March Highlights // 2017

Saturday, April 1, 2017
CAMP NANOWRIMO HAS BEGUN! 

*freaking out freaking out freaking out freaking out freaking out* I'm terrified and excited and pumped and nervous and have allll the feelings, but first let's look at the monthly highlights. :P

Even though this month was crazy busy, it wasn't particularly eventful? Just the normal daily grind of alll the tasks. A few exciting highlights happened, though, especially turning seventeen! I'm still wrapping my head around the whole "ohmygosh I'm one year from being an adult." It's a rather scary thought but I can worry about that more as it gets closer. :P

It was also my mommy's birthday, and my sister made amazing chocolate covered strawberries. (which were quite photogenic. I love photographing food, but whenever I see the pictures later I immediately get hungry and wistful about all the eaten goodies :P)



I also got sick for the first time in forever, which was entirely inconvenient since I had to cancel a bunch of plans. -.- And it was the type of sick that I didn't feel like doing anything, not even reading. Thankfully it was only for a few days, but still. :P

One year ago (on the 23rd) I applied to Starbucks. I've already almost been working there for a year! o.o The time has gone by craaaazy fast, and I'm still enjoying it immensely. (I had three days off this week and found myself getting antsy to go back. So I guess that's a good sign. xD)

Speaking of working... I had my first ever morning shift. I am not a morning person. Ahem. It did not go well. [story's in the twitter thread below and you might have to click and go to the twitter site to view it?]

The Scorch Trials [3/5]
The Lost Girl of Astor Street [4.5/5]
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [5/5]

Yep. Only three books. My monthly book counts are getting lower with each month that passes. By the end of the year I'll be reading a negative amount of books in my wrap-up posts. xD

I'm currently in the middle of three books (I almost never read books at the same time, but one's for fun, one I'm buddy-reading, and the other's for school...), so I should be able to finish all of those up pretty easily next month even with the Camp NaNo craziness.

And how is it that I'm usually able to make my writing and blogging goals, but reading is completely different? I set a goal for seven books this month. SEVEN. Ha. *sighs* I keep saying that I'll "read more when I have time," but I'm not seeing any extra time appearing in the near future. BUT I'M GOING TO CONQUER MY GOODREADS GOAL OF 100 BOOKS NO MATTER WHAT. (so I say...)

I got three books for my birthday, which is awesome, but now I'm looking at my shelves and very quickly realizing that I don't have room for more books. Ahem. I just got this bookshelf last year. -.- But I'm not complaining -- I'm completely fine with lining my floor with books meanwhile. :P

AND LOOK AT ONE OF THE BOOKS I GOT! (gifted by the ever-lovely Nadine Brandes. you should all go read her books immediately) It's a special edition of Heartless. LOOK AT THE GORGEOUSNESS. *screaming forever* I haven't stopped staring at it and it's so hard to tear my eyes awaaayyy.

Most of March was filled with frantic rewriting (aka my favorite thing in the whole wide world. *sarcasm*). I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish the draft before Camp, but I went into ninja-editing-mode, complete with candlelight, fuzzy blankets, and calming music, and got it done. <3

*happy sigh at the pretty candlelight*
So, after I finished the rewrite, I traveled to the magical world of PLOTTING! *squeee* It's insane how much I actually enjoy plotting. (especially since I used to look upon it with glares and cringing shudders) It's calming now -- I do all my plotting on paper so there aren't many distractions, and no headache-inducing screen. It almost makes me want to try writing a novel by hand. Almost. But not quite. ;) (maybe someday...?)


AND YES, THAT IS A UNICORN MUG. (thanks to my aunt!) HIS NAME IS ELWOOD. He'll be helping me with all my Camp NaNo craziness this month, most likely filled with coffee or chai. <3

For Camp, I'm writing my prequel to Where Shadows Lie. It explains the story of Eerie's parents -- before she was born -- and the history of the mysterious island. :D 

I don't have as much of a plot as I would prefer, but since I've always pantsed my novels in the past, I'm just going to go with it. (more exciting and unpredictable that way... right? :P) My goal is to write the first draft, but it's hard to set a word goal because I'M SO BAD AT ESTIMATING WORD COUNTS. So either this book could be an easy 60k, or a massive 100k. (for the sake of my insanity, I dearly hope it's not the latter.)
For now I've set my goal at 75k. If you want to stalk my stats... here's my Camp NaNo profile.

(and because we're insane, Aimee and I are starting off NaNo with a #10k1day. send help and pizza. xD)
I've mulled over what to do for blogging this month for quite awhile. (sigh, decisions have never been my strong point) I don't want to not blog, but yet it will be tough to take every Friday off of writing so I can write my blog post instead.

