New Years Resolutions

Its the second day of the new year, and I'd say its about time to promise to accomplish something! For writers especially, I think New Years Resolutions are important. Writing is a task that takes a lot of perseverance, dedication and will power. Sometimes its only our promises to ourselves that keep us going. Or other people who know about our resolutions and push us to succeed.

So today I'm mostly going to talk about my writing resolutions rather than any of my personal resolutions. Because this is, after all, a blog about writing and that's what most of you are interested in anyway.

1. Write 3 rough drafts 

As I've discussed before, its become tradition every fall for me to write two rough drafts. Its happened for the past three years and its probably going to happen again this time around. But my Summers are vastly unproductive. So I figure I'll make myself write at least one rough draft in the Summer. I have tons of time, so there's no excuse.

2. Read fifty books.

Part of me wanted to say 100 books, but I know that's a resolution I probably won't keep. So I'll shoot a little lower and if I read more, awesome. I neglected reading as much as I'd like to during the year and ended up reading about twenty books just this fall. If I can achieve that same rate, this shouldn't be a problem. Reading is important for writing after all.

3. Edit all eligible manuscripts

There are lots of finished manuscripts I have sitting around that I never got around to editing. In addition to editing the first draft of the sequel to HOUR OF MISCHIEF, I want to edit those as well. Maybe they'll get published and maybe not, but its still good to get them in their best shape.

4. Start a video series

To build a youtube presence I want to start a video series called Writer's Thoughts. I already have audio for a few episodes recorded and need to film. I know that youtube is a valuable tool for reaching audiences and its fun, so I'll be looking forward to that.

5. Write some short stories

Short stories are not my strength. They usually end up blowing up into novels. My mind expands the plots too far. But I need to improve on my short story writing ability, so I'm going to try to write more of them.

6. Find every Opportunity to Reach Out to New Writers

This year I've had the opportunity to work with a lot of budding writers, whether it be through judging online contests, working at Shared Worlds creative writing camp or just giving advice to those who ask. I think its the job of agented and published writers to help those who aren't there yet. We all remember when we were starting out and needed a helping hand or a kind word. It took us awhile to get here but we had people helping us along.

In addition I'm going to make an effort to read books by new authors. Since I'm going to be new myself soon, I think its only fair.

Those are my new years writing resolutions for the year. Share some of yours in the comments and happy 2015!

2014 Wrap Up

I'm back! Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. I enjoyed mine in Chicago with my Dad's side of the family. Everyone was there, from my 87 year old grandmother to my two year old cousin. We had 19 people crammed around the table the day after Christmas. Understandably, I didn't have much time to update my blog with all the people coming and going from the house. But now I feel refreshed and ready to take on the New Year.

Yep, at midnight tonight, 2014 comes to an end! So its only fitting, I think, to review my year. And, as it stands, its been one for the books.

This time last year, I sat at dinner with my parents, talking about New Years resolutions. My resolution was to finally get an agent. It was less than one month later that I got the call from my fabulous agent, Laura Zats. And a few weeks later, I officially signed with her.

It was a dream come true, and I happily would have called this year a win if that was the only thing that happened. But there were so many more surprises in store.

In the spring of this year, I finished my first year of college at Coe. During this time, my friend group in college truly cemented itself. In the first semester we were still all feeling our way around the new place, and though we hung out, it wasn't quite official yet. Now we're stuck together like glue, and I'm so grateful for them. I was also able to snag a roll in my college musical in the spring and it was one of my favorite shows I've ever been in.

Over the summer, I went on an Alaskan cruise with my family. There were twenty three of us in all and the company was as incredible as the view. I'm so fortunate to have gone on such an amazing venture with all of them. And as a bonus, the food was incredible.

I started my second year of college in the fall. With that came my most productive writing season and I wrote the sequel to HOUR OF MISCHIEF and rewrote my first ever book. To make things even better, I got another call from my agent, this time about an offer on my book.

This was a call I hadn't been expecting so soon. A call that I expected never to come even. I was so overwhelmed with happiness I could only say eloquent words such as 'oh my god' and 'wow' over and over again. One month later, I had officially signed with Curiosity Quills Press.

The year wrapped up with another wonderful Christmas with my family and a much needed break from school. And there are so many incredible things to look back on. Friendships that have grown closer, family time well spent, amazing vacations and, of course, a giant leap forward in my dream of being a published author.

On Friday, I'll be looking ahead to my goals for the new year. But until then, here's to 2014, a year to remember!