I saved the weakest of my reports for last.
Writing in 2014
Writing in 2014 wasn’t what I wanted it to be.
The biggest issue I had was that the manuscript I’ve been working on for a very long time has reached a bit of an impasse. I’ve tried to edit it, I’ve attempted to rewrite it, and I’ve finally decided to give it a rest. I can always go back to it.
I did have a couple of good runs with writing during the year. There was one month during which I made it a point to sit down and write for awhile every single day. It felt great to establish that routine and I believe it would be easy to maintain if I had something I was working on that felt better.
Writing in 2015
Clearly, I need a new project. It’s not that I’ve lost faith in the story I was working on, but it’s time to give it an extended break.
I have several ideas floating around in my head so the first order of business will be exploring directions and possibilities for storylines, developing some strong characters, and putting together a rough outline.
I’ve signed up for some local workshops starting tomorrow. It’s not so much that I expect to learn from them (not because I’m under the impression that know everything but because the topics aren’t exactly what I want to write about) but because being around other writers always makes me excited to go home and write.
Starting next week, I’ll begin incorporating writing time into my schedule each day again.
My plan is to end 2015 with at least a first draft. Ideally, I’ll be further along in the process than that but I wanted to set a very attainable minimum goal.
A workshop’s a great idea! I haven’t screwed up the courage to find one but it’s on my “try this!” list. I hope you’ll be energized by it and feel like you’re making progress.
Saturday’s workshop was great. It was all about personal essays and memoirs, which isn’t exactly what I want to write but it was still valuable. Definitely check your independent bookstores and libraries for workshops – those are great places to start. Being around other writers is a great way to get excited about writing again.