diaryofa-writer

[diaryofa-writer]

Friday, 20 June, 2025

I read 223/327 pages of The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood yesterday, and I also read 32 pages of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas.

I'm really enjoying both books so far, and will definitely finish off the last 100 or so pages of The Queen of Poisons today.

I feel like I'm finally back in my element: devouring books within 2 days of starting them, playing the sims, applying for jobs (but we don't talk about how that one's going).

Summer is here.

[diaryofa-writer]

Thursday, 19 June, 2025

My boyfriend is working a long shift today and then is going to play cricket after work, so I'm going to use this opportunity to do a 12-ish hour readathon!

I finished reading A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn yesterday, and have been keeping on track with reading 20-30 pages of A Court of Wings and Ruin everyday so far this week.

I'm hoping to reading all of Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood: the third novel in the Marlow Murder Club series. This one follows Judith, Suzie and Becks as they investigate the sudden death of the Mayor of Marlow after traces of aconite 'The Queen of Poisons' are found in his coffee cup. I'm very excited about this one; this series is slowly becoming one of my favourite cosy murder mystery series of all time (along with The Thursday Murder Club and The Canon Clement Mysteries).

If I finish that with time to spare, I'm going to read some more of Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose: a non-fiction novel for 'people who love books and those that want to write them'.

[diaryofa-writer]

Monday, 16 June, 2025

Today, I began to write my first draft of my current work in progress (a murder mystery novel), I wrote 488 words, and so far, I think I'm really going to enjoy writing this piece.

I've never attempted to write a murder mystery before, but I love reading murder mystery novels, and I'm very excited to see how this experience will challenge me as a writer.

[diaryofa-writer]

Saturday, 14 June, 2025

I didn't read as much as I wished to on Thursday due to poor attention span and looking after my boyfriend's dogs while he was at work, however I did get about halfway through A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn, and read about 50 pages of The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.

On another note, I am desperate to finish A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas because I've been meaning to read it for almost a year. I'm currently 238 pages into it, but I am, unfortunately, not in the mood to read it.

So I'm going to set myself a challenge for next week: to read at least 20 pages of it per day. If this goes well, I would have read 100 pages of this book by next Sunday.

Wish me luck.

[diaryofa-writer]

Tuesday, 10th June, 2025

On Thursday, there are people shutting off our power to work on the telephone lines, so, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to do a 24 hour readathon from tomorrow until they turn the power back on on Thursday evening. I will be sleeping between days, and it may not add up to 24 hours, however, I have been procrastinating reading lately, and have been too distracted by my phone.

My TBR/Goals are:

Read 50-100 pages of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Read The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood

Read A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn

Reread A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

(If my boyfriend wants to join in too) Read some more of The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (we're buddy reading this)

I will update you when I can. Wish me luck.

[diaryofa-writer]

These are so stunning, I'm in awe

instagram | photos are my own, reblogs fine, do not repost/reuse

[diaryofa-writer]

how it feels to make the mature decision regarding your long-term future

[diaryofa-writer]

Publishing your work online and wanting the approval of your audience makes it hard to remember sometimes that you don't owe anyone your creativity. Sure, it's a give and take. You bless them with your work and they show gratitude. But one does not dictate the other.

Write and create when you feel like it, not because you feel forced to satisfy someone else.

[diaryofa-writer]

Friday, 30 May, 2025

It is 9:08 in the morning and I am yet to rise from my bed.

I have no structure to my days anymore. University is over and I am lost.

Perhaps I'll write. Maybe I'll read. It feels weird to have so much freedom.

[diaryofa-writer]

Friday, 30 May, 2025

In the past two weeks, I've worked so hard on my last two assignments for my degree. I submitted my final Creative Writing piece last Thursday, and my final English Literature essay yesterday.

I've recently started working on a murder mystery/literary fiction novel, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that something is now missing.

No one told me that, once I'd complete my degree, I'd feel an enormous sense of displacement. Last night, I was making dinner with my boyfriend, and something in me snapped, and I'd realised that the thing I've worked so hard for over the past four years is now over.

I suppose I'll have to change my username...

[diaryofa-writer]

in this house we do grandma activities

[diaryofa-writer]

Vincent Van Gogh

[diaryofa-writer]

Dead Poets Society (1989)  dir. Peter Weir

[diaryofa-writer]

Thursday, 21 Nov, 2024

Today, I had one of the worst days of the year. I spent 11 hours on Tiktok, and was paralysed by task overload. I had so many things to do, but I physically couldn't bring myself to do any of them.

I am burnt out.

Tomorrow is a new day, I will feel better. I will have a shower, and finish reading Hamlet, and read for fun, and (perhaps most importantly) stick to my 1 and a half hour timer on tiktok.

Tomorrow I will do my best.

[diaryofa-writer]

Sunday, 3rd November 2024

I received feedback on my 1st Creative Writing assignment for Third Year this week, and I'm so proud of myself.

I got 71% with equates to a B grade, and considering I was quite far behind schedule (and still am) I'm quite happy with that grade. However, I've now got to start thinking about my next assignment, which is a short essay on the use of the word 'unnatural' in an excerpt from Shakespeare's As You Like It, and then a 1000 word close reading of the play.

This assignment is due on the 7th of November, and I'm slightly stressed about it, because I'm two weeks behind in my work.

So, this week is going to be a massive study week just so I can get back on track and also try and do really well in the assignment

[diaryofa-writer]

Channelling the spirits of the holy trinity for this fall semester

[diaryofa-writer]

Mon, 12 Aug, 2024

I have enrolled in my final year of Open University!! The modules I plan on doing are Advanced Creative Writing and English Literature from Shakespeare to Austen. The website for my English Lit module opens on Wednesday and, since my parents have helped me massively by starting to buy the set texts I need for the year, I will start reading and annotating my books for the first essay just to get ahead because the reading usually takes me a while and then I fall behind so being quite ahead of schedule will definitely help me in the long run.