If I were to sum up my NaNoWriMo experience in four words they would be: stressful yet oddly liberating.
It has now been nearly a week since the end of NaNoWriMo, and I have to say, I miss it. I am an unnervingly deadline-driven person, so having a set goal to work toward was the best motivator I've had. Of course, there's always the challenge of finishing the book and perfecting it that's an excellent driver, but I miss the deadline.
For a lot of the month, I was about a day behind because I would catch up then have another non-writing day that set me back. However, I finished NaNoWriMo on November 30th with 50,135 words to show for it. Such a goal is no easy feat, so to anyone who completed it or made the attempt, congrats!
When you break down the 50,000-word goal, it actually isn't as much as it sounds. It's just 1,600 words a day. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to engrain a writing routine in your life. It showed me where I could easily be writing throughout my day rather than wasting time on social media or bingeing Vikings (which I will do, nonetheless). And once you fall into a routine and a groove in your writing, that many words won't take long. That is the most valuable thing I learned from NaNo: I do have time to write and still do all the things I usually do.
It's interesting to reflect back on the month and see how my novel had transformed, which always comes with writing. On November 30th, of all days, I had an epiphany in my novel, so I'm nearly back to square one. At least I have a timeline and a frame to guide me. NaNo is for first drafts, and the first draft should never be comparable to the final draft.
My strategy for the month was just getting down words even if I felt uncomfortable with them because as I said, NaNo is for first drafts. I think that is the only thing we can do as writers is just getting the words down. Writing is rewriting, but you'll have nothing to rewrite if you don't put them down in the first place. When it does get a bit overwhelming or you're unsure of the words but you know the direction in which they will lead, skip a scene of two. Get yourself back on your feet and let your story write itself by going with what feels natural. The scene or two that you skipped will come back to you.
When NaNo rolls around next year, I'll compile a list of tips that I learned throughout the month. Although I was only a first-year participant, I feel that I learned quite a lot. For example, don't edit. At all. This was something I really struggled with during the middle because I was growing unhappy with the story, but once I pushed through by just putting down words, I quickly turned it around.
For the past week, I have been itching to attack my story. The world-building phase and the second draft phase are my favorite parts of the novel-writing process. I've been patiently waiting for both the end of my final exams and for the story to sit before I go back in. I've been steadily coming up with new ideas and new turns that will really elevate the story, so I'm craving to flush them out.
Do let me know in the comments below how NaNoWriMo went for you! Also, please let me know if there are any writing topics you want me to discuss or anything NaNo-specific you would like to learn about.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor . x
Ekphrastic story based on: Celebration in Montparnasse after the First Futurist Ballet, 1929. Andre Kertesz
Characters are entirely my own and are not the people in the picture. For reference, the characters are as follows: Charlie is at the righthand head of table, Edna is to his right, Walter, Irene, Marjorie, Florence, Louise, Jack at the lefthand head of the table, Roy, Rose, John, and Alice.
The ballet had only just finished, but Charlie always had a way of ruining things. We’d all had enough champagne to bear it no mind when it happened, and his voice filled every room with a malevolent calm, the kind that was just as addictive as coke but twice as dangerous, so we could never think to part with him.
The only one of us not intoxicated by Charlie was John, which always put Alice on edge—though she wore a smirk the whole dinner, nonetheless. I was on edge too, but only because if I hadn’t already loved another man, I’d love Charlie. People said I looked at him like I did, but I didn’t, I’m sure. Charlie’s eyes were hollow and gaunt, sunken and dark like he’d done it on purpose with a shadow. And his jawline cut like a knife into his neck, meeting at the spot where an actual knife had cut into his neck. I’d seen it happen. His blond hair was so slick it looked like a heat puddle on a paved road. His cheekbones rose to needle-like points on either side of his slender nose then dipped to frame his slender mouth. He wasn’t handsome—he looked like a villain. So much like one I often forgot he was one.
That’s why, when the mob walked in, it almost felt like they had been invited. Walter was giving a toast, his sixth since the ballet, and Marjorie’s shrill laugh exposed how many bottles of champagne had been emptied. One would’ve looked at our table in our private room and thought us a party of good friends.
Roy, a cousin of Charlie, was the only one of us to notice their entrance. His eyes, so large and concaved like Charlie’s, grew double in size and I never thought that possible. That’s when they shot Roy. It came from my end of the table, right behind my head—it was so close I would’ve sworn it was Charlie himself had I been able to take my eyes off him. I watched even as he rose from his seat and drew his own pistol, pointing it just above my eyeline. All I did was watch. It was like the fourth act of the dance the way he moved. Jack jumped to help Roy, but Roy was surely dead. Weren’t we all? When you befriended Charlie Cowell, you knew you’ve already died, you just wait to find out how.
Walter gripped a champagne bottle by the neck, empty of course, so as to have the other full bottles for when all was settled. He brought it down with brute, drunken force on the head of the man with the smoking gun, James. But it wasn’t the first time that had happened to that particular mobster—I had done the same two summers ago with a bottle of pinot grigio—so Walter was shot. He was heavy and shattered the dinnerware as he met the table. Poor Irene, on his right, spilt her drink all down herself.
Marjorie, Florence, and Louise fled the table with handkerchiefs pressed against their rouged lips. Jack was still bent over Roy who, to my immediate surprise, wasn’t dead. He never came across as a man to survive a bullet.
It was John who rose and shot Roy dead. He shot Walter for good measure. Alice and Rose then stood at his side, clearly ready to leave. I rose as well, still watching Charlie as he pointed his gun at John. But I was the one to do it. I shot Charlie. Only his leg, so I knew I could watch him again another time. He didn’t even make a noise, that man—the villain.
Alice and Rose were the firsts to leave, but not before ensuring Marjorie that they’d see her for cards on Sunday. Marjorie’s horror had subsided by that time, and she almost seemed intrigued, mostly by Frank. Frank always intrigued the good ones—I thought it was because of the way his jacket fit over his back when he held his gun at another man. She agreed in earnest to cards on Sunday. Then, James and Frank, James still with broken glass and champagne remnants on his shoulders, gathered the other men’s pistols, emptying them. Each bullet hit the floor in a sound like a pianist striking his keys.
John lowered to Charlie’s ear and whispered something through clenched teeth before putting his knife to the scar on his neck and adding two vertical lines, completing the “H” Haynes had started some months ago before Charlie interrupted him. Charlie didn’t move this time. He wanted to see what John would do.
Charlie hadn’t accounted for John when he killed Haynes, when he spread his empire just a little too widely and thought he snuffed out Haynes’ boys—he thought John was his. But Haynes had been priming John, and it was John who was destined to run with the legacy. John was a masochist in private and a sadist in public, and Charlie had no idea. Charlie was so sure of himself that ten minutes ago even he might’ve looked at our table in our private room and thought us a party of good friends. And maybe we all were friends, but all of Charlie’s friends were dead, and when a man knows he’s dead, he’ll do anything.
James tucked his arm under my coat, around my waist, and drew me close to him. “Shall we go home?”
Charlie now watched me, and I wasn’t nearly strong enough to hold his gaze. It wasn’t even in anger, it just held all of that glorious malevolent calm. And I was already so drunk off everything, it seemed.
“Yes, my love.”
“Did you have a good time at the ballet?”
We were in the hall now, and I swigged a bottle of champagne I had snagged on the way out. “You really ought to have seen it, my love. It was beautiful.”
