sophielovesbooks

[sophielovesbooks]

Happy Christmas to those who celebrate (plus a lovely day to everyone else)! 🎄🎁✨️

I spent some time with my mums. Now I'm in bed again, reading a book about a woman who absorbed her boyfriend during sex, having a grand old time. The magic of Christmas! 😊📚

[sophielovesbooks]

Lately my insomnia has been so bad it makes me wonder if invisible people are lacing my food with amphetamines

[sophielovesbooks]

Fuuuuuuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK

It's not even my country, but I've been feeling so goddamn anxious about the election these past few days. 🥲

To all my stressed-out US-Americans... sending love and strength your way! 💫

[sophielovesbooks]

It's not even my country, but I've been feeling so goddamn anxious about the election these past few days. 🥲

To all my stressed-out US-Americans... sending love and strength your way! 💫

[sophielovesbooks]

You remind, Sophie, of my much younger self. Good luck with your studies and hold the course. You will succeed at whatever you set your mind to. Warmies, Gwen

Omg, is this real? 🥹 If so, thank you so much, Gwen! This was a lovely surprise! 🥰

[sophielovesbooks]

Fellow writers! What are five pieces of advice you'd give to your younger self?

Mine are:

1) Don't overtag dialogue. Less is more. Readers will understand who is speaking.

2) Stop being so explicit. "I didn't even know who I was anymore." "I'd never be alone as long as I had her." None of that. That's the stuff you convey implicitly. If you come up with ways to do that, it will elevate your writing massively. (Though to be fair, you're reading a lot of YA because you're the target audience for it and this is more common in YA. So it's what you know. Still, though.)

3) Focus less on describing characters physically and more on capturing their essence. Again, less is more. Try to come up with unique, memorable descriptions that allow the reader to fill in the gaps.

4) Keep trying to find novel ways to express things. Keep using unusual metaphors. But don't use too many of them. Be more selective. Again, less is more.

5) Most importantly: Keep going! :)

If you feel like doing this, please go ahead, tag me and tag other writers, okay? If we could make this a thing so I can read others' answers... I would love that! ♡

[sophielovesbooks]

I don't know. I feel like I'm due another reread. I have soooo many other books on my list but I miss my babies Rob and Cassie?! 😭 The Dublin Murder Squad siren's call is growing louder by the day...

Ah, fuck it, I'm rereading a Tana French book

[sophielovesbooks]

OH MY GOD THAT MEANS I SHOWERED WITH THEM!! 😩😩😩

Hoooooly shit, I forgot to take my contacts out last night! 😳😳😳

Normally they hurt my eyes after 8-10 hours and I remove them. But apparently last night I forgot?! I woke up thinking I wasn't wearing them and put on my glasses (as I do sometimes when I'm alone, literally to give my eyes a break from the contacts!) Worked like that for half of the day. Just now I wanted to put them in, starting looking for them and only when I couldn't find them... did I have a horrible suspicion and checked my eyes.

This is so scary. I wore them for like 28 hours and didn't feel it?! How is that possible?? 😭😭😭

[sophielovesbooks]

Hoooooly shit, I forgot to take my contacts out last night! 😳😳😳

Normally they hurt my eyes after 8-10 hours and I remove them. But apparently last night I forgot?! I woke up thinking I wasn't wearing them and put on my glasses (as I do sometimes when I'm alone, literally to give my eyes a break from the contacts!) Worked like that for half of the day. Just now I wanted to put them in, starting looking for them and only when I couldn't find them... did I have a horrible suspicion and checked my eyes.

This is so scary. I wore them for like 28 hours and didn't feel it?! How is that possible?? 😭😭😭

[sophielovesbooks]

After a week of living in Oxford, I can confidently say that every cyclist in this city has a DEATHWISH. Unfortunately I adapt very quickly to local norms.

[sophielovesbooks]

✨️ Autumnal Oxford Impressions ✨️

I haven't been around much lately, but I'm moving to Oxford next week and could start sharing lots of autumn dark academia content perhaps? 🍂🥰📚🖤

[sophielovesbooks]

Did your family growing up follow the "traditional family structure"?

Traditional family structure here means: a mother and a father who are married to each other, one to four kids, and no one else in the household.

Yes, that is my family

No, we had more than four kids

No, we had extended family members living with us

No, we had non-family members living with us

No, my two parents weren't married

No, I had more than two parental figures

No, I only had one parental figure

No, I had queer parents

No, my family situation was even more complicated than that

No, multiple of these

[sophielovesbooks]

To all the writers who are currently not writing:

Maybe you are focusing on your grades or your career right now. Maybe your mental illness is preventing you from writing like you used to. Maybe you’ve just had a baby and all your time and energy is going into caring for them. Maybe you are desperately looking for a job and that’s all you can focus on right now. Maybe you are caring for a sick or disabled family member. Maybe you just feel really burned out right now. Maybe, for whatever reason, you don’t have the time or energy or motivation to write right now. 

That’s okay.

If you still feel that you’re a writer, if you still want to be a writer, then you are still a writer!

We don’t have to write during any phase of our lives to be writers. Writing will always be there. It’s waiting patiently for your return. And it has a lot of patience. So even if it takes years, writing will still be there for you. You are still a writer.

[sophielovesbooks]

[sophielovesbooks]

I haven't been around much lately, but I'm moving to Oxford next week and could start sharing lots of autumn dark academia content perhaps? 🍂🥰📚🖤

[sophielovesbooks]

🐈‍⬛🤍

last week to get Gracie 🖤

[sophielovesbooks]

OR MAYBE this is what happened: They wanted each opening act to give it their all. So they told every single one of them that they were the ONLY act.

"You're it. Bring your A game."

I'm watching the Olympics opening ceremony and it's so over the top, I actually hate it! 😭

At this point, Taylor Swift could bungee jump off the Eiffel Tower and I'd just go: "Huh. Cool. I guess."

THAT'S how desensitised I am after all of this nonsense.