2015
It wasn't the best year, writing-wise. I suppose everyone means for
“next year” to be the year they actually succeed in whatever it
is they meant to succeed in. But I do mean for 2016 to be a better
year for my writing, whatever that means. If I didn't have a high
word-count in 2015, if I did lose my spot in the mystery I was
supposed to be writing, if I did leave you poor blog-followers
hanging and my reading public wondering if I'd been raptured or
something; if I did all these things and in every other way make
myself and others wonder if I was really serious about this writing
thing, there were some triumphs.
I
wrote The Fox Went Out
I
wrote the first draft of The Spindle & The Queen
I wrote numerous quite-good flash fiction pieces, among which “Swing
It” is my personal favorite
I
was published (and paid for my work) in Fountain Magazine
I discovered a way to combine my interest in journalism with my love
for people at my lifestyle blog, Lipstick & Gelato
I read quite a lot of non-fiction among the fiction and kept my mind
sharp with it
I taught my first-grader (nanny-child) how to read
Though I can chalk up a few things I did accomplish as a writer, I
can no longer hedge around the fact that in this season, writing
is no longer my sole occupation. My job as a nanny has morphed
into my job as a home-school teacher/governess which, among other things,
requires fairly extensive lesson preparation. That means that when I
am not at work and not doing errands and not prepping blog posts and
not traveling and not with my family, I am planning lessons. Writing
has, for now, fallen into a hobby-position. I no longer have the
full-time hours to devote to publicizing, networking, blogging, and
writing that I used to. However, I can't bear to close up shop and
leave my precious writing-blog community just like that. You inspire
and challenge and teach me and I intend to stick it out here on The
Inkpen Authoress. But in order to be better able to keep up with
everyone, a few changes will happen on this blog. I want to
share more of my creative life with you, which means that I can't
share strictly fiction. And since it's always a good idea to
set goals for any business/blog/public, I sketched some out for you
dear, patient people who might still read this blog. 2016 plans for
The Inkpen Authoress include:
- A dependable blogging schedule. I intend to aim at giving you a Post Each Monday. The posts might be book reviews, author interviews, or posts of my own design. They might be sharing bits of my writing, or highlighting others'. They might be posts on the craft of writing, or the challenges of it. Other Posts You Might See Here: sketches from people-watching, both artistic and linguistic renderings; journal excerpts; quotes from books I'm reading; quotes from articles I've written. Anything literature-centered that has intersected my life and yours. I want this blog to reflect the morphing of my creative life as I grow as a woman.
- Commitment to working on my fiction frequently. I weighed heavily on the side of non-fiction this year, what with launching Lipstick & Gelato and keeping it up. I have found that I am good at writing non-fiction, and that I enjoy it immensely, but I do not intend to leave my fiction-writing behind completely. Not by a long shot. I will still work on books and publish them, but for your sanity and mine I am releasing myself from the strictures of having to publish something every three months.
- Publishing “The Spindle & The Queen.” Though its name might change, I'm planning to release this Sleeping Beauty retelling sometime in the early Spring in e-book format! So you have that to look forward to after Elisabeth Foley and Suzannah Rowntree publish their wonderful-sounding fairy tales!
- Exploring new avenues and ways to write. I am happy with the fact that I fell in love with “journalism” this year. I want to continue to play around with words, polishing old ways and branching out into completely new varieties. It's part of the joy of writing: that constant rearranging of language to aptly express all one feels. I also want to submit both fiction and non-fiction to various publications and get further experience in free-lancing.
Here's to 2016
being a better year in all ways than the last one! And may we always
find a love for words overpowers even the worst seasons of Writer's
Block!
Happy New Year,
loves!
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