Well, whoops.

This week is flying by and I don’t even notice what day it is. I’ve had a lot to do for university this week, but I still managed to get a little bit of writing done.

I currently write by hand just to get away from the computer for a while. However, my plan is to use Scrivener more often and get used to its features, so maybe the next short story I write will be in Scrivener!

I still can’t believe that I’ve actually read a bit of my book to a 30-strong audience and they liked it! With NaNoWriMo just around the corner, I will now use the plot templates I found in order to plan everything a bit better. More about The Bravery of the Soldier and my NaNoWriMo plan in separate posts, coming soon.

What I really need to work on is my study skills. I’ve been out of university for four years and I’ve never done distance learning before. I really need to stop getting distracted and actually do the work. Unfortunately, the first modules are on persuasion and psychology and that’s a bit dry for my liking (I’d wanted to start with Cross-Cultural Communication and Culture & Society). Ah well. Glad I found Coffitivity though. It does actually help me stay focused as I don’t go looking for distractions!

As for my goals:

Writing in English and German: I really have to force myself to write in German, but so far, I’ve written four pieces in my native language. The rest is all in English.

Writing in 4 genres: So far I’ve had fanfiction, murder mystery and fantasy and last night I actually wrote a cringe-worthy bit of romance/erotica. Mainly to try it out as I see it as a bit of a rite of passage these days. Turns out I’m really bad at it (bad at writing about it, thank you) and if I ever published it I’d probably be in the running for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award (yes, that’s a thing!). It was awkward (as most first-times are), over in a flash (ditto –  800 words), and you can tell I’m just a fumbling beginner at writing this sort of thing. I should probably just bin it and be done. Try again when I feel the time is right and me and my muse both really want it. Until then, I’m happy with the other genres.

Blogging: I’m getting better at updating regularly, as this blog is proof. Also trying for a variety of topics. I can’t believe how many followers this blog has gained in the 24 days it’s been online so far! Thank you so much, and once I have a spare minute, I’ll reply to your comments! I promise to get better at reading and commenting other blogs!

Speaking of other blogs: Back in August I was part of a blog hop about writing processes. However, I never posted my piece because I couldn’t find enough fellow writers to link to. So if you’d like to take part (I’m looking for 2 or 3 more writers, any genre) let me know via the contact form and I’ll send you the list of 4 questions to answer. All you’d need to send me is a short (4 paragraphs tops) bio that I can use to introduce you and link from my blog to yours!

Anyway, here’s a different kind of blog hop: the other ROW80 participants!