Tag: amwriting

Bullet Journal & Planning

Bullet Journal | June 2019

bookishluna20 Comments

Recs

So, this month I was so excited to be starting a new bullet journal. I don’t know about you, but I get super excited about starting a new one. It feels like a fresh start, a sweet breeze, or a clean slate. I can take all the spreads that have worked for me and leave the ones behind that I either don’t use or out grew. It is nice to see it evolve and grow as you do. Well, this time around I will admit I was heavily inspired by the Plant Based Bride over on youtube and her blog, http://plantbasedbride.com. I really enjoy the feel and simplicity of her bullet journal and I have heavily taken inspiration along with the spreads that have worked for me to create this new bullet journal.

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My last bullet journal was a Rhodia goalbook, I HATED it. The pages fell apart just from erasing it, the paper was awful and I will not be buying a new one. Also, their customer service is horrible. I filled out a from and reached out on twitter and they said they would contact me twice and they never did. Not how you handle a situation as a company. This time around I am trying a new company, their notebooks are a bit pricy, but I was lucky enough to get it as a gift from my wonderful BF. I am trying an Archer and Olive notebook.

Before I moved into my new notebook I decided to make a list of the spread I wanted to keep and the ones I wanted to add. Here is a bit of a peak into the spreads I wanted to keep for this bullet journal, as well as add.

Keep

  • Crochet hooks ✔️
  • Weight-loss Tracker ✔️
  • Yearly Reading Goals ✔️
  • War and Peace readalong tracker ✔️
  • Twitter tracker ✔️
  • Blog tracker ✔️
  • Seasonal Bucket List ✔️
  • Grid spacing ✔️
  • ARC Tracker ✔️

Add

  • Period Tracker ✔️
  • Crochet Project Tracker/Wishlist Just Bright Ideas ✔️
  • 5K Training Progress ✔️
  • Owned TBR ✔️
  • Buddy Reads ✔️
  • Study Tracker ✔️

-General Spreads-

This layout is very helpful for me when I move into a new bullet journal, especailly when the brand is new to me. This lets me quickly see where 1/4, 1/2, or 3/4 in either direction as well as how many boxes are in each page.

I tent to only keep a bullet journal for 4-6 months, so I only bother putting 6 months ahead so I can easily see how many days are in each month. I also left an area on the bottom incase I wanted to add a particular note for a day. On the other page I updated my eARC/ARC tracker page. I can easily see when a book comes out and if I have reviewed it. In this bujo I only added the ones I am still working on.

While I am not in blogging or on twitter for the numbers, I find it fun to track them. Seeing all the people I can connect with or who want to read my work is motivating in a way.

Alright, these two pages are totally new. On the right I added a different layout for my War and Peace reading this year. This year I decided that I would read W&P on the right hand side I write what sections I should read each month to finish on time. On the right I am writing when I actually end up reading it. I also added a little progress bar at the bottom. On the right I decided I wanted to keep track of all the books Reg, Jenna, Amy and myself read together. I added a bit of a starry night because I messed up, but I really did love how it came out.

Here is my reading challenge tracker, the same as it was in my old bujo. On the right I started writing my seasonal bucket list. I am still thinking up ideas, if you have any suggestions let me know!

I decided I wanted to track my studying my writing in the topic as well as checking off if I actually do study. I am trying to become a bit more structured. On the right I am tracking my period, I find myself needing to track it more now so I figured having an over all picture in one place would be helpful.

If you did not know this year I am really taking the time for myself and my health. So, I have been doing my best to make healthier decisions and lose some extra weight. I really loved the spreads I had in my other bujo so I migrated them over. I took the layout on the right from Forever Good Life.

A bit of a continuation, I am currently doing a 5K training app. I wanted to track my progress through the program as well as the km per week I am running/walking. On the right I wanted to keep track of the crochet hooks I have so I did some googling and found this spread from paperandinkco.heidi on instagram.

On the left I decided to give myself a space to write all of my “dream” crochet projects. I also decided to implement a kanban board for my blog posts. I picked this up from Plant Based Bride, as I said in the start of this post I found a lot of inspiration from her.

