Happy New Year!
The Requisite Year in Review
Here it comes. Ready or not! 2024 is mere hours away. (Let's not mention how fast the time goes.)
2023:
On the WIP:
The good news: Yesterday I finished the two biggest "per character" drafts of this monster. Thirteen months of editing, expanding, filling in, making sense of—now Alex and Mariam's scenes are all on the page. That's approximately 180,000 words somewhat smoothed out between them. Oy.
The bad news: I wanted to have the three lesser characters done by now too. Boo.
Three reasons for not meeting that goal:
1. The Day Job seriously cranked up over the last few months, requiring longer days and some weekend hours. So much for all that paid vacation.
2. Writing this Long Ago & Far Away newsletter necessarily takes time away from the WIP.
The time spent on this newsletter has been super valuable, but I am considering an every-two-week newsletter/article pace for 2024. If that will give some time back to the WIP and allow me to spend more time per newsletter, I think it will be a good trade. Let me know what you think!
3. Writing groups.
A year ago I had none. Last winter I joined an online organization, The History Quill, as a member of their forum and resource group, plus six months (June - Sept) as part of their group coaching program. The coaching was time well spent. These were the first writers to read my work. It was encouraging and I am taking what I learned and applying it as I move forward. I developed some real “keeper” relationships and am still part of the online membership with access to the forum, video masterclasses, etc. I will probably use their editing services when the WIP is ready for these.
In the spring I found a local, weekly critique group. I began attending in July. These writers run the gamut from historical, thriller, fantasy, non-fiction, memoir, you-name-it. And what a find they are! Being with them in person (right?!) is a joy. I've been bogged down with the day job for the past few weeks, so have missed out on our meetings, but am looking forward to catching up with all of them this coming week.
Overlapping these two groups, I attended the Historical Novel Society's Conference in June (via video). On the chat forum a fellow writer asked if anyone wanted to form a virtual historical fiction critique group. That has turned into a wonderful, twice-monthly Zoom meeting.
ADD to the above, the interaction with other writers on Substack's Notes, and I've gone from zero to four sources for mutual help and camaraderie in less than a year. Of course, preparing submissions and reading the work of others takes time as much as attending these gatherings. Again, time apart from putting new words into the world.
But I have no regrets about any of this. It means I am learning from others by reading their work and receiving feedback on mine, meeting humans out there, and having a great time. In all, a meaningful investment.
2024 and beyond:
I’d planned to do a Poll here but Substack only allows one response per reader so I realized I could end up with a skewed result.
Instead, here’s a list of the types of newsletters/articles I’ve written so far:
Historical Fiction news
Informal commentary on what I’ve been reading (non-reviews)
Excerpts from my Work in Progress
Flash memoir
Personal essay-ish/news
(Historical research—I haven’t written any of these yet but, given a two-week, rather than one-week pace, I’d like to start including these)
(If you’re new here, have a look at my Index where things are grouped categorically.)
From this list, I’d be super interested if you have any preferences on these topics or others I might lean into.
If you’d like to let me know, you can comment here or reply to the newsletter email—it will come right to me.
My big goal for 2024 is to have my WIP to the developmental editor by June.
Yikes. As noted above, I’m running several months behind already. The challenge will be to take my paid vacation days that are fast accumulating and use those to catch up. But we all know, most of our work simply piles up while we’re off and so we stay in our seats and keep rolling that boulder up the hill. It’s going to take a strong mindset to not keep throwing back those penciled-in “OFF” dates.
Meanwhile, on the personal front, we carry on.
James is now the steward of six large bee hives (he built them himself, of course), and will attempt his first honey harvest in the next few days. (I’m not-so-secretly coveting the wax for future encaustic painting!)
I’ve abandoned the Covid garden while drilling down all the family history stuff and manuscripts Mom left to me. I’m eyeing one of those manuscripts for future serialization on Substack, but currently going through a box of slides that belonged to my father’s parents. Never mind the gauzy blue scenery—it’s those mid-century interiors, clothes, and cars I’m diggin’!
Mom’s Cattle Dog has become James’ velcro shadow, and the two cats keep me company on their side of the house where I write and do the day job.
Oh, and James and I became Anglicans last week. But that’s a whole ‘nuther story!
Now, enough of all that.
What does 2024 look like to you?
As I said in my last newsletter, let’s work to balance our wants and contentment—even while the world goes crazy around us.
It's lovely that you have manuscripts and slides from your parents and grandparents! I'm working out my Substack plans for the new year too. I've committed to not over-commit or pin myself down to any one thing, so I can enjoy and truly experience the creative process. I'm looking forward to what you share with us in 2024, whatever that looks like.
Love The History Quill too and like the sound of the HNS group too but not a member at the moment. Do you recommend this as currently writing first historical novel plus the group for when the time comes? Thanks xxx