What I Learned in 2011 and My Goals for 2012

2011 was a pretty amazing year for me. I had some pretty low key goals set, the kind that would lead me closer to my big goals, and instead I ended up having some completely unexpected, life changing events.

Things I did in 2011:

EVENT: Got stranded in Branson, Missouri with a group of some of the most awesome, accomplished, and inspiring women I've been fortunate to meet.

HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE: I've said this before, but it really is an amazing experience to spend time with people who have persevered to make their dreams come true, and who truly understand what that process is like. Writing is a solitary thing. And when you're just starting out, it can feel like you're on some crazy wild goose chase all by yourself. Meeting people who have been there, and pushed through to the other side is sort of life-altering. Even though rationally, I know that obviously, people write and sell books; sitting around talking about how hard it is some days, or that yes, they hear their characters talking in their heads too, or just you know, dancing to 90s hip hop, makes a world of difference once you go back home and it's just you and that blinking cursor trying to make your dream come true. I think if there is one piece of non-writing, writing advice I could give, it would be to get together with other writers (somewhere private, where you can be your weird writer selves) it will help carry you through the dark times when the words don't come and you're wondering why you ever thought you could write a book.

EVENT: I wrote a letter to my teenage self.

HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE: This one was surprisingly cathartic. Really. It brought back a lot of painful memories and then forced me to look at them from the outside, and really think about what I've learned from them. It was an emotional experience I wasn't expecting, but talking to my thirteen year old self really helped me to heal some old wounds I didn't know I still had.

EVENT: I was offered the chance to be published in an anthology.

HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE: This one still blows my mind, and probably won't seem real until I have a hardcover (!) copy in my hands and can see that yes, they really did put me in it. This is by far the "biggest" thing that happened to me in 2011. And the experience was exciting, and challenging, and scary, and awesome. It's not often that an opportunity you hadn't even dared to dream of yet appears out of the blue. I will touch more on this in a separate post, but suffice it to say that, "Write a short story on anything you want!" is both a blessing and a curse. It took me a couple of months just to decide what I was going to write, and then a couple more to figure out how to do it. I think this event more than any other made my writing improve by leaps and bounds. I didn't want to let anybody down, and so I focused and thought about every single word I used. This story was like pulling teeth, but I love it. It taught me that even when writing feels impossible, it's not. Not at all.


EVENT:I spent six weeks in Europe. Four of them, by myself.

HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE: This affected me in so many ways. The first of which was reminding myself that I'm brave, something that can sometimes been forgotten when you spend most of your time on your butt in front of a computer. It also gave me some new perspectives on what it's like to be a stranger in a strange land. (Grocery shopping when EVERYTHING is in a foreign language is an adventure all on its own.) I also had a lot of time to just think, about my writing, my writing career, what I want out of life. I know that running off to Europe for a month isn't an option for most people, but I highly recommend taking just a weekend of alone time, somewhere other than your usual haunts. Even if it's just a hotel room in a different part of town, (hey, it worked for JK Rowling!) spending time with yourself in a new place where you can't easily fall into your usual routines is a great way to recharge your creative process and your life.

EVENT: All three of my crit partners signed with amazing agents.

HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE: I'm a firm believer in, "if you want to know if you're on the right path, look around you." The theory behind this is that if you're headed in the right direction, the people around you will be successful and meeting the goals that you're also striving to reach. I'm SO PROUD of my cps and the hard work they've put in 2011. I know this is going to be a year of big announcements for them, and I trust that with their guidance and support, a little of that success will rub off on me as well.

EVENT: I did NOT write a new book.

HOW IT CHANGED MY LIFE: This year I managed to do a LOT of overthinking, and a LOT of second-guessing of myself. It was a total waste of time. TOTAL. WASTE. I can't stress that enough. I had the best of intentions. It was all about making the right choice and finding the right idea, and basically, that's a load of crap. I am happiest when I'm working on a story. Revising, surrounded by my characters and my world, totally focused on shaping it into the best story it can be. I am least happy when deciding what that story should be. I learned that what I need to do is just write it. So many of the best bits don't even show up until I've gotten a few thousand words in. They're never on the outline or the plan. They're the surprises that keep me going. Not the idea that this is exactly the story I should be writing for (insert reason here).

So that was my 2011. Here are my goals for 2012:

- Be a better blogger. As in blog more frequently, and more personally.

- Write a book that I love.

- Read more.

And that's it. I'm keeping it simple this year and going for the joy rather than the stress. What about you? What are your goals this year? What did you learn about yourself in 2011?

