The Opposite of Routine

The end of summer is just over the horizon – and perhaps I’m speaking too soon – but I had a pretty dull season. Now, I’m certain there are plenty of people who find their own lives boring. I mean, how many times have you heard a conversation similar like this?

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing. You?”

“Nothing.”

“Well, no news is good news, right?”

It’s easy to fall into a routine. At least, I’m definitely guilty of this. (I am a girl who thrives on schedules, after all.) But the last straw of enduring another monotonous day occurred this weekend when I was trying to come up with a topic for this blog post.

In the last two weeks, I managed to finish Scythe by Neal Shusterman (which I started reading in July; the society within the novel was so fascinating) and then finished reading a novella. I didn’t do any writing because I decided to take a break from my July marathon, but I have been contemplating about editing/rewriting a NaNo 2016 story. And then I created more vocab cards.

After I looked at my dismal list of activities, I decided that enough was enough. If my brother could spend three days in Alabama last week for work, and if my sister could fly down to Florida yesterday for the next six days to see a friend, why couldn’t I partake in some kind of fun adventure, too? I don’t need to wait around for a friend or family member to have a free day; there’s nothing wrong with taking a trip somewhere on my own.

Therefore, I woke up earlier than usual yesterday and took a drive. I was only an hour away from home (no out-of-state activities, unfortunately), but I hadn’t been at the establishment since I was in junior high.

On my day off, dedicated to doing fun stuff, I decided to go...

…visit an outdoor museum.

(I’m such a nerd.)

I acquired so much trivia knowledge during my journey around the village. Like how apples originally came from Europe. Or how Heinz first bottled horseradish, not ketchup. Or that Daniel Webster only included one word of his own creation into his dictionary: demoralize.

Of course, as a writer, being immersed in a historic “community” made me wonder what kind of stories I could pull from this site. I mean, the world-building was already done for me as I wandered around the various time periods. There were even actors who roamed the streets, dressed in the proper attire from the late 1800s.

What I found amusing, though, was that by the end of the day, a couple of the museum guides began to recognize me. Turns out, when you walk around by yourself and only have the attendants to keep you company as you tour the houses, they remember. Some of the workers rotate to different exhibits later in the day and I’d show up at their new stations.

Needless to say, I broke the monotony of what could have been a typical Wednesday. I left the house and did something! (Running errands doesn’t count.) And now you (the reader) can get a slight break from reading a blog post of mine that doesn’t pertain to books or the act of writing. Look at me, breaking free from more routine-like stuff!

Of course, I could always loop my experience yesterday back to crafting stories, but I’ll spare you this one time. I’m sure you’re smart enough to reach your own conclusions.

All in all, sometimes I just need to go on a little adventure or try something new. It’s easy to become so wrapped up in my bubble of everyday responsibilities that I can forget how interesting the world is. So much information to uncover and places to see.

…I just wish I was more willing to plan these explorations earlier in the summer. Before I know it, it’s going to get cold here in Michigan.

Results of My July Writing Project

July is officially over, and so is my Writing Project for the month. Remember how my goal was to write at least 1,000 words/day, so that I could ultimately reach 31,000 words? Turns out, I wasn’t so good at that daily word count, but I did succeed in reaching my end goal.

Quick summary of what I accomplished in July:

(Warning: Yes, I do talk about math and numbers in the upcoming paragraphs. I apologize if you’re one of those people who receive headaches whenever calculations are brought up. The left side of my brain took over here.)

I wrote a total of eleven stories, which tends to be around my average whenever I do this sort of project for a month. Seven of those stories could be considered the opening pages of a larger piece of work, but the idea tampered off and I stopped writing for that particular plot. Three of my stories were more like snapshot scenes from a much larger story, but they at least could stand on their own. And finally, my longest story in the collection was complete at 16,750 words exactly (so, basically half of my overall word count of the month).

Also, I re-discovered my love for writing in the third person. Seven of my stories were written in this perspective, including my large story. I used to always write in third person, but in my early days of college, I started leaning toward first person. Now I’m really enjoying how I can hide certain things from the future reader while I’m writing in third person. (Of course, the fact that the last few novels I have read were written in third person might have subconsciously affected my own writing.)

Lastly, I was not a consistent writer this past month. During the first two days, I only reached a combined total of 1,278 words. So I had to make up for my lack of words on day 3. And that was basically me throughout the entire month. I was very erratic in my daily word count. See, here’s proof!

Yes, I did overachieve on the very last day. I could have stopped at around the 1,000 word mark, but I was determined to finish the story, so I kept going.

But despite all my (very) late night writing, not having a strategy on what kind of stories I was planning on writing, and having an irregular daily word count, I successfully reached my goal with 32,208 words. In fact, I actually beat my total word count from last July.

Good job, Amanda. I knew you could do it. (Now you just have to get back to a somewhat normal bedtime schedule. Good luck with that.)

OAR Guest Post #3

As you can read by the title, my third and last blog post is now up on the Oakland Arts Review blog! You can find it HERE.

This time, I try to help you (the aspiring writer) on how to overcome writer’s block. I wish I remembered my own advice last week as I was working on my July writing project. I was hitting my head against the wall while I tried to think of something to write at three in the morning.

