After recently signing up to Penguin Random House’s online community, Bookmarks, I cannot help but urge all lovers of literature to take a peek!
Originally launched in 2013, http://www.my-bookmarks.co.uk has recently had a relaunch last summer, inviting their much-loved followers on Twitter and Facebook. I must admit I had never heard of the website before I had seen it on Facebook, however I really wish I had!
Bookmarks is an online community that help Penguin Random House with their research on books. Members are asked about advertising, poster adjustments and books in general. The best part however is that the members are able to get their hands on the latest news in the literary world, entered into prize draws and have a chance of getting free books! The online community is also another reason to sign up. Readers express their interests and are given book recommendations by others. So far all of the recommendations I have been given are brilliant. Everyone is friendly and happy to listen to your thoughts. Penguin Random House have definitely got that community feel to a T. If you truly love books as much as you think you do then this site is definitely a must. I’ve provided the website below just in case. Happy reading!
my mind, is whether they actually work. Will using this product be more beneficial than a stroll to clear your mind? I understand that some people may conjure up a plot from a writing exercise, but are these writing tools and exercises worth relying on? I have attempted to create a plot from several of these writing gadgets, yet my most worthy ideas have came from travelling or just as I was about to go to sleep. After my attempts with the supposedly writing tools, I began to question whether the thought of using one of these strategies was actually better than using one. At Waterstones there is a book called, Get Ready, Get Set, Novel! At first glance it sounds really exciting, by completing the book you should be ready to start writing a novel. Then it dawned on me. Procrastination was what this book truly was. So after reflecting on this incident, could writing gadgets just be a way for writers to procrastinate. I m
ean going to a creative writing workshop is different as ideas are generated among the group and people come out inspired to write. However these books and gadgets that tell us how to write, appear to simply be there for us to procrastinate with. With that in mind, how do you start a novel? Do you begin with procrastinating (because we all need a tidy desk, a clean room and a cup of tea by our side before we begin), do you just write down whatever comes to mind as your ideas generate over the page, or do you wait for the idea to come to mind before you begin. This is just a brief thought about writing a novel, because obviously no one said it was going to be easy. However how do you start when you do not know how to begin?
Charlotte Anne Barker 