Like many readers, one reason I love books is because they help me learn about the experiences of others — and in that learning, find common ground. They make me feel more connected to people across time and space. In my life as a bookworm, I’ve had many moments of feeling seen, of kinship with authors and characters and other readers. But recently I had the most acute experience of this yet.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was one of my “4 Before 2024” books, and it did not disappoint. This post is mostly spoiler-free, but if you want to go into this book blind then stop reading here!

In an effort to get into a writing rhythm again, I want to start sharing weekly updates/questions/conversation starters for all my creative friends. I’ll start with this: can you *just tell* when it’s been a while since you’ve last written?

I’m calling it: Babel by R.F. Kuang is the best book I’ve read this year, and a new favorite. By the time I finished the book, I had the sense that R.F. Kuang had achieved something genre-defying with this marvelous, marvelous work.

There’s been a “10 Before the End” tag floating around Bookstagram, but with the last few months of the year looking busy, I didn’t think I could realistically get around to reading 10 more books before the new year. However, I do thrive off of goals and plans, so that’s why I arrived at four particular books I want to read before 2024. Life is busy and my “to be read” list is, at this point, unwieldy

I’m pretty new to the Kindle game, but I wanted to share a recent purchase that has already upped my ebook reading by quite a margin: this nifty holder.

As a writer, it’s easy to feel the pressure to be “new,” to do something that’s never been done before, something that will set your story apart from the crowd. Something that will make it FRESH and marketable, a that story agents and publishers will all want to snap up before anyone else does. But as a reader, I find that I don’t often search for something that is purely “new….”

You’ve finished the latest draft of your novel. It’s looking good, and you’re itching to send it to your beta readers… but is it really ready?

Making space for writing (and reading, too!) is often easier said than done, but then when it’s done…. it’s wonderful. The main way I’ve been making time for creative pursuits these days is adopting a “5 minutes is better than 0 minutes” mentality.

I wish I could fly by the seat of my pants while editing a novel, but I’m not that type of writer. After making line-edits in my physical manuscript, I knew I would need a structure to ensure that all those notes made their way into my digital draft. Enter: THE SPREADSHEET.

I first started reading Jane Austen’s work when I was in middle school, but it’s taken me years and years to get around to reading Mansfield Park. I had read Austen’s five other novels and finished her collection of short stories before deciding this spring that the time had come — I had made it this far, and I owed it to Austen to finish all of her works…

Yesterday I finished line-editing my YA fantasy manuscript. I have to level with myself: my progress was initially so slow because I was afraid that much of this draft would be subpar. Writers often bemoan the redrafting process, but do you know what’s often not talked about? The fact that your writing improves with each new draft.

Just a quick reading update for today! Here’s what I’m currently reading…

Fourth Wing book review! (Minor spoilers follow…) Can I just say how fun it is to read a hyped book? I loved messaging with friends on Bookstagram of you about Xaden and the dragons and all of the action in this novel!

I’ve been starting my days around 5am for the past few weeks — my husband’s got an early wake up for work, and I figure I might as well seize the day too! With a baby coming this fall, I have many more early mornings ahead of me, but I know they’ll look a lot different. I’m excited, and I’m also taking advantage of the time I have now to enjoy reading, writing, moving, and generally getting things done before logging onto work at 9am. Here’s what a typical morning has looked like for me these last few weeks…

“It was an afternoon for a pool and a hammock and an undemanding book…” This quote, one of my favorites from A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, has been my approach to reading this summer. I carried this book around with me on several travel weekends, reading it on the beach, at the lake, by the pool, and pretty much anywhere I felt like escaping to the French countryside.

As I’m editing through Act 2 of my manuscript, I’m noticing a trend in the notes I’m making: many of them have to do with pacing. This part of the story is a transition — the main characters have both made a significant leap in their inner and external journeys, but I’m also introducing a pivotal new character to the story. As I’m editing, it’s clear to me there’s a certain paradox with pacing: the author must introduce twists that feel simultaneously unexpected and yet somehow inevitable.

I consider myself to be a type A person, but sometimes I call this into question while editing my manuscript. The culprit? Continuity. It’s easy to get lost in the fantasy world. Less easy to make the fantasy world logically consistent. As a reader, my favorite books are the ones that allow me to reasonably suspend my disbelief so I can enjoy the world, the characters, and the plot as though I’m living in the story myself. I want to write that kind of book for my readers.

When I first started writing my manuscript, it came without question: I would write from a third person point of view. Only after multiple drafts of struggling to naturally articulate my characters’ thoughts and motivations did I realize… maybe I was writing from the wrong POV.

I recently edited one of my favorite chapters in my manuscript. It’s got energy and verve because of one particular character who has always leapt off of the page. She’s one of those characters that feels like she came to my mind fully formed and yet constantly surprises me. Chaotic figures like that are a planning-author’s dream.