Of course, trying to write that late in the night probably doesn’t help, but whatever. I’ve now been working on a particular “short” story the past four days. I’m thinking that I have another 2-3 days left of writing it before it’s finished. Once the story’s completed, then I’ll have to take my own advice on what to write next.

But I’m rambling now.

The point is, you (the reader) should definitely check out my OAR post. Especially since we finally got the physical copies of the journal last week. Sometime this week or next week, I’ll be assisting the group with mailing the books off to our contributors. (I’m so excited to have our gorgeous journal in my hands!)

If you haven’t read my previous two OAR blog posts, you can read them HERE and HERE in their respective order (or you can read them out of order, if you want, because it actually doesn’t matter).

Thoughts about My Upcoming July Writing Project

So…tomorrow is the first day of July. My first panicked thought is: Ah! How did half of the year escape on me already? What am I doing with my life? Which is then promptly followed by my second panicked thought: Ah! Tomorrow is when my month-long writing project will start! What am I going to spend that time writing?

I can’t do anything about the first panicked thought (unless you happen to know someone who can freeze time), but I have been pondering the second one for the past week and a half.

I’ve decided that I’m going to try and write at least 1000 words a day (sum total: 31,000). It worked well for me last July, despite my delay due to world-building brainstorms. One thousand words is a nice medium – it’s not an overwhelming amount like what I do in November, but it’s not giving me an excuse to write only really short pieces.

I also have a couple of playlists lined up for me to listen to while I’m writing. Because – like many writers I know – we like to have music in the background. It’s especially useful to have when trying to get inside a particular character’s head.

As for what I’m planning on writing for the entire month? Even I don’t have an exact answer for that.

For now, I’m just going to pick and choose certain stories, write them as much as I can, and see where it leads. My biggest problem is that I’m experiencing “story idea” overload. It should be considered a good problem to have, having multiple plots/scenes in my head, but how do I choose which one to work on? Which one will unlock doors and keep me writing?

Answer: I won’t know until I actually sit down and try to form them into being onto a Word document.

Basically, my writing strategy follows my current life mantra: I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’ll figure it out.

Mainly, I’m just hoping that I can succeed where I failed back in the spring. I’ll let you know the outcome in thirty-one days.



P.S. Two days ago, I officially finished reading my tenth novel of the year. I need to kick my game up if I plan on reading more than nineteen books before 2018.

Anyway, A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir is now sitting in my bookshelf instead of on my dresser. I enjoyed it greatly. However, I was tricked into thinking that the series was going to end with this book. But - oh no! - there are two more novels lined up. Of course, I’ll buy them all once they are published, but I was just frustrated at how Helene’s story arc was left off. You go get your revenge, girl! Destroy the Commandant!

When Books Surprise You (But in a Good Way)

Has this ever happened to anyone? (Because I’m sure everyone has experienced this at least once in their life.) You pick up a book and - even though you don’t know much about the author or its plot - you already don’t expect too much out of it. Maybe because you’re being forced to read it or you picked it up on a sale, so you bought it cheaply on a whim. Either way, once you start reading it, you find yourself surprised by it and discover how wrong you were about it initially.

Yeah, this is what I experienced this past week.

I chose a book from my unread tower last week, picking it deliberately because I wanted to read something that I could finish quickly. (The last book took me a month to complete. I didn’t want to dedicate so much time on another novel so soon.) This new book was slightly over 400 pages, so it wasn’t small in size at all. However, the author’s name was unfamiliar to me, despite having three other books published. I also have never seen/heard of my particular book in general out in the world, so I figured that she was more of an Indie author (which she was; my knowledge on Indie authors is limited). But the plot intrigued me, hence why I had bought it back in January during one of those Barnes & Noble online sales.

As I started reading it, I quickly fell into its charm. There were all sorts of twists throughout the story that I didn’t see coming. The parents were mentioned frequently (because parents tend to be absent in many YA novels, which is weird if you’re only a teen). There wasn’t any Insta!Love when it came to the protagonist’s love interest. And just as importantly, the writing itself was well done.

It was also a stand-alone book. I commend the author for that because, usually when I’m reading something fantasy or sci-fi, it tends to be part of a duology or trilogy. But, nope, this book was a complete story arc and I was satisfied with it by its end.

My only qualm about it is that the main antagonist started to get a little too villain-y at times. But that’s just me.

Anyway…it was nice to finish a book that surpassed my expectations of it. Too often I have picked up a novel and was disappointed by it due to its mediocrity.

Now I just have to figure out which book I want to tackle next…

Summer Writing Project(s)?

Tomorrow is already the start of June, which pretty much marks the start of summer. (I don’t want to hear about how summer doesn’t officially happen until June 21st. Here in Michigan, Memorial Day usually signals the beginning of summer.)

Similar to many people, I’m excited to take advantage of the warm weather and do summer-like stuff. Activities such as riding my bike or heading to my local metropark. And eating more ice cream than usual.

Unlike other people, though, I also use the summer months to work on a large writing project. I’ve only just started thinking about it, but there a few questions I have to answer before I embark on this year’s project:

1.) When should I begin?

