Adara VS 2022 - Year in Review
In today’s video I go over my derailed NaNoWriMo, but how I clawed back to finish my chapter outline.
Visual description:
Video shows snippets of previous vlogs, of Adara writing, plotting and counting up her monthly hours worked each month. There are also videos and occasional photograph of her in her wheelchair at the park and in a garden.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to The Canopy! In today's video: Adara VS 2022. My yearly roundup.
Back in January, I set myself a few goals. Namely to: finish writing draft three of my novel, and to start querying, to pick what my next project is going to be, to read 30 books, to do 30 self-study sessions on writing craft, and to attend two writers conferences. So the big question.
Did I do it?
Let's rewind and find out.
January was devoted to revisions and edits.
I also started playing the guitalele.
February: more revisions and more guitalele.
I also launched Spence-Johnson Publishing, my Amazon business with various picturesque notebooks, diaries and even a dream journal. This was my first proper look into how self-publishing worked.
In March I continued with my revisions, finally finishing draft three. I put a lot of effort into finishing this, which shows with some amazing times reached. Then moving into April, where I began researching agents and pulled together my first attempt at a query package. I also planted sunflower seeds, and readied my submission to the Write Mentor Summer Programme.
I also launched my writer slash author website: www.adaraspence.com, and I managed to get out of the house just in time to see the cherry blossoms at the local park which was beautiful.
In May I reworked the beginning of my novel and completed a book wide proofread. Many many hours were spent rereading my novel, via myself with ProWritingAid, accompanied by my laptop speaking the text to me on my behalf. It was a strange combination of the three.
I also created a motivational box where every time I would receive a compliment about my writing, even if it was in the form of a rejection, I'd write it down and keep it. Following my very first Twitter pitching event, I queried an agent for the first time, and their feedback was the first item into said box.
Also during the process, I decided that my novel had series potential, and started sparking ideas for a sequel. As for book one, I set myself a goal of querying and entering a bunch of competitions: the Write Mentor Novel in Development Award, the Times Chicken House Competition, and the Bath Novel Awards to name a few. These deadlines worked to give me much needed goals and clarity.
And on a slightly more geeky note, also this month I was pleasantly surprised to see that my Twitter page had achieved a very numerically pleasing 8888 followers. It was a record-breaking month overall, with over 40 hours worked.
So with novel one now out in the query trenches, I then set my goals on refreshing my understanding of writing craft. I dug out old learning aids I'd created, about plot structure, characterization etc. all the way down to the minutia of scene-craft.
I also took the opportunity to dust off a few of my favorite writing craft books. A few, clearly, as you can see by the pile.
Then came June where I took all the notes from my first novel in this file and rearranged the structure of it to prepare for a sequel. I also rediscovered some of the tools I'd used to write book one, like this really in-depth character interview. I essentially set myself up for a summer of plotting. During the first part I concentrated on querying my novel in batches, then during the holidays while the publishing industry slowed down I'd start plotting book two.
July came with a bunch of complications though, due to my health conditions making me heat intolerant, among a record-breaking UK Heatwave. I took that time of the month to reflect on what made a good query, and created a short video animation likening the process to fishing. At the same time I also used TikTok for the first time. To be honest, it scared me quite a bit. You open the app and immediately voices start, and I promptly dropped it and ran away again. More on that later!
I also got a wheelchair path installed in my garden, and was able to spend a small amount of time outdoors in pockets of cooler weather at the beginnings of the days and towards the tail end, where it was cooler. Although my work had slowed, I still managed to come up with an impressive family tree of characters to help me go from the first book to the second. It wasn't a record-breaking month, but I still progressed and the sunflowers had grown beautifully.
Then on to August, where I decided that my second novel was going to have two main characters.
So I started by getting to know who the second point of view character was, before recalculating the word counts and chapter breakdowns that I'd need to write with both in mind. The process led me to creating my own workbook to help guide me through the process, which I used to fill in the main story beats for each character, so they both went on a journey.
In September I took things back online, transferring the main plot beats for both characters into a giant spreadsheet, where I could track word count, plot progression, locations, and piece together the beginnings of a storyline timeline.
It was also my birthday. Even so, I managed a respectable amount that month, beginning to draw everything together. Then came October, or for me Preptober, since I'd set myself the goal of finishing my overarching plot ready in time to participate in NaNoWriMo. I started by finishing off my story's timeline, making sure all of the moon phases and real world holidays lined up with what I had planned. My plotting spreadsheet was also complete, and I printed it out for cross-referencing. Next time it would definitely be easier to find an A3 printer though. But in the last two weeks my work unfortunately ground to a halt as a household member who had come out of hospital in January, ended up going back in.
This meant that when November arrived I was unprepared to start writing, so as well as finishing that planning, I set my sights on other avenues, including once again attempting to dive into the world of TikTok, where I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Maybe. With things being iffy on Twitter now, I wanted to explore other avenues, which brings us finally to December. Here we are. The family member has now been discharged from hospital, and I have started writing novel two.
So a lot has happened to me this year professionally as a writer, edging slightly closer to becoming an author. I really managed to get to grips with the idea of now trying to find ways for people to see my work, including hints and tips on my website, Twitter competitions, more writing conferences... which brings me back around to my main goals. How did I do?
I only attended one writing conference this year instead of two, however I did finished my first novel. It is still in the query trenches and it's been entered into competitions so that's a win. I also did a lot of self-study for writing craft, which was another win, and yes, I did pick out my second project, which I am now in the process of writing. It's gone on pause over the Christmas holidays, but it will be picked up again in January.
And last but not least on the writing front, yes. I did achieve my goals of reading 30 novels. I ended up reading 34, which does not count, once again - it does not count the completely endless slog of manga and fan fiction. It truly is endless. I've heard of a competition where people aim to - like - read a million words in a year. I'm pretty sure with fan fictions I have majorly, majorly passed that. Maybe even not just fan fictions. 80 000 words per novel times 34... probably over that many times over, actually.
Anyway, the year was topped and tailed by family illness, however there was plenty that happened in the meantime which I'm very very proud of. Do you have anything in particular that you're really proud of? Please feel free to put it in the comments. Have a bit of a chat. You don't have to, that's optional. But I'd be happy if you did. I'm curious.
And that's it for my year. I'm gonna kick back and relax now, and then I'll be back in January, as I continue to write my story...
...one day at a time.
Credits:
Thumbnail and ending image created free using canva.com
Music credit 1: ending theme – Adara Spence Music
Music Credit 2: Beloved - Sakura Girl https://soundcloud.com/sakuragirl_off...
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/3ji1zZc
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/omTgn4GQcKAMusic
Music Credit 3: Xmas Song by Mr Spence
Music Credit 4: Round Up Duet by Adara Spence & Mr Spence
