BOOKISH CHAT | HOW I READ SO MUCH

Like a lot of people I was a voracious reader as a child. I would stay up late holding my battered Harry Potter next to my nightlight, ruining my eyesight just for a few more chapters. Then, as school got busier and homework piled up (and I actually made friends to spend break-times with), the habit dropped and I went from reading several books a week, to virtually none. Even studying literature at university, I read some of my course material and not much else. 

I went from the ages of about fifteen to twenty not reading much of anything at all, and it's only in the last couple of years that I've really picked up the habit again. I know a lot of us would like to read faster and get through more books, so I thought I'd share a couple of suggestions based on what has worked for me as I re-developed a reading practice. 

BULLET JOURNAL PROMPTS AND TIPS

With 2019 fast approaching, it feels like the whole world is laying down plans for the New Year, and a common goal is to get organised and start a planner or bullet journal. I've gone in and out of bullet journalling for the past few years, often falling off the wagon just when I start to get really busy - which is, of course, the time when I need it most - but I'm determined to make 2019 the year that I stick with it.

The original bullet journal system is somewhat dry, and very much focused on function over form. Like a lot of people I took the general premise of the bullet journal method and expanded it to suit my own needs and tastes, not only using the notebook for planning, but also to store ideas and information. My own bullet journal contains recipes, doodles, trackers, wishlists, and a whole host of other stuff that makes the notebook a very important part of my daily life. Today I'm sharing a few pages from my own bullet journal, as well as some advice for getting started, and of course a few prompts that might inspire some creativity.

ON WINNING NANOWRIMO | ADVICE AND PLANS

The year of our lord 2018 marks my fourth attempt at the Legendary task of NaNoWriMo. The difference this year is that I fucking won. 

I didn't start out this years challenge with high hopes. I expected myself to fizzle out around the 20,000 word mark as I usually did - blaming myself for not preparing enough, and blaming the fact that I was busy and tired and that my novel idea was terrible anyway. Honestly winning has come as such a huge surprise to me that I couldn't really muster up any feeling of pride or accomplishment when I verified my word count and the website flashed up the winner's page. I'm still more surprised than anything else.

A YEAR OF LONG DISTANCE + HOW WE MADE IT WORK

Alex and I have been together for well over a year and a half, and we have never lived within walking distance. When we first met we were a twenty minute train ride away, then I moved to stay with my parents for a few months, pushing that distance to an hour and a half, and then I left for York, moving five hours up the country to do a postgraduate degree.

I realise this sounds like I'm slowly edging further away hoping he'll get the hint, but I was accepted to study at York just before we met, so it was always a factor in our relationship, and it was a real moment of commitment when we decided that, after about five months, we were willing to stay together while I moved across the country for a year. I have since completed my degree and moved south again, and we are now separated by a measly seventy minute drive. Being so far away, both constricted by busy schedules and deadlines, hasn't been easy on us, but we've gotten through this last year with relatively little trouble, and never came close to breaking up. With that in mind I think we're both fairly well equipped to give a little advice, so Alex has helped me put together this little post, what a champ <3