Dreaming Big

If you've taken a passing glance at my bio, you will have seen that I study Nutrition as well as write. Food and words are my two great loves for many reasons, more than I really have space for in this one blog post. I have a Why I Write post in the works, but my brain has been a bit here and there, so I'm waiting until I have the right mindset to tackle that one properly. So, that will have to wait for now.

Recently, I've been thinking of ways I can combine them so I can do both the things I love at once. As much as I do enjoy science, it's less important to me if I can turn the other two into Real Jobs somehow.

Cafe culture in Australia is generally pretty great, because as a country we are obsessed with both amazing coffee and delicious brunch food. Still, during the week, cafes cater to the work crowd, so they'll be open very early for breakfast and through early afternoon for lunch, but that's it. On the weekend it's no better, because while we love our brunches, most dinners are left under the purview of 'real' restaurants. So, cafe hours are often quite limited, and fair enough, as that's what they can make a business catering to. There are a few exceptions to this rule, though very few, and it's possible that Melbourne with its strong artsy leanings caters to the writer better than Sydney often can.

Still, I've sort of latched on to this idea of a very writing-focused cafe, with much longer and much later hours overall. Someplace with super cozy chairs and tables to encourage you to spend time there, and a courtyard that's easily covered so that you can take advantage of fresh air and sunny days as they come. Perhaps there would even be a super quiet zone upstairs with proper desks instead of cafe tables that worked more as a hot-seat writing space, but you could still order up coffees and snacks as needed. There'd be books all over the walls, of course, in case you want to take a break from work and just want to lounge about for a while reading. The hours would cater to writers and students and freelancers, those of us who don't adhere to those strange 'office hours'. There'd still be morning hours for the weirdos that do wake up before noon, but breakfast and brunch would be served all day and we'd stay open until late, till just about all those more sensible people have gone to bed.

Honestly, that sounds like heaven to me. And I'd probably go for it too, if I ever made enough money from writing or other work to invest in its start up.

I'm pretty ok with others stealing this idea and going for it, cause I think places like this should exist! Although, maybe not if you live in Sydney, cause I want to do it here? Maybe? Some day?

On Never Reading Enough: A Personal Challenge

I've been thinking recently about why I don't read more. My reading list is endless and ever-growing, as I'm sure is true of all book lovers. I don't really lack for time or energy to do so among all my other commitments. I could certainly prioritise reading more over catching up on my TV shows or playing video games, which is how I often otherwise spend my down time. But I often find myself choosing not to read over other forms of relaxation, because I often simply want to turn my brain off for a while.

And as both a lover of stories and a writer, this makes me feel, well... guilty. I know reading is as important to good writing as much as the practise of writing. You see it mentioned in nearly every piece of writing advice out there: to write well you must also read, a lot and often. It's not that I don't read for pleasure at all, because I definitely do... but I don't do it as much as I'd like or feel that I should. I've been making a concerted effort to fix that, because my reading list is beginning to get out of control.

Still, the idea that I'd choose not to read over other entertainment is strange to me. I read voraciously as a child. I preferred books to people (and still do, quite honestly), and I lived in the library growing up. I spent most summers there. I'd check out a huge stack of books, hungrily read through them all, and then go back for another round week after week.

But that was before the internet, before adult responsibilities, before a lot of things which now make me pick and choose carefully how I must spend my time. Not that that has ever stopped me from having many sleepless nights where I just had to get to the end of whatever book I was engrossed with at the time. I haven't had nearly as many of those in a long while, though.

I think what I've come to realise is that I do read all the time, just not in the same way. The more my life has revolved around the internet, social media, endless blogs and news articles, etc. the more I find the thought of reading for pure pleasure a task as opposed to simple relaxation. I spend all day reading words on a screen, so much that the thought of reading for fun seems like effort. How depressing is that?

As I'm ironically complain about reading blogs on a blog, I'm going to challenge myself now to read a lot more books instead of other forms of entertainment. And instead of some of my sometimes wandering internet time, for sure. I'll never be at my childhood levels of reading again, obviously, but I'm wondering if I can do a book a week. Maybe every two weeks to start and see how I go. So let's say 12 books over six months.

I'll post progress and mini-reviews on my Facebook and Twitter to keep things accountable under the hashtag #12book6.

The list as it stands, maybe kind of in order:

1) The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
2) The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
3) The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
4) Blackbirds - Chuck Wendig
5) The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
6) Daughter of the Forest - Juliet Marillier
7) The First Man in Rome - Colleen McCollough
8) Banewreaker - Jacqueline Carey
9) The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters
10) The Gunslinger - Stephen King
11) God's War - Kameron Hurley
12) The Killing Moon - N.K. Jemisin

Wish me luck!

Updates!

Sorry, things have been far too quiet on this blog. Mostly because I've been busy with writing related things but not in ways that I can show you yet! It's frustrating! And I've had a blog post on the back burner for a while, but between uni and taking on writing projects it's fallen through the cracks. Hopefully, I'll post stuff a bit more often when I need a break from the craziness.

But the good news is that by the end of the year, there will be a couple ways for you to get your hands on my writing that is Not This Blog. And probably far better than what is on this blog, since there will be editing and feedback and stuff. You can trust I'll be pimping the heck out of it once everything takes shape, but for now it's nose to the grindstone to get all the writing done.

I'm really excited about the subject matter of the projects I'm a part of. If you have any interest in mental illness or modern takes on fairy tales, you will love them too. (Unsubtle tease is unsubtle.)

Okay, back to work. Whee!