“Well, I’m glad.”
And he was.
“Did you have a nice evening as well?”
“I did.”
“Well, I’m glad.”
And I was.
By Taylor Martin
For the past month, I've been invested in NaNoWriMo (posts to come on that), so my reading progress took a steep downturn. However, my book-buying tendencies did not stutter, and I have amassed quite a few new books. I've just finished All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, so by the time you're reading this, I'm probably already deep into one of these novels.
Because I haven't updated my reading life in a while, I thought I would share what I will be reading in the near future.
The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
Empress Elizabeth of Austria is unhappy in her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph. To escape the suffocating life of yachts and formalities, Elizabeth often finds herself on a horse. In a class much below hers is Captain Bay Middleton who needs money to buy a winning horse for the Grand National. He finds such money in a woman named Charlotte, and though they have a budding romance, Bay cannot help the feelings he develops for Elizabeth as he escorts her in the hunt.
Based in 19th century Europe, we follow the woes of historical romances and politics.
This book really caught my eye during my fourth lap of a local thrift book sale. Recently, historical fictions and victorian romances have really caught my eye so I thought this would feed that new obsession well. I want something a bit more than a typically "and they fell in love" story, something with just a bit more in its background, and I feel like this fits that.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
When Alice Proserpine's grandmother, an author of dark fairytales, dies on her estate called The Hazel Wood, her mother is stolen. The being who appears to have taken her is of the supernatural world her grandmother wrote. Nothing is left from her mother besides a note instructing her to stay away from the Hazel Wood. Alice enlists the help of a classmate and fan of her grandmother's to venture into the Hazel Wood and find her mother.
Surprisingly, it took me so long to purchase this book. It sounds like something I would have jumped on at publication day. However, I feel like I never knew too much about it, other than that people loved it, so I often forgot about it. Now, I am incredibly excited to reach for this one as the weather gets gloomier and the air gets chillier.
Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
The third book in the Ember in the Ashes series and one I am greatly excited for. I've owned this book since last Christmas, so it has been on my TBR list for going on a whole year. I have plans to finish this book by the end of the year, but we'll see where the months take me.
The Missing of Clairedelune by Christelle Dabos
In the second book of the Mirror Visitor Quartet, Ophelia is now thrust into the spotlight for her gift to read the secret history of objects. In this sequel we see more of her powers, more of her magical world, and more of her distant fiance, Thorn.
I received this book as an ARC and a finished copy from the publisher, Europa Editions. I adored the first book with its whimsical descriptions and its wonderfully written world, so I am excited to get back into that setting. Honestly, I think I just keep forgetting that this book is in my pile because I was genuinely thrilled by the first installment.
My Plain Jane by
In this Gothic remake of Jane Eyre, nothing is like the story we've been told by Bronte. Jane is young and ready to start her life at Thornfield Park, despite her being rather plain and rather poor. She's also best friends with a ghost. Charlotte is an aspiring novelist and is determined to capture Jane's story. Alexander is snooping around Thornfield Hall and finds something rather peculiar going on in Thornfield. He's also a ghost hunter. And dear Mr. Rochester "is hiding more than skeletons in his closets."
This is a book I accidentally stumbled upon on Book Outlet, as one usually does on that site, and I was instantly intrigued, and it was instantly in my basket. It arrived a week later and I've been anticipating starting it since. I love the classic remakes, and I believe this one won't disappoint.
Enchantee by Gita Trelease
When her parents are killed by small pox, Camille must provide for her brother and younger sister. Luckily, she has the help of magic and can turn metals into money for food and medicine. But the coins won't hold their shape and her brother disappears, so she seeks more extravagent means. She transforms herself with dark magic into a baroness and is sept into the Palace os Versailles where la magie is greatly desired. She gambles for money and supports her sister, but her patience for the nobles grows thins--until she meets a handsome balloonist. Then, the French revolution erupts.
I've always had a love for anything French. I love the language, the history, the life, so this book was a must for me. Now, I have a place to turn when I need a break from Les Miserables. Again, I love historical fictions, so this will be an exciting new take on the French Revolution.
Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz
Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler's love helped to shape a budding nation.. Eliza's family is descended from the most distinguished bloodlines and remains a founding family of the new nation. The Schuyler's grand ball draws in visitors of all sorts, even a young, mysterious colonel of the American Revolution, Alexander. And once the two meet, history is changed forever.
There are more historical fictions on this list than I had anticipated, but I'm not complaining. This story sounds incredibly charming, and I know it's well loved by many.
The Wicked Deep by
The Swan Sisters of Sparrow were sentenced to death under crimes of witchcraft, but not before cursing the small town. Two centuries later, the sisters still return each summer in the bodies of three troubled girls to seek revenge by luring boys into Sparrow's harbor. Penny Talbot had accepted the fate of the town until Bo Carter arrived, unknowing of the curse.
Witches are one of my favorite kinds of people to read of because so much possibility lies in magice, specifically dark margic. I love the mysterious, ominous feel even just the jacket description gives.
Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands
The most notorious laird of Scotland is fierce, cold, and deadly--the devil of the highlands. But Evelinde has just agreed to marry him because anything would be better than her cruel stepmother. Once she meets him, an unlikely heat arises between them, and even Cullen, the laird, believes there might be more for him than just his clan.
I had originally gotten this book from the same thrift book sale as aforementioned simply because Scotland. If you follow me on Instagram, you know my new, unshameful love for Scotland and its men. Whilst writing the above description, I realized Cullen is the laird of Donnachaidh, which is one of the clans I'm related to, so that's even more exciting!
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
At a celebration, the young and beautiful Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered. But the night will relive itself with Aiden until he can solve the murder, each time beginning with her death. Every night he doesn't identify the killer is a new night awakening in a different body, and someone is determined to stop him.
It's very rare that I'll be so interested in a mystery novel, but this sounds like the most dramatic, enticing game of Clue, and I cannot resist it. I hope it lives up to its intrigue.
In the second book of the Mirror Visitor Quartet, Ophelia is now thrust into the spotlight for her gift to read the secret history of objects. In this sequel we see more of her powers, more of her magical world, and more of her distant fiance, Thorn.
I received this book as an ARC and a finished copy from the publisher, Europa Editions. I adored the first book with its whimsical descriptions and its wonderfully written world, so I am excited to get back into that setting. Honestly, I think I just keep forgetting that this book is in my pile because I was genuinely thrilled by the first installment.
My Plain Jane by
In this Gothic remake of Jane Eyre, nothing is like the story we've been told by Bronte. Jane is young and ready to start her life at Thornfield Park, despite her being rather plain and rather poor. She's also best friends with a ghost. Charlotte is an aspiring novelist and is determined to capture Jane's story. Alexander is snooping around Thornfield Hall and finds something rather peculiar going on in Thornfield. He's also a ghost hunter. And dear Mr. Rochester "is hiding more than skeletons in his closets."
This is a book I accidentally stumbled upon on Book Outlet, as one usually does on that site, and I was instantly intrigued, and it was instantly in my basket. It arrived a week later and I've been anticipating starting it since. I love the classic remakes, and I believe this one won't disappoint.
Enchantee by Gita Trelease
When her parents are killed by small pox, Camille must provide for her brother and younger sister. Luckily, she has the help of magic and can turn metals into money for food and medicine. But the coins won't hold their shape and her brother disappears, so she seeks more extravagent means. She transforms herself with dark magic into a baroness and is sept into the Palace os Versailles where la magie is greatly desired. She gambles for money and supports her sister, but her patience for the nobles grows thins--until she meets a handsome balloonist. Then, the French revolution erupts.