Debut Extravaganza

So you already know I'm a book junkie, but did I you know I have an extra special place in my heart for debuts? This year is so exciting for me because so many of the authors whose journeys I've been following are debuting. Some of them (like Michelle Hodkin) I remember from contest entries, and now they're real live books! So here's a few of the YA author debut books I can't wait to read this year!





ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis (debuted 1/11/11)
ANGELFIRE by Courtney Allison Moulton (debuts 2/15/11)
THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa and Laura Roecker (debuts 3/1/11)
BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton (debuts 5/24/11)
DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth (debuts 5/3/11)
HOURGLASS by Myra McEntire debuts (5/24/11)
POSSESSION by Elana Johnson (debuts 6/7/11)
IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma (debuts 6/14/11)
BAD TASTE IN BOYS by Carrie Harris (debuts 7/12/11)
WILDEFIRE by Karsten Knight (debuts 7/26/11)
THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab (debuts 8/2/11)
THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin (debuts 9/27/11)


What debuts are you looking forward to?

Confessions of a Book Junkie

I admit it. I'm a book junkie. I see books I haven't read lined up on a shelf and I get excited. They're like tiny Christmas presents wrapped up in pretty paper. Each one holds a whole world that I can slip into and discover. And like Veruca Salt I want them ALL and I want them NOW. And that's a problem. If books were food, I'd be 200 pounds overweight.

So this year I've come up with a plan - not a goal, but a plan. I do have reading goals, mainly, to read a few classics. (I started Great Expectations before Oprah chose it for the book club.) But my PLAN is to dig deep into my massive TBR pile. I got a bit overzealous with the book buying last year, and a bit overly optimistic about how much free time I would have. (This is just some of the books I got in December of 2011 - only two are ARCs.)




Last year my goal was to read 100 books. Up from the 80 or so I read in 2009. I thought it would be simple. I'm a fast reader, so two books a week would be no problem. I started off great but then writing, and critiquing became more important and I got WAY behind. I think I finished the year at something like 44. So THIS year, like my Sister in Scribe Kristi, I'm not going to count books. I'm just going to read them.

My rule this year is that I'm not allowed to buy ANY new books (save for a few must have pre-orders I placed last year) until I've read at least 20 of the books I already own. If this takes me all of 2011, so be it. Um. I hope.

What are your reading goals this year?

2011 Writing Goals & What I Learned in 2010

I don't make resolutions. (Um... anymore.) I think they're too broad, and they don't bend to real life situations. I'm the kind of person that needs to feel like they're making progress, and I work better when I have a set of conditions to meet, so for me it's all about setting goals.

Last year I was coming off the high of finishing my very first complete draft of a novel. I set some HUGE goals that I now know were not just overwhelming, but also misguided.

2010 was a difficult year for me in many ways, and an amazing one in many others. A death in the family left me unable (both literally and emotionally) to write or revise for about two months. I entered into that long dark tunnel called "revisions". Where I learned that no matter how good you think your first draft is, there are always thousands of ways to make it better. And some of those ways take a full revision before you can see the path to them.

So where am I as I start 2011?

After an extremely busy holiday season I am FINALLY reaching the end of what turned out to be an almost complete rewrite. I have learned A LOT about story structure, plot, and character arcs. Much more than I would've thought possible in a revision.

From my revisions I've learned a lot about myself as a writer, my tics, and ways to make my next first draft a much better starting point. (Also, Scrivener changed my life when it comes to story, plot, research, and chapter organization!)

I have felt the pain of killing my darlings and the joy of having a CP fall in love with my favorite character.

I've fought the pull of shiny new ideas, found ways to stay focused (although this will be a continuing battle for me, no matter how excited I am about a project) and discovered that I CAN write on demand and turn out something I'm proud of (thanks Tangled Fiction!)

I have made some truly awesome friends who get my obsession over writing and YA.

And I have been humbled and honored by some very kind and encouraging words about my writing.

So what are my goals for this year?

Last year I wanted to bang out the really rough first drafts of two novels. This year that's not good enough for me. I want to complete one really well thought out, solid first draft.

I want to make my current ms the absolute best it can be before it goes out into the world.

I want to write more short stories and on a regular basis, which okay, is a given thanks to Tangled Fiction. But I want these to be stories I'm proud of, not stories I make excuses for like "well, if I had more than a couple days, this would've been awesome!"

As a whole, I just want to keep getting better at writing by actively pursuing ways to do so. Whether it's conferences, retreats, challenging myself to styles/genres I've never written before, whatever.

And of course, I want 2011 to be the year I sign with the perfect agent for me and my book!

What about you? Are you going full steam ahead with a list of resolutions? Setting small goals? Did 2010 turn out like you thought it would?