Achievements & Setbacks in 2018 by Nada Adel Sobhi

I've set targets for myself and I have to admit to myself that I have failed several of them. BUT that was in February and a little in January.

This post is not about my failures but it is merely to highlight where I have fallen prey to procrastination and sloth. Even with the setbacks, there has been progress and it is important to remind oneself of the progress and the achievements not just the failed attempts at going forward.

In November, I hit a major milestone and made an achievement I didn't know I could do. I've been basking in that achievement since and that's WRONG! But to make that achievement, I've had to make some sacrifices at the time. Now life is back in the mix, which is making it hard for me to get things straight.

Sometimes, one simply wants to waste time. And as many already know, time tends to move slowly when you want it to fly past, and literally slips through your fingers when you want it to slow down so you can take a breath and work on yourself.

Time's a lot of curse words. But I digress. Time is not only to blame, but I'm to blame as well.

In February, I set my 10,000-word writing plan, along with some editing plans. Instead, I only wrote 388 words in Darya's story by pure coincidence.

Midway through the month, I decided I would not pressure myself. February is a short and busy month (half my team at work had holidays, I caught a cold towards the end) and it just wasn't working out.

I decided that I would let this month go, no targets, and no regrets (well slightly) and I would start March with new vigour and targets.

In January, I set out a few resolutions to help me track my progress throughout the year. I'm not moving as fast as I hoped; there have been a few setbacks, BUT there is progress and here it is:

·        I started attending online writing bootcamps and I'm working on improving my freelance writing

·        I've taken an online paid course to develop my career

·     I learnt that I need to create a writer's website so I'm planning to launch that in March (this month)

·        I've finished reading one short self-help book and I'm halfway through the second.

·        I've created my portfolio on Contently.

·        I've written around 3 poems in January

·        I've written a combined total of 8,377 in January (5,616 in Darya's story, 2,439 in personal articles on my blog & a 322-word flash fiction piece titled "A Boom of Blue" – poems excluded)

·        I've listened to several hours of Udemy courses in both January & February. Haven't completed any courses but I'm halfway through three courses, which I hope to conclude in March.

There are a few things on my resolutions list that I have not yet approached but there are 10 more months in the year and I will achieve them – God willing.

A piece of advice I recently came across was finding an accountability buddy for certain tasks. I've not taken that step yet because I'm trying to be accountable to myself first. I don't want to get depressed by not doing what I planned and simply skipping on my unnamed accountability buddy just yet.

As for the blog, I've been on an off, but the writing prompts are ongoing. I also have a few author interviews sent out and some underway. I'm still trying to finish up a piling list of accepted book review requests. You can check out the newly added reviews along with what's in the works here.

Now that I've made the admission to myself – I even have it down in writing, it's time to begin March with new hope, vigour, and willingness to improve oneself, and move forward with the resolutions (set forth on this blog :D)

Guess Who'll be on a Judge on Your Laugh Line Book Awards!

Strap in! It’s going to be a hilarious ride!

I’ve got spectacular news to share!

I’ll be on the judging panel for Your Laugh Line’s upcoming award for the funniest book(s) every for 2017!

So what is this all about?

Starting on 1 February, Your Laugh Line begins its official search to find the funniest books written in 2017.  It’s like a quest for the Holy Grail (Monty Python or otherwise) but more important!

Our hope is that this book is so funny that it will end all war.

Okay.  Maybe not.

But we are looking for the best, hilarious books written last year. 

How does the contest work?

The contest has two components. One is a Reader’s Choice Award. Readers can log onto Your Laugh Line’s Voting section and enter the author and book of their choice. The author who receives the most reader votes will win $250 and an assortment of promotional help from Your Laugh Line.

The other component is an adjudicated contest for books submitted by authors and/or their publishers. The form is available at https://yourlaughline.com/laugh-line-humorous-book-awards. The cost to enter the competition is $20 per book. Those books will be judged by a panel of expert book reviewers. The winning author will receive $500, plus an assortment of promotional help from Your Laugh Line.

Authors can enter the competition between 1 February and 30 April.  Reader’s Choice voting runs from 2 February to 15 August. Books making it past the first round will be announced on 1 July, second round list on 1 August, and the final winner on 1 September. Honorable mentions will be made for category-specific books.

Author or reader – come and help us find last year’s funniest book! 