I've always had a love for anything French. I love the language, the history, the life, so this book was a must for me. Now, I have a place to turn when I need a break from Les Miserables. Again, I love historical fictions, so this will be an exciting new take on the French Revolution.
Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz
Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler's love helped to shape a budding nation.. Eliza's family is descended from the most distinguished bloodlines and remains a founding family of the new nation. The Schuyler's grand ball draws in visitors of all sorts, even a young, mysterious colonel of the American Revolution, Alexander. And once the two meet, history is changed forever.
There are more historical fictions on this list than I had anticipated, but I'm not complaining. This story sounds incredibly charming, and I know it's well loved by many.
The Wicked Deep by
The Swan Sisters of Sparrow were sentenced to death under crimes of witchcraft, but not before cursing the small town. Two centuries later, the sisters still return each summer in the bodies of three troubled girls to seek revenge by luring boys into Sparrow's harbor. Penny Talbot had accepted the fate of the town until Bo Carter arrived, unknowing of the curse.
Witches are one of my favorite kinds of people to read of because so much possibility lies in magice, specifically dark margic. I love the mysterious, ominous feel even just the jacket description gives.
Devil of the Highlands by Lynsay Sands
The most notorious laird of Scotland is fierce, cold, and deadly--the devil of the highlands. But Evelinde has just agreed to marry him because anything would be better than her cruel stepmother. Once she meets him, an unlikely heat arises between them, and even Cullen, the laird, believes there might be more for him than just his clan.
I had originally gotten this book from the same thrift book sale as aforementioned simply because Scotland. If you follow me on Instagram, you know my new, unshameful love for Scotland and its men. Whilst writing the above description, I realized Cullen is the laird of Donnachaidh, which is one of the clans I'm related to, so that's even more exciting!
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
At a celebration, the young and beautiful Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered. But the night will relive itself with Aiden until he can solve the murder, each time beginning with her death. Every night he doesn't identify the killer is a new night awakening in a different body, and someone is determined to stop him.
It's very rare that I'll be so interested in a mystery novel, but this sounds like the most dramatic, enticing game of Clue, and I cannot resist it. I hope it lives up to its intrigue.
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
The final installment to the Throne of Glass series, a series I hold so dearly in my heart. I've also had this book since last Christmas, but I believe my subconscious is trying to prolong the series' end as long as I can.
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
A novella for the Court of Thorns and Roses series. I've been waiting for Christmas time to roll around to get into this more festive take on the Night Court. I've been fiercely longing to get back into this world.
As you can see, I have a lot of reading to get to between my writing. Let me know what has found its way into your TBR pile because I could always use inspiration to keep mine growing.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor
The final installment to the Throne of Glass series, a series I hold so dearly in my heart. I've also had this book since last Christmas, but I believe my subconscious is trying to prolong the series' end as long as I can.
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
A novella for the Court of Thorns and Roses series. I've been waiting for Christmas time to roll around to get into this more festive take on the Night Court. I've been fiercely longing to get back into this world.
As you can see, I have a lot of reading to get to between my writing. Let me know what has found its way into your TBR pile because I could always use inspiration to keep mine growing.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor
Happy spooky season! Fall, in my opinion, provides the best reading weather and the best reading inspiration. I will forever be on the hunt for witchy stories and ripper tales when October rolls around. Here are my favorite reads for when the air is chillier and the evening sky is darker.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Audrey Wadsworth was born with a scalpel in her hand and a cadaver on her table despite the wealth she was born into. When body after body streams into her uncle's morgue, she starts to investigate. Everyone is a suspect until she can find out who is Jack the Ripper.
Everything in this novel had me hooked, from the feminism to the crime to the romance, and each aspect played into the others so well. Not to mention, I was absolutely spooked.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Nick's wife, Amy, is gone and no one knows why. As all the signs point to murder, everyone's fingers point to Nick. But the answer isn't so easily found, and Nick is determined to find out why. Amy isn't entirely innocent either, as Nick finds in his searching.
Chilling air calls for chilling stories and this may be the one to cause the most goosebumps. Gone Girl kept me on edge long after I put it down for the night. And the "cool girl" narrative fires me up every time.
Faeries can't create, but humans can, and Isobel may be the most talented of them all. When her fame in painting gets her a job for the portrait of the autumn prince and she paints human emotions in his eyes, she finds herself hauled across the border separating humans and faeries to await her trial.
For the longest time, Rook had been one of my top 3 book crushes, despite his arrogance that seemed to have no end. While the book doesn't take place strictly in the autumn court, the world is described in such vivid color that it emanates the magical light of fall.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Sisters Sally and Gillian are cursed--any man to ever love them is doomed to die, as had been the same for any Owens witch. Sally resolved to hide from love, while Gilly relishes in it. But men always cause problems, and Jimmy Angelov is the biggest problem of all, so the sisters must reunite to keep him six feet under.
This is a favorite in my family. Now that I'm finally 21, I plan to have midnight margaritas any time my mom, grandma, and I are together. The subtle witchcraft and the air of magic mixed with the tension of love and death create the perfect fall night read.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Vasilisa has always been too fantastical and far too daring for her own good, as everyone around her would say. Once her mother dies and her stepmother forbids worshipping the spirits around her home, the magic Vasilisa grew up with dwindles. With the kind spirits so weak, evil spirits brave closer and crops die. Vasilisa runs away in search of help, and she realizes a gift she never knew she had.
Creepy, crawling creatures and the cold Russian wilderness make this a great October read. Because of the language and the mythological background, this book is already a classic in my mind. It reads so smoothly, it's almost like watching a movie.
Happy fall and thank you for reading,
Taylor
// long drives with windows down
// strawberry lemonade
// blueberry fields & sunflower mazes
In two year's time, when I graduate from college, I will probably increase this list tenfold. There is so much to learn in these four years that it's difficult to narrow down what I wish I would have understood from senior year of high school to the end of my sophomore year.
These aren't just the typical "your friends will change" and "your relationship won't last" because I've seen instances where friends never changed and relationships thrived. Neither of those things are true for me as my entire friend group (thankfully) changed and my high school relationship (thankfully) ended--I say thankfully because it would have been much harder to grow and develop if they hadn't changed and ended.
In the end, college is all about you getting to know what you really like and who you really like. Sometimes you'll need to be a little selfish to ensure that you stay on your track or you get out of your current track, and there's nothing wrong with that as long as you're happy, healthy, and on a good path.
You don't have to wait--for anything.
I always wanted to wait to take my harder courses, wait to apply for internships, wait to find ways to enter my career all because I thought I wasn't prepared. Plot twist, you are prepared. You are just as prepared as anyone else trying to enter your field. Courses and internships are meant for people learning how to exist in a field. And you can always find small ways to better prepare yourself for graduation.
I started freelance editing because my goal is to work in book publishing. Right now, I'm developing relationships with publishers and authors who will help me learn as I help them with their writing. That's me and my goal, I understand you can't just walk into a hospital and say you're a doctor. But there are always internships and volunteer positions for almost any field, it just takes some searching--your school can help with that!
Please follow all your routine medical procedures & understand your health insurance.
