Ringing (and Writing) in the New Year

What a year it’s been. It was my first full year as a stay-at-home mom, raising a 2-year old while carving out a writing career. On the health front, I received two autoimmune diagnoses that led to major lifestyle changes following three months of nausea. Goodbye gluten, soy, caffeine and refined sugar! Corn, dairy, peanuts and honey, you’re next! With a vegetarian husband, a no-veggie phase for the kiddo, a home-cooked diet for the dog, and an elimination diet for me (3 weeks of only meat, veggies and fruit), my writing time was periodically consumed by kitchen experimentation. And in the midst of it all, my beloved dog of six years died. His name was Tucker, which was one of my daughter’s first words. He should have lived to see her turn ten.
 
Despite the lows, and let’s not even get started on politics, 2016 felt BIG and productive! Check out my 2016 writing achievements and 2017 goals. I expect this year to bring more self-awareness, personal growth and major momentum in my writing career. Let’s do this 2017!
 
2016 WRITING Achievements

• 19 PB manuscripts drafted (7 have potential). Bonus: wrote 1 short MG story for upcoming contest and started a fiction novel during a summer slump.
• 600+ picture books read
• 4 submissions & 4 rejections
• 14 webinars (12X12, KidLit College, ICL)
• 1 online writing course: Susanna Hill’s Making Picture Book Magic
• 4 professional critiques through regional SCBWI events, including a 2-day retreat, PB intensive, and critique-a-thon
• 4 writing challenges completed (12X12, ReFoReMo, NaPiBooWriWee, KidLit Summer School)
• 4 writing contests entered, 1 honorable mention
• 4 prizes from virtual participation in KidLit community

 
2017 Writing Goals

• Read 6 craft books:
  • Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books
  • Linda Ashman’s The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books
  • Laura Purdie Salas and Lisa Bullard’s Picture Books: The Write Way & Rhyming Picture Books: The Write Way
  • Jane Yolen’s Take Joy
  • Judy Reeves’s A Writer’s Book of Days
  • Christina Katz’s Writer Mama
• Write every day. Write 1 minute, 10 minutes, 2 hours – just do it every day. Write a journal entry, a blog post, poems, new manuscripts, from a writing prompt, brainstorms and doodles, anything – just do it every day.  
• Dedicate 1 hour each week to WIP revisions.
• Participate in 12X12 and increase community involvement with 2 hours monthly of activity on the forum, weekly interactions on social media and active contributions during live monthly webinars.
• Apply for the Writing With The Stars mentorship!
• Publish 1 blog post each month.
• Develop a strategic submission plan and make 12 submissions this year
• Join a virtual critique group through 12X12 to become more consistent. Continue to work with local partner and group.  
• Participate in the following virtual challenges and groups: Storystorm, ReFoReMo and Rate Your Story.
• Consider the following opportunities:  SCBWI LA Conference, Lyrical Language Lab and additional regional SCBWI opportunities.