2008 Year In Review - Projects
In 2008, I started four new things at the beginning of the year and made one giant change later on. Let's see how that worked out for me:
Ballet
I started taking ballet last January. As you might have noticed, I love it.
Writing Group
Also in January, I joined a writing group. Our group has changed a bit over the year, to the point that I'm one of only two original members still in it, but it's been a good experience. I've gotten some helpful feedback, been reminded how easy writing is, and I've taken over creating handouts and writing exercises for our craft chats, which has been both interesting and challenging.
One-Sentence Journal
Oh, I was so good with keeping up with this at the beginning of the year. But then I changed my writing goals to be at least one sentence per day, and then I only wrote in the one-sentence journal when I hadn't written anything else, so they tended to be depressing entries. If I were to do this again, I think it would need to be posted publicly to (a) keep me on track and (b) keep me focused on writing things that aren't just whining.
2008 Dewey Decimal Project
This was an interesting project. I solicited recommendations and read none of them, although a few of them went on my Dewey Decimal Project Amazon wish list (which is basically just a way to remember things I might want to read). I learned some interesting things, and struggled through some books I would have given up on if it had been earlier in the month. I think I'll do this again this year, and make more of an effort to start reading/finding my book for the month at the beginning of the month. This is especially true for anything I want to get through interlibrary loan, which can take some time.
Giant Change
I quit my job at the end of August to be a writer. In the last year I was at my job, I was sick every three months (including on my birthday last year). Since I quit, I haven't been sick at all. I don't know that I've done "enough" writing since I started being a writer full-time. I don't know what "enough" would be. I have fantasies about being a famous author, but I spend more time fantasizing and goofing off than writing. K from my writing group and I continued doing write-ins even beyond November, and that's making me less desperate to get out of the house, but I'm starting to think I really have to seriously look for some way to make some money because even if I do sell the book I have a second draft of or the one whose first draft is so easy to work on, it'll be a while before I see any of that money. At the same time, I love watching TV and reading fic and reading books whenever I want to, and being able to run errands or go to doctor's appointments in the middle of the day instead of only early in the morning or late in the afternoon. On the other hand, I could really buckle down and write this novel quickly, because I've discovered that when I'm writing longhand and I'm just writing, I write about 800 words an hour. I haven't done a comparison with typing, but I'm sure I type faster than that, so if my brain can keep up with my fingers, I could really finish this book in no time. (I have nearly 11,000 words and the killer hasn't even made an appearance. I don't know who the killer is, though, which is making it slightly more difficult. Also, it's turned into more of a procedural than the suspense/adventure I originally intended it to be.)
Ballet
I started taking ballet last January. As you might have noticed, I love it.
Writing Group
Also in January, I joined a writing group. Our group has changed a bit over the year, to the point that I'm one of only two original members still in it, but it's been a good experience. I've gotten some helpful feedback, been reminded how easy writing is, and I've taken over creating handouts and writing exercises for our craft chats, which has been both interesting and challenging.
One-Sentence Journal
Oh, I was so good with keeping up with this at the beginning of the year. But then I changed my writing goals to be at least one sentence per day, and then I only wrote in the one-sentence journal when I hadn't written anything else, so they tended to be depressing entries. If I were to do this again, I think it would need to be posted publicly to (a) keep me on track and (b) keep me focused on writing things that aren't just whining.
2008 Dewey Decimal Project
This was an interesting project. I solicited recommendations and read none of them, although a few of them went on my Dewey Decimal Project Amazon wish list (which is basically just a way to remember things I might want to read). I learned some interesting things, and struggled through some books I would have given up on if it had been earlier in the month. I think I'll do this again this year, and make more of an effort to start reading/finding my book for the month at the beginning of the month. This is especially true for anything I want to get through interlibrary loan, which can take some time.
Giant Change
I quit my job at the end of August to be a writer. In the last year I was at my job, I was sick every three months (including on my birthday last year). Since I quit, I haven't been sick at all. I don't know that I've done "enough" writing since I started being a writer full-time. I don't know what "enough" would be. I have fantasies about being a famous author, but I spend more time fantasizing and goofing off than writing. K from my writing group and I continued doing write-ins even beyond November, and that's making me less desperate to get out of the house, but I'm starting to think I really have to seriously look for some way to make some money because even if I do sell the book I have a second draft of or the one whose first draft is so easy to work on, it'll be a while before I see any of that money. At the same time, I love watching TV and reading fic and reading books whenever I want to, and being able to run errands or go to doctor's appointments in the middle of the day instead of only early in the morning or late in the afternoon. On the other hand, I could really buckle down and write this novel quickly, because I've discovered that when I'm writing longhand and I'm just writing, I write about 800 words an hour. I haven't done a comparison with typing, but I'm sure I type faster than that, so if my brain can keep up with my fingers, I could really finish this book in no time. (I have nearly 11,000 words and the killer hasn't even made an appearance. I don't know who the killer is, though, which is making it slightly more difficult. Also, it's turned into more of a procedural than the suspense/adventure I originally intended it to be.)