You have to get the flu shot. You just have to. Missing classes in college because you were out sick with the flu is very different from missing classes in high school. It's harder than you can imagine to catch up--sometimes impossible. Along with this, follow all your preventative care. For women, at age 21 it's time to start getting pap smears and it's always a good idea to do an STD test!
As far as health insurance goes, make sure that your school's infirmary or a surrounding medical office that you can easily get to is part of your network. If not, it may be helpful to get your school's insurance to avoid pricey doctor's visits if you can't get home. Just stay off WebMd as much as possible; you're probably fine.
Random roommates are good for you.
They may be a pain or they may be your best friends. I've been lucky enough to have both. Even having a terrible roommate is a good experience if only to learn what other people do that annoy you so that you don't do things to annoy others. It's a great way to learn boundaries. It's also a great way to meet friends because your roommates will have friends, and the best part is that they most likely didn't follow you from high school.
Befriend your professors.
There have been too many times in just my first two years when I've needed a reference letter for a club or a scholarship and had to send awkward, desperate emails to professors I hadn't talked to in over a semester. They're also useful beyond reference letters--they are, seriously, a wealth of knowledge about your career. They also usually have a plethora of connections to get you started on a path to your dream job. It also makes going to class that much more enticing.
Not every minute has to be productive.
I started to drive myself crazy in my spring semester sophomore year because I felt that any minute spent not moving forward in my life was a minute wasted. That is far from the truth. Give yourself time to refresh and rest before you need to dive back into another round of work. With that, don't get carried away with too much refreshing--which translates to: don't watch 10 episodes of Game of Thrones a day (also something I started doing in that spring semester when I had too much of constant work).
You're going to do stupid things and you will regret them--but don't think too hard about them.
Stupid things are what college stories are made of. Or maybe some things you did you would rather keep tucked away in the deep recesses of your mind. Either way, don't let them haunt you and fill you with nerves at the very thought of them. Sure, you wish you hadn't done whatever might be dragging you down, but the sooner you can learn to laugh at it, the sooner you'll find relief from it.
Please keep yourself and your surroundings clean.
I am a clean freak to my very core. Cleaning soothes me and having a nice space makes me calm. My mom had always done the majority of the household care, but I made sure to learn along the way the things she did to keep the house clean. You're probably awaiting the day you go to college and never have chores, but please don't go away with that mindset. Just clean. You will feel better and you will make those around you feel better if you and your space are decent and nice.
Apply for all the scholarships.
A lot of the time, the essays you write and the surveys you fill out won't be the winner. However, there are so many websites and resources available to find less popular scholarships that you're more likely to win. I have won three scholarships so far, and the money I earned is well worth the few hours here and there spent writing about my life, my ideas, or my future.
If you take anything away from this post, let it be that your happiness, health, and path are the most important things to focus on in these four years. Of course, love your family and your friends with all of your heart, but love yourself just as much and don't feel selfish for taking care of yourself. Even if these aren't the best four years of your life, let them be good and prosperous.
Writing is so easy to get caught up in. With the actions, the plots, and the characters, there are so many moving pieces all working at once that need your full attention to keep the novel moving along--it's so easy to forget crucial aspects. Depth of the world, and even just scene-setting, include some of the most important details to the story, and it's what so many writers often forget to elaborate on.
World development and scene-setting are my favorite parts of the writing process, so occasionally I will go a little overboard with trying to get the reader to see the world as I see it. When that happens, I'll need to sit back and remember that I'm not trying to force the reader to see what I see, I'm trying to inspire their own imagination so they may fill in the blanks. At the same time, however, there needs to be enough detail provided to guide the reader and to build a world around your characters.
The reader doesn't need to know what color the curtains and walls are in every room of the fortress, but if it's the fortress of a villain, perhaps the windows peak like the spikes of daggers and the carpet flows red like an open vein to her feet. That can also lead into a rant on showing and not telling -- just as important -- but I'll stay on topic.
There's always more detail that can be added to make a story feel that much more realistic, so the answer to "does your novel's world have enough depth" is no. No, it doesn't.
Before I even start writing, I fill a notebook with all the details of the story -- a map of my world, the appearance of the people in various regions, what their houses and daily lives look like where they live, how the climate differs. I like to look at countries that are similar to the places I'm creating then see all that describes that country and makes it what it is. Then, I describe how everything that makes up the country effects those who live in and around it in different ways.
It's also important to look at histories. Maybe your plot revolves around a dark ruler, but is that the norm for that area of land? Have they always had terrible, overbearing rulers? What led the country to fall to its current state? You may sit for hours developing small aspects of the story, but it adds precious depth that wouldn't come if you didn't have answers to those questions. Your brainstorming may only lead to a quick mention of it in one or two chapters, but it means more than you may inherently think to the basis of the story.
For writers whose work I'm editing, I send a handout featuring all the questions you might want to ask yourself when world building so as to add more depth, so here are a few of my favorites:
Characters are unique to each other. What makes each member of your family and friend group different from or similar to the next?
How is the region's government run & what are its drawbacks, even if it's good-natured? What are its foreign relations like?
How did past circumstances bring about a people's or a character's current situation or behavior? Think psychology.
Who is all being impacted by the goings-on of the main plot and how? What are the repercussions?
Sometimes, it may even be best to skim by the first draft without delving too much into the details and inner-workings of the world. I prefer to throw it all out there from the beginning. It all depends on how you draft. You know yourself and how you work best.
Hopefully, some writers out there finds this helpful! Let me know if there are any other writing topics you would want me to cover in the future.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor . x
"if we are to write historical fiction or set a historical or dystopian scene, we cannot forget to add the injustices that shaped us as a people and as individual characters so that we, ourselves, may continue to grow with the people we read of
Like most of us that bear witness to the beauty and sweetness that is Jamie Fraser, I fell deeply in love with him--fast. For most of Outlander and A Dragonfly in Amber, Lord Broch Tuarach was a perfect gentleman with constant affection and love for Claire. However, he had his faults, though calling them faults is misleading.
It's not just Jamie, of all the book crushes, who has imperfections and bad behavioral traits, but I feel that he is a good symbol (and I am also deep into the TV series which I watch religiously). Really, I want to question if bad tropes and themes ruin books. This can be argued on different variables and definitions as to what those tropes and themes may be or how they may be portrayed, but they don't ruin the book.
No person, partnership, or friendship is free of all toxicity. Having faults, and more importantly, learning from them is what makes characters more human and what makes stories hold more meaning in relation to their audience. Jamie loves Claire with a feverish passion, but he made mistakes. Several of them. The first was with the belt in Outlander.
Without giving any kind of spoiler, Claire had gone against Jamie's orders and found trouble that put many people in danger. As her husband, it was his "responsibility" to serve her punishment. The thought of a husband punishing his wife is nowadays severely looked down upon and deserves its own punishment (thankfully), but in the 1700s this wasn't anything out of the norm. It's a wrong and horrible thing to glamorize through historical fiction, but it's realistic for its time. Jamie is only a victim of his era where he believed that was his duty as a husband. Soon after raising his belt to Claire, he sought forgiveness and swore to never remotely do so again. His growth represents more of him than his initial actions had.
Especially when we read historical fiction or novels set in different lands but in times similar to those of our past, it's important to remember that people -- women, LGBTQ+, and various races -- did not always have the freedoms and voices that we have now, even limited as they may still be. By remembering where we came from, we can see how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. It's incorrect and unrealistic to forget pasts that we would rather not think about because every land, fictional or not, has them. Blaming a book for portraying crude behaviors and lacks of freedom is like blaming a modern author for the behavior of those 200 or more years ago.
