I am putting myself on a one week book ban.
Why?
Because I have been spending all of my writing time reading. For science, of course. To study how it’s done.
Okay, because I love to read and it’s so much easier than writing.
Even after the last 2 weeks of daily book reviews, I still have a small backlog of reviews to post. Yeah, I love to read.
And I make myself write a review for most of the books that I read. That is more for the discipline of really looking at the book and figuring out what I like about it and what I don’t. Making myself think through that in hopes that it will improve my writing.
But it’s also easy to get lost in a book. I love stories. I love characters. I love curling up with my iPad and being transported to other worlds.
Fantasy romance is my favorite, followed by science fiction romance, and finally historical romance.
I also struggle with series. I like books that take place in the same world, but I am never thrilled with picking up a book only to learn I need to read the twelve before it to really get it.
I actually have a rule. I won’t pick up a series until the whole series is written. Back when I was a kid, there was a series I was eagerly devouring. The author was amazing . . . and then he died. The series was “finished” by another author, but it wasn’t the same. Really jaded me.
But as I work on my own stories, the first two I’ve written are in the same world. I see how it can be appealing to write a series. However, the stories I’ve written are completely independent. No need to read one to “get” the other.
So what are your goals during your ban?
Finish the first revision of my book. I have to revamp the ending. It’s been really hard, so I start it and then end up reading again. Once it’s done, my first revision is done.