About Your Laugh Line

Your Laugh Line was created to help funny authors find an audience who appreciates funny books. Knowing the power of laughter to help alleviate stress, to provide the necessary mental distraction to give the brain a break, and to make people feel silly, Your Laugh Line is committed to making the world a better place through humorous books.

Find them via their official website and Twitter.

Nadaness In Motion's writing progress & updates for August

As each month passes, I continue to learn new thing about my writing abilities. August was the second month for me making a commitment to myself.

In July, I joined Camp NaNoWriMo, and while I didn't meet my writing target, I did something I wasn't able to do before: I started the story that's been in my head for over a year. I began the first draft.

In July, I realised that I couldn't write every day. Despite this revelation, I made a mistake in the second month, in August. I told myself I couldn't write much during the weekdays then suddenly I realised it was the 20th of the month and I hadn't written a single word in Darya's story! (I had only completed a short story right on the deadline then got lazy and engrossed in life!)

I wanted to slap myself for leaning on my inabilities and hindering my progress.

I reprimanded myself, dragged my laptop and started writing.

In August, I had planned on 10,000 words for Darya's story, I achieved 50.5% or 5,058 words of that target, up from 4,000 words in July. I hit a milestone for myself. I made progress.

By the end of August, I had completed:

·        Two short stories

·        Two poems

·        Four book reviews

·        I also started some other bits and pieces.

Excluding the book reviews, an article, and poetry, My total word count for August was 12,608 words. I loved that number!

I need to make a few commitments and remind myself with a few things:

·       I'm setting another 10,000 words for Darya's story for September

·      I don't have to write 1,000 words a day, but any number of words per day is good for any project

·      I asked my friends for word banks to help me write, I've used two, there are lots more and these are great ways to write

·   These writing attempts will help me later as I join NaNoWriMo in November, where the target is 50,000 words per month, five times my current target.

·        I. WILL. SUCCEED. AND. FINISH. MY. STORY.

Through these "reports" if you can call them, I aim to remind myself of my achievements, keep an eye on my progress, take note of my mistakes, and hope that may be someone else will benefit from my experiences and write as well.

On Writing – Part 1: The Rant

A recent conversation with a friend about writing courses has been bugging me for a few days. My friend has done significant research in the techniques of writing and has started giving courses at a local bookstore/book space.

That is all great and I support people in any way I can by telling friends or by simply sharing their events. However…speaking about the courses, I found that my friend has a basics course and will be giving a characterisation course. Still, that's great and I'm thrilled for her.

But, what I absolutely disliked it how she looks down upon some of her students. She's picky at EVERYTHING. But that's her choice. I'm not one to judge; everyone is picky about something. Still, I didn't like the way my friend goes about saying people lack the skills and she wants the crème de la crème – as we say – to work with.

The thing is, no matter how good you are, others will be better and the whole point of giving a course, spreading the knowledge that you have acquired is to teach, raise awareness and enhance skills.

In Egypt, we are not native English speakers, but that doesn't mean we don't know anything about anything. There are a lot of people who speak – and write – very good English, but not all of them have the skill to write a short story or a novel. Still, it is a talent that can be "acquired".

They may not have it now, but they may have it later in life. They may not have it in English, but the skill might present itself in Arabic, for example; they just don't know it yet.

Writers of poetry, short stories, novels, plays, creative fiction, non-fiction, technical writers… all these are writers; each of them does things differently.

The bottom line is, no one can judge a person as a bad writer.

An example I love to use and constantly remind myself of whenever I feel I'm not doing a good job of writing is Amy Tan. She said – or at least so I've read – that her English teacher(s) in school told her she didn't have the knack for writing and that she should never consider the career. Well, Amy Tan is well-known and highly respected Asian-American novelist now. (Beat that lame and undermining English teachers).

No matter how much you know about something, there will always be someone who knows more. As writers, it is NOT our job to judge one another but to encourage one another, even if that includes or involves some editing, notes, suggestions, recommendations. What the writer decides to follow or ignore is purely their choice. But at the end of the day, we must encourage each other. Whether these writers are native speakers, non-natives, young, old, smart, slow, highly-skilled or still at the beginning of the road to self-discovery, they must be encouraged. Not put down or suffer a selection process that may exclude people with potential but who require some hard work.

At least that is my opinion.