Certain authors may write sensitive scenes or topics too harshly or in a bad light, and authors may tread too lightly around such topics and accidentally make sensitive histories appear not as bad as they really were. Others yet glorify violence, abuse, and generally unacceptable behavior. I do believe, though, that if the characters grow from the wrongdoing or from their adversity, if it sets a scene for a character's physical or emotional situation, if it portrays historical standards, or if it's written as a reflection on society, it does not ruin the book.
It is unacceptable in every and any way to wrongly write sensitive topics and to romanticize domestic violence, racism, or prejudice. There is no exception. But if we are to write historical fiction or set a historical or dystopian scene, we cannot forget to add the injustices that shaped us as a people and as individual characters so that we, ourselves, may continue to grow with the people we read of.
I think that the characters we love can make bad decisions, can act wrongfully and unjustly, but it all comes down to how they resolve it, how they make amends, and how they grow.
So, yes, I love Jamie Fraser.
april showers bring may flowers
tunes for the bloom
// hours on the water
// sprouts & petals
// picking fruits
below are some of the songs I've had on repeat for the last month; I hope you enjoy them & whatever plans you have for the start of the summer months
Spring Cleaning
There's something about new skin care that just feels fresh. Going into the summer months, I'm finding it increasingly important to wash my face morning & night to keep the dirt and sweat from the day off my skin. I have found three products that have pretty much done the trick.
I was gifted these to washes by Fresh and Influenster in exchange for an honest review, and to be completely honest, they're not the best face wash and scrub I've used. However, since using them along with the last cleanser, there hasn't been a pore on my face. Not much in the way of imperfections has been dealt with while using these, but my skin feels smoother and looks brighter than it has in a while.The soy cleanser is my favorite of the duo because not only does it smell refreshingly like cucumber but it also takes off makeup well. The scrub isn't as exfoliating as I would prefer -- my favorite scrubs are your average St. Ives scrubs because they're fine but really feel like you're taking off dead skin -- but something in the product must be working somehow based on the results I've had.
Possibly the best cleanser I have yet to use, which is no surprise with Burt's Bees having been my go-to brand for lip balms for years. It leaves your face feeling so deeply washed and refreshed after that it feels cold and tingly in the absolute best way. In the morning, I do a quick wash with this, follow it up with a moisturizer, and feel incredibly clean and awake until it turns around four and I'm craving a cup of tea.
Those are the products I've been trying out lately and very much enjoying. Let me know what your skin care routine is looking like currently; I'm a skin care addict who constantly needs new recommendations.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor . x
French, Polish, & Italian, oh my!
Je commense a reapprendre le francais cet ete avec d'autres langues et j'espere le suivre. J'apprends et pratique tous les jours et j'ai deja tellement appris.
I apologize for the lack of accents; I'm not sure how to add them to the text while keeping the font.
I am beginning to learn French again this summer, along with other languages, and I hope to follow through with it. I learn and practice every day and I already have learned so much.
My summer morning routine usually involves waking up at 6:30 to 7 and making a cup of tea before diving into my favorite app at the moment -- Duolingo. This isn't sponsored, I really just think it's a great (and free !!) way to learn languages. I then usually study and practice until around 10 then read for the rest of the day. (I just finished Outlander, and no, I'm not okay.)
I've always loved learning languages. When I was twelve I taught myself some very rough ancient Greek and the Greek alphabet, mostly fueled by a Percy Jackson and Greek mythology passion. Then in my freshman year of high school, I began to teach myself French before taking classes in my sophomore and junior year.
Some people do puzzles and crosswords, I learn languages. To me, it's very much an equivalent because it's kind of like a game when you do it for fun. For hours I could sit and learn the meanings of words in other languages, writing them in textbooks and practicing them in my head as I do my daily tasks. It's almost an addiction.
Never having been to another country, it's like a small piece of other cultures that I can offer myself. Languages are typically seen as a division in society, but languages are meant to link us. Communicating effectively with others in languages foreign to your person is an underrated skill. Instead of assuming everyone should know English, why not take the step to make an immigrant or tourist feel a little more welcome by knowing even just a bit of their native language.
Learning other languages has had a strange impact on the way I understand things and the way I reason. This is especially with the Latin languages I have been learning -- French, Spanish, & Italian. These languages feed off each other in a way that allows you to somewhat understand the others based on aspects you already have learned with the other because many words and grammar manners are the same. I'm not quite sure how to explain this in a way that makes much sense to anyone who hasn't learned other languages, but it has helped a ton with my trivia skills.
One physical benefit of learning languages is that it improves your memory and concentration, which I can already attest to, and it prevents the onset of Alzheimer's. Taking a few hours out of your week to play around with other languages is well worth it.
If anything, languages are dying in the wake of globalization, and learning them is the only way to preserve their culture.
Because I have experience in French I have been able to work quickly through the first quarter of Duolingo so far and have discovered a fun little thing on their online website where they have stories. Each story is read out to you and questions are asked intermittently to ensure understanding, and it's a very handy tool that gives real experience with the language.
Some people do puzzles and crosswords, I learn languages. To me, it's very much an equivalent because it's kind of like a game when you do it for fun. For hours I could sit and learn the meanings of words in other languages, writing them in textbooks and practicing them in my head as I do my daily tasks. It's almost an addiction.
Never having been to another country, it's like a small piece of other cultures that I can offer myself. Languages are typically seen as a division in society, but languages are meant to link us. Communicating effectively with others in languages foreign to your person is an underrated skill. Instead of assuming everyone should know English, why not take the step to make an immigrant or tourist feel a little more welcome by knowing even just a bit of their native language.
Learning other languages has had a strange impact on the way I understand things and the way I reason. This is especially with the Latin languages I have been learning -- French, Spanish, & Italian. These languages feed off each other in a way that allows you to somewhat understand the others based on aspects you already have learned with the other because many words and grammar manners are the same. I'm not quite sure how to explain this in a way that makes much sense to anyone who hasn't learned other languages, but it has helped a ton with my trivia skills.
One physical benefit of learning languages is that it improves your memory and concentration, which I can already attest to, and it prevents the onset of Alzheimer's. Taking a few hours out of your week to play around with other languages is well worth it.
If anything, languages are dying in the wake of globalization, and learning them is the only way to preserve their culture.
~
Because I have experience in French I have been able to work quickly through the first quarter of Duolingo so far and have discovered a fun little thing on their online website where they have stories. Each story is read out to you and questions are asked intermittently to ensure understanding, and it's a very handy tool that gives real experience with the language.
As for not having any language experience, I can assure that it's just helpful. I have had no experience with Italian nor Polish, yet I have had an easy time -- as easy it can be to learn a new language -- with learning them through the app.
Another thing that I do that helps me learn sentence structure and new words is learning and listening to songs. My favorite two to sing in French are J'm'en Fous by Vianney and Tombe Sous Le Charme by Christophe Mae. Here are some playlists I put together for French, Italian, & Polish.
To zajmuje duzo czasu, e un lavoro duro, mais cela en vaut la peine.
I hope that you find it in you in your life to learn at least one other language, if only just to better yourself.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor . x
Here are some tunes I've accumulated over the start of the rainy season and over all those April showers to bring May flowers.
