I know I reported this when it happened (the finishing of revision part anyway), but I just wanted to reiterate that I have already crossed off one of my 2011 goals from the list. Which can be found at the link below.
Namely the finish revision of Sundown and order the proof copy. So yeaaaah, ahead of the game I am! Feels good. I'm pumped. Watch out.
(That was meant to sound like some hot-headed boxer before a big game)
Now, back to what I intended to mostly use this entry for...the latest reverb10 crap.
December 15: 5 Minutes
I'll completely lose my memory of 2010 in five minutes? Well sheeet! What would I want to remember most? Probably my trip to the United States - lots of fun - and then all the writing achievements I had this year. And also the foster kitties I took care of for a while. Totally adorable, if ultra needy and...exasperating at times. Hehe. Oh, and discovering my absolute love of the band Lacuna Coil. Yeah, I'm slow off the uptake sometimes, but I uptook them big time!! My interaction with Billy Corgan on Facebook, before he took down his page (ahhh, the heartache!). The wonderful characters I spent time with during the year (mostly my own, but also those in books I read as well). Seeing the latest Twilight movie (sue me!) and the latest Harry Potter movie. Umm...yeah. That about sums it up. And I think my 5 minutes are up.
December 16: Friendship
I think I have to thank my critiquing buddies for how they've changed my life this year. They've really caused me to get more serious about my writing. I guess it's ironic to think I wasn't serious before, when I had already written such a ridiculous number of words across my lifetime. But the truth is, I write just for me, and yeah it'd be awesome to be published someday, but even if I'm not I doubt I could ever stop writing. It's not so much a love as a compulsion, but of course I do love it. Still, I want to thank my critiquing buddies for all the time and effort and enthusiasm and advice and inspiration they've given. You gals are awesome!
December 17: Lesson Learned
The best thing I learned about myself was probably that I am resilient, and can bounce back from stuff. I also have the ability to take advice and work with it, in other words I'm open-minded. How will I apply that lesson going forward? Well, the obvious answer is related to my writing. I'm not going to give up even when the going gets rough and I experience those waves of disillusion. I won't give up, and if I should ever start to lose the passion for writing, I'll make changes to ensure I'm not taking it so seriously.
December 18: Try
Next year I want to try and achieve the longest list of writing goals I've ever set myself (see links to goals above). I'm pretty confident I can do so, but it's going to be a pretty exhilarating challenge! I am going to try my best to stay inspired the whole year through. And I am going to try and get at least one novel ready for submission. Because I'm motivated, damn it!
December 19: Healing
I think my characters really helped me out this year, in that they went through the wringer and experienced some of the things I've been through myself (death, pain, loss, blah blah). Writing their stories was difficult at times, because I really felt mean putting them through all that. Then again, the story sort of wrote itself, so it's not really my fault. Right?
December 20: Beyond Avoidance
What did I not do/avoid doing this year? Try to get a date. Wait, was that really bad date with the spandex-wearing stingy bastard from this year, or was it last year? I can't remember. But yeah, I didn't try at all to work on my love life. I'm just not sure I want to. Imagine if I had a clingy boyfriend who wanted to take up all my time outside of work? How would I ever get any writing done?!?! So I guess that answered the last part of the question, that being "Will you do it?" I...don't know.
December 21: Future Self
Five years from now, I am hoping I will have published something, and will be fulfilled in my life, and still be inspired the way I am today. That's my fondest wish. Not too much to ask for, right? And...as for myself ten years ago...yikes!! I'd say, "Don't worry, someday you'll have more than one friend, you will have travelled heaps and seen the world and proven to it that you're capable of being an independent self-sustaining woman. Congratulations to the future you, life WILL get better! Oh, and you will lose about 10 kg. Good job!"
This is very cool! I usually don't like summing up my year--not because I ever have exceptionally bad years, but because I'm usually pretty stressed/delightedly exhausted once I'm done with things. I like to move on.
ReplyDeleteBut this year? Best things:
--Got to write. For a year straight. After getting my degree! (Which happened LAST year, but you know.)
--Got into an amazing graduate program, which I'll start in (eep!) about ten days!
--Finished and revised the novel I [initially] thought I'd never write.
Lessons learned--there are lots. Mostly to do with writing, but many that have to do with what writing does for ME. It makes me better, makes me stronger, makes me work harder for the things I want. They're the kind of lessons I can't articulate, at least until I'm in a situation where I think, "Oh. Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to do it THIS way," as opposed to the same way I'd been doing whatever for years and getting mediocre results.
Basically, lessons learned all boil down to perseverance. I know how to harness it, now, and I'm proud of myself. :)
This was a great post--very thought-provoking!
Sounds like it was a great year for you Shayda!! And next year will be awesome too with your graduate program! :D Did you do a degree in creative writing? I'm so jealous that other countries let people do that. Ours doesn't, or didn't last I checked :(
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