Wednesday, February 18, 2015

What's Up Wednesday: Kingsman and Goodreads

WHAT I'M READING
I read ALL FALL DOWN by Ally Carter. I liked it, but it was probably my least favorite book by her. Her MCs are always a great mix of strong yet vulnerable girls, which I love, and this MC was interesting because she was unreliable. However, I felt like she had no clear goal for like the first 100 pages. I wanted her to be doing something. I liked it enough that I'll read the next book if there is one. Then I read ATLANTIA by Ally Condie. Also an author I like, and the book was good. I liked the premise and I breezed through the book, but I can't say that I loved it, though I don't know why. Up next- THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall.

WHAT I'M WRITING
Got around 6k written this week on my WIP. This thing makes me want to tear my hair out but I'm keeping at it. I have a feeling it's going to be way too short on final word count but I'm trying not to worry about that. I'd really like to get the first draft done before I get edits back on SWAY.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Focusing on one project at a time. I've heard that lots of people jump back and forth between projects- writing a bit on one here, a bit on one there, revising something else, etc. I'm much better when I focus on one thing at a time. That doesn't mean I don't think about some of my other projects at times, but I don't let myself get distracted by them.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
Me and the hubs celebrated V-Day by seeing Kingsman: The Secret Service. It was a strange yet entertaining movie. Also, I finally joined Goodreads, which pretty much sucked away an entire afternoon of my life just adding books I'd read in the last couple of years, and I barely scratched the surface of my reading list. O.o

9 comments:

  1. I also focus well when working on only one project! I have ALL FALL DOWN on my to read list…I heard it was fun and breezy so I am looking forward to that. Have a great week, Melanie!

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  2. 6K is nothing to sneeze at but I know the feeling where it just. will not. come out.

    I have ALL FALL DOWN on hold at the library, so I'm waiting my turn. I love unreliable narrators so that's exciting to hear. I also really want to read ATLANTIA but I have a love/hate relationship with mermaid/mer-things books. I loved her world building MATCHED, though, even if I didn't stick with the series.

    Hope you have a great week!

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  3. I'm so happy you're on Goodreads now! You read a lot of the same books that I do, so it will be nice to see what you're reading or adding to TBR lists. I have both ALL FALL DOWN and THE CONSPIRACY OF US on my shelf. Looking forward to reading both of them soon.

    6K is awesome! I did the same this week. :-) I've done the jumping around from WiP to WiP thing because I felt that some writing was better than no writing, but I think this has been sort of detrimental to the whole actually finishing a WiP thing. I'm trying very hard to stay focused on this one project. Discipline FTW! Hope you have an awesome week, Melanie! :D

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  4. I absolutely loved KINGSMAN (my husband & I also saw it for Valentine's Day), and I won't go on & on about in your comments, but I really, really could. I studied traditionally "boys club" media in graduate school (on this side, in sociology courses) and how women usurp that tradition; this movie does a lot of that using humor as its critical lens. (it uses humor-as-critique on the whole genre of spy films, but I paid special attention to women.) Seriously, seriously nerded out over it. My husband made fun of my for finding more joy in a film that I critically analyzed while watching.
    I want to know how THE CONSPIRACY OF US is, so I'll have to check back for when you're through with it. I've always been an Ally Carter fan, so I'm a little disappointed to hear her heroine felt a little wanderlust for a purpose for so long at the beginning. Still, eventually I'll grab it at the library.

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  5. I like to have several projects going at once. To each their own, right? Good job on adding all those words this week!

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  6. Goodreads is addictive! I have a never-ending reading list now.

    I tend to work on one book/series project at a time these days, because it's easier to focus.

    Have a great week! :)

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  7. All Fall Down is on my To-Be-Bought list when I'm abroad, because I really can't stand the UK cover but really wanna read it :P

    I agree with you on working on one project. I've attempted to multitask, but I lack focus that way.

    Have a great week!

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  8. I can relate about only working on one project at a time. One is challenging enough without spreading myself too thin. Like you, I do think about other projects and jot down ideas though. Have to think ahead at least a little, right?

    I wasn't sure about KINGSMEN, so it's good to know it was actually entertaining. From the trailer it looked like it could either be awesome or total cheese. I'll definitely check it out now. Have a great week!

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  9. I've tried just working on one project but I have to work on multiple projects at a time. Maybe that will help me when I have deadlines. You mentioned on my blog about that church scene-- yes that was very hard to watch. Did you know they did that in one take? Crazy. Have a great week!

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