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Year-End Writing Wrap-Up ... and a glimpse ahead
To my utter surprise, 2019 was a very good year for me, writing-wise. I headed into it without any real plans or goals, but a series of projects kept me busy, and kept the words flowing. And my year-end total is a number I never thought I'd see.
233,831.
233,831 words. From my flighty little brain. I still find it very hard to believe, considering where I was just a few years ago.
Two years ago, I wrote nothing, and that had been the case for many years before that. Sure, I had ideas and notes, but I never summoned the courage to string them together into a coherent story. Then, at the beginning of 2018, I began writing fanfic, and that rekindled my love for writing and my confidence in my skill. While I wrote a few original pieces for Fictober 2018, it wasn't until this summer that I decided to truly branch back out into original fiction and poetry, and it has been so much fun to reacquaint myself with that side of my creativity.
All this reacquaintance has been good for other aspects of my life, as well. It's provided me a creative outlet, and that has brought a sense of balance back into my life. 2019 was the most mentally healthy year for me in recent memory, and I attribute that in large part to recapturing the joy of creating, and the sense of purpose that came with it.
And a big part of that joy comes from sharing my work with others, and enjoying what they choose to share, as well. So, a big "thank you" to everyone who contributes to this lovely sense of community ā in fandom, in creativity, and in positivity! :)
Here's looking forward to 2020! š
My 2019 writing got off to a false start. A few days into the new year, I wrapped up my first multi-chapter fanfic. Or so I thought. One reviewer on FFN was honest enough to tell me that the ending felt rushed, and I am so grateful to them, because, frankly, the ending was rushed. This was my first longfic, and I was both eager to finish it, and nervous that readers would get upset if it dragged on too long, so I crammed the remainder of the story into one chapter and threw it out there.
But there was still so much story to tell.
I took down that chapter and worked on it, expanding it and allowing other characters to react to the events within. I posted the rewritten chapter soon afterward, and in March, I posted the last chapter and epilogue, and feel so much better about the whole story than I did in January. It remains the longest story I've ever written to date, and I am still ridiculously proud of it.
A few other multi-chapter projects helped to boost my word count, and were immense fun to work on. This past year, I wrote my first AU, wrote several stories from POVs I'd never thought I'd write, and created what I feel is a good mixture of silly and dramatic stories. I'm so comfortable with fanfic now, the nerves I felt getting into it in 2018 seem kind of silly in retrospect. :)
And getting back into original fiction was such a relief and joy for me, and, while I'm not yet at a point that I can write a long, multi-chapter original story, I am re-learning how to create characters and build worlds from scratch, as well as the myriad different ways to tell a story. Not everything I try might work, but much of the fun is in experimenting, and spreading my creative wings. I am slowly becoming more comfortable with calling myself a writer again, and I look forward to learning more about the craft in the year to come.
Speaking of the new year, I have quite a few projects I wish to complete or begin. While it's nearly impossible to get to it all, I find that I work better when I have a choice of goals to meet. So, here are a few things I'd like to get around to in 2020:
Overall:
Read more. I'm definitely a slacker in this department, but I do realize its importance in identifying aspects of writing that work for me, or don't work for me, or new things that I would like to incorporate into my own writing style.
That said, play around with my own writing style some more. I've done that a bit this year, and it's always fun. It also helps me to identify my strengths and weaknesses, as well as ways to spice up my comfortable style/routines.
Meet my GYWO goal. I pledged 150k. Since this year was the first in which I even broke 100k, though, I'm still a little nervous. :)
For fanfic:
Finish "Where I Belong", and start on "4242" (I am so excited ā and nervous ā about this story!)
Finish "40-Love" and perhaps begin working on that hotel AU idea I tossed out there a while back
Finish "Space of a Memory" (I think it needs a rewrite)
Get back around to "Mercy" (fingers crossed!)
Branch out into other fandoms with a few one-shots (Transistor is a given, and I've been toying with an idea for a fic from an older anime)
For original fiction:
Work on stories about the Havenworth siblings (introduced in "Hook and Net and Twenty Men"; there's a lot of potential there)
Participate in more prompts and challenges
Read more of others' writing, interact with other writers
Submit at least one piece for publication
Yikes, that last goal scares me, but I believe it is a major step in my development as a writer. I know I'm not polished yet, but that is something I want to work on, and submission for publication is a great incentive to that end. Iām not talking about publishing a book, or even placing a story with a professional market; I just want to dip my toes in the water by sending something out to smaller publications. Confidence and credentials build slowly, and I've got to start somewhere! :)
Well, I think that's about enough planning to get me through the first half of 2020, at least! ;) It will definitely help to keep the words flowing. While I don't anticipate matching my 2019 word count, I'd like to keep writing regularly. As I said above, it's been a joy to rediscover my creativity, and I hope I can keep doing so through the next year! :)
233,831.
233,831 words. From my flighty little brain. I still find it very hard to believe, considering where I was just a few years ago.
Two years ago, I wrote nothing, and that had been the case for many years before that. Sure, I had ideas and notes, but I never summoned the courage to string them together into a coherent story. Then, at the beginning of 2018, I began writing fanfic, and that rekindled my love for writing and my confidence in my skill. While I wrote a few original pieces for Fictober 2018, it wasn't until this summer that I decided to truly branch back out into original fiction and poetry, and it has been so much fun to reacquaint myself with that side of my creativity.
All this reacquaintance has been good for other aspects of my life, as well. It's provided me a creative outlet, and that has brought a sense of balance back into my life. 2019 was the most mentally healthy year for me in recent memory, and I attribute that in large part to recapturing the joy of creating, and the sense of purpose that came with it.
And a big part of that joy comes from sharing my work with others, and enjoying what they choose to share, as well. So, a big "thank you" to everyone who contributes to this lovely sense of community ā in fandom, in creativity, and in positivity! :)
Here's looking forward to 2020! š
My 2019 writing got off to a false start. A few days into the new year, I wrapped up my first multi-chapter fanfic. Or so I thought. One reviewer on FFN was honest enough to tell me that the ending felt rushed, and I am so grateful to them, because, frankly, the ending was rushed. This was my first longfic, and I was both eager to finish it, and nervous that readers would get upset if it dragged on too long, so I crammed the remainder of the story into one chapter and threw it out there.
But there was still so much story to tell.
I took down that chapter and worked on it, expanding it and allowing other characters to react to the events within. I posted the rewritten chapter soon afterward, and in March, I posted the last chapter and epilogue, and feel so much better about the whole story than I did in January. It remains the longest story I've ever written to date, and I am still ridiculously proud of it.
A few other multi-chapter projects helped to boost my word count, and were immense fun to work on. This past year, I wrote my first AU, wrote several stories from POVs I'd never thought I'd write, and created what I feel is a good mixture of silly and dramatic stories. I'm so comfortable with fanfic now, the nerves I felt getting into it in 2018 seem kind of silly in retrospect. :)
And getting back into original fiction was such a relief and joy for me, and, while I'm not yet at a point that I can write a long, multi-chapter original story, I am re-learning how to create characters and build worlds from scratch, as well as the myriad different ways to tell a story. Not everything I try might work, but much of the fun is in experimenting, and spreading my creative wings. I am slowly becoming more comfortable with calling myself a writer again, and I look forward to learning more about the craft in the year to come.
Speaking of the new year, I have quite a few projects I wish to complete or begin. While it's nearly impossible to get to it all, I find that I work better when I have a choice of goals to meet. So, here are a few things I'd like to get around to in 2020:
Overall:
For fanfic:
For original fiction:
Yikes, that last goal scares me, but I believe it is a major step in my development as a writer. I know I'm not polished yet, but that is something I want to work on, and submission for publication is a great incentive to that end. Iām not talking about publishing a book, or even placing a story with a professional market; I just want to dip my toes in the water by sending something out to smaller publications. Confidence and credentials build slowly, and I've got to start somewhere! :)
Well, I think that's about enough planning to get me through the first half of 2020, at least! ;) It will definitely help to keep the words flowing. While I don't anticipate matching my 2019 word count, I'd like to keep writing regularly. As I said above, it's been a joy to rediscover my creativity, and I hope I can keep doing so through the next year! :)