5 Ways to Read More

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It's hard to find time to read when there's so much just so much going on, but here's a few things that I've been doing to read more.

1. Carrying a book around. I never know when some free time will pop up, and I forgot to bring my beloved Kobo out with me last Saturday. I ended up having to spend 20mins in completely boredom waiting for the bus to arrive, 20mins that I could have spent reading. 
2. Use reading as a reward. I sometimes use reading as a way to reward myself for reaching a goal, maybe getting one reading done for school or getting a paragraph finished on an essay. 
3. Read during breaks. When I'm waiting for my food to heat up, when I'm waiting for class to start, between study sessions, I pull out my Kobo and read. 
4. Set up certain times to read everyday. I read when I wake up, and just before I go to sleep. It's amazing how much I can get through. 
5. Prioritise reading. Instead of watching that show I'm not really into but will probably watch because it's on TV, I pick up a book and read it. Instead of playing with my phone, I read a book. 

My TBR is growing larger and faster by the day, and even as the speedy reader I am, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to get through it all.

How do you find time to read?

NaNoWriMo: 5 Reasons Why

It's October, and NaNo (prep) season is upon us again!

I've attempted every NaNo and Camp NaNo since November 2013. I haven't won every time, but I've always loved it!

1. The NaNo community. I think what hooked me in and keeps me coming back, despite NaNo being during final exams for me, is the wonderful and supportive community. I met a few writing buddies last NaNo, and I'm still in touch with them!
2.  The foundational first draft. It's always a struggle to start a new project, and even more of a struggle to get through it. NaNo really helps you speed through that first draft so you'll have something to revise and perfect later on.
3. The pretty graphs. They're motivating. Really. I love updating my word count and seeing it all mapped out, I love seeing my average words a day go up, and my words left go down. 
4. The sponsor discounts and offers. I bought Scrivener with a NaNo discount, and it would worth every penny! 
5. It's a lot of fun!

Are you going to do NaNoWriMo this year?

From Paper to E-Ink: One Month Later

One month ago, I gave in and went over to the dark side. I bought myself a Kobo Touch e-reader. AN extremely cute white one with a silver back.

Right now, the contents of it look something like this:

• 14 Novels (Purchased)
• 2 Novellas (Free)
• 2 Writing-related books (Purchased)
• A bunch of library books (Borrowed)

I never expected to love my Kobo as much as I do, which is a lot. I've had to make myself leave it at home when I go to classes so I don't spend the entire day reading.

That isn't to say that I've given up on physical books-- I've read 4 of them in the last month. But that's probably nothing compared to the 13 books (or 42 hours according the the reading stats) that I've read on my Kobo!

I was a little nervous about buying an e-reader because for a student like me, I couldn't really afford to spend so much money on something I might not even end up using, but I can now say that I don't regret the purchase a single bit!

Pros:

• Very portable and pocketable-- I'm able to read on the go whenever I have a little bit of time, and I won't have to worry about pages/covers getting bent in my bag. Also, convenient for reading while traveling, especially when you're a fast reader like me.
• Books by indie authors far more accessible-- I hate reading on my laptop/phone screen, and buying a paperback by an indie author wasn't always possible for me.
• Occasional lower price makes me more willing to try out titles I wouldn't have bought otherwise.
• Can borrow e-books from library, and no late return fees!  

Cons: 

• No pretty book to display on my shelves.
• Pretty book covers slightly less pretty in black and white.
• Have to charge the e-reader (what if the power runs out at a cliffhanger?!)
• It's not necessarily cheaper for some of the titles I want to read-- sometimes the ebook will cost around the same or more than a paperback. 

 So,  while I can say that I won't be making the move to 100% e-reading, a good chunk of my reading will probably be done on my Kobo, especially as I can borrow e-books from my library!

Do you prefer reading physical books, or on an e-reader?

Posting WIPs Online: Why, and Why Not

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Fictionpress, Wattpad, AO3, Fanfiction.net, Livejournal, the list of sites where you can post your writing goes on and on. Most of us love the instant gratification of getting (positive) feedback on your work.

