4 books. I definitely had a rough start to this month because I ended up DNFing a non-fiction book. I did make my goal of 4 books this month only because I had started an extra book  last month. But hey, I did it! 

One thing I learned this month is to DNF and hopefully realize this earlier in the process. I’ve got to stop trying to waste time slogging through books I don’t enjoy. I don’t have time for it, so why am I doing it? It’s me being stubborn. While this trait can help me finish writing drafts, it can also lead me down dead ends. I really hate stopping something I’ve started, but it’s something I’ve got to start doing. Otherwise I’m wasting my time.

Another thing I learned about myself this month is that I really need cheery books in February. The gloominess of February ALWAYS gets to me. Between the cold and clouds, I start getting really sad. And then reading boring or gloomy books on top of it doesn’t help. Luckily, I finished reading Creating Your Best Life this month and it was the perfect read for February. Really inspiring and helped me reevaluate my life and goals.   Next year, I am picking beachy scenes, fun romances, and high pace adventures for February.

52 Books in One Year: January Wrap-Up

 

Feeling really pumped going into February because I actually exceeded my January goals. I read 4.5 books this month! I cannot believe this. I used to struggle reading 3 books in a month. Making reading a priority has really been the key to this success.

This month I tried to work on my focus. As I mentioned in my previous post, I really need to keep an eye on  my youngest during his zoom meetings. So, I’ve been reading at the table with him, but I found the zoom audio to be very distracting. I did try ear plugs, but the ones I bought didn’t fit properly in my ear canal. So, I pulled out my old noise reducing ear muffs from the farm. Not the most fashionable accessory, but they did the trick. 

Another thing I noticed this month is that I tend to fall behind on the weekends. The flexible schedule  seems to be my downfall! This is something I’ll have to work on next month. Luckily, the first book I read, Truthwitch (also my favoirte pick of the month), I was able to get on audiobook as well. That really helped me catch up on the days that I fell behind.

Overall, I’m really pleased with my progress this month! There are definitely some things that I need to fine tune, but I’m hoping I can keep up the good momentum. I wish you all luck pursuing your goals this month!

52 Books in 1 year Challenge: The Test Run

     

As much as I want to make reading a priority, I can't help feeling panicked about the challenge I have set out for myself next year. How on earth am I going to make the time to read a book a week, draft a new book and revise my existing books, AND oversee my kid's remote learning.  There just can’t be enough time in the day.

This fear skittered around my brain ever since I wrote my last blog entry. So, I decided to see if I could actually read one book in one week while my kids were remote learning. I picked up a shorter book, Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer and broke it up into seven sections. Each section was only forty pages. Surely I could manage that! 

And I did! I read a whole book in seven days. And while I am really proud of myself, I did discover a few problems that I’m going to have to work if I’m going to keep up with this momentum.

Problem #1: Time

With the kids remote learning from home, managing a time in which I can focus isn’t easy. My boys don’t have the same breaks or even lunches. It seems that someone is always needing help with their work, computer, or just plain needing a reminder that they should be doing work and not staring out the window. 

But I did discover one time of the day when they were both focused and working, their morning meeting. So between nine and nine thirty I started reading regularly. While this time does work it did lead to a new problem...

Problem #2:  Focus

At first I thought I'd be able to read in my bedroom while my kids had their morning meetings, but I soon realized that my youngest couldn’t remain focused on his own. So, I started reading at the kitchen table while he logged in with his teacher. Now, under my careful watch, he was able to stay on track with his work. Unfortunately, my focus was now distracted. Next month, I'm going to have to figure out a way for me to retain my focus while reading in the same room with my youngest.

Problem # 3: Slow reading speed

Okay, I'm not a fast reader and not only was unable to read the forty pages in a half hour, I couldn’t even read thirty pages.  I was only getting twenty pages in and having to pick up the rest at odd times during the day or at night. Granted this slow reading speed is tightly related with my focusing problem. But, if I could pick up my reading speed even just a little bit, I'll be able to get through bigger books in one week. So, next month I'm going to have to start looking into some speed reading techniques to help me pick up my reading time. I don't need to be reading a thousand words per minute or anything, but if I could get myself up to 300 words a minute, it would save me a lot of time.

