2006: Your Writing Year in Review

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piscesgirl80

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So, how'd the year go for you writing-wise? If you set goals for the year, did you meet 'em? What were your highs and lows?

For a variety of reasons, it wasn't a terribly productive year for me in terms of output, but some things have resolved themselves, and I think 2007 will be better in that regard. A pleasant surprise for me this year was selling a greeting card idea (a genre I hadn't done before) after seeing a lead on it at AW and figuring 'what the heck'.
 

kbax

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2006 wasn't too bad, I guess. I sent out my very first queries and got my very first partial request. Got my first rejections, too!

I finished the first draft of my second novel, and plan to have my first revisions done by 2007. I feel especially proud of this one...with the first one, I needed a lot of help plotting--brainstorming with my friends, husband, etc. For this one, I did it all by myself. It's a pretty good feeling. :D

Looking forward to more success in 2007!
 
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2006 was shameful in comparison with 2005 (in which I did NaNo, twice - to see if I could).

I spent a lot of time editing and am deeply embarrassed to confess I came up with almost no new material.

I'll go stand in the naughty corner now (ooh, but could I redeem myself if I said 2006 was the year of the submission...I've hardly ever not had something in the post this year)?
 

steveg144

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Did NaNoPubYe for my 2005 WriMo, starting to get rejections trickling in from my first batch of agent queries;
got 3 non-fiction pieces accepted (all to publish in 2007) and had two n/f pieces that were accepted in 2005 published this year;
wrote a one-act play about Katrina that got accepted for a 'Teaching Katrina' anthology that will be published in 2007;
wrote 5 short stories that are currently making the rounds, none of them accepted yet;
presented papers at 3 conferences this year, and got accepted for 3 more that I couldn't attend due to time/money constraints (including a totally cool conference at the Russian Academy of Sciences that I really wanted to attend);
got accepted to present a paper at a conference at the University of Nice in Mar 2007 (which will work out perfectly with a planned vacation we're planning to France in late March).

Actually, now that I sit here and type up this list, I'm thinking, heck yeah I had a good year! I may have to go home tonight and toast myself with a beer or three. :-D
 

JAlpha

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My productivity was way up, but my ratio of submissions vs. publication credits was way down.

I landed a wonderful position as a fiction editor for an on-line literary magazine, but after only four months I had to resign when the focus switched from finding new voices to recycling the published work of established writers.

My novel gathered the serious interest of a reputable agent, but we parted ways after I completed two revisions for her, because we envisioned two completely different tones for the story to take.

On the plus side . . . last time I checked at least I still had a pulse. :e2thud:
 

Siddow

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I didn't reach all of my goals for the year, but I'm very good at assuming I'll have more time than I actually do. Made two sales on shorts, so that was nice. Gathered 30+ rejections. Started two new novels and finished a third. A pretty good year, but I was scattered. I hope to be more focused in 2007.
 

Sean D. Schaffer

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piscesgirl80 said:
So, how'd the year go for you writing-wise? If you set goals for the year, did you meet 'em? What were your highs and lows?

For a variety of reasons, it wasn't a terribly productive year for me in terms of output, but some things have resolved themselves, and I think 2007 will be better in that regard. A pleasant surprise for me this year was selling a greeting card idea (a genre I hadn't done before) after seeing a lead on it at AW and figuring 'what the heck'.


In review, my year was pretty decent compared to other years. I queried some 24 agencies, although the novel I queried ended up in the trunk. I did not receive any partial requests, but at least I queried and got back some responses -- I'm terrible when it comes to submitting work.

I've come to the point that I'm almost done with the Third Draft of my present WIP, and I've entered a new genre while still working in my old genre.

So overall, I think I've had a decent year, better than any year I've had before it.
 

pepperlandgirl

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I had a release nearly every single month this year from Liquid Silver Books, Whiskey Creek Press, Samhain, and Amber Quill. I wrote a HUGE amount with a writing partner, though the vast majority of that was unpublishable--true writing for the sake of writing. But out of that, two books were born, and both will be published next fall (with Samhain and Juno Books). We've also plotted four more books and plan to write those over the next year or so. Since September, I've signed contracts for several books, the net result is that next year I have 5 releases lined up (three through Amber Quill, plus the 2 I wrote with my friend). I've also been in contact with an editor at Harlequin, and though I wasn't able to finish the revisions she suggested (thanks to moving and grad school), I still plan to work on those this month during my winter break and send the MS back to her, so maybe that'll count as a 2006 accomplishment.

I felt like I could have been more productive, credit-wise. I really, really slacked off a lot and messed around too much--I wrote tens of thousands of words that will literally never be seen by anybody except me and my parter. Still, I can't complain. We had fun.
 

triceretops

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Geez, 2005 was the hot one, with three novels finished and polished, and getting an agent on Christmas day. 2006 got one huge novel done in first draft and edited for months on end, via my agent, two books that he already had. 2006 was not sales productive for me. One book in one year, stinks in my opinion. I'm capable of great things and fell short this year.

Tri
 

Isanthe

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2006 was my first to write seriously and consistently. I generated lots of work, but many of those pages were rewrites, so I hope next year my writing process becomes more efficient. I now have 3 stories out for consideration, and 3 more that are close to being "ready". There are several other stories still in first or second draft form that I think will polish up decently for 2007. I have 2 novel ideas that I'm excited about. I can also see real improvement in my quality of work.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with 2006, but aiming much higher for '07. :)
 

Shadow_Ferret

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I set no goals, so I'm right on schedule! Whoohoo! :e2woo:

Although I did finish my the first draft of my WIP, have progressed to the 3rd (4th?) revision, and have produced several (ugly) query letters. Which is better than I've ever done in regards to a novel.
 

