2015 Summary Post

It’s the last day of the year, and time for a summary post for 2015. It’s been a pretty big year for me, all things considered. I’ve had many plans, hopes and dreams, but unlike before, this year I truly feel as if I’ve accomplished something. I’ve had a lot going on, with a new job, and the certification requirement that came with it, which had me taking exams for the first time in five years. I’ve pushed some personal boundaries during that time, which have helped me grow stronger as a person. On top of that, I’ve found the time to focus on my writing.

During the next 12 months I’ll have a lot going on. I’ll be moving into my new apartment in early March, and just a few months later my mother will sell my childhood home, and move across the country to live in the same city as my sister. Before that we have an entire house to go through, and memories to sort. I’ll also be on my own for the first time in a while, which will be strange, but will also help my creativity I think. And them in December next year, I’m off to London and the Harry Potter play, right after I finish Nanowrimo again, of course.

WRITING IN 2015: I HAD A PLAN! 
This year I made a plan for myself, that I named The Plan! And it was pretty awesome. I didn’t stand a chance at finishing, mostly because the Plan! came too late, and was just too much for one person to do on top of everything else. But I did get some things done, for which I am very grateful. And the Plan! will live on in 2016, the 2.0 version.

The Plan! had five stages, and I can say  actually finished one of them, completely! But let me go through them all and tell you how it went for each of them.

1. TAO: Notecarding the whole darn thing. Find out what goes where, what is missing, and more importantly, what can go away!
   1. I ACTUALLY DID THIS!!!! OK, so I did it yesterday, realising it wa the one thing I could actually finish in a day, but who cares, I DID IT!
2. TAO: Do the actual editing. DO IT! Also known as, finish the second draft by December 12th. Cause that is when you hand it over to Catrine.
   1. I’ve done the first five chapters, and handed it over to Catrine. And I’ll continue editing next year, and I’ll finish before summer, I swear!
3. Remnants: This is now a NaNo thing. Cause doing this AND doing something else for Nano is the kind of madness you don’t have time for anymore. So write it. 75k words is the goal, but seriously, if you can finish it in 50,001 words, YAY!
   1. I won Nanowrimo this year with Remnants, but it’s not actually finished yet. Because things happened, and it is suddenly a lot longer than it was supposed to be. I should finish before 100k though, and hopefully around 75k. I’ll have to go back and change some things for it to work better with where I want to take it though. I’m counting this as a win though, cause I won Nano, with Remnants!
4. Remnants: Editing stuff. Get started on it. No, you won’t finish. Who cares? Get started, and maybe you can post the first part on Wattpad by Christmas!
   1. Yeah, no, not even started this yet. I could of course edit the first chapter today and call it a win, but that would be childish. So I won’t. Probably. I think. Alo, Christmas is over, and there can be no posting of this yet. So there is no point in starting to edit just so I can say I did.
5. Fantasy-series: World building. Seriously! Get it sorted! At the very least, get the basics down. Peoples names. Countries. Loose the Duke and Darling, cause seriously, three mercenaries with D-names is only a good idea during Nano. Also, get a working title if you’re still too scared to share the real one. Plus last names are a thing that characters should have. No really!
   1. Duke and Darling got new names, characters got last names, and countries now have names and capital cities. I am totally calling it a win!

This means that I actually, sorta, finished three out of five points on The Plan! I am awesome! OK, so Remnants isn’t done, but I think I know where I want to take it, and I did finish Nanowrimo with it, so I am totally within my right to call it a win. I’ve also got a ton left to do on the worldbuilding for the fantasy-series, but the things I mentioned in the Plan! have all been done, except for the working title for the first book, which I still don’t have. I’ve got one in Norwegian, but it looses something in translation. So I’ll have to come up with one eventually. But I got a lot of the other worldbuilding done, so I’ll also call this one a win.

The first one I totally did though. Yesterday I went through and notecarded the rest of The Afterlife Occurrence. Most of what is there can stay, but there will be some heavy editing required on the next few chapters I feel. Something to consider for the The Plan! v.2.0.

What else will be a part of the 2.0 version you ask? I’m not sure yet. I think I’ll have to sit down and figure out what I hope to accomplish in 2016, and then write down the things I need to do in order to get it all done. And that will be version 2.0, and it will be awesome!

SUMMARY
In 2015 I did the scariest thing I can imagine; I handed a second draft to someone else for them to read. Even scarier, some of it is Nano-written first draft. I’m not sure it Catrine has started reading yet, but I know just thinking about the fact that someone is going to read it is actually a little scary. I’ve got her second draft waiting on the computer, and am looking forwards to reading that as the new year starts.

I tried writing in first person for the first time in years, and found that it actually worked better than I had thought it would. For Remnants, it just fits. I finished the first draft of Memories, finally, and my brain is already working on where to take it in the third book. I got more worldbuilding done for that series, and even changed the name of the home country of my main character. A lot of my characters also finally got last names that actually feel right.

I juggled several projects in 2015, and even though I did not finish a Camp Nano this year, I got more done this year that I had ever imagined I would. It’s been a good year for me. Now here’s to hoping 2016 is even better!