To get myself psyched for next year's challenge, I've been scouring good reads for some awesome new books to read. What books are you looking forward to reading next year?

You Write What You Read

I have decided that 2021 will be the year of reading! I’m so excited to be making reading a priority in my life. Not only do I love to read, but reading will also help me improve my writing skills.

So, what’s the goal? A book a week. That’s right 52 books in one year.  This will be a huge challenge for me, since I’m an incredibly slow reader. I honestly only read about 2 books a month at the moment. But I’m feeling incredibly inspired after watching Jim Kwiks video about how to read more and I’m ready to up my reading game.

 

How am I going to possibly accomplish this miraculous feat? 

1. Read during the day: 

I usually read right before I go to bed. I mean, is there anything better than cozying up in your blankets and diving into a story world? Sigh, I love that, but if I want to succeed at this challenge, I’m going to need to be more alert and well, more awake. My new dedicated reading time will be between 9-9:30 in the morning when the kids are having their remote morning meetings. If I don’t finish my allotted pages for the day then, I’ll follow up at night in my super cozy bed.    

            2.   Audiobooks:

 Two hours. Every single day I spend two hours making meals and cleaning up the dishes from those meals. While this is a necessity of life, it isn’t exactly enthralling. My new plan  is to listen to some audiobooks while cooking and cleaning. Not only will it help me make my goal, it’ll make these boring tasks a little more interesting.

            3.  Read Exciting Books:

January 1st I’m diving into writing a new YA fantasy so most of the books on my 2021 list will be YA fantasy. Many of these have been on my TBR list for a long time, so I cannot wait to dive in. But I’m also challenging myself to read a nonfiction book every month as well. My nonfiction selections are all over the place. They range from writing craft books to mindfulness to psychology to even investing. Wait, investing? Isn’t this section titled exciting books? Okay, so investing books aren’t necessarily exciting reads, but my husband and I are chasing our dreams of being fulltime farmers and writers. Investing can definitely help us achieve that goal, and that is exciting.

 

If any of you are interested in challenging yourself to read 52 books a year OR are interested in buddy reading with me please feel free to comment below or DM me @j_licare!  

So comment below and tell me what your 2021 goals are!

 

Fall Writing Frenzy Contest

          

Fall Writing Frenzy Contest

The Red Spark

by Jakki Licare

             My little sister holds the bright, red leaf up to her eye. “One more time. Please.”

“I shouldn’t have done it before,” I say, pulling her down the path.

 Her lip quivers, making my resolve disintegrate.  I really shouldn’t. If I’m found out they’d take me away, but it’s nice to share my magic with someone who isn’t afraid.

 I check around and the path is clear. “Last time.”

Her wide smile is so warm, it wraps me up like a woolen scarf. I concentrate on the leaf’s flame-red color and it begins to sizzle. Its tips curl as the smoke mixes in with our steamy breath. Until pop, a spark flies into the air, then another and another. Crackling sounds silence the chattering squirrels and the glowing flecks hover like stars come down to earth. 

I send the red sparks to dance around my sister and her giggles fill the crisp air. She chases the sparks as if they were fireflies. Flinging them into the sky, we ooh and awe as they explode like fireworks. All the red sparks fade away, except one. In the distance, the red glow of a cigarette smolders as someone watches us.

Thank you Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez and Lydia Lukidi for setting this up. It was a fun challenge!

How to incorporate Background info without boring your readers: An analysis of Veronica Roth's Divergent

    As I was reviewing my first chapter, I realized that it was bogged down with background information. Large chunks interrupted the flow and completely ruined the rhythm of my manuscript. Yet, if I took these sentences out my readers wouldn’t be grounded in my science fiction world. I was stumped. How can I get that information in without boring my readers? I hauled out my mentor texts and started analyzing how the pros make this magic happen.

