#ADTLTBAseries

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

My writing year 2023 vs 2024 - what was and what will be

The end of a year marks nothing but a change in the date as we will write it for the next twelve months, yet it is also a good time to review the past twelve months and to draw a line.

While most of 2023 was a miserable as 2022, there were a few things I am grateful for:

I didn't quit writing. I contemplated it several times because my frustrations about putting myself out there in a new fandom almost killed my love for the craft, but as it turns out, my stubborn heart can't let go.

For the first time in years, I wrote and posted a story (Fiery Birds & Endless Winter) that excited readers and kept them hooked until the end. My frustrations aside that this story was more successful than the story that's most dear to me, this experience restored a bit of my faith in my writing. (Note that successful is relative and to be seen in the context of multi-chapter stories in my current and my former fandom over the last 2-3 years. I'm very well aware that I don't write banger stories.)

I found a beta reader for each of my ongoing stories (CYHMH and Thousand Spotlights), respectively. I took me many months and I was about to give up, but eventually I was blessed with the help of two really amazing and supportive people, which kept me going. (@ my betas: Sorry for my endless complaints and thank you for putting up with me ❤️)

I made my first friend in this fandom.

Outlook for 2024:

I don't do resolutions since they feel fake to me. But of course, I have goals for 2024. My first goal is to continue working on becoming a better writer and create stories that keep readers hooked and reproduce what I (magically) managed with Fiery Birds & Endless Winter. As for CYHMH that's a little late and hardly possible because it's a novelisation, I will keep this goal in mind when I work on the drafts of my ADTLTBAseries. As part 2 (Did My Heart Love 'Til Now) is ready for beta-reading, I will mostly work on part 3 (In Love and War) and revise the chapters I've written so far and then finish writing the rest (that's my second goal, actually).

Unfortunately, I won't be able to dedicate my entire spare time to my wips as in 2024, I'm going to change careers, which is bound to be a massive change that besides training requires lots of preparations. Without going into the details, my future job might help me work towards my goal to write better stories.

Although my YOI meta posts are a mixed bag and I feel that I'm continuously stating the obvious, I'm planning write them a bit more frequently. My list with ideas is long enough to post 1-2 meta per month, but the truth is that I need to be in the right headspace to produce a thoughtful post for those who are interesting in reading my analyses. Knowing the changes ahead, there will be times when I'll rather be in the mood for this than for revision.

I also want to have faith in my writing again, but that's a wish and not something I can actively influence.

I wish everyone who has bothered to read until here a Happy 2024! May you reach your goals and may your dreams come true! ❤️