// hot & rainy days
// reading in the humid sunlight
// long drives with wet windows
The mood for this summer is very flowery, magical, & mixed with a couple of adventures, and I want that feeling to reflect in what I read. Since finishing The Rules of Magic, I have been in a dreamy, realistic fiction mood that I just can't shake.
I have a great pile of books lined up for the coming summer, which I am thankful for because there aren't many books being released in the next handful of months that have sparked my interest. Most of the series continuations that I saw were for series that I had wanted to start but never had, but I was still able to spot a couple of releases that I found intriguing.
Romanov by Nadine Brandes
May 7
Romanov follows Anastasia "Nastya" Romanov as she smuggles an ancient spell as she ventures into exile in Siberia to save her family from the Bolshevik army. She's confronted by two options to survive: she can release the spell and, with it, its consequences, or she can accept help from Zash, a Bolshevik.
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
June 4
An Enchantment of Ravens was a work of art with the colorful descriptions and usage of fae. Now, Rogerson is dabbling in sorcery -- although I wish it was an AER sequel, I will devour anything she creates.
Elisabeth grew up surrounded by the tools and workings of sorcerers that turn into horrible ink monsters when disturbed -- because all sorcerers are evil (who woulda thought). One day, Elisabeth is forced into action as an act of sabotage descends on her library, but her quick action brings her into question for the crime and must face justice. Through this, she meets the man she truly hates, Nathaniel Thorn, and learns of an old conspiracy and begins questioning all she knew of sorcerers.
Rage by Cora Carmack
August 27
I enjoyed reading Roar, the first book of the Stormhearts series, though it wasn't one of my favorites. However, I do feel that as the series matures, it will get better and that really intrigues me. The premise of the series is interesting with storms and magic and travel, so I really want to like it; it's like a fantastical storm chaser.
Now Aurora is more torn than ever between her life as a princess and her life as an adventurer. Whether she should give in to her desire for freedom, or be bound to her bloodline. Still disguised as Roar, she is now aiding a rebellion against her own kingdom with her royal knowledge. The Rage is impending with the rebellion, and the storms are evolving, now filled with darkness and violence, and it may mean war.
by Alice Hoffman
published: October 10th, 2017 by Simon & Schuster
5 out of 5 stars
sunlit juice by henry jamison
5 out of 5 stars
sunlit juice by henry jamison
So, my finishing this novel was followed by quite a whirlwind. There was so much emotion then a really fun discovery that I'll get in to at the end.
I finished this book in the middle of a park with tear stains on my cheeks and a shattered, but mending, heart. Though I never experienced really anything in the book, I felt really connected to it. I'm sad to admit that this was purely a cover-buy. It was absolutely gorgeous sitting on the bookstore shelf, so with a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I decided it would look much better on my shelf. This was also my first realistic fiction novel, as well as one of my first few truly adult novels, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the whimsy.
I think I just read this book at the right time in my life. Books that stick with us the most are usually the ones that speak to us while we're going through something or just doing some growing. My appreciation for this novel definitely stemmed from reading it during this time that I'm experiencing: I'm twenty, I'm trying to decide where I want my career to go, and I'm navigating the emotions of being young and figuring out life. Reading this book was a continuous reminder that things will never go as planned, that love and friends are unexpected and need to be let in even if it feels hard, and to live a lot more and worry a lot less. Because of what it was to me over the last week, a week where I was down and questioning everything, I'm really sad for it to be over. I thought about flipping back to the first page the moment I finished the last, but I couldn't ruin the initial magic of it just yet.
If you've never felt that kind of connection with a book, it's a little hard to explain. It can be one of the worst books you've ever read, but you just see something so familiar in it that draws you in. This book makes me want to live a little differently and a little lighter.
The Rules of Magic, I learned after finishing it, is a prequel to the classic Practical Magic book and movie. Here we follow the lives of Franny and Jet, and their brother Vincent, from when they first begin in experiment with their powers to when they take in the two young girls. We learn all the rules of the Owens witches and their quirky beliefs that make the real world feel slightly whimsical. I found their trust in love the most moving.
Following Franny, Jet, and Vincent through their lives was one of the most creative and inspiring book plots I have ever read. Typically, all we get is a glimpse into a short period of time with a character or several years over a series, but watching the lows and the highs of others' lives and how they evolved from each dip meant much more than just a glimpse would have. It was just a peek here and there as they grew older, but each peek held the importance and the emotion of an entire novel.
This is the book I will always recommend to a reader in their late teens to early twenties, or someone older experiencing a tough time, to remind them that things happen but everything happens how it is meant to.
Most of this was an emotional dump, but I feel that reviews of books are far too impersonal most times and I want to share how I connected with the book rather than what I thought of the author's use of space. However, I will mention a few things I thought about he style of the novel. The transitioning between years and ages was nearly seamless and it became clear in the characters' emotions and thoughts that they were developing even if there sometimes wasn't a time stamp. How the book was laid out also played into this. Instead of actual chapter, the book was split into small passages, sometimes only a page and sometimes as long as maybe 10 pages, then those passages are blocked into parts as something world-altering happens to the characters, signifying a new stage in their lives. Beyond their aging, each character had such pure feelings that I felt them outside of the pages. It's clear that there was so much heart poured into this book. I just can't get over watching all of the characters develop and grow; it was moving.
If you've never felt that kind of connection with a book, it's a little hard to explain. It can be one of the worst books you've ever read, but you just see something so familiar in it that draws you in. This book makes me want to live a little differently and a little lighter.
The Rules of Magic, I learned after finishing it, is a prequel to the classic Practical Magic book and movie. Here we follow the lives of Franny and Jet, and their brother Vincent, from when they first begin in experiment with their powers to when they take in the two young girls. We learn all the rules of the Owens witches and their quirky beliefs that make the real world feel slightly whimsical. I found their trust in love the most moving.
Following Franny, Jet, and Vincent through their lives was one of the most creative and inspiring book plots I have ever read. Typically, all we get is a glimpse into a short period of time with a character or several years over a series, but watching the lows and the highs of others' lives and how they evolved from each dip meant much more than just a glimpse would have. It was just a peek here and there as they grew older, but each peek held the importance and the emotion of an entire novel.
This is the book I will always recommend to a reader in their late teens to early twenties, or someone older experiencing a tough time, to remind them that things happen but everything happens how it is meant to.
Most of this was an emotional dump, but I feel that reviews of books are far too impersonal most times and I want to share how I connected with the book rather than what I thought of the author's use of space. However, I will mention a few things I thought about he style of the novel. The transitioning between years and ages was nearly seamless and it became clear in the characters' emotions and thoughts that they were developing even if there sometimes wasn't a time stamp. How the book was laid out also played into this. Instead of actual chapter, the book was split into small passages, sometimes only a page and sometimes as long as maybe 10 pages, then those passages are blocked into parts as something world-altering happens to the characters, signifying a new stage in their lives. Beyond their aging, each character had such pure feelings that I felt them outside of the pages. It's clear that there was so much heart poured into this book. I just can't get over watching all of the characters develop and grow; it was moving.
