Wednesday, December 6, 2017

The Insecure Writer's Support Group: December 2017


It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group!  Our leader Alex J. Cavanaugh has assembled another group of top-notch co-hosts for this month: Julie Flanders, Shannon Lawrence, Fundy Blue, and Heather Gardner.

Be sure to visit the IWSG website!

The question for this month is: As you look back on 2017, with all its successes/failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently?

This is an appropriate question, as the end of the year seems a perfect time to reflect back.

As far as my writing goes, this has been a busy year.  I've been submitting a lot of stories, and I've had a couple of successes.  One of those successes is getting a story published in the 2018 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide, which is an anthology of science fiction stories for middle grade readers.  It just went on sale earlier this week, and I'm excited to see how well it does.  If anyone is interested in getting a copy, you can find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.

I have one more story to submit by the end of the year.  Once I submit this last story, that'll put me up to thirteen submissions for the year.  I didn't originally set out to do that many, but it happened that way.  While that has led to some exciting acceptances, it has also led to plenty of rejections.  I'm trying not to find those discouraging, especially since I subbed to some really competitive magazines.

While I'm happy about how many stories I've been writing, one thing I wish I could do differently is focus more on my novel.  My original plan for 2o17 was to have a completed 1st draft.  At present, I have about a quarter of it written.  That's certainly better than nothing, but I know I could have done more.  I had a couple of dry spells where I wrote almost nothing, and I wish I could have organized my time better.  Oh well.  At least I know what my goal for 2018 is going to be.

If you could go back, what would you have done differently?  What successes have you had, and what are your goals for the coming year?


9 comments:

  1. Even if it's not your novel, that's a lot of short stories. Plus some acceptances!

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  2. Congrats on all of your submissions and your acceptances. That's a lot of stories to write during a year! Sounds like a fantastic year to me. Cheers - Ellen

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  3. Thirteen is great! That's a baker's dozen.

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  4. With all those submissions and stories written, you've definitely had a productive year. I know you'll ace that novel next year.

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  5. Thirteen isn't too shabby! Definitely something to be proud of.

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  6. That's fantastic about the short stories! Good luck with your novel!

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  7. Hi! I'm new to IWSG and happy to meet you in this blog hop. I think I may have met you before, in a Celebrate post or two.

    Huge congratulations on the publication of your story in a book that will be sold in bookstores. That is huge. Way to go.

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  8. Congrats on the anthology. And 13 submissions? That is awesome. Way to go!

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  9. Wow, 13 submissions! Congrats on the anthology. Super! Best wishes on your novel. 2018 should be great.

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