Hello everyone! I've been thinking about the types of posts I could do this time around, and I think I'm going to try my hand at some kind of book review series. I think it will be beneficial not only for me to recommend/not recommend books for my audience, but I think it will help me differentiate the kinds of techniques I want to use in my own writing when developing my own style.
Even though I'm working on my first book, I still think there are things I can learn and utilize as I'm going through the writing/drafting/rewriting process. I'm still very new to the professional side of this, and even though online courses through places like Skillshare (not sponsored) help, I think one of the best ways I learn is through reading others' work and finding things I like and things I can do without.
So, this is how I think the series is going to work. Right now, I have three books that I know I want to use for this, and the first one is going to be The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I've been looking forward to reading this book and finding this version of it in particular--the original version--is all the more exciting, as I'll get to read Wilde's words from before they were heavily edited and censored for being "too graphic" in their depiction of homosexual relationships. That's all I'm going to say for now since I haven't really started the book yet. I think I'll read 2-3 chapters a week, and then I'll construct a review based on the parts I've read so far. In the end, I'll try to do a comprehensive review of the entire book.
I'm doing this for two main reasons: 1) I want to hone my skills in literary analysis since I'm a little rusty, and 2) I'm hoping that having an assignment like this will keep me accountable when it comes to a regular schedule. I've always had a hard time keeping a consistent posting schedule, so perhaps giving myself homework will keep me focused and on task.
Anyway, that's the update for now. I'm hoping to get started on this as soon as possible to get the first post up by next week! Bye for now!
Brenna