Writing Motivation

Once Uni is done for the semester I'll write more. Every day. 

This is what I tell myself when Uni is busy, I'm busy and I feel like I haven't got time to write. Then when Uni does finish up I find myself doing everything but writing. 
I've gotten myself into a rut and I need to get out of it. 

So I made a new years resolution. 

I am to write 1,000 words everyday. It can contribute to any story I'm writing but it has to go towards stories I want to see published one day and one day soon. It doesn't have to be good, it just needs to be on the page. I find myself coming up with all these stories in my head, working them all out there and by the time I try and put pen to paper I've burnt out and the story no longer interests me. 

I know 1,000 words is not a lot. But that's ok. I don't want myself to be overwhelmed by the idea and this gives me room to work and do Uni and everything else. I'm not also constricted to 1,000 if I'm on a roll, have found motivation or simply (though this seems unlikely at the moment) just want to write for....fun? 

And there's my problem. I've put pressure on myself to write. I look at myself as a writer. I feel as though I should have books out by the time I graduate. That the degree I've chosen to do means nothing if I'm not writing, reading, or at least working towards my goal - a published book. 

That's another thing - I'm not reading either. It's another thing I must do if I have any chance of writing something that's half decent. The problem is I'm all about finding the problem but not solving it. Here's hoping that my resolution of writing will lead me to a more positive writing path. 

Once I have a story in my head, it must be written down. There's no solving it out in my head first otherwise I'll get bored when it comes to writing it down. At least that's how I feel. 

On another note; I hope you all have a lovely new year (though where I am it's the 2nd already so my party mood has well and truly gone) and 2014 brings you all the best.  

The Brightest Review in This Blog

Hey guys, so basically this is a book review on...*drum roll please* 

I've been a fan of Marian Keyes now for a few number of years. 
I started reading her books at 13 and now at 19, I've read more than a few. 

One book Mum placed on the shelf years ago now, was Brightest Star in the Sky, but was one I hadn't read until a couple of days ago. 

And boy is it a doozey! 

I wont go on about the storyline, but it does take place in an apartment block, in which four different relationships live on a floor.
They fall in and out of love (a line from the back of the book) and it follows the stories of the people living on the four floors. 

With EVERY Keyes book I have read, I find that once I've started it, I find it tremendously hard to put down - and I'm not joking, or making a comment on how good it is - I literally struggle to stop reading it, because I HAVE to know what is going to happen next. 
As plots twist and turn, here and there, and you're starting to get towards the end, you wonder where it's going to end, what's going to happen to this/or those people, and you're hoping for a happy ending. And with four different stories...that's a lot of wondering. 

The chapters go in a formation of sorts. One chapter contains one couple, then the next another. You go through the different story line's and once you've had a taste for all of them you find yourself at the first one again. It varies here and there, but essentially follows the different stories all at the same time - which you know this because the chapters are marked by days - very ingenious. 
I found myself glued to one couple, and wanted to read the other chapters fast until I came back around to them again. 
But in saying that all the characters are funny, realistic and have a great storyline to follow - and naturally some of them overlap into each others lives, which is fun. 

What's great about Brightest Star in the Sky, is this "character" that we follow from the beginning - we're unsure about who or what it is, but it's definitely not a seeing person. 
They keep you on track, and you almost forget it's there - until we near the end, when there job is  made clear - which totally surprised me! 
When I finally figured it out, I think I actually screamed (literally out loud) in shock. 

The book was published in 2009 and I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner - I know it will definitely be one to read again. 

With a few more of Keyes' books on the shelf I (ashamedly) haven't read yet, I can't wait till I start reading another.
And if you want a great read - as long as you don't mind being sucked into this world she has created - I highly recommend Brightest Star in the Sky.