Obviously, I’m not starting on June 1st, simply because I’m not ready. Two years ago, I began in the middle of June and wrote all the way until the beginning of August. Last year, I commenced on July 1st and only wrote for the month.

I guess it all depends on…

2.) What should I write?

If I plan on writing a story with a manuscript length, then I’m going to have to start early (aka: sometime in June). But if I’m just doing something similar like NaNoWriMo (where I just write a bunch of stories and see where they all go), then I could probably repeat what I did last year and begin on July 1st.

I haven’t written anything in almost two months, though, so my fingers are starting to itch on my keyboard. If I work on any stories in the next week or two, will that throw off my “groove” for whatever ends up being my summer writing project?

But if I wait until July, then I can spend some time brainstorming some ideas in June. Maybe pull out my handy dandy plot chart.


3.) Should I concentrate on having a word count? If so, what should it be?

Judging by how well my March and April writing projects went (yes, this is sarcasm), I think I need to impose some kind of total word count. If I don’t, I’m prone to skip days and not write, ultimately sweeping the whole idea away.

Really, it comes down to how ambitious I feel. If I want to have a more laidback approach, I try to write at least 1000 words a day. But if I’m really serious about working on a particularly long story, then I tend to kick it up to 1500 words/day. (Not like I’m doing anything exciting this summer, anyway.)



Yes, I really do think about all of this. As you can tell, I’m very much a Planner of Things. It’s a wonder that I actually do anything at all, haha.


P.S. And in case you were wondering, I did indeed finish reading AS I DARKEN by Kiersten White. I finally completed it last Thursday. Since I’ve mentioned it in my last three posts (yes, I am aware of it), you should know by now that I highly recommend the low-fantasy/alternative history novel.

Appreciating Power-Hungry Female Protagonists

One of the themes I have been noticing lately with YA fantasy books is that the female protagonist could basically be seen as an anti-hero. They thirst for power; woe to any character that gets in their way. I find their journey quite fascinating. (What are they willing to sacrifice to get what they want?) Obviously their authors and readers must feel like this is an important story to tell if it’s popping up everywhere.

Yes, I’m still reading AND I DARKEN by Kiersten White. (I’m on page 246. I’m gradually getting there. Don’t rush me.) Although I’m not finished with it, I can see where Lada’s story is heading based on her goals and personality. And I can’t wait to see her rise to power.

Because of this theme of ruthlessly focused female protagonists, I decided to scour my bookshelves and make a short list of novels that could be categorized within this category. Even if these girls may go about obtaining power through cruel ways, perhaps we should all admire their determination, strength, and perseverance.

Side note: As always, I may have included some mild spoilers. I want to say sorry, but since I keep doing it in my posts, I’m obviously not that sorry. Sorry?

Adalina from The Young Elites series by Marie Lu

What kind of list of power-hungry female protagonists would be complete with Adalina? Through her entire story arc, she did everything she could to become queen. And even after she got her status, she still wanted more. More territory, more power, more subjects. She was unstoppable…until her otherworldly powers began betraying her.

Helene from AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir

First off, you’ll have to forgive me for not reading its sequel yet. It’s been sitting on my dresser since it came out in August. I haven’t been putting it off because I dread it or anything; I just remember how awestruck I was with the first book that I’ve been intimated to pick up the second one. And Helene isn’t technically a protagonist in AEitA, but she has her own chapters in the sequel. Is this considered cheating? Probably, but it’s my blog, so I can bend my own rules.

With the above said, I don’t know how Helene’s character arc is in the second book, but she definitely kicked butt in AEitA. She gave Elias a run for his money, ultimately becoming the Blood Shrike instead of him. Personality-wise, she isn’t hardened by the world or even considered a tyrannical character, but I admired her extreme focus and grit, hence why she made it on this list.

RUINED by Amy Tintera

Okay, this one I’m on the edge about including onto this list. I give Emelina credit in that she led her broken kingdom, decided to marry an enemy prince in order to gain information, rescued her captured younger sister, and tried to win a battle against her enemy kingdom. And she did all of this despite not being a Ruined – a person with powers, which her entire kingdom is known for.

However, I kinda want to include her sister, Olivia, instead. She’s not the protagonist - and we only meet her finally at the very end of the book - but she is definitely out for revenge and to reclaim her throne. I would not mess with her.

Its sequel, AVENGED, just came out two weeks ago. I haven’t bought the book yet, but I’m certainly intrigued to see how the conflicting ideals of the two sisters play out. 

And there you have it! I wish I could include more characters to this list, but all of my other possible candidates only pursued power because it made a sibling (usually a sister) safe. They were doing cruel tasks in the name of being a protector, not because they genuinely wanted to.

All in all, I realize how difficult it must be to create such abhorrent characters. To make them harsh, but not too evil so that they lose their humanity and become completely unlikeable. We readers want to root for these people, after all.

But I love reading how these characters claw their way to the top.



P.S. This September, when ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake comes out, I’m hoping to include Katharine into this list as well. Judging by her last chapter in the previous book, I can see her brutally trying to cut her two sisters down in order to become the queen.