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-Monthly-

This is my dashboard page and a bit of a monthly overview. I really enjoy having this monthly overview each month and I wanted to continue with it.

This is my normal book tracker that I have been using for MONTHS and I just love seeing what books I read and on what days. It is a great overview picture of my reading habits without using a habit tracker, which I realized are not for me because I don’t look at them for days and then have to do my best to remember when I did what.

Here is a bit of a view of my other reading tracker. I color in a block for each chapter that I have read. It is almost like a goodreads for my notebook when it comes to progress.

I wanted to try something new for my social media page. I decided to draw a mini calendar and highlight my blogging days, but I want to also color in when I post on instagram. I will see how this format goes instead of a list. On the other page is my TBR, pretty simple and straight forward.

Last month I used this weekly spread and I really loved it. I had to resize it a bit for this new notebook, but I still really like it. It made organizing my day really easy and gave me a clear view of my week. I will be adding some quotes as I move through the weeks, but I also left room to add doodles if I want to as well.

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Well, there you have it, my new bullet journal and my June spreads, what do you think? Have you ever used a notebook by this brand before? Are there any notebooks you think I should try in the future?

SignOff12:17

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Bullet Journal & Planning

#Blogoween | Book Spine Spells!

bookishluna6 Comments

Blogoween

Prompt:

Thursday 11th: Spell List
We’re all familiar with Book Spine Poetry by now. No? Stack up your books in an order that allow the titles to create a poem. For this prompt we’re using horror or Halloween themed books only to line up and create Book Spine Spells!

Oh goodness, this was a hard one for me. I was never good at poetry. The only time I enjoy writing poetry is when it is blackout poetry. So this one was a prompt I was kind of dreading, but over all it didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would be. So without further delay here is my spooky book spine poetry!

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the witches

in the darkest part of the forest

carry on

The wolf wilder

in the days of rain

carry on

 

from here to eternity

misery

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What is your favorite poem or poet?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

#Blogoween | Local Ghost Demand a Book!

bookishluna2 Comments

Blogoween

Prompt:

Wednesday 10th: Local Ghosties Demand a Book!
Chose a horror, supernatural, scary, or ghost story that you’ve heard and is local to your area/home town, or a personal scary experience. Tells us about this and write a blurb too!

So in the North East there is one ghost story or local myths that I find to be really interesting and have always caught my attention whenever I hear someone talking about it. Which, with the friends I have tends to happen a lot. Ghost stories are one of my favorite things to talk about or watch on TV or YouTube, any recommendations let me know! Here are those two stories.
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The Lady in White

This one is a tad bit sad, it starts with a young daughter going missing on the shores of Lake Ontario. This area can get very cold during some times of the year and cold water is never a good thing to jump into. While I am unsure of what time of the year the young girl went missing, but it is said that she went missing in the 1800s. No one knows if she was taken, murdered, or wondered and became lost or fell victim to the water. A lot of the stories I have heard revolve around her running away with a boy and he turns on her or she is taken and murdered. Whatever tragically happened to this girl, we do know that her mother was very, very upset.
The mother never gave up looking for her daughter even when her community slowly gave up, the weather turned worse as the seasons cycled through. As the years passed she was said to continue to walk around the water and the surrounding area of Durand-Eastman Park. She continued to do this until her passing, or did she really stop?
It is said that when you go to this area that you could see a few different things. A women in white walking up and out of the water onto the land searching and looking for those who may have taken her daughter, or the body of her young child. Some of the tales say that she is accompanied by two dogs who help in her search.

legend is one of many similar tales across the country. The story goes that a woman in the 19th Century lost her daughter on the shores of Lake Ontario. She spent the rest of her life looking for her, and continued to haunt the lake after her death, where she is said to appear as a white apparition. But, locals always say she is the most present during the full moon.

