January 11th 2021 marks this blog’s one year anniversary. It’s weird to think about, especially because of the type of year 2020 was. I thought I’d take this space to reflect on my year of blogging by walking through some of the things that made 2020 a little more bearable for me.
But first: some stats!
Everyone loves statistics (except me in college, but that’s a story for another day.)
| Blog Posts Written | Average Word Count per Post | Total Annual Word Count |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 1039 | 27017 |
| Categories (posts can have multiple categories) | Number of Posts |
|---|---|
| Hello World! | 10 |
| Ninjas | 2 |
| Publishing | 8 |
| Resources | 9 |
| Side Quests | 4 |
| Writing | 21 |
| The Puppy Diaries | 1 |
Top Ten Posts (by views)
- Where to Submit? #LitMag Edition
- Why Traditional Publishing?
- Tanden (丹田)
- Newbie Writing Resources
- On Rejection
- The 2020 TBR: What I’m Reading
- How to Build a World, Part Two: THE MAP
- The Exposition Post
- Pitch Wars Advice Blog Hop: A Newbie’s Perspective
- #PitMad: My Experience
Most Used Tags
2020 reads (19) 2020 TBR (19) 2021 reads (15) 2021 TBR (12) 2022 reads (4) 2022 TBR (4) adult fantasy (5) book thoughts (39) creativity (4) drabble (13) dystopia (5) epistolary (5) fantasy (15) flash fiction (14) flash fiction friday (8) how to (4) micro fiction (5) microflash (4) persistence (3) Pitch Wars (4) progress (6) prose (7) Publishing (5) puppies (5) puppy life (6) Querying (3) reading (26) reflections (3) rejection (4) resources (4) science fiction (11) science fiction and fantasy (26) self pub (3) SFF (22) short fiction (8) spoo life (5) standard poodle puppy (5) submission (3) the puppy diaries (6) to be read (5) vss (8) worldbuilding (4) Writing (19) Writing Community (9) young adult fantasy (6)
Okay. On to the introspection.
World-Building Series
The idea for a world-building series struck me right as COVID-19 caused lockdowns across the United States. Honestly, the structure of having to plan, research, and write a weekly series like this kept me sane in the beginning of the pandemic, when fear was high and everything was uncertain. (Not that the world is any less scary or the future any more certain as I write this, but, I guess I’m more used to the insanity of the present now.)
Publication in Rune Bear and the Amateur Writing Contest
Nothing was more unexpected than becoming a published author last year. Sure, it’s only a 100-word drabble. But an author of flash fiction is still an author. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. My second windfall in a year of unprecedented happenings was placing first in the Baltimore Science Fiction Society’s annual Amateur Writing Contest in October. Both of these go to show: if you don’t try, you can’t win. If you’re reading this and considering submitting a story or entering a contest: DO IT. You never know when success will strike.
Trying and Failing
Not everything I attempted in 2020 was a success, and I’m not trying to hide the struggles of my writing journey. Though I ended up landing some amateur success, publishing short fiction to professional magazines remains a dream still out of reach. Rejection is part of this journey, though. (This is a great reminder for myself and you, dear reader, to get back on the bike and SUBMIT!)
Other notable rejections include submitting to Pitch Wars for the second time with my completed adult epic fantasy manuscript, and again not being selected, and attempting National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for the first time. I fell short of the 50,000 word goal, but none of these are true failures. Because I learned. And learning is growing. So here’s to trying and failing and growing more in 2021!
The Puppy Diaries
I would be remiss to close out this review of 2020 without mentioning the capstone that changed my life in the space of a day: the arrival of my new puppy, Farleys D Red Rebel aka Teia. I brought her home on December 20th, 2020, and she’s been a beacon of hope and comfort during what has to be one of the hardest, strangest, loneliest holiday seasons many of us have faced in our lives.
I’ll be chronicling at least her first year in occasional diary entries from her point of view. I hope they’re as much fun to read as they are to write! If the first week of 2021 is a roadmap, I feel like we are all going to need occasional bursts of light-hearted fun in this coming year.