Aspiring to become an author?

Are you someone who has been thinking about writing a novel? I know I am and I have searched online for some helpful tips to help with your writing.
I have only just started to write properly because I am always changing my mind about what I want to write but that's okay. I think that if you are having the same problem I had you're not writing what you really want to (I could be wrong though), If you are struggling think about something you would like to read that has yet to be written and make it your mission to write that story.

About 2 years ago I came across the author Ally Carter who wrote I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You and I was looking through her website and came across for writers which has a heap of posts she has written to help you on your writing journey and some helpful links to improve your writing. I found reading these very helpful and I think I would be quite lost if I hadn't read them.

Another author who you most probably all know Cassandra Clare who wrote the
infernal devices series and the mortal instruments series has some of her own writing advice on her website and she has a different take on it than Ally Carter and some things that are a bit different but all in all I found these posts very helpful as well. She even has a advice for teen writers post which I found quite helpful being a teen myself.

The author of Gone series, Michael Grant has a very different take on writing but I think that it is good advice for anyone wanting to become and author because he is blunt and straight to the point, which I like. Here is what he said:

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
First, and this is important: this is advice for people thinking about writing as a career. Okay? This is not advice for how you can write a journal entry or your next creative writing assignment.
If you want a career as a writer, I have the following advice:

1. Manage to be born with some natural talent. Talent isn't enough by itself, but if you don't have at least some natural talent you won't have a career as a writer. Not fair? Spoiler alert: Life isn't fair.
2. Work hard. Look at it this way: you're in a contest. Everyone in the contest has talent. Who is going to win the race amongst talented people? The talented person who also works hard.
3. It's a good thing to read a lot. It's a good thing to write a lot. The best thing to do is to live a lot. Fall in love. Fall out of love. Make a fool of yourself. Watch other people make fools of themselves. Believe something stupid and then realize you've been tricked. Feel embarrassed. Be brave and bold. Then be cowardly and pathetic. Give a damn about the world outside yourself. Have some very dark nights. It's all good. You'll use all of it.
4. Ignore just about everything you'll ever hear in school on the topic of writing. (Don't blame your teachers: they have to teach the curriculum and they've got the whole world looking over their shoulders.)

I would like to single out the so-called "chunk method" for special abuse. The chunk method isn't just stupid, it actively destroys the part of your brain that might be a writer. So learn it to pass your tests, but for God's sake keep it isolated in some dark corner of your brain where it won't contaminate anything around it.
There is no method to writing fiction. You're telling a story. Did the people who read your story understand it? Did they keep reading it all the way to the end? Were they interested by the characters and the plot? If the answer is "yes," then you did it right.
That's the job: tell a story using words.

And leaving the best for last David Estes author of evolution trilogy, country series and The dwellers series has a blog in which he has some really good advice:
1. My dos and dont's for attracting new readers
2. Everything I wish I knew when I started writing (this is very helpful and recommend you take a look)
3. Surviving Negative Reviews (and maybe even learning from them!)
4. Become an indie author and get rich quick
5. All about beta readers (I still have yet to find one but that's because I do not feel I have written enough to do this yet I will make a post about this later on)
6. how to make most of read and review programs
7. Do all people sound the same (your writing voice)

I really recommend you take a  look because all of these posts have a lot of time and effort put into them and they are so helpful! He also has a group on goodreads david estes fans and ya book lovers unite which I am apart of and there are more post there that can help you with your writing
e.g. Read and review program where you can give out free copies of your novel for an honest review and members writing where you can share your writing with the group and get feed back or find someone to be your beta read or critique your writing.

 Anyway these are the places I go to when I am stuck or need a bit of a boost to keep writing. I hope that you enjoyed this post, I'm sorry that it is not my own advice but I think it better to hear from the people who actually know what they are doing. If you found this helpful let me know and if you are writing a novel and need some input like a beta reader, but I will make a post about it with further details as to what it is and how you can get involved ( I have yet to find one myself hehe!) :D

I hope that you all have fabulous weekends and Happy Reading Everyone :)
- jordypaigebooks

January TBR

Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all have a fabulous day. So today I have decided to share with you all the 2 books I am going to be reading this month (well what is left of it haha).

 The books I am going to be reading include:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Synopsis:When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift's doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade-a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up-the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind. (source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6186357-the-maze-runner?ac=1 )


I am quite excited to start this, I bought it a few days ago because I have  heard such great things about it and all the reviews on goodreads seem to be pretty positive so I thought I'd pick it up and give it a try. There is also the movie coming out in September, so I wanted to read this before that came out. I love the cover art, and the synopsis seems very interesting. I really enjoy dystopian novels so I hope that this is just as good as books like The Hunger Games and Divergent series.
 Stay tuned for my review.


             
Phoenix (Black City #2) by Elizabeth Richards

Synopsis:Ash and Natalie are just starting to build a life together when things in the United Sentry States go from bad to worse. Ash and Natalie find themselves at the center of turmoil when dictator Purian Rose threatens Natalie’s life unless Ash votes in favor of Rose’s Law—a law that will send Darklings and other dissenters to a deadly concentration camp known as the Tenth.

When Ash can’t bring himself to trade Natalie’s life for those of millions of Darklings, her fate is sealed. Enter Elijah Theroux, the handsome Bastet boy Natalie once saved from her mother’s labs, where he’d been experimented on and tortured. It was his venom the Sentry used to create the lethal Golden Haze, the heart of the government conspiracy that led to Black City’s uprising and Ash’s rebirth as the Phoenix, the face of the rebellion. Elijah is back and Ash doesn’t like him; it’s clear he’s taken with Natalie, and Ash fears she may have feelings for him as well.

But Elijah also may have the answer to taking down Purian Rose for good—a powerful weapon called the Ora. Ash, Natalie and Elijah just have to escape Black City undetected to find it. But fleeing the city and finding this weapon (if it even exists) are easier said than done, and the quest could tear Ash and Natalie apart, even pushing them into the arms of others.

This enthralling sequel to Black City is just as absorbing, delicious and steamy as the first book, leaving readers hungry for the series conclusion.


I read Black city about a two months ago, I thought it was pretty good so I've decided to download Phoenix and pick up where the story left off.
I would recommend Black City to those of you who like vampire novels, its nothing like Twilight or Vampire Academy so it has a very different vibe to it. I'm not one to read a lot of vampire novels but there are a few that I like, and Black City was one I didn't mind.
There were some parts of it that I didn't like too much but I've decided to give it a second chance. Review to come soon.
                               

So those are the books I will be reading for the rest of the month.  Stay tuned for my reviews and happy reading :) x
jordypaigebooks

Review coming soon...
 The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards