Hey everyone. We’ve finally made it to the last post of this year. I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be finishing this last update and today of all days on Christmas. Wow! It’s so exciting. Remember to stick around till the end of the post to see the announcement for the new series starting next year. So, without further ado….
A Year In Reflection
We are at the end of another crazy year. And with the end of the year, I want to take some time to look back on some of the things that happened this year in relation to my writing and my life. I’m going to break it down into sections by writing related task and then any big life events.
This Blog
I’ll admit that in the past I haven’t been very good at keeping up with this blog. There were huge gaps where I didn’t say anything. There were portions where I forgot to post a new post for several months. So, I must say that I am proud of myself this year for not only coming up with content this year but that I also wrote the posts and put them up on time all year long. I even came up with a better posting system that kept me updating my posts on time without causing myself undue stress by feeling the need to post when I didn’t have time.
I’m glad that I was able to work out the new idea of having stand alone posts write before a new series to cover random topics as well as taking month breaks between the series and stand-alone posts which has really been helping me to focus on my writing better. I love this blog and I’m so glad that I was able to find time to write here all year long despite how busy I was.
Writing In General
I will admit that the last couple years I’ve had a hard time writing my books. Writing had always been a stress reliever for me, but for the last couple years I realized that writing has been more stressful then stressless. But this year, despite the fact that I didn’t write as much as I used to when I was younger, I still felt like I wrote some good things, had some good new book ideas, and overall enjoyed writing more this year. I’m also glad that I was able to spend some time (over several months because I am busy) to read and buy some new books on writing to help me feel better about my slow progress.
My new year’s resolution goal related to writing was to write more then I had in 2020. Which sounds like a daunting goal, and it was, just not in the way you would think. I wrote a total of 2 pages last year (excluding Nanowrimo) and so writing more than that doesn’t sound super difficult. But it was difficult. Because this year I also started University AGAIN, moved out of my parent’s house, and began working to pay for tuition and living expenses, and dealing with anything else that life threw my way.
But I am proud to say that despite all of that I still managed to accomplish this goal. I didn’t write an amazing amount of 5,000 words a month or something like that. Excluding any writing I did for Nanowrimo, I wrote a total of 40 pages this year which is the most I have written since 2019 and it was all mostly on one book. I’m excited to say that I am finally feeling like writing again and excited to get back into it.
Nanowrimo
This year I once again participated in Nanowrimo. I already knew from the get-go that I was not going to win this year or do something amazingly great. I set a goal for myself of 25,000 words and I achieved that! I had a really tough fall semester with lots of homework and extra assignments plus work. But I really appreciated and enjoyed purposefully making time for myself every day, no matter when, to write a little bit of a story even if it was only one paragraph between classes. I’m excited that I took some personal time to do something like that for myself. I'm also glad I was able to use the words from all the essays I wrote that month towards my word count as well. I will admit that counting my essay words was a majority of my 25,000 words for November. Haha.
Life Changes
A lot has happened this year with the biggest being I was able to move during the pandemic to a new place, start school again, find a job, maintain good grades, and be financially stable on my own. I am so amazed at how far I have come this year in my writing life and skills as well as my life outside of writing. I am proud of all the books I was able to buy this year (even when I probably shouldn’t have) and I am very proud of all the notebooks I DIDN’T buy. I feel like this year I achieved a lot even if sometimes it felt like a little.
That’s it for the last post of the year. And the last stand alone post before the new series. You know what that means.
TIME TO ANNOUNCE THE NEW SERIES!!!
Starting on January 1st we will begin a new series titled How to Develop. In this series we’ll talk a little bit about things I’ve mentioned or brought up in past posts, but this will be focused on how what you can do to develop further as a writer. I was asked if this was similar to the Small Skills series and in a way it is. The Small Skills series was to help you know of some skills you should learn and how to practice them however this series will be focused more on larger general tasks you can do to develop as a writer whether you’re a beginner or a veteran.
I’m super excited for the new year and the new series and I really hope that you all can join me again for both. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Years and any other holiday you celebrate! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the links below. And remember,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next year!
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