Happy New Year!

Well everyone, we've made it to 2013 without Armageddon or an apocalypse. And now it's the 2nd of January--we're at the beginning of another year. My New Years Resolution was to land an agent. I know, I know--it's hard to actually do it...but hey, it's better than my other resolutions which always involve weight loss of some sort. As part of my Insecure Writer's Support Group Post, I thought I'd go over some ways my writing has changed in the last year, and what I realized about myself as a writer. There have been ups...and downs...but I'm still here. Still going.

The first thing I came to terms with in 2012 was that my book needed to be rewritten. By rewritten I mean open a new word document and start from the very beginning. I wasn't without tools, though. Barbara Kloss suggested I read John Truby's Anatomy of Story, and from there, I began to outline. Now, I can't read or what a movie without think about that book. It's how I have gone about crafting all my books. I know it's made me better.

Next, I did a lot of self-reflection and realized I wouldn't be the writer I am today without going to college and having those experiences. I'm not sure how I know that, I just know. Not only did it help my writing to have some actual training, but I also gained real-life experiences. Sometimes, you just can't write about things unless you experience them. You know, mosh pits, Greek parties and the like. haha.

I now know that all writers have dreams--and I mean the big ones. Landing an agent. Getting published. Sharing their books with the world. Probably my biggest realization about 2012 was that you have to be able to take the bad and ALWAYS remember the good. It can get tough. You're handing out you baby for people to read--your CREATION. Blood, sweat, tears have gone into that thing--literally. It wasn't easy to write. There's stress. It's a JOB. Even then, it probably isn't perfect. But that's what we do as writers. We writer, we edit, we fix. We write some more. It's our life. It's what we signed up to do, and if we can't stay positive and persevere we really won't have anything.

You might think that sounds depressing.

But really, it's full of hope.

I was at Aladdin's house over the holidays and talking to some people who were younger than me. One made the comment, "You should just die after 12, life just sucks after that."
I was appalled, and I disagreed with them. Life is what you make it--really, it is. And if you think life sucks after 12 then life will suck after 12. If you're like me, you see time. Time to make dreams come true. Every year I hope I can make a dream come true.

Persevere writers! We're awesome. :)