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queenoftheskiesI was wondering if anyone would care to share their greatest experiences in writing for 2004, now that it's drawing to a close?
What have you learned that's most important to you? What were your biggest accomplishments? What goals did you make? Which did you keep? How do you look back over 2004 with respect to writing? Are you satisfied with the progress you made? Or looking forward to a better year in 2005?
For me, 2004 was a HUGE writing year from the POV that I learned a lot. I looked inside at what I really wanted to do with my writing life, and I went from there. A lot of the things I learned were hard lessons, but as I look toward 2005, I know the lessons learned in 2004 will serve me well.
I think the most important things I learned were:
1. Discipline
2. Patience
3. Goals, and the importance of meeting them
4. How to really treat writing as a career instead of a hobby or a wish for the distant future...and love almost every minute of it. :)
5. How to teach my self-editor to take notes, but not to interfere with the writing process.
6. How to keep writing and pressing forward, even when I feel like what I'm writing is not my best. (I have even learned not to call it crap...most of the time.) :)
7. How not to judge my writing quite so harshly in rough draft form
I feel good about myself as a writer, even though I may not always feel quite so good about my work. I'm still working on that part, and even when I'm not completely happy with it, I know what to look for so I can make it what I want as I edit and re-write.
For me, those were BIG accomplishments for the year.
Oh, that and the fact that I wrote LOTS.
The first novel in my series will be finished before the end of 2004--I'll probably declare the rough draft finished within the next day or two. Then, I'll either cry or I'll celebrate...or maybe both.
My second novel is off to a good start...over 50,000 words, thanks to NaNoWriMo.
And, I amassed many pages on other novels in the series as well, mostly before I sat down the end of July and decided I needed goals, a schedule of sorts, and to go back to the beginning, where the story really starts.
I even wrote a couple of short stories that weren't too awful. :)
I hope 2004 was as great a writing year for others as it was for me!
What have you learned that's most important to you? What were your biggest accomplishments? What goals did you make? Which did you keep? How do you look back over 2004 with respect to writing? Are you satisfied with the progress you made? Or looking forward to a better year in 2005?
For me, 2004 was a HUGE writing year from the POV that I learned a lot. I looked inside at what I really wanted to do with my writing life, and I went from there. A lot of the things I learned were hard lessons, but as I look toward 2005, I know the lessons learned in 2004 will serve me well.
I think the most important things I learned were:
1. Discipline
2. Patience
3. Goals, and the importance of meeting them
4. How to really treat writing as a career instead of a hobby or a wish for the distant future...and love almost every minute of it. :)
5. How to teach my self-editor to take notes, but not to interfere with the writing process.
6. How to keep writing and pressing forward, even when I feel like what I'm writing is not my best. (I have even learned not to call it crap...most of the time.) :)
7. How not to judge my writing quite so harshly in rough draft form
I feel good about myself as a writer, even though I may not always feel quite so good about my work. I'm still working on that part, and even when I'm not completely happy with it, I know what to look for so I can make it what I want as I edit and re-write.
For me, those were BIG accomplishments for the year.
Oh, that and the fact that I wrote LOTS.
The first novel in my series will be finished before the end of 2004--I'll probably declare the rough draft finished within the next day or two. Then, I'll either cry or I'll celebrate...or maybe both.
My second novel is off to a good start...over 50,000 words, thanks to NaNoWriMo.
And, I amassed many pages on other novels in the series as well, mostly before I sat down the end of July and decided I needed goals, a schedule of sorts, and to go back to the beginning, where the story really starts.
I even wrote a couple of short stories that weren't too awful. :)
I hope 2004 was as great a writing year for others as it was for me!
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Date: 2004-12-22 12:02 pm (UTC)In fact, 2004 was definitely the year of my obsession with this series. Now all I need to do is get it published...*crossing fingers*.
2004 was also the year that my ultra-sucky soon-to-be-ex publisher of my first novel screwed me over, screwed my friends over when they tried to order my book, screwed lots of Amazon customers over, failed to pay me (or any other author) royalties, and about ten thousand other horrible things. Totally screwed up that book's release and now I have to find someone to reprint it who won't judge it harshly for me not being able to provide sales data (since horrid publisher hasn't kept track and therefore cannot answer any author's request for this info) or for the fact that sales were hampered by failed delivery and taking it out of print on a bogus cover art issue when I dared to complain. *grumble*
I mean...this crap isn't normal for publishers, even small ones, right?
In 2002 when the book was accepted, I was enthralled. Now I am bitter and suspicious. Blah.
All I want to do is write hopefully-good stories and have people read them, and a bit of pay for it would sure be nice. Reviewers love my work...what I need now is for a real publisher with real ethics to take on my stuff and let me get it out to the people who keep telling me they are waiting for it!