2010 was the year I got really serious about writing. I’d already been writing for several years prior, but around December of last year, something just clicked, and in 2010 my whole writing life changed. I started writing every day. I wrote a brand-new book, start to finish, and it was a book I thoroughly loved. I got an agent and went out on submission. I began tiptoeing into the world of blogging and tweeting as my writer-self, and I got to know some other writers. Also in 2010, I started a fantastic new day job, and had some other positive non-writing-life developments.

All in all, 2010 was a good year for me, and one I’ll remember for a long time to come. But 2010 is over now! So, I’m looking back and looking forward at the same time.

Writing

In 2010, I wrote a book I loved, via a writing process that was, to my shock, thoroughly enjoyable (I actually finished ahead of my self-imposed deadline, which is something that had never happened to me before and I doubt will ever happen again). And then I got an agent for it. I somehow did all that while I was in the process of working really hard at my old job, job-hunting, and then starting a new job, which looking back on I kind of can’t believe.

And now I’m working on another book that I quite like, the Historical Novel. Being uncontracted means I basically have the freedom to write whatever the hell I want, so I’m trying to take advantage of that. (Of course it also means I have no money coming in from my writing, but details, details.)

My big writing resolutions for 2011 are to finish the Historical Novel (which thus far has been much slower going than my previous book, but I think that’s because it’s historical, not because the book itself is necessary harder), and to get a healthy start on my next project after that. I have an idea for what that project might be that came to me on Christmas Eve, but we’ll see; past experience has shown that I tend to go through several promising-sounding book ideas before settling on The One. (In fact, while I was in the process of writing this post, I got another idea that I want to explore. I am such an idea slut.) Now, the book that’s currently on submission might require rewrites in 2011, which could throw all my plans into upheaval, but I hope to finish the Historical Novel regardless of what else comes my way.

I also resolve to not feel guilty about time spent thinking about my WIP, researching my WIP, reading other books that help me figure out what I need to do with my WIP, tweaking the outline to my WIP, and doing other stuff that doesn’t add to my daily word count but that is nevertheless essential to the writing process. And not to feel too guilty about time spent thinking about or making notes on other projects (which I think of as “other women”) while I’m supposed to be working on my WIP, either. The book I wrote in 2010 got its start as an “other woman” while I was working on the book that came before it. The notes I made on that project when I was supposed to be working on the other one were what made that book so easy to write when I finally did finish the first project.

Reading

Some of my favorite books out of those I read this year were Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher, The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson, Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, She’s Not There by Jennifer Finney Boylan, What I Saw And How I Lied by Judy Blundell, the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, and The Cheerleader by Ruth Doan MacDougall.

As you can tell by the fact that, um, none of those books was actually released in 2010 (except for Mockingjay which is the exception to everything), I am bad about reading books soon after they come out. However, I have some 2010 books on my Kindle that I am psyched to read in 2011: Freefall by Mindi Scott, When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart, and Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

I’m a slow reader, and I tend to feel like I should spend as much of my reading time as possible on books that directly relate to what I’m writing (either for research or to better acquaint myself with that particular segment of the market), and that books that I read “just for fun” are indulgences. Hence, I read a lot of contemporary YA, especially contemporary YA about LGBT characters, and less paranormal/dystopian YA and adult fiction of all kinds, even though I quite enjoy those as well. And right now I’m reading a nonfiction book called From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America, which, though fascinating, isn’t exactly making my heart race with love for the characters and anxiety about their fate. The fact that I am able to read it while aware that Real Live Boyfriends is sitting on my Kindle is a mark of either my obsessive dedication or my basic lack of sanity.

So, I would like to do more reading “for fun” in 2011, even if that reading is (gasp) outside my genre. And I’d like to read newer books, so I’m setting a resolution to read at least 10 books published in 2011 during the actual year 2011. I’m also going to start tracking my reading for the first time, either on Goodreads or somewhere else, so I can see where the other gaps are that I might need to fill in.

Writerly Socializing

In 2010 I got to know other writers, really for the first time since I started this whole writing thing. I also started blogging and tweeting, which was quite fun, though I’d like to blog more than I have been (darn that pesky day job, taking up valuable blogging time!).

In 2011 I’m looking forward to attending my first writer’s conference (SCBWI in New York in ― oh, just a couple of weeks, guess I should get some bus tickets, eh?). And hopefully to meeting a lot more writers, both online and off!