As for the discovery, that goes back to my mom and brother's love for ancestry. In the most humble way I can say this, my family line is kind of amazing. We have a mix of minutemen, pilgrims, courtesans, and kings. As it relates to this particular novel, we are related to several people involved in the Salem witch trials - only after finishing this book did we discover something that gave my mom and I goosebumps of excitement. We are related to Nathaniel Hawthorne, who originally was a Hathorne that changed his last name to hide his relation to John Hathorne. John was a terrible man of the witch trial age who persecuted and killed "witches," but as it goes in the Practical Magic world, John ends up falling in love with a witch - Maria Owens, the women who births both the line of Owens witches and the family curse. It was also rumored that Nathaniel Hawthorne feared a curse might have been put on his family at the hands of the witches his great-great grandfather had murdered. We are also related to several Willards of the same town and age as the trials through the granddaughter of Hathorne who married a relation of John Proctor that is referenced in The Rules of Magic.
So, it is safe to say that I am clearly a witch. I always have had a ridiculously hard time swimming and staying under water. *wink, wink*
I am well aware that the characters of the Practical Magic world are fictional, I just thought it was a bit of fun to believe that this book might be the tiny possibility of magic I had always dreamed of as a child. It was also funny that my grandmother, mother, and I each came to fall in love with this series individually and in our own way, with them having fallen for the movie and I having fallen for the prequel without knowing.
Anyway, I hope that, even if this doesn't seem like your kind of book, that you will give it a try because it may be what you also needed to experience. If you have read it, I would love to know what you thought of it in the comments or on social media -- all linked at the top of the page.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor x
Anyway, I hope that, even if this doesn't seem like your kind of book, that you will give it a try because it may be what you also needed to experience. If you have read it, I would love to know what you thought of it in the comments or on social media -- all linked at the top of the page.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor x
"In the winter she curls up around a good book and dreams away the cold."
Ben Aaronovitch
Spring has just arrived, and with it a new mood for reading. Winter brought the coziest & most chilling books to my attention, but spring creates the desire for romantic, flowery adventures. Some of my new favorite reads came out of this season because each holds such a unique voice and tale that they're difficult to compare to any other novel.
Here are a couple of my favorite reads from this past winter, and I would love to read about yours down below.
Nevernight
Jay Kristoff | 5 out of 5 stars
As, perhaps, one of the most violent books I have yet to read - which says a lot because I primarily fall into the fantasy and adventure genres - this book really grips you by the throat. Following Mia as she navigates the world of assassins and her new training school was a dangerous twist of Harry Potter and Throne of Glass. Because it is an adult novel just featuring young characters, as Kristoff likes to point out, it deals with several strong themes and conversations that wouldn't have risen if it were targeted for a younger audience. I braved the mildly chilly Florida winter to find the sequel in the bookstore, but alas, I'm still waiting to find it. You can find my full review here.
the prowl by dan auerbach
Red Rising
Pierce Brown | 4 out of 5 stars
Fahrenheit 451 meets Maze Runner is the best way I know to describe this novel, as I mentioned in my review. It's very much focused on being a societal commentary on the separation of classes and brutality of the elite in a high-stakes, dystopian setting far in the future. There's also the classic trope of a game pitting others against each other in a battle for survival. Looking back on it again, it can also be compared to Lord of the Flies as it follows the sanity of the youth forced into situations outside of their comprehension, which makes for a very raw reflection on human nature. While this book was somewhat strange in its style, it's most appealing characteristic is its outlook of society.
I got mine by the black keys
The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden | 5 out of 5 stars
I was greatly taken by surprise by this book. The sense of magic and mythology along with the whimsy of winter in the Russian woodlands made the perfect read for being huddled in a blanket. Never had I come across a novel that involved Russian mythology, and I had never learned of any of the region's lore, so this was such a fresh concept to read of. This is definitely a winter staple that I will read the next time the season rolls around.
at the table by josh garrels
Stalking Jack the Ripper
Kerri Maniscalco | 5 out of 5 stars
The setting of my last favorite read of winter wasn't so much cold as it was startlingly chilling. Very rarely do I get scared of a book that doesn't involve horror or specific creatures meant to induce nightmares, but I was a coward for this novel. Toward the end, reading this novel at night was near impossible - I was aware the Ripper was known for his ripping, but I had no idea the extent. I've never had much interest in murder mystery, but the setting of 1800s England combined with the base of a real story made it addicting.
blue veins by the raconteurs
Now that I have some new favorites under my belt, I look forward to reading new adventures for spring. At the top of my TBR list is Outlander, which I feel encompasses the type of books I want to read at the moment, so I am incredibly excited to dive into that as we get deeper in the season. Also let me know which books you are anticipating reading most in the next few months as I always love new reading inspiration.
Happy spring and thanks for reading,
Taylor x
It's hard to believe that while writing this it's still March. This month has felt like a year. Time has seemed to slow to a near stop recently, despite having done so much and still needing to do so much. In March, I went on my spring break to Panama City Beach, Florida with my roommates and a couple friends. I've also seen lots of family these past few weeks, including some that I haven't seen in upwards of 12 years, so it has been a very memorable month.
Fall & spring have always been my favorite seasons. I love the transition where so many new colors begin to appear and wardrobes shift.
In honor of the reemergence of sunlight and flowers, here is what spring 2019 has inspired me to listen to.
❀ favorites ❀
sturdy by Spectre Jones
elouise by the Lumineers
delta by Mumford & Sons
janey by Foy Vance
crash into me by Dave Matthews Band
she burns by Foy Vance
almost by Hozier
dead sea by the Lumineers
would that I by Hozier
would that I by Hozier
wildflowers by Tom Petty
old pine by Ben Howard
old pine by Ben Howard
at the table by Josh Garrels
None of these things began as New Year's resolutions or anything relating to that, they're really just habits that I slowly adopted and realized I had been repeating.
My skin has never been more thankful. It began with a bad, sporadic string of break outs that I just had enough of, and I found a natural Korean beauty serum that has done absolute wonders. I feel much more relaxed knowing that my skin isn't being bombarded and terrorized by foreign chemicals.
I haven't made the switch yet, but the next transition will be to natural beauty products. I know there many great brands available now, but I just haven't found the one I'm willing to test. I would love to know of any you use or know of!
Refining my personal style & brand
It seems that every couple months my style slowly begins to take a shift in a different direction. I always have the base style that I always fall back to, which is where I am now, but something in me feels the need to change it up. I've started trying new ways to change within my style and keep it interesting to me while keeping myself centered.
This year I also turn 21 (!) so I have been putting in slightly more effort in maturing my style in what I wear and how I decorate. I've completely redone my resume and the blog you're looking at as well because I feel that they should both show off the creator's personality. If you would like to see a blog post on how I create my resumes and design my blog, which I do all myself, I would be more than happy to think something up.
Learning what I do and don't like
This was a big thing for me recently. As I mentioned about my style, what I want to do within journalism and writing, changes regularly. The goal has and will always be to be a novelist and an editor for a book publishing company. However, this semester I took a big turn and decided I want to try photojournalism and am currently taking at course at my university for it. I've always loved photography and videography and spent my entire high school career behind a camera, but this was the first time I truly took it seriously. And I first discovered it was my dream, then quickly shook my head and realized it wasn't. Photographing for National Geographic will always be a dream, and if the opportunity comes I'm not sure if I could pass it up, however, I don't believe it's for me.
There's no harm in trying out things you find interesting, because how would you ever know what you really enjoy otherwise, but it's also okay to accept that you don't like something as much as you thought you did. I love taking pictures, but I hate being told when and how to take them.