WildScribe

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I just started writing again this year, this time seriously. I've made several thousand dollars ghostwriting articles for online customers, submitted and received many rejections from national publishers (and one "okay" that led to me being added to their staff of writers!!) and have started a novel that I sincerely hope to finish. What a cool year!
 

jbal

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Started writing in March, finished 1 1/2 novels, and several shorts, began submitting, and received my first rejection not so long ago. whew!
 

mooncars

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So far this year:


150 songs written and recorded
5 cd's put out plus a boxset
Did soundtrack for an indie slasher flick
Music bed for a documentary dvd
1 novel
1 poem
Countless gigs
Run 3 web groups
Working on a book of photography
Recorded my sons' bands CD
Helping my youngest son (age 9) with his 1st book
Helping my daughters' band to work up original material
all this in addition to being the scourge of the neighborhood

I never set goals. I just work, then look for appropriate avenues to exploit my work.


Doesn't play well with others,
Rick
 

maestrowork

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2006 has been a huge year for me. Why, my book was published! :D

Other than that, some minor successes in the short stories arena, got 2 published and 5 more finished and circulating. The "breakout" novel is still in the works. Doing the book signing/workshop/conference circuit. Busy.

Hopefully 2007 will be an even more productive year.
 

Simon Woodhouse

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I should be looking at 2006 as a good year, but…

I rewrote my trunk novel, and now it's not too bad. I finished another draft of my third novel, which is now looking a lot better. I started getting paid for writing articles and reviews. My second novel (but the first to be published) is coming out in the spring.

…but I've also realise that writing at what I would call 'a serious level', i.e. getting paid for doing it, isn't as much fun as when I just did it for my own amusement. This is especially true of the editing of the novel that's coming out in the spring.

2007 might be the year when I put the fiction writing aside and concentrate solely on articles and reviews. Or if I do write any fiction, I'll think long and hard about whether I want it to go through the publishing treadmill.
 

Stew21

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In 2006 I finished my first novel (57K). (Still haven't done anything with it.) I joined AW because of that, in March. Since then, I've started another fiction MS (20K words in and still going strong) I've written tons of poetry, including a very fun project where I've written poems about people at AW (what can I say? you're inspiring!) . I submitted a poem to a contest for the very first time which was a huge step for me since I have a fear of submittal. So compared to other folks, probably not much in the way of success, but it sure feels good to be so actively writing and in such a great community.
 

janetbellinger

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In 2006 I succeeded in getting the rights back to my PA novel and I had a poem published in NJIA magazine. I also completed numerous edits of a novel, and have started a new novel, which is inspired by but will not resemble my ex-PA novel. I have submitted to many agents and have been rejected by a handful and am waiting to hear from the rest. I am also waiting to hear back from a legitimate, respectable publisher, whom I will go with if I get an offer.
Other than that, I'm going about the business of being alive, substitute teaching, tutoring and loving my family, pets and friends. What else is there?
 

Maprilynne

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2006 was an incredible year for me. I finished the sequel to my first novel, and finished another novel I started over three years ago. I also started a new YA project and have the first six pages of a new fantasy going. Lots of words this year.

But mostly I learned this year. I learned to control my POV, and reign my speechtags. I learned to take critique and really get something out of it. (Thanks Glenn!!!!!) I learned that when you think your book really, really, really is an exception, you're really, really, really wrong. I learned this from readers and agents and family and friends.

I racked up over 160 rejections, and sent in almost thirty partials and 6 (7?) fulls. I did an incredible re-write that made all this difference in the world . . . and got totally sick of my book. Which I think it a good thing.

I've been working with an agent (she's not my agent just yet) on some excellent revisions and feel like I have found someone who is not only excited about my book, but really understands they way I want to tell it and is helping me improve even more in that direction. I'm hoping (hoping, hoping, hoping) to be signed in the next week or so.

It's been quite a year. Hard, exhasting, wonderful, exhilarating, depressing, exciting, and dissappointing.:)

What a great thread.:)

Maprilynne
 

Southern_girl29

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I didn't make any goals for this year, because I hadn't been writing fiction at the beginning of this year. However, I quit my job as editor-in-chief of a small town newspaper and went back to my job as Lifestyles Editor at a small, but larger than the other one, newspaper. It was the absolute BEST decision of my life.

I also started work on my second novel, which has lagged, but that's ok, because it's given me an opportunity to write some shorts, which I find I'm really enjoying. I've got several out. I'm also looking at writing some freelance articles, and I had one accepted. I'm hoping 2007 is even better.
 

Arisa81

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My 2006 was good, but not as good as I had hoped for. 2005 was an amazing year for me in terms of published pieces and I had hoped to meet or beat that this year. I didn't, but I did make sales, so I can't really complain. I have to admit for the first quarter of the year I was really quite lazy lol.
 

Jenan Mac

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Finished an 80k-ish word novel, revised it endlessly, and have had it rejected more times than I care to think about-- once within an hour of querying. But with most of those my query letter sucked really a lot. I'm still waiting to see if Dream Agent likes it (she's had it since about Labor Day).

Got a short story published, have an essay coming out in print next March, wrote a half dozen columns for a local publication which, sadly, went belly-up, and know a whole lot more about the idiosyncracies of MS Works than I did this time last year.

I'm hoping next year I can say "I got a multi-book deal!" (Aren't most of us?)
 

Freckles

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Well, considering this is technically my first year as a freelancer, I'd say I did alright. I got hired as a weekly columnist, and had essays accepted in the Chicago Tribune and Chicken Soup for the Soul magazine.

I'm looking forward to '07!
 
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