Writer’s Life: 2010 in Review
Photo by me, Ocean view through trees, Martha’s Vineyard
I had lofty goals at the beginning of 2010. Midway through the year, I cut them all in half, and still came up short on some of them. But I did get a good bit of fiction written this year, and did some other semi-interesting things, so here is my 2010 in all of its dog-eared glory:
Started a writing blog and kept up with it somewhat reasonably
Completed 11 short stories, for about 15,000 words total
Sold 8 short stories/poems
Reviewed 29 published short stories
Read a depressingly low number of published novels (like in the single digits)
Made 100+ short story submissions
Had a short story adapted into a one-act play
Got invited to join two new critique groups (apparently I’m in high demand now)
Finished my 2009 NaNovel, (about 50,000 words added in 2010), sent it to my critique group, and started querying it
Started another novel that stalled out at about 20,000 words
Attended ArmadilloCon, volunteered and got to sit in on the board meetings, worked the registration desk, and got roped into running registration next year
Visited the Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection at the Cushing Library (highly recommended)
Attended Viable Paradise Writer’s Workshop in Martha’s Vineyard
Had my first piece of fan mail (see, I told you I was sort of a big deal)
Won NaNoWriMo 2010 (still writing on it)
Critiqued numerous short stories and novels for my fellow writers
Applied (unsuccessfully) for a couple of slush reader positions, because obviously I don’t have enough on my plate
Met a ton of cool writerly folks, some I would even venture to call new friends
Holding on to the last strand of hope for my first SFWA sale this year (still eleven days left in December!)
Not too bad, I don’t think. Certainly I can aim to do better next year. Facebook has been a huge time sink for me, and I’ll need to find a way to combat that. Honestly, do I really need to keep up with what my 200 closest friends had for breakfast?
Man, this year went by impossibly fast. It was a good one, though, so I won’t complain. So how was your 2010?
That sounds great to me! It’s an impressive list.
I need to think about mine but I feel a bit of a slacker now!
Your list is pretty impressive, too! Looks like while I was reading books, you were subbing stories — 100 subbed and 8 published! That’s pretty impressive.
There are two levels to goals, in my opinion. That you really worked hard to meet those goals vs ignoring them, or if your results exceeded what you accomplished the previous year. I like to call it growth, and it looks like you might have experienced that. VP? Not easy to get into that workshop.
That’s a great list! I wish I could claim to have accomplished that much this year. 🙂
I empathize with reading less novels. Sometimes when you read so much short fiction, it takes the time you might have spent reading longer fiction.
Congratulations on your sales! I just saw your story in Space Squid and then read your Extreme Pirates story. What is your FB page? I couldn’t find it and wanted to follow your updates. Thanks!
~Catherine Russell
Hi Catherine! Getting a Facebook page for my writing is on my to do list for 2011. 🙂 Space Squid is an awesome mag, isn’t it? Glad you enjoyed the stories.