So, I've decided that I will still post weekly, but they will be Camp-related posts. (whether it be a wrap-up, a lil vlog update, snippets, general craziness, first drafts, etc.) This should make them a teensy bit  easier to write, so even though I'll still be blogging for the majority of the day, I'll have a some time for writing. 

(and hey, if you have any Camp-related topics you want me to write on, send them my way)

I wish you all the best of luck on your Camp NaNoWriMo adventures! It's going to be crazy insane. xD

<3,
katie grace

what are you working on for Camp?
what's your word count goal?

62 comments :

  1. I never have time to do NaNo anymore except during the summer months, argh! It really stinks, but the struggles of a public school student still stands. I'm seriously pushing to edit my novel to have it ready for beta reading along judging by how much I need to review for my AP tests, there's a tiny chance that it will ever happen.

    DUDE your unicorn mug and my Avngers much should tag team and they'll fight off the evilness of morning shifts because why not?

    xoxo Abigail Lennah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nooo. Ugh, that's sad. :/ Hopefully you can do Camp NaNo during July, then?

      Ack, you have so much going on! I REALLY HOPE SUMMER WILL COME FAST FOR YOU. Life is crazy. :P

      DUDE YES I AGREE. Ahh now I need an Avengers mug that would be amazing. xD

      Delete
  2. Editing my candle light. I MUST DO THIS SOMETIME. *makes a mental note*

    Yesss plotting is so fun! I really enjoyed plotting out the novel I'm doing for Camp NaNo. SPEAKING OF WHICH, IT CANNOT JUST BE ME THAT HAS NO CLUE HOW APRIL CAME UP SO FAST??? *dies*

    60k-100k goshhh I get this too. People have been asking 'so how long do you think this novel will be' and I'll be like "Well the first book was 60k and the second book was 90k so this one...I HAVE NO IDEA AT ALLLL."

    But anyways. I have my official goal as 50k, but I'm planning on writing the entire novel -hopefully. AND I'M SO EXCITED AND FREAKING OUT BECAUSE /I'M WRITING THE FINALE OF MY TRILOGY/ AND EEEEEK. *flails and keeps freaking out for several decades*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (*huffs* I'm already in camp mode. so many typos. >.< -Editing /by/ candlelight-)

      Delete
    2. *laughs* Trying to edit a candlelight would certainly be interesting... :P

      RIGHT?? APRIL CAME UP WAAAYYY TOO FAST. I'M NOT PREPARED AT ALL. xD

      I totally get that feeling. My novels have ranged from 60-105k... so there's know knowing how long my novels will turn out. xD

      EEP! YOU CAN DO THIS! I am so so so so excited for you. :D Finishing a trilogy would be such an exhilarating feeling!

      Delete
  3. Good luck on Camp Nano!
    That special edition of Heartless is so pretty :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eep, thank you!

      (isn't it? I feel like I need to display it somewhere prominent in my room. :P)

      Delete
  4. Looks like you had a good month, despite being sick! And CAMP NANO!!! I don't think I'll do a 10k day, because I'm busy today, but I hopefully will sometime this week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Never mind, I ended up getting 10k anyway XD. #writersdon'tgetsleep

      Delete
    2. DUDE GO YOU! Oh my goodness I am so incredibly impressed. *sprinkles allll the confetti*

      Delete
  5. Good luck! I'm doing a 10K1Day today too, please pray for me. Otherwise I will probably die. XD
    IKR? I have no idea what the word count for my book will be, so... Yeah. Here's hoping. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. Oooh, I've never been given magical pizza before... o.O

      Delete
  7. Huzzah for Camp! I got two days' worth of writing in this morning (that said, given my goal, a day's worth is a bit over 300 words, so it's not as impressive as it sounds), so that's awesome. Hopefully the rest of the month goes just as well. Also, chaaaaaaiiiiii. I love chai. I should make some this afternoon.

    I do not envy you your morning-shift adventure. Here's hoping you won't have another one!

    Also, the trick to reading more is to not just wait until you have time; you have to MAKE time. More accurately, steal time. Carry a book with you and whenever you're waiting for something, read it. That's my method, and it seems to work . . . ish. It worked better last semester.

    Best of luck with Camp NaNo! Oh, and happy much-belated birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, those are still words! I'm proud of you. <3

      I KNOWWW. Sigh. You're smart. But the problem is that I get so distracted by my surroundings and it's hard to focus on a book, so I do most of my reading at night. But I'm going to try to get better at this because I can totally see how that will help.