I wouldn’t be where I am if I weren't a reader to begin with and a researcher of all things writing-related. And I'm still learning, as I believe every writer does throughout their life.

In case I digressed, my point is you can't call someone a "bad writer" simply because you were probably one at some point, a starter that is. Is there such a thing as a "bad writer"? If yes, who can be the judge of that?

I doubt even J.K. Rowling can tell a person they're a bad writer, simply because her books were first turned down because publishers didn't 'see them' as having good prospects. Look where she is now.

Every writer needs guidance. As a fellow writer, poet, reader, your job is to provide such guidance. What the recipient takes from you is their choice.

Every person can be a Writer.

How every person handles their work, writing courses, you name it, is, at the end of the day, their own business. But I just can't let someone call other people "bad" writers, and look at the condescendingly, because they think they're better.

I just can't.

And I'm ranting here to avoid losing a friend.

The end.

To Kill a Mockingbird to see a view-changing sequel

Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was pronounced ‘immediately successful’ and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962. It quickly became a classic of modern American literature.

Narrated by Jean Louise Finch “Scout”, the novel tackles issues of gender, race, inequality, social norms as well as serious and harsh issues such as rape and injustice. 

 

The novel tells the story of Scout and her brother, Jem, and their life with their widower father and lawyer, Atticus, who has to defend a black man from a rape charge. The novel shows Atticus’ fair-minded humanitarian values and attitude through his daughter’s eyes.

To Kill a Mockingbird was adapted into a movie in 1962 starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. The movie received rave reviews and earned more than 10 times its budget. It was won and was nominated for several awards.

Worth noting, To Kill a Mockingbird was translated into Arabic by Cairo University professor of English Literature Dalia El Shayyal.

Earlier this year, Harper Lee announced that she will publish a sequel to the book, titled Go Set a Watchman, which is written from an adult Scout’s perspective. The book is scheduled for publication today, Tuesday, 14 July, 2015.

Go Set a Watchman is said to have been written before To Kill a Mockingbird. The original manuscript was written in the form of flashbacks of an adult Scout. However, Lee’s publisher at the time asked her to focus on Scout and thus To Kill a Mockingbird was born.

Unlike the first book, the new one is not written from Scout’s perspective but instead “closely follows her return to Maycomb after working in New York and her gradual disillusionment with the ingrained attitudes she finds,” according to an article in The Guardian.

The first chapter of Go Set a Watchman was published by The Guardian on Friday, 10 July, 2015. Check it out here.

“One of the great figures of American literature has suffered dramatic reputational damage this weekend. The unexpected early release of shocking plot details from the new novel by Harper Lee, a sequel to her great work To Kill A Mockingbird, has revealed that the noble hero of her first book, Atticus Finch, in later life becomes a racist who seems happy for segregation to continue in Alabama. [It’s] as if the Statue of Liberty had been discovered to have cloven hooves,” according to an article also in The Guardian.

James Daunt, CEO at Waterstones, Britain’s largest book chain, said he expects pre-orders for Go Set a Watchman to surpass those for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

“You don’t need to be clairvoyant to say that it will without doubt be the biggest book of the year, and the biggest book of many a year,” he told The Guardian.

Bookstores across the UK and US are planning several events to celebrate the launch of Lee’s new book, with many events planned at midnight and some places screening the movie of To Kill a Mockingbird.

“This feels like a celebration – a once in a lifetime kind of thing, and like it will be an instant classic,” said Foyles’ head of events Andy Quinn, according to the British newspaper.

A review of Go Set a Watchman published in The Guardian says “Whereas To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated in the first-person by Scout as a young girl looking back a few years to events in the early 1930s, Go Set a Watchman is a third-person narrative, in which twenty-something Scout, now favouring her baptismal name of Jean Louise, returns from New York to visit Atticus, 72 and seriously arthritic, in her home town of Maycomb. Apart from their four-word poetic titles (the new novel’s is taken from the biblical book of Isaiah), the texts are largely independent of each other. Mockingbird is structured in 30 chapters divided between two sections; Watchman consists of seven parts including 19 chapters.”

 

To Kill a Mockingbird has many memorable quotes, here are a few:

“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts.”

“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Personally, I have always wanted to read To Kill a Mockingbird. Now, I believe I’ll have a different kind of opportunity to read both books successively.

I also think Go Set a Watchman will be one of the most read books in 2015, even if it’s being published seven months in the year.