Stretching in the evening
Probably a low rung on this list, but nonetheless something I have been doing differently. I've gotten into yoga again, which if you've been here since the beginning, you'll know I used to do every morning for a while in high school. My college has classes every day so I've been going to them with my roommates and also by myself, and on top of that I have also been stretching before bed. I'm not sure if it's just me hoping it's making a difference, but I feel a little healthier physically and am already seeing progress in my previously low-to-average flexibility.
Being okay with quality over quantity
I'm still getting there with this one, as I've always wanted to do as much as I can as well as I can. I've been putting more of a mindset on living a bit slower and taking things easier, and really just not trying to take on everything I want to. With that, I've also been trying to put much more effort in the things that I do. This meant easing back on blog posts so I could make them as I envisioned; reading maybe not as many books but being more invested in them.
Bullet journalingI've always been very sentimental and loved making scrapbooks, so this year I decided I would make a photo album/journal/collection of random things for throughout my last two years of college. This first year and a half of it has gone by unexpectedly fast, so I wanted to bind together all the small memories of the every day so I can look back and remember what it was like.
Many of you probably think this is a little random, but I have watched TV while trying to sleep my entire life because I need some sort of talking or music and some sort of light to sleep (frankly, I'm just scared of the dark). For Christmas, though, my parents got me a speaker that lights up and I've been slowly converting myself from TV to speaker. There's many nights where I still need or want the TV, but the speaker has helped loads.
The environment has always been a concern of mine, from participating in beach clean ups and recycling. This year, with global warming being as present in our lives as ever, I've put much more thought into the products that I buy and what I recycle. There are so many things we buy that truly destroy the environment to make, so I've put in a conscious effort to think about how my habits may affect the world.
The biggest thing I have done for myself this year was paid attention to my body. It was kind of forced upon me, but it was still something I'm very glad I started doing. For the last three years I have been having a few different health problems: I was fainting and near-fainting randomly, having severe headaches, having chest pain, etc. Starting in January, however, it all got suddenly much worse to where I was close to blacking out nearly every day, when I used to faint every few months, and there were days where I couldn't leave bed due to horrible headaches. One day my Mom finally told me to go get bloodwork and it came back that I was just anemic, and that all of my health problems, including things I noticed but never connected, were because of it. Fragile nails, sudden feelings like I'm not getting enough air, weakness, coldness, and exhaustion on top of the fainting, headaches, and chest pain, all went away for the most part after starting an iron vitamin.
The moral of the story is to listen to what is happening to your body because there's probably a reason and it's trying to let you know there's something to fix. It could be as simple as just lacking a vitamin.
After finishing this, I realize it's been quite a year... and it's only March. As much as it's been, it's definitely been a lot for the best and for that I'm very hopeful for the rest of the year. I also hope you all have also had a 2019 full of growth & optimism.
Thank you for reading,
Taylor x
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
~ Goodreads Synopsis ~
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
~
A dystopian story told a hundred times is renewed by Pierce Brown and it was so refreshing.
I am a fan of dystopian novels that highlight aspects of our current society and shows a drastic negative future for us. It's enlightening and it forces you to reflect on where we went wrong. That sounds kind of scary, but I promise it's only in good intent.
On my Instagram I described this book as Fahrenheit 451 meets Maze Runner and I stand by that. We have the far-fetched dystopian theme and the pitiful societal change of Bradbury mixed with the youthfulness and loss of innocence themes and game/trial plot of Dashner. It's the perfect catastrophic future duo.
I first found out about this book through Booktube, where most beautiful things can be discovered, and to be completely honest I asked for this book for Christmas because of the hype. Let's be real, when I have had a book on here, besides ToG and ACOTAR, where I knew what it was about before going into it.
So when I first dove into the book I was a little taken by surprise just because it's not what I was expecting. I was under the impression that it was a New Adult novel, so I was confused when our main character stated that he was a mere 16 years old. I'm a fan of young characters, so that was a plus to me, but it definitely made the thought processes of the characters much younger and the perspective infinitely younger. Again, not a bad thing unless you were expecting the perspective of the book to be from a 40-year old man.
Going back to my Fahrenheit 451 meets Maze Runner description -- I say these two novels because of the themes involved and the writing style. I get a lot of Bradbury feels in the style that Brown used; it's very fast and a little chunky but pieces together into a relatable narrator. Brown also seems to draw from Bradbury's dystopian future where people are essentially terrible because we just keep growing off our own terribleness. I then mentioned Maze Runner because of the plot itself. A bunch of ruthless teenagers are thrown into an inescapable game-setting with very little context on the why and how parts of the challenge.
Book report summary aside, I really enjoyed this novel.
The characters were a little distant, still relatable in many ways but just felt a little detached. If you look at it from the sense that they're the prime portion of the population and have little regard for anything except their personal gain, it makes total sense so it's not so much a complaint as a statement that not everyone will enjoy the characters.
One thing about our main character, Darrow, though, is his poor ability to grieve. It seems like things just happen to him, and he acknowledges each thing as it happens, but then it seems as if Brown will sporadically bring up those traumas in strange situations simply to create sympathy for Darrow. His relationship with his own past just seemed very fabricated and surface-level, even for a 16- to 18-year old boy.
That is really the only complaint I have about this book. Brown creates an excellent sense of space with a vivid and brutal landscape, there's such high stakes for all the characters, and the themes and messages driving each part of the story are thought-provoking. In all, I give this book two thumbs up and would really encourage anyone to read this book if only for the Bradbury-eske message.
I'm also interested in what you guys had to think about the novel, if you did or didn't like it, so please let me know down below!
Thanks for reading,
Taylor
So when I first dove into the book I was a little taken by surprise just because it's not what I was expecting. I was under the impression that it was a New Adult novel, so I was confused when our main character stated that he was a mere 16 years old. I'm a fan of young characters, so that was a plus to me, but it definitely made the thought processes of the characters much younger and the perspective infinitely younger. Again, not a bad thing unless you were expecting the perspective of the book to be from a 40-year old man.
Going back to my Fahrenheit 451 meets Maze Runner description -- I say these two novels because of the themes involved and the writing style. I get a lot of Bradbury feels in the style that Brown used; it's very fast and a little chunky but pieces together into a relatable narrator. Brown also seems to draw from Bradbury's dystopian future where people are essentially terrible because we just keep growing off our own terribleness. I then mentioned Maze Runner because of the plot itself. A bunch of ruthless teenagers are thrown into an inescapable game-setting with very little context on the why and how parts of the challenge.
Book report summary aside, I really enjoyed this novel.
The characters were a little distant, still relatable in many ways but just felt a little detached. If you look at it from the sense that they're the prime portion of the population and have little regard for anything except their personal gain, it makes total sense so it's not so much a complaint as a statement that not everyone will enjoy the characters.
One thing about our main character, Darrow, though, is his poor ability to grieve. It seems like things just happen to him, and he acknowledges each thing as it happens, but then it seems as if Brown will sporadically bring up those traumas in strange situations simply to create sympathy for Darrow. His relationship with his own past just seemed very fabricated and surface-level, even for a 16- to 18-year old boy.
That is really the only complaint I have about this book. Brown creates an excellent sense of space with a vivid and brutal landscape, there's such high stakes for all the characters, and the themes and messages driving each part of the story are thought-provoking. In all, I give this book two thumbs up and would really encourage anyone to read this book if only for the Bradbury-eske message.
I'm also interested in what you guys had to think about the novel, if you did or didn't like it, so please let me know down below!
Thanks for reading,
Taylor
