March 2, 2024

M1.24-BP5

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
-Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1861

February Review

Still getting some rainy days here in Southern California and I can’t say I’m complaining about it. I love this weather!

Hope you all enjoyed leap day this February. It’s always fun to get the extra day. But now to the details about what’s been going on.

Writing Life

Overall, February was ok though not my best performance.

Historically, I haven’t liked February. I can’t really say why since I don’t really know why but maybe it has to do with being tired from all the celebrating – the holidays that start with Halloween and end with the New Year but then continue with all of my family’s winter birthdays. It’s a lot.

Anyway, this year I really embraced the month. I think it might be a turning point in my relationship with February lol. I really hope so. To get myself pumped this year I put up little decorations around my house and really liked the vibe. All the hearts and pinks and reds everywhere felt like a celebration of the girly part of myself, I enjoyed it.

On the negative side, I didn’t manage to get much writing done and I can’t say I really know why. I feel like I tried but didn’t end up with much tangible progress.

What I did notice was more of a mental change. A change in perspective I guess. A change in the way my story is taking shape. Toward the end of February (21st) I moved my files into a Scrivener doc and I think that was a game changer.

I’ve had Scrivener for a while now, but every time I’ve tried to incorporate it into my writing process in the past it felt more like a hindrance than a help. It always seemed to have too much going on, and in the end would become more distracting than helpful. But this time it felt different. This time, pulling everything into Scrivener felt helpful.

I’ve been using it to breakdown my story into its various parts. All the extra spaces like the notes and synopsis areas have been nice to use to jot down ideas without interfering with my actual “working page.” I’ve also enjoyed having additional files within the same document to write notes or bring in “clippings” from external sources.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the positive changes continue and end up manifesting more written words in March.

Reading Adventures

•Finished Books•

Three more books finished since my last post, yay! In total I got through five books in the month of February. For me that’s pretty good.

Two Twisted Crowns – Rachel Gillig

(Romantasy)

Finally finished this series! I started it back in October of 2023. It was a fun and moody read. Probably one that I would read again in the fall. I liked that this second book focused on a different romantic relationship. I kind of liked this second couple better.

Shady Hollow – Juneau Black

(Cozy Mystery)

Loved this book! I have had strong suspicions that I am a cozy book lover and this is another point in favor of this developing theory. Good news, this book is the first in series. I am very excited to collect the rest as the year progresses. I saw a recent announcement, there will be a new book added to the series this summer. Yay!

Death Valley – Melissa Broder

(Humorous/Magical Realism/ Lit Fiction)

This was a good read. I think it’s coming out in paperback soon. I definitely got some Southern California, Los Angeles vibes from this one. What I enjoyed most was the strangeness of the out in the desert part of the book.

•Now Reading•

There There – Tommy Orange

(Lit Fiction, Native American Fiction)

Good book, really like the writing voice. I’m enjoying all the different points of view and seeing how they might come together in the end. Also bought his new release Wandering Stars and can’t wait to dig into it. It’s supposed to be a prequel and a sequel to There There. I gotta say I’m very happy I found Tommy Orange and his books.

Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros

I know, I know. I’m late to the party. There has been so much hype for this book I just wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it but I am so happy to report that I have really been enjoying it. Maybe this is a weird take on the story but I am reading it as a metaphor for becoming a story writer instead of a dragon rider lol. Silly I know but having this take on it makes me really happy for some reason and makes me, dare I say kind of love this book! So happy I already have the Iron Flame waiting for me.

What’s Next? / March Plans

I hope that March can be a “more productive” writing period. I want to feel like I’ve made some progress by the end of the month. To help with feeling more productive I hope to find a better way of tracking and measuring my writing progress in a way that feels meaningful to me. I found last month that word counting is not for me, at least not at this time.

If any of you have any tips or suggestions for this I’m all ears.