With all the Best Of
2014 lists circling around right now, I figured I’d be amiss if I didn’t
jump on the bandwagon and reflect back on my writing adventures during the last
year.
At the beginning of 2014, the RA of our local SCBWI chapter
had us write down our goals for the year. My goals were to 1) have a good first
page written of my new draft by Feb so I could share it with the group, 2) go
to a SCBWI conference in April and complete a second draft by then, and 3)
finish a final draft of the manuscript by the end of 2014 so I could start
querying.
Reading this now, I see I definitely had some hits and
misses. I only finished my second draft six weeks ago and am certainly nowhere
near querying. I did finish my first
page in time though. Here’s to small accomplishments! That, in and of itself,
was a feat because it was the first time I shared any of my writing with
complete strangers. I remember being too terrified to make eye contact with
anyone as my page was read and too overwhelmed to remember much of the feedback
afterwards. Except that it was positive. Surprisingly positive. And even though
I intend on throwing that first page away now, that experience helped propel me
into a year that I couldn’t even have dreamed of at the time.
This year I met and talked with many authors, including some
I’ve admired and respected for years. I attended two conferences (including the
one in April), read my work in front of many more strangers, had conversations
with editors and agents, and attended a 5-day writing retreat that I thought would
have to stay a dream for many years into my future. I joined the board of our
SCBWI chapter, wrote an entirely new, 300 page draft of my manuscript, and met
a fellow writer who has quickly become one of my loudest cheerleaders and
greatest friends.
I might not have landed an agent yet or even finished the
book completely. I don’t have any publishing contracts or advances coming in
2015. But my progress from the beginning of 2014 until now is staggering to me.
More than anything,
what I’ve learned this year is that I love writing—the whole process of it,
even the shitty parts—but more importantly, I’ve learned that I need it. In the end, that’s all that really matters. All the rest may come
eventually, but for now, I’m just going to remember to be really grateful for
the progress I’ve made and look forward to writing this same post a year from
now.
I can’t imagine what I’ll be writing about by then, but I
can’t wait to find out.