 

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Bullet Journal & Planning

Bullet Journal | July 2018

bookishluna10 Comments

RecsHello everyone! So this month I had a lot of fun with my bullet journal theme. This month I decided to bring in some lemons. My boyfriend and myself have an inside joke where we call each other lemons instead of evil. This stems from the Spongbob Squarepants episode where EVIL stands for Every Villain Is Lemons. We were having a bit to fun before I started working on my doodles that I needed to make it this months theme. In fact, my boyfriend gave me a prop to use as inspiration that I shared over on twitter. Well, here it is my July bullet journal spreads.

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Here you can see my July page, I will admit I had a hard time figuring out how to get the depth I wanted on the lemon slice due to my limited color choices, but I ended up liking how it turned out. It feels so positive, bright, and happy. I also loved these flowers so I needed to showcase them as well.


Here you can see how I set up my monthly overview plus a little sneak peak into two of the blog posts I already have scheduled. I never write my blog posts in order, but it works for me! I am debating if I want to reprint the images of the book stacks I used last month or not. I figured I have time to decide so I left it pretty much blank.


On the left hand side you can see my TBR pile image. I posted it on instagram so instead of rewriting everything I decided to just print it out and paste it in my bullet journal. A funny about The Invisible Man, I accidentally read the wrong one and I was so confused as to why it was not science fiction. I borrowed it from the library digitally and they did not display the author, but it was so funny when I finished The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison I enjoyed it, but I was so confused. But, I do plan on “fixing” this by reading the H.G. Wells novel by the same name soon.


I decided to try using squares instead of circles to mark my days read in July. I also tried to play with script writing by writing a cute phrase of some sort.


On the left hand side I cleaned up my Read 5 Buy 1 tracker, I like this cleaner set up a lot more. On the right hand side I updated my tracker to not only track how many times I go to the gym, but also if I study and drink the amount of water I need to drink. As you can see I do not strive to do it everyday. I never go well with changing my own patterns all in one go, so this is how I operate.


A few months ago I participated in the OWLs readathon I met all my requirements to become a potions master and I am eligible to take my NEWTs in August, but my friend Amy wanted to participate so I told her I would do it with her. So as you can see I completed 5 already, this month I am focusing on working on the exams I did not complete. For each I write the title of a book or short story that would work for each prompt. As you know, I never stick to a TBR so this should be interesting.

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What theme should I try in the future?

What is something you track in your bullet journal?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

Bullet Journal Revisited| June 2018

bookishluna14 Comments

Recs

So, earlier this month I finally ended up sharing my bullet journal with all of you. Now I was thinking maybe you all would also enjoy seeing how it looks when the month is all finished? I figured I would try it out as well and see what everyone thinks.

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Nothing really changed in my heading page or my calendar, in fact I don’t think I looked at this calendar once. I am not sure if it is because I did not have a ton to do, or it is not a useful tool to have in here. I think I will be seeing if I use it in July or not to determine if I will continue to add this in the future.

On the left hand side you can see all the posts I posted this past month, while when this picture was taken before the end of the month you can see I have some things written in pencil and some things written in pen. The items written in pen are posted or scheduled, the items in pencil are a rough idea of what I am thinking about posting. This means it may or may not happen or I might post something else entirely. I never stick to this throughout the month, that is why it is always in pencil first.

On the right hand side you can see my monthly stack. I did not create the image, I found it on google and printed it out as a guide. I write the name of the book I finished and then color it when I get around to it.

On the left hand side you can see I kinda stuck to my TBR. I ended up reading 3 of the 5 I planned on reading. For me this is not bad at all since I am a complete mood reader. I don’t think I have ever stuck to a TBR 100% and I don’t think I ever will either.

On the right hand side you can see the books I picked up this month. Since doing my read 5 buy 1 challenge I have slowed down a lot, but I am so happy about it. I am more picky about what I add to my TBR and I tend to read them a lot faster as well.

As of writing this it is June 26th, I have read every day, but this image was taken a few days ago so my color is not up to date.

On the left hand side you can see my update of my Read 5 buy 1, some of the books I bought this month the read 5 page is actually in the previous month. I am not sure if I want to transfer the 3 I have read so far into next month or just leave it here and when I get to a new 5 write into next month. I have a bit of thinking to do.

