Hey there everyone! How have your holidays been so far? Go anywhere interesting? Has anyone been gifted a new book/books?
I've been thinking of how to remedy my time crunch. If you've seen my blog this past year, you are aware that my posting has been spotty. I've been sick, I've had the blog redesigned, I've been in school, on vacation, blah, blah, blah... My excuses could go on and on. And the fact is my workload is just going to increase, whether through personal responsibility or school affiliations and such.
For NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I started a new project that I hope to complete. My very own novel. I love to read, I love to write about reading, and guess what? I love to write my own stories too. I've been writing stories since I was seven. But I've never finished a project I've been satisfied with enough to attempt to get published. I'm hoping this time is different.
I'm already struggling under the weight of my life and my responsibilities and such, there is no way I'd be able to write a novel on top of school and work and the blog. I mean, let's be honest, I'm not Jennifer Armentrout, I just don't hold that level of awesomeness. I may never reach that level of wicked coolness. The right thing for me to do would be to bow out and say farewell to The Kooky Bookworm blog.
But I'm selfish.
I love this blog. I've learned so much from it. If you've gone through my older reviews, you know I really needed all the practice I could get reviewing. Talk about a turnoff. If there's such a thing as being a frigid reviewer, then I'd be it. And I don't mean in a scathing way, I mean in a your-writing-is-more-stiff-and-emotionless-than-a-hitman kind of way.
If you look at my more recent reviews, sure, there will be errors, but it's so much more real and tangible than my old reviews. I believe I've learned to give enough emotion to my writing while still critiquing the important aspects of a book. I mean, there's an art to writing reviews, and it's not the way they taught you in English class (which was how I started out writing my reviews).
So, the question is, what should I do?
I don't want to give up the blog. I'm too attached to it. But I don't want to be a crappy blogger who can't post enough to keep an audience. I mean, what's the point in that? There really isn't one. I've laid on my bed and stared at the wall for ages (an hour? More?) and thought about why I haven't had enough time to keep the blog updated.
I read. All. The. Time. I've learned to balance school and reading, and although I don't get to read as much as I used to when I started the blog, I still can almost always be found with a book in my hand or my Kindle in my bag. So if I have enough time to read, why am I not reviewing the books I read?
Reviewing (for me) isn't just sitting down and typing whatever pops into my head about the book I read (though I did do that while I was figuring out my style to writing reviews, as you can see by going through my old reviews. I don't recommend reading them, they really have no substance whatsoever), reviewing is mapping out all of the important aspects and concepts of the book and then spinning those thoughts into cohesive sentences for you all to read. And I think that's my problem.
The routine of reviewing lulls me into a sense of dullness. I've never been much good with routine. I've always wanted to jump headfirst into things without looking at where I'm jumping. So as much as I love to write and I love to read, writing in the same pattern bores me. My routine was memes a few times a week, blog tours (blitzes and other things too), and reviewing. That's great and all, but it's pretty much the same thing every week. Different content, same routine.
Spontaneity. I crave spontaneity. It's a bit hard to do that as a blogger, because you're supposed to plan things out so you don't crash and burn. Well, we've seen how that worked out for me. I planned. I had a planner and a physical and virtual calendar and guess what? I've still been crushed under the weight of it all.
So I've going to try and do things a little differently. First off, I'm not planning things more than two weeks ahead of time. Planning didn't work before for me, and I don't think it will now. Second thing, I'm not posting everyday. Some people are great at time management. I mean, JLA is my hero for writing like eight books a year, most of which I read. But like I said before, I am definitely not JLA, though not for lack of trying. I absolutely suck at time management, so posting everyday will cripple me. I'm not even going to set a minimum number of posts per week. I will just let it be.
Lastly, probably the biggest change I'm making, The Kooky Bookworm is no longer a book review blog. Say what now? Yeah, I'm still going to have reviews. I love books. But I don't want to just review books. I love reading more than I love writing. I do really love writing, but maybe not just the reviewing style of writing.
Predominately, The Kooky Bookworm will always be a book blog. But I think I'm going to start posting about other things that I love. I'm a passionate person. Seriously, you should see me rant and rave about something I care about. If I were in a book or movie my significant other would shush me halfway through whatever I was talking about with a kiss or something cliche like that. Sadly, none of my book boyfriends have manifested, even after hours of willing them to appear.
What's going to be on The Kooky Bookworm then? Well, I guess that depends on what mood I'm in. Like I said, I'm passionate about a lot of things. I will continue to talk about books, I will probably talk about music (hopefully you'll join in, I love to know what people are listening to), maybe share a recipe (bakers, can I get whoot! Whoot?), definitely some travel pics/tips/ideas. And The Kooky Babble is staying (for those that don't know, The Kooky Babble is my monthly feature that is random babble on whatever is passing through my mind).
I don't know when I'll start to post things again. Right now I am basking in my winter break (would you believe I still have school assignments? Apparently 'college level classes don't get breaks', to quote my teacher) and I've just used most of my energy writing this post and want to go to bed, but I promise it'll be soon. I'm not going to wait until the Chinese New Year to start posting again. I just really want a break from working.
I've thought about what else I can do to improve my blog. I considered trying to find another reviewer. But it's The Kooky Bookworm. Singular. I work better alone too. And I'm incredibly possessive and territorial of my stuff. Sort of like those werewolves I love reading about. Except it's not heartwarming. With me it just gets ugly and kind of like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. And let's be honest, I really don't think the blogosphere needs something like that.
I'm now done with my spiel. I apologize for all of the whining and bitching. I'll try to keep it to a minimum next time :) I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and wish the best of luck to you all.
