It's hard to believe it has only been three years since I started this blog and since I started writing actively. It feels like a lot more time has passed, but that might be because I feel like I've grown so much as a writer these last three years.
Who would have thought that in three years my writing would have improved to the point that while I'm still getting rejections I'm getting less form ones and more encouraging ones. A recent submission went through multiple readings by the editors before being rejected, which is amazing. No, really it is, because it means I'm wrote something an editor had to really consider before rejecting. That means I was close to getting something published.
If that wasn't enough though, the same story marks another high point for me. After the first draft I could see it wasn't working and instead of needing someone else to tell me what was wrong I was able to work it out and rewrite and produce a much stronger version of the same story. The fact that I could tell the story was lacking and fix it on my own indicates a leap forward in my critical faculties, something a good author needs in order to avoid going down many fruitless paths. In the end I was able to tell more story with less words.
Aside from my short story work I've also written at least one trunk novel. What's a trunk novel you ask? That's a piece of work that gets stuff in a trunk never to see the light of day. It was a learning and growth experience, but in the end the book doesn't work and I don't see any hope of salvaging it any time soon. But it did prove something to me. I can write longer stories, which is something I did need to learn.
Also, writing a book has lead me to writing another. Currently I'm over 92,000 words into writing an epic fantasy with monks, martial arts, and mongols. I'm loving it. This is a fun book to write. My original plan was to have a working draft in time for World's Fantasy in November, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen as I'm not even two thirds done even with the huge wordcount I mentioned above.
So what are my plans for my fourth year of writing? Finish my current project and then write another book I have planned and ideas generated for, the first in what could be a series. In fact, since I've kind of committed to NaNoWriMo this year, with the prompting of a couple author friends on Twitter, I may in fact pause my current project and use NaNo to get a decent chunk of my other novel started. My thinking is, by the time November rolls around I may not have 50,000 words left on my current novel, and there's a short story I want to write for an anthology that the due date is currently up in the air so I may work on that for a bit instead of the novel before NaNo starts.
So all in all, things on the writing front have been very, very busy. Aside from that I've attended cons, made new friends, been a panelist, and generally been an all around smartass when I can.
I can't wait to see what happens in year four.
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