On the right hand side you can see I mainly only tracked myself going to the gym. As of writing this I went a total of 9 days with a goal of 12. I do have a few days left so I am going to make sure I meet my goal.

Here is just a little peak into my reading progress doe a few of the books I read in June. I am almost caught up with my buddy read a well. Yay!

I kinda participated in the Cramathon this month and here are the books that I planned on reading. The ones with a check next to them are the ones I completed.

This last image is just a picture of a card I got with my order of my new fountain pen. I actually have 3 of them, but I wanted a new one.  I thought the elephant was so adorable I needed to have it in my bullet journal just to look at.

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What did you think? Do you use a bullet journal?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

Writing | My Reading/Review Kit

bookishluna8 Comments

Writing12:17Hello everyone, I hope you are having a wonderful day. Today I thought I would share something different with you. As a book blog I write book reviews and other book related posts. Now, for me this was not always an easy thing. I still struggle from time to time, which is fine by me.

When I started this blog or I should say when I really started to post on this blog was January 2017. At times point in time I never really wrote book reviews and I never really thought ahead with my posts. A little over a year later, I approach my writing a bit differently. That is not to say I am more rigid or I am not free to write whatever I want. In fact, how I approach writing has made it more fun and freeing.

Now, when I started my blog the only reference I had was looking at other peoples blogs. I saw these awesome reviews and blog posts and the entire time I was reading them all I kept thinking was, “How do they remember all these details?” Thus, my journey to create my review/reading kit began.

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What is a review/reading kit?

A review kit or reading kit is a small or big, depending on your preference, tools that help you keep track of your reading, ideas, and thoughts. This is highly personal and will vary from person to person. It could be digital or physical, maybe when a mixture of both. The important things is that it works with you and made the process of keeping track of your ideas and thoughts easier, not more cumbersome.

What does my reading kit look like you ask, I’ll show you.

 This is the pouch I keep my reading kit in. It is small, durable, and lined so no water can get inside. I had a few reasons for picking this pouch. The first was because the size was perfect for what I needed, obviously this is the most important and practical reason. The second is because I liked how the zipper was on the smaller size, that way when I no doubt left it open there was less of a chance of escape by the things that I placed inside. The last reason is the aesthetic of it. I love the colors, they are soothing and remind me of the water. I also love the quote, it is a nice reminder “Life is Lovely”. Sometimes you just need to hear it from time to time.

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But Luna, what is actually inside? Let me show you!


Inside I keep very little because I personally don’t need much. This is a year worth of me trial and error. Finding what worked and what didn’t. It is important to note what wha works for you will not work for you. But, if you need a starting point you may use mine as a reference.

  • bookmark
  • mini notebook (mine is a soft moleskin)
  • 2 mechanical pencils
  • post-it tabs

I have a habit of not grabbing a bookmark when I begin a new book, so I always keep one in my kit just incase. My mini notebook is the perfect size to fit into my pouch and it nice and light. I write a the title of a book on the top of two pages. Once side I write the positives and the other I write the negatives. I write a star next to random thoughts at the bottom of both pages. It almost ends up looking like a T chart with a free block at the bottom. The post-it tabs are used for various things. The first reason being if the book is a buddy read or a larger text I will tab my daily reading goals so I stay on track. The second reason is if I find a quote that inspires me or gets some type of reaction out of me I want to remember where it is.

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Even though my kit only has 4 items in it, it helps me greatly. If I am sitting at home reading I know everything I need is in one spot and if I am out and about it fits nicely into any bag I own. For me this has made reviewing more fun and LESS WORK. I used to dread writing reviews because I thought my brain would explode trying to remember everything. For me that is not an option. I need to keep track of my ideas and thoughts as I read. Now I am writing more reviews that I have ever and I am proud of that. It has given me confidence to try new things on my blog and go outside my comfort zone.