Happy reading and happy holidays!
I've been thinking of how to remedy my time crunch. If you've seen my blog this past year, you are aware that my posting has been spotty. I've been sick, I've had the blog redesigned, I've been in school, on vacation, blah, blah, blah... My excuses could go on and on. And the fact is my workload is just going to increase, whether through personal responsibility or school affiliations and such.
For NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I started a new project that I hope to complete. My very own novel. I love to read, I love to write about reading, and guess what? I love to write my own stories too. I've been writing stories since I was seven. But I've never finished a project I've been satisfied with enough to attempt to get published. I'm hoping this time is different.
I'm already struggling under the weight of my life and my responsibilities and such, there is no way I'd be able to write a novel on top of school and work and the blog. I mean, let's be honest, I'm not Jennifer Armentrout, I just don't hold that level of awesomeness. I may never reach that level of wicked coolness. The right thing for me to do would be to bow out and say farewell to The Kooky Bookworm blog.
But I'm selfish.
I love this blog. I've learned so much from it. If you've gone through my older reviews, you know I really needed all the practice I could get reviewing. Talk about a turnoff. If there's such a thing as being a frigid reviewer, then I'd be it. And I don't mean in a scathing way, I mean in a your-writing-is-more-stiff-and-emotionless-than-a-hitman kind of way.
If you look at my more recent reviews, sure, there will be errors, but it's so much more real and tangible than my old reviews. I believe I've learned to give enough emotion to my writing while still critiquing the important aspects of a book. I mean, there's an art to writing reviews, and it's not the way they taught you in English class (which was how I started out writing my reviews).
So, the question is, what should I do?
I don't want to give up the blog. I'm too attached to it. But I don't want to be a crappy blogger who can't post enough to keep an audience. I mean, what's the point in that? There really isn't one. I've laid on my bed and stared at the wall for ages (an hour? More?) and thought about why I haven't had enough time to keep the blog updated.
I read. All. The. Time. I've learned to balance school and reading, and although I don't get to read as much as I used to when I started the blog, I still can almost always be found with a book in my hand or my Kindle in my bag. So if I have enough time to read, why am I not reviewing the books I read?
Reviewing (for me) isn't just sitting down and typing whatever pops into my head about the book I read (though I did do that while I was figuring out my style to writing reviews, as you can see by going through my old reviews. I don't recommend reading them, they really have no substance whatsoever), reviewing is mapping out all of the important aspects and concepts of the book and then spinning those thoughts into cohesive sentences for you all to read. And I think that's my problem.
The routine of reviewing lulls me into a sense of dullness. I've never been much good with routine. I've always wanted to jump headfirst into things without looking at where I'm jumping. So as much as I love to write and I love to read, writing in the same pattern bores me. My routine was memes a few times a week, blog tours (blitzes and other things too), and reviewing. That's great and all, but it's pretty much the same thing every week. Different content, same routine.
Spontaneity. I crave spontaneity. It's a bit hard to do that as a blogger, because you're supposed to plan things out so you don't crash and burn. Well, we've seen how that worked out for me. I planned. I had a planner and a physical and virtual calendar and guess what? I've still been crushed under the weight of it all.
So I've going to try and do things a little differently. First off, I'm not planning things more than two weeks ahead of time. Planning didn't work before for me, and I don't think it will now. Second thing, I'm not posting everyday. Some people are great at time management. I mean, JLA is my hero for writing like eight books a year, most of which I read. But like I said before, I am definitely not JLA, though not for lack of trying. I absolutely suck at time management, so posting everyday will cripple me. I'm not even going to set a minimum number of posts per week. I will just let it be.
Lastly, probably the biggest change I'm making, The Kooky Bookworm is no longer a book review blog. Say what now? Yeah, I'm still going to have reviews. I love books. But I don't want to just review books. I love reading more than I love writing. I do really love writing, but maybe not just the reviewing style of writing.
Predominately, The Kooky Bookworm will always be a book blog. But I think I'm going to start posting about other things that I love. I'm a passionate person. Seriously, you should see me rant and rave about something I care about. If I were in a book or movie my significant other would shush me halfway through whatever I was talking about with a kiss or something cliche like that. Sadly, none of my book boyfriends have manifested, even after hours of willing them to appear.
What's going to be on The Kooky Bookworm then? Well, I guess that depends on what mood I'm in. Like I said, I'm passionate about a lot of things. I will continue to talk about books, I will probably talk about music (hopefully you'll join in, I love to know what people are listening to), maybe share a recipe (bakers, can I get whoot! Whoot?), definitely some travel pics/tips/ideas. And The Kooky Babble is staying (for those that don't know, The Kooky Babble is my monthly feature that is random babble on whatever is passing through my mind).
I don't know when I'll start to post things again. Right now I am basking in my winter break (would you believe I still have school assignments? Apparently 'college level classes don't get breaks', to quote my teacher) and I've just used most of my energy writing this post and want to go to bed, but I promise it'll be soon. I'm not going to wait until the Chinese New Year to start posting again. I just really want a break from working.
I've thought about what else I can do to improve my blog. I considered trying to find another reviewer. But it's The Kooky Bookworm. Singular. I work better alone too. And I'm incredibly possessive and territorial of my stuff. Sort of like those werewolves I love reading about. Except it's not heartwarming. With me it just gets ugly and kind of like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. And let's be honest, I really don't think the blogosphere needs something like that.
I'm now done with my spiel. I apologize for all of the whining and bitching. I'll try to keep it to a minimum next time :) I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and wish the best of luck to you all.
Happy reading and happy holidays!
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