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Monthly Recaps

November Recap

floraj5604

Time for another recap! It seems like this month has passed so fast for me! We were very busy this month as we have been preparing for Thanksgiving and then Christmas.

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Books

The first and only book I read this month was Flashback by Shannon Messenger (the seventh book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series). I have been waiting a year for this book to come out, and I was so excited! I literally read it in five days!

I didn’t read any more books because I was really busy with a research paper in school (ugh!). Plus, I am re-reading Flashback- because why not?

 

Bullet Journaling

I got to try one new weekly spread that I saw on Pinterest this month. Everything else is the same old, same old.

  1. At the top, I have a space for every day- Monday through Wednesday on the first page, and Thursday through Saturday on the second page. At the end of each day, I use this space to list three things I’m thankful for.
  2. Underneath those is my Fitness Tracker. That is where I track my steps, how much water I drank, and the days I got some exercise.
  3. To the right of that, I have a calendar.
  4. Underneath my Fitness Tracker, I have my Weather Forecast. On Sundays, I look ahead at the weather and write it out so I can know what the best days to go outside are.
  5. To the right of that, I have my Habit Tracker. Usually my habits are to just clean my room and write.
  6. On the next page, underneath the daily boxes, I have a section for my goals. One of my goals this week is to have a clean room by Saturday.
  7. Beside my goals, I have a section for notes.
  8. I still had room underneath that, so I decided to do a fun drawing: It’s Sweater Weather!

 

TV Shows and Movies

I decided to add this in because there is one show that I just can’t live without: Doctor Who!! This is really one of the best shows that I have ever seen, and I’ve been watching the season eleven episodes. Go Jodie Whittaker!

Also, I just watched a movie on Netflix called The Princess Switch. It was about two identical girls who meet and decide to switch places. I really liked it!

Writing

This month I was really productive in my writing. I wrote consistently every day, and guess what! I actually finished my book! Just the first draft, of course. I definitely have not published it- yet.

In all, it took me one year, two months, and one day. I started on September 16, 2017, and wrote about two pages a day. Then I got busy and forgot about it for about a month. Then I started writing again and then got busy again- this time for about three months. And then, I switched from writing it on paper to typing it, and then I finished it on November 17, 2018. Yay! So, now I’m going through and editing it so that maybe one day I can publish it.

 

Goals

I didn’t really know exactly how close I was to finishing my book, so my goal was just to write every day. I had no idea that I might finish it this month. So, I mostly accomplished that goal, but like I said before, we were really busy.

 

Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving has passed, I thought I might list a few things I’m thankful for.

  1. Family

I’m really thankful that I have family that I can share my Thanksgiving with. I really enjoy the fun games and stories that we tell at the table. I also enjoy playing with my cousins on both sides of the family.

  1. A Good Education

I know some kids that really don’t like going to school. I know its hard work, but you know what? I’m thankful for it. Because where would we be today if we didn’t have any education whatsoever? I’m pretty sure we’d be cavemen. How do you think Thomas Edison came up with the light bulb? He didn’t just sit there and all of a sudden come up with the idea. He had to know a lot of science-y stuff so he could be able to test his theory. And all that science-y stuff came from a good education. So, be thankful for your education- even if you really hate a certain subject. You’re actually really lucky. Some kids don’t get to go to school.

  1. My Talent

Finally, I’m really thankful that I have a talent for writing. It makes me happy when I’m feeling down or upset.

 

Talk to Me!

So, what are you thankful for? Tell me in the comments! My family just started decorating for Christmas last week. Have you decorated yet?

The Writing Process

The Writing Process

floraj5604

Today I am going to cover the benefits of being an author and how I go through the writing process.

 

The Benefits of Being an Author

  1. You can chose where the story goes. Does he take the hall on the left or the hall on the right? What happens next?
  2. It’s an adventure. There are no limits.
  3. If you decide to actually publish your books, then you could be a millionaire! Not right away, of course.

 

The Differences between an Actual Author, and Writing for Fun

There is a huge difference between writing a story that you might actually publish one day, and just writing for fun.

At first, when I started writing my story, I thought that this was just for fun and would end up like the other stories I’d started: unfinished. But, a couple of weeks ago, when I was letting my mom read it, I realized that I wanted to share it with other people. I wanted to let other people read it and be amazed at my work. So, I have started the process of going back through, and changing things that need to be changed, and correcting grammar mistakes.

 

For Real

  1. Test Run

If you plan on actually publishing your story, I think it would be wise to do a trial run first. Start writing, and see if you think you could go on with the story. Do you like it? Do you need to tweak the main idea to something you would really enjoy writing about?

  1. Plan

Plan your story. Get the main idea of what should happen throughout the story, and then plan chapter by chapter. Plan a chapter, then write it and plan the next.

  1. Take a Break

After you’ve written your full story (which may take a while, but that’s okay), take a break. Sometimes taking a break helps you to come back with refreshed eyes. And I don’t mean just a few hours. I mean a few days, at the least.

  1. Read over It

Now it’s time to correct all those mistakes! Whether it be grammar, gender, or character problems, it’s time to fix it all! One time I was reading through my story, and I realized that there was an animal that had been a male at the beginning, but I had accidentally changed it to a female! We all make mistakes, so don’t feel bad.

  1. Read it to Someone

Reading my story out loud to my mom was what made me realize that the animal in my story had a gender problem. This doesn’t only let you see your problems, but it also helps you to realize that you might actually want to share it with others.

  1. Read over it- Again

Yes, you need to check for mistakes again. But you can probably do this while you’re reading it to someone. This time, think about who your audience might be. Is it for kids? Or maybe for young adults? Try to write it for those people.

  1. Publish it!

Okay, I don’t mean like seriously publish it. You can, but I can’t give you any information on how to do it since I haven’t ever done it before. I mean just posting it online or asking your teacher if you could read it out loud in Literature class. Publish it on your blog. Read it to your friends.

 

For Fun

If writing to publish is too nerve-wracking for you, and you really love to write, then you can just write for fun. You never know, you may just decide to publish later when you’re reading back over it.

 

Next Week. . .

Next week I will not be doing a post on Thursday, since it is Thanksgiving week. The following week, it will be time for another monthly recap.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

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