Tag: reading
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Goal: Improving my Book Openings
New year, new retrospective on my strengths and weaknesses as a writer! In 2024, I made progress with plot, character arcs and incorporating themes into them. I learnt to dial up the environment and characters, and how to merge scenes so that they serve multiple purposes. I focussed on the climactic sequence and the resolution,…
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Bound to Succeed Eventually
So that post from last year was a bit of a downer, huh! I was feeling very doom and gloom, dragging my feet from rewrites to edits and staring at the words with empty eyes… Nothing was going to get better, I was never going to be good enough, why bother chasing my dreams? It’s…
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My Favourite Middle-grade Books of 2024
Hello! I meant to post a lot this year, but depression and anemia did a pincer movement and caught me out! So let’s look back at what I read in 2024! I read 8 middle-grade novels this year (so far), so let’s go through them! (No Spoilers.) Nura and the Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan…
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My Favourite Book of 2023
(TL;DR: it’s What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Aoyama, translated into English by Alison Watts.) I keep a spreadsheet of the books I finish reading every year, with each entry scored out of twenty in a system-less vibe-based way. I also take extensive notes on things like plot, characterisation and…
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Three Sentences from Black Narcissus
I thoroughly enjoyed poring through The Mabinogion in search of lovely sentences, so I’ve decided to do the same with a more recent favourite of mine: Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel, Black Narcissus. Honestly, skimming through it now, I don’t know how one could choose just three sentences from this book. It’s artfully written. Every sentence…
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Three Sentences from The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion hold a very dear place in my heart, and have for most of my life, but I’ll be the first to say they’re not the world’s most accessible tales. I’d loved the stories and characters for over a decade before I actually read a classical version from start to end. There are some…
Non Hughes 