Wow. It’s hard to believe that we’re now in the final days of 2015. What a year it has been! Now that things have slowed down due