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Do you have a reading kit? How do you keep track of your ideas while reading books?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

NaNoWriMo | What I Use to Write

bookishluna5 Comments

NaNoWriMo

Hi everyone! I just wanted to take a break from being sick and trying to write to share with you some of the things I use to help me write and stay on track.

Pinterest

cropped-iconw1.jpg

I use this site as a vision board. I pin people that might look like my characters or places I see them in. I may even tag some clothing I think my characters might wear. I am a very visual person so having a place to organize it all is very helpful for me.

Scrivener

cropped-iconw1.jpg

This writing program always has a free trial during NaNoWriMo and I use it each time. I find it to be very organize and I can easily navigate through my novel. It is very helpful  when I need to reference a detail or I am fuzzy on what I wrote a few nights ago at 2 in the morning.

Notebook

IMG_9058
I did not take this picture, if you know who did please let me know so I can credit them.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes my writing ideas don’t always hit me when I am near my computer. That is why I always carry around a notebook. I am currently using a Moleskine Harry Potter Marauder’s Map notebook and I am loving it. This round of NaNoWriMo I have filled about a quarter of this notebook.

Google play

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A good playlist always puts me in a good mood or a bad mood. It all depends on what is happening in my story. Music really helps me get into the mindset to set an appropriate tone. If I am writing an epic fight scene or a scene where one of my characters are being self reflective I am not going to be playing the same type of music. Having music set for a particular part or mood really helps me focus on my story.

What do you use to help you write?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

NaNoWriMo | Update Week 1

bookishluna4 Comments
NaNoWriMo
A week into NaNoWriMo, I can’t believe it. I am writing this post on November 8th so my word count may be different. Feel free to follow my writing journey on twitter for a daily word count update. So with all the NaNoWriMo festivities I thought I would give you guys a bit of an update on my progress and a little quote from my writing. Keep in mind I am not proofreading or really editing in any way. I hope you enjoy. 🙂

Here is a little quote:

“You made these?”

“Yes, I did. Here” He pulled a muffin from the display and added it to my bag, “try this and let me know what you think. I’m Caleb by the way” he held out his hand.

“I’m Ariana”

“Well Ariana, welcome to Leesville, come by anytime. I hear the coffee is great here”

Word Count:

How is your NaNoWriMo going?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

NaNoWriMo | My Survival Kit

bookishluna6 Comments

NaNoWriMo

For me I always hit a point in NaNoWriMo where I say, “Yeah, I can’t do this”. So I have developed a little survival box/kit over the years that I know helps me a lot.

  • A writing prompt book
  • My favorite tea – I only drink while I write
  • A candle – I only burn while I write
  • My favorite snack(s)
  • Slips of paper with inspiring quotes
  • Headphones
  • Story outline – I do a little prep in October
  • references for topics I will be mentioning in my story
  • A coloring book – because taking a break can be helpful.
  • Images that work with my story
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Here is a peak at one of the images I am using for my story I am using this year.

While this is not a definitive guide, these are things I keep close to me while writing during the month of November. Some may or may not help you, but I do hope that you find some inspiration.

What is in your emergency writing kit?

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Bullet Journal & Planning

NaNoWriMo | 2017

bookishluna5 Comments

NaNoWriMo

Hello everyone, happy (almost) November! I wanted to let all of you know that this month my blog posts are going to be a little bit different. I am going to be taking part in NaNoWriMo for the 4th time. So my blog posts for this month are going to be revolving around this. While NaNoWriMo is still dealing with books. My posts are going to be focusing on my writing process and my experience in this month long challenge.

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

https://nanowrimo.org/about

Yep, so the goal is to write a 50,000 DRAFT of a novel. It is not about writing well it is about writing and getting the amazing story that has been in your head finally down on paper. Another way to look at this is that you need to write  1,667 words a day. You can write in any order, you can jump around, all you need to do it write.

For More Information:

If you would like to learn more about NaNoWriMo or sign-up for the challenge you can visit https://nanowrimo.org/. Here you can get inspiration, support, and keep track of your stats.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming posts and if there is anything you would like me to talk about please let me know!

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