      Awhh, thanks! I hope Camp goes awesome for you, too. <3

      Delete
  8. AAAHHHH GOOD LUCK THIS MONTH!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Omg HEARTLESS THAT COVER LOOKS GORGEOUS AND I NEED TO READ IT RIGHT AWAY! Those strawberries look too good and GOOD LUCK ON WRITING 75K!!! I know I could never do that. XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YESS YOU TOTALLY DO! Have you read any other of Marissa's books? They are so amazing. o.o

      Delete
  10. CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING IT OUT OF THE HOUSE IN 2 MINUTES. That's like superhero speed. *high-five*

    Ugh. Rewriting. I thought this month would be editing for me, but now I'm realizing it will be rewriting (yay :P). My plot is just sooo weird and choppy. I hope your writing goes well! (prequels are seriously interesting...will there be a spoiler-free synopsis any time soon? ;-)

    <3

    audrey caylin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh does this qualify me as a superhero? I wish, because that would be EPIC. xD

      Nuuu, really? Boo. I hope that can go painlessly for you. -.-
      I've been working on one! (and... failing on it.) So hopefully I'll put together it eventually. Synopsis are haaard. (especially for a prequel)

      Delete
  11. OH MY WORD THOSE STRAWBERRIES LOOK AMAZING.

    I'm excited for Camp NaNo blogposts! They're so awesome :D Good luck on NaNo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DON'T THEY??

      Awh, that makes me excited! I'm glad you have interest in them. :D

      Delete
  12. You know, camp-related posts are awesome! I hope that's all going well for you, by the way. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YAY! I'm glad they're something to look forward to. :)

      Okay, and I've probably already asked this... (I do apologize if I did) But are you participating in Camp? If so, what are you working on?

      Delete
    2. Afraid not. Id love to, and hopefully can in the summer (there's one in the summer, right? Did I make that up or something?), but I've had a really chaotic couple of months, so right now I'm having to focus on getting my life together so I can graduate. I have plenty of half-written chaos drafts and undeveloped ideas I'd love to focus on whenever I can pull it off, though!

      Delete
  13. Let's just say the first day of Camp NaNo did not exactly start off well for me. xD

    First, school is such a monster and will continue to snarl and rip me apart until summer. I just LOVE starting off the first day of Camp NaNo with endless amounts of math. (note the heavy sarcasm.)

    I have a ton of stuff to do today and will be lucky if I even get to 1k. :P Oh my, what a start. Hopefully I will be able to pick up the pace with writing later on. HOPEFULLY.

    Aahhh I'm so excited to hear more about your prequel! What is the title, if I may ask... if you've come up with one yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh nooo. Ugh. Sigh. *sends hugs and chocolate* I'm so sorry that school is being annoying. That's so frustrating when you have a million other ways you'd rather spend your time with. :/

      Hopefully writing went better today? WE SHOULD DO SOME WARS. Let's actually set up a time instead of just talking about it. :P

      *whisper* I haven't told many people because I'm not really set on it and sure if it's good... but I'll tell you (and anyone who might see this. 'ello. xD) For now I'm calling it Where Thieves and Rejects Roam.

      What's the title of your WIP?

      Delete
    2. WE SHOULD. I still have the link to the #Mitchtam chat, so I may pop over there once in a while for some wars. :D

      Ooh, I love that! Your titles are always so lyrical and lovely. <3

      I don't have a title quite yet. :P

      Delete
  14. Love this, Katie! <333 How old are you?
    Hehe, I'm not a morning person either, so I've totally been there! :l

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just turned seventeen this month!
      Ew mornings. I can't handle them very well. :P

      Delete
  15. It sounds like you had a wonderful March. I always enjoy reading your wrap-up posts, they're so well written. Best of luck on the first draft of your novel!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awhhh, thank you! I always feel like I just throw them together. XD

      Delete
  16. I'm going to turn 17 this year too. ;) It IS so crazy to think of being an ADULT next year! O.O

    That unicorn mug is so cute! :)

    tashahphotography.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IT'S SUCH A WEIRD THOUGHT. We'll survive it together. xD

      Isn't it? Thanks, Natasha! <3

      Delete
  17. I've never done NaNo, and sadly I'm not going to have time this month! I'm hoping to do Camp in July on summer break, though. I just did a post just like this on my blog :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay, I'm glad you plan on doing it in July. What will you be working on? It's such a fun experience. :D

      I'll have to check it out!

      Delete
    2. I'm not sure yet. *Sighs and clutches poor scattered brain.* I have a few ideas, but nothing solid yet.

      Delete
  18. Oh, don't worry, you're not the only one struggling to find reading time, Katie. I only read five books this month, but two of those were books I beta read. :P I hope you find more time for reading soon.

    Oh, yay. Rewriting. I have to do that this month. The whole thing is just kinda scattered. Good luck writing your prequel! I hope all goes well. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beta reading. *smashes head against desk* Ughh I'm so bad at beta reading novels. So go you for getting that done. :D

      *shudder* Ick, good luck with rewriting. o.o What's your novel about?

