2016 in Review

Photo by "Nelos" of Adobe Stock

What a year! Hopefully not one I'll ever have to repeat. We moved, worked on remodels for 2 houses (one of those continues), battled illness in the spring, and a couple of serious injuries that took me out of commission and hampered brain function (thank you, pain and exhaustion!).

Each January, I've been reporting on my goals and progress for the previous year and setting my goals for the new year. Despite all that's been going on, I made most of my goals for 2016, so I'm calling the year a SUCCESS.

My goals for 2016 were:

Write 400,000 words
Publish 5 paperback books
Complete 3 old projects (stories started prior to Jan. 1, 2016)

How'd I do?

I wrote 335,011 words. Almost 65K short of my 400K goal, to be sure, but I'll take it! Considering all the things that hampered writing this year, I see it as nothing short of a miracle that I got so much done. By the time October rolled around, I had fully expected to have MAYBE 200-250K written for the year, so I'm very happy with what I accomplished.

I published 5 paperback books and 19 e-books. I started the year publishing Destiny (medieval fantasy short novel) and ended with Protective Instincts (romantic urban fantasy long novel).

I completed 3 old projects, which met that goal. On top of that, I wrote 12 entirely new ones from start to finish. Those included 6 short stories (up to 13K each), 4 novelettes (13-18K), a novella (20-40K), and a short novel (41-60K). I also started 3 stories that I haven't yet completed. In addition to completed and/or started projects, I made significant additions (5K+) to 2 novels and minor additions (less than 5K) to 2 novels.

See what I mean? Productive. I'm grateful for every milestone reached and even the goal that wasn't.

Of course, finishing up 2016 means setting goals for 2017 as well. I decided to reset my goals for 2016. So for 2017, my goals are:

Write 400K words
Publish 5 paperback books
Complete 3 old projects (stories started prior to today, Jan. 1, 2017)

Happy New Year!

Looking Back at 2014

What a year it was, too. I not only published my first fantasy novel, I wrote and published my first short story series, in a new genre no less (urban fantasy). That in addition to continuing work on my contemporary novels. It was a year of growth, learning, and stretching, some of which shoved me right out of my comfort zone. Thankfully, I've adapted and work goes on.

Early in 2014, I posted my goals for the year. So, how did I do on meeting them?

Writing goal for 2014 - 300,000 words - met and surpassed.

435,107 words of fiction

  47,662 words of non-fiction

482,769 total words written in 2014

Incomplete Projects completion goal - finish 3 long novels that had been started before January 1, 2014 but not completed in 2013 - BUST!

I only finished one incomplete novel. I was initially annoyed with myself over this one, but then I realized I had written a non-fiction project, a contemporary short novel, 2 short story collections (13 stories and 3 stories respectively), and 1 novelette from start-to-finish during 2014. That in addition to completing the previously unfinished novel and making additions to others. Not shabby at all!

Publishing goal for 2014 - 3 novels (2 contemporary, 1 fantasy) - met and surpassed.

Published: 1 non-fiction book, 2 contemporary long novels, 1 fantasy long novel, & 1 collection of urban fantasy short stories (individually AND as a collection)

I had also decided I was going to surpass my previous daily word count accomplishment of 9,081 words written on 12/22/2013. I aimed for 10K in one day. I hit it and shot right past it to reach 11,158 words written on July 28, 2014, then I beat THAT one with 11,492 reached on August 17, 2014. I’m not sure I’ll be able to top that in 2015, but I’d sure like to try.

I also created 22 book covers (front, back, & spine on each), 12 separate e-book covers, and 88 memes for my various projects.

Busy year.

LOOKING AHEAD

2014 is now behind us, and 2015 looms ahead. That means time to set goals for 2015.

Writing - 500,000 words of fiction (not to include whatever I write on a non-fiction book I need to finish)

Incomplete Projects - finish 3 long novels that are currently incomplete

Publishing - 7 books - 2 contemporary long novels, 2 fantasy novels (1 long, 1 short), & 2 collections of short stories minimum. The spare can be any genre or length (as long as it's a collection and not a single short story).

2013 in Review

Me editing - photo taken by my mom

Do you ever struggle through a year, feeling like it takes Herculean effort to accomplish even the smallest things? I'd bet we've all been there, done that. But, have you reached the end of that year and looked back only to realize you accomplished a lot more than you expected?

2013 was like that for me. The year was difficult in more ways than one. I won't get into why. That would be an entire book. But I will say that I struggled to write in the midst of it all. Editing wasn't too bad, most of the time, but writing was harder than it's ever been. I knew I wouldn't reach the bar I had set in 2012.

For the record, in 2012, I:

1. wrote over 550K words - yes, that's over a half million words;
2. edited over 5K pages of existing material;
3. wrote 3 books from start to finish - 2 novels & 1 novella;
4. completed 2 old projects;
5. made significant additions (5K+) to 1 old project;
6. made minor additions (less than 5K each) to 5 old projects;
7. began 6 new projects; and
8. published a novella.

It was a busy year.

I went into 2013 with 2012 setting the bar, but I didn't have the focus or energy to match. When I realized I wasn't meeting that standard, I got discouraged but powered on, figuring I'd do what I could with the focus, energy, and all that I had. Keep on keeping on.

Then I got a surprise at the end of the year when I tallied everything up. Did my work in 2013 measure up to 2012? No. But....

In 2013, I:

1. wrote over 290K words;
2. edited over 5K pages of existing material;
3. completed 3 old projects;
4. made significant additions (5K+ each) to 7 old projects;
5. made minor additions (less than 5K each) to 2 old projects;
6. began 1 new project; and
7. published 2 full-length novels.

As I sat and looked at that, dumbfounded, I realized something. In a year that felt like it had been nothing but difficulties and struggles, I had still managed to make significant progress in my writing. Something else occurred to me - how much of that would NOT have been accomplished if I'd given up when I realized early in 2013 that I wasn't operating at my normal level? Most of that list.

What 2013 taught me is that, even when I think I'm falling behind, I need to keep moving forward, no matter how slow progress may seem. I may not accomplish what I WANT, but I'll still accomplished more than if I'd quit.

For 2014, I've set what are, for me, very realistic yet challenging goals:

1. Write at least 300K words;
2. Finish 3 incomplete projects; and
3. Publish 3 novels - 2 contemporary, 1 fantasy.

Only time will tell if I can meet those goals.

What about you? Did you meet your expectations last year? Whether yes or no, what did you learn that you've carried into 2014? What goal(s) have you set for 2014?