    In this article, I will be analyzing the first chapter of Veronica Roth’s Divergent. Divergent’s first chapter is roughly comprised of 120 sentences. Only 20 of these sentences convey the necessary information that a reader needs to understand the story world. By this I mean those 20 sentences didn’t have any emotional context or descriptive or narrative purposes. For example: “Candor values honesty, but our faction, Abnegation, values selflessness.”

    So what background information does a reader need to know to understand the Divergent world? Well first off we need to know that Divergent is set in dystopian chicago where there are 5 different factions. We need to know the names of the factions, what each faction believes, and the political atmosphere between the factions. So how did Roth manage to convey all of that when only 17% of her sentences were comprised purely of background information. Roth uses uniforms, her setting and actions to sneak all of this information in.

    Roth created each faction's uniform to clearly define each faction’s beliefs. Abnegation only wear gray drab colors so as to not draw attention to themselves. Candor wears black and white colors because they believe the truth is black and white.

    Roth also uses her setting to push the faction ideologies through to the readers. Dauntless dare each other to climb sculptures to prove their bravery. Abnegation don’t have paved roads because they are so selfless that none of them have cars.

    Perhaps the most poignant way Roth delivers her background information is by how the different factions treat Beatrice. Most ignore her, but at one point a Erudite boy slams into her in the school hallway. Not only does this boy say rude things to her as he knocks her down, but no one else at the school helps Beatrice up from the floor. This key moment highlights the tension between Abnegation and the rest of the factions.



    All of these clever techniques allow Roth to cut out those boring sentences devoted to background information. I am looking forward to trying some of these techniques in my own writing.

The First Draft Experiment: A Beginner Writer Tries to Write 5,000 words Per Hour

        After spending three years writing and editing my first YA novel, I promised myself never, ever to spend so much time on one book. So, to help me create better writing habits, I bought a copy of 5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter by Chris Fox. It's a book that gets straight to the point and tells you exactly what you need to do to be a faster writer. 

I personally had been in a horrible cycle of writing a sentence, then editing the sentence. Then I would edit the entire paragraph and then the entire page, chapter, etc. Needless to say, it took me forever to actually finish my first draft. And guess what? When I did finally finish, I decided to trash that entire first two chapters and cutting one of the characters. I wasted so much time editing something that wasn’t necessary to the book (check out the lessons I learned from finishing my first manuscript here). 

That’s why Fox’s book appealed to me. His philosophy is when you are writing, you are ONLY writing. You do not edit, tweet, answer phones, or do anything other than write. He believes that once you are in the zone you will write faster. He has a lot of great tips that will help you get in that amazing writing zone. 

So after reading his book (which is wonderfully short and sweet), I sat down and followed Chris’s advice. I started out writing a little under 2k words per hour. When I finished my first draft,  I was writing over 4k words per hour! Something I honestly never thought possible. Plus, drafting became fun! When I stopped worrying about what I was writing, I was able to set my imagination loose.

In the beginning it was really hard to break the habit of editing while I wrote. In fact the first two weeks, I cheated and went back and fixed all my mistakes. I truly cringed as I wrote horrible dialogue or  terrible metaphors, but I’ve learned that all that can be fixed when I’m editing. The reality is, that it is so much more important to finish a whole draft and get your story arc right than having beautifully written dialogue for a character that you may cut in Rev 2.

I also had to spend more time thinking about what I was going to write before I sat down to write. With my last manuscript I would write a simple sentence or two to guide me in drafting my chapter. This time, I needed 6-8 sentences before I could start writing.  This prevented the slow down in drafting and also taught me to walk away from writing if I didn’t have the answer. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is give your brain a break.

If you are looking for a book that will you set up good writing habits and help you write faster than you got to check out 5,000 Words Per Hour: Write Faster, Write Smarter