There's fanworks, and then there's original works, but for the purposes of this post, I'll be talking about posting original works online.

Here's the best case scenario:

You end up making friends with fellow writers and your readers, improve your writing through the feedback others give you, develop a thick skin early, and perhaps even have a strong fanbase by the time you publish your next project.

It's good incentive, but whether or not that actually happens dangles on one thing: getting noticed.

I'm not saying that getting noticed depends 100% on luck, because it doesn't, but especially for those transitioning over from a ficdom, it might be a little harder.

The worst case scenario?

You post your work online and then... nothing. No comments, and not even a single like. There were a couple of views, but no one seemed to take the note you left at the end seriously. Y'know, the one where you told readers to feel free to leave comments and feedback. You wonder why no one is responding to your writing, and come to the conclusion that your writing must suck, and subsequently give up on it. 

That would be a real shame because the thing is, your writing might not suck.

Maybe your opening sucked, so no one read on, but that doesn't meant that your entire story sucked. With fanworks, readers are already invested in the characters and relationships. Readers go into your original story not really invested in anything. It's your job to give them something to read on for, and maybe your writing isn't quite at that point yet and it'd be a real shame if that crushing disappointment and insecurity might stop you from pushing on.

There's things that you can do to try get your story out there, but luck is undeniably a factor. With so many free stories floating around online, what are the chances that yours will be seen, and seen by someone who loves it so much that they share it with their friends who do the same. On top of hard work and time, it takes no small amount of luck to get noticed.

I think that if you know that you've got a thick skin, and write for yourself, then by all means post your work online. But if you know that you're the sort of person that might lose confidence in yourself if you get no responses, then consider waiting until it's done and dusted!

Do you publish your WIPs online as you write?

Books are Expensive, Don't Pretend They're Not

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This is a post that has near 3,500 notes, I've seen on my dash a few times, and rubbed me the wrong way every single time. I do not condone piracy of ebooks, but I find this post to be condescending and guilt-tripping. 

"Books are, in fact, the most cost effective form of entertainment we have today."

No, not really. 

Here's the thing: "we" can't all afford to drop $100+ on things like concerts "without a thought," and some of us don't even have the money to spend on concerts and broadway shows.  

And even if we did, concerts and broadway shows are those things we go to once a year as a treat. Not things we can breeze through during any day of our choosing. 

Books are expensive.

A typical YA book takes me anywhere from 2-4 hours to read, which means that I can read more than one in a day. My reading habits on very on and off, but I've read 9 books this month. Let's say that I bought them in paperback for $15 each. That's $135. Times that by 12 for the early cost? $1620.

With $1620 I could:

• Go to at least 13 concerts 
• See 162 movies in standard 2D
• Buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks every morning before class

Yeah, I know. That's terrible math and estimate, and I don't even drink coffee or go to Starbucks anymore. But the point stands, people who enjoy reading will be reading a lot more than they go to concerts. 

I remember all to well the days I was in high school. I didn't work much, and made about $30 a week. In bookstores here, a paperback would cost anything from $20 to $28 (I buy paperbacks off Book Depository now, so it's much cheaper). I didn't get allowance from my parents, and neither did they buy me things I didn't "need." I could make enough to buy a book maybe once a month, but there are people, especially young people out there who have no room in their budget for books. 

Now luckily, there's a local library about 15mins walk away from my house and I could request books from other libraries in the city if they didn't have the books I was after. While not everyone has access to a library and not every library the books that a person wants, they are a wonderful alternative for those who can't afford to buy their own books. Why doesn't the post say "buy or borrow your books"?

You know what, I'm not saying that people should be excused for pirating books. I'm saying that instead of coming from a place of privilege and attacking people (especially young teens) for not buying their books, understand that people come from different backgrounds and discourage book piracy by promoting libraries, recommending free stories online, promoting sales and giveaways. 

Instead of saying "you're a terrible person if you don't buy your books," say "book piracy hurts the authors you love and heres why. These are some alternatives that don't."