A Year in Review, Third Edition

It has been three years since I started this blog to chronicle my writing journey. The amount of growth I’ve experienced in this last year has caused me to stop more than once to thank my past-self for starting where she was and not stopping.

One of the things I’ve really felt in this past year is how much my writing gets to the core of what I’m trying to say much more quickly than it ever has. I can look at a draft and know what I was trying to say beneath all of the repetition, cliches, and vague descriptions. Then I’m able to revise and rewrite those things in a much more elegant and authentic way. I knew that specifically, that being able to evaluate and rewrite a story better than what it was before was only going to happen if I wrote that crappy draft first. There were times when I’d write and know that what I was writing wasn’t going to be what I wanted it to be, and knowing all of the work that was still to come almost made me stop. But I’d remind myself that if I didn’t begin, I’d never get where I was going anyway. THIS is the biggest thing that has struck me as I review the goals I accomplished this year. In terms of “countable” goals this year, I wrote a first draft of a manuscript for the third book of my first trilogy, finished the first draft of a manuscript I started writing a decade ago, finished the first draft of a new manuscript I started writing last year, and revised tens of thousands of words in between. I completed 100 queries for MS:SB and received a couple of dozen rejections. I’m leaving my 2020-2021 writing year in the middle of drafting the query letter for the next manuscript I’m getting ready to shop for representation.

Reflecting on each of those projects, on where I am in my writing, and the path that I’m forging makes me thankful. I’m thankful to my past-self and her perseverance to get us where we are now. I’m thankful to my present self for continuing to make time for the writing. I’m thankful to my future-self for her dedication to the worlds we created and loving the woman she was before in every era of her creative journey. This year was a test on so many different levels for all of us and I’m glad that I was able to go to my writing when I was able and that it was there waiting for me when I was not. I’m excited tor the year to come and the projects I’m going to work on and start. I’m still ironing out my goals for my 2021-2022 writing year and look forward to sharing them when I am done. Mostly though, I am thrilled to keep going and keep sharing the journey. ⭐️

In case you haven’t been told today, you are more than enough.

Happy Writing!