Welcome to the second check in for the November Writing Challenge for Book Bloggers and Reviewers! Today’s post covers updates on my writing progress from Nov 9 to 15. My hopes for this week in the last update had been to write about one book that needs to be returned to the library soon and discuss another one with Ariel! Let’s see how I did and what else came up.
Progress Update:
I succeeded in writing about the two books I had hoped to get to. That brings the total to:
No. of books reviewed – 7
Total work count of reviews – 5,170 words
New additions:
Additionally, I wrote three non-review bookish articles this week.
Word count of non-review article – 1,872 words
What they were about:
- November Writing Challenge Check in 1 – 656 words
- 5 year buddy read anniversary with Ariel | To be posted Nov 21st – 657 words
- Young Reader’s Choice Awards 2025 | To be posted Nov 18th – 559 words
Ariel and I started working on our first 2025 article – Armed with A Book Choice Awards! I consider that a win towards 2025 blog progress. We read over 200 books combined each year, and the Armed with A Book Choice Awards give us a chance to reflect on what we loved most. It’s always fun to compare our selections with what was popular on platforms like Goodreads, which hosts its own awards.
Insights:
- I did most of the writing in the beginning of the week on the weekend and holiday Monday. Over the week, it was easier to focus on reading than to write reviews.
- As today approached, I tried to push myself to write more. One more book reviewed would have been nice. But with family commitments and my energy levels, I decided to keep it for another day. The challenge hasn’t ended yet and giving myself grace was something I knew to exercise going in.
- I finished two books this week. I am hoping to review them in the coming days. At least one has to go to the blog next week so keep an eye out for that one!
Challenge: When struggling to write a book review
Some book reviews come easy while for others, I have noticed a hesitancy.
There are two books on my list of pending book reviews that I have wanted to make time to write about for over 6 months now. For the one I read in May, I have my highlights. For the one I read in June, I just have my memory. There are unique struggles with these books. With one, I don’t recall a lot inspite of the notes. With the other, I wasn’t exactly happy with the arc of one of the characters. With the later book, it is the second in a series and I wrote such a long review of the first one that I feel bad that I don’t have as much to say for the second.
I talked about strategies to tackle the blank page in last week’s update. This is slightly different because I am not even making it to the blank page to get started. Some questions to think about:
- Do I need to write a review at all?
- Is there a minimum number of words I want to write for these books and am not sure if I will be able to?
- Am I judging my review even before writing it? Why?
Do you ever hesitate to review certain books? How do you overcome those mental blocks?
Looking at the next week:
As we head into the next 7 days of the challenge, I am sure I will work on at least two book reviews. Of the two I have been struggling with, I am going to make time to write one of them and see how it goes.
Closing Thoughts:
It was a good exercise to capture my non-review writing. I do it but I rarely think about it. November Writing Challenge has helped give it recognition too and I am excited to explore new ideas outside of book reviews. Goodreads analyzed popular books of the last decade and I am planning to add a personal spin to that.
What was your week like? Did you do some writing?
Whether you are writing a novel, short story or book review this month, share your progress in the comments! I love that we are writing together this month. 🥰
Word count for this post: 752 words
Links to check out:
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