      Delete
  19. OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE YOUR UNICORN MUG *flails wildly* And also your starbucks story made me giggle cause AHH I CAN RELATE. I am totally going to do that at some point in my adult life XP I'm so impressed you made it there only five minutes late! *high fives*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MWAHAH I've never felt more frightened in my life. xD I'm hoping that will never happen again. :P

      Delete
  20. Sounds like a good month!! Those chocolate covered strawberries look sooo good! I love your unicorn cup it is so cute:)

    ReplyDelete
  21. You were a pantser and now you love plotting? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS.
    I assume you use the Snowflake method, since you have the book? is it good? I'd love to have the structure that comes with plotting, but I haven't found a method that works for me. *getting stressed thinking about it* *and Camp* *definitely stressed now*

    And I completely sympathise about the bookshelves. I've dedicated one shelf in my built-in wardrobe as my bookshelf... it has two rows and several stacks. On the one shelf. My parents say I have too many books... I say I have not enough shelf. It's a matter of perspective! ;) (if necessary, clothes will have to go to make space!)

    Sends loads of pizza because 10k in one day THAT'S CRAZY and I think I got 3k in one day once?? *checks* Nope, it was 2k. *sends garlic bread too*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THE SNOWFLAKE METHOD! USE IT! TRY IT! IT'S AMAZING! Seriously. It's a great introduction to plotting and I 100% recommend it. :D

      HAH! I love that matter of perspective -- I'm definitely going to have to use that. xD (and pshh, I can probably bypass some clothes for books instead. All a writer needs is some cozy pajamas, right? ;)

      AH THANK YOU. Dude I totally love garlic bread. o.O Well, my 10k ended up not working out. :/ Unexpected plans came up so I was gone from 3-10, which made it pretty impossible to write 10k. xD

      Hey, 2k is still a good amount of words! Some people naturally write slower and that's okay. :)

      Delete
  22. Those chocolate covered strawberries look really good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *reaches into the computer and eats them* So good!

      Delete
    2. I really with I could share with all of you. *sniff*

      Delete
  23. Oh my gosh...I could't even finish Heartless! I made myself stop at chapter 24. It was a really good 24 chapters, but I just couldn't stand it. Have you read it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *gasp* Wait, why couldn't you finish it? Because of the ending? Or because you just didn't like it?

      Delete
  24. Okay, those strawberries are gorgeous, and that mug is so stinking cool!
    And congrats on reading four books! I technically only read like, two. oops.

    I was meaning to ask you about the snowflake method-- do you think it could apply to already written books? I wouldn't mind organizing the plots of the three books in my trilogy... since they kinda sorta have their own thing going. xD

    jeniquablog.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eh, we'll both fail at reading together. XD (but we didn't exactly "fail" since there was lots of editing done. you crushed it this month :P)

      DUDE YES. It could totally work! It's obviously easier to do it with a completely new novel, but sorting out the structure, the problems, characters, summaries could definitely help with editing. *nodnod* Let me know if you give it a try!

      Delete
    2. MEEP thanks! You did a ton of editing too... although you finish in time for camp XD

      And I will! I just have to find a copy now. Hopefully my library has it... >.<

      Delete
  25. Heartless!!!! I really enjoyed that book, though not as much as the Lunar Chronicles.
    My word goal for Camp NaNo is 40,000, but I'm also trying to finish editing my other book as well. :D So lots of writing. Good luck with Camp NaNo!

    annadeubell.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  26. Good luck with Camp Nano! I did the April Camp in 2015, and I'm a little nervous about doing it again. My goal is 50,000, which is more than I've ever done before, but so far it's going well. :)
    And thank you for that candlelight picture...I have a feeling that would help create a focus with computer writing, and since I struggle with internet distractions, I think I may try it out.
    Happy Starbuck's Anniversary! (And Happy Birthday!)

    ReplyDelete
  27. YOUR LATE-TO-WORK STORY IS MY FAVORITE THING. Does that make me a terrible person? xD I am the WORST at getting up when my alarm goes off. A few weeks ago I was supposed to be at work at 7 AM, and after disregarding my alarm I woke up at 6:30 and PANICKED. xD And I live outside of town, so it takes me a little longer to get there... Anyway, I made it on time. Barely.

    Oooh, I ALSO got 3 books for my birthday and simultaneously realized I'm out of bookshelf space! *high fives*

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi, I'm fairly new around here. I've been checking out your blog for the past couple days after my friend recommended it to me.

    Omg you're reading The Maze Runner series? Is it your first time? I'm legit in the middle of Fever Code but I've stopped reading it because #UnwindByNealShusterman

    ReplyDelete
  29. dude i'm with you, i hate morning shifts. there's nothing better than being excited to go back to work though, glad it's so well!
    i want the unicorn mug so bad, oh my goodness it's adorable!!
    love your wrap up posts <3 have a wonderful april!

    ReplyDelete

don't be shy to hang out in the comment section!
make frens, check back for my replies, keep things clean, shout about pizza, squeal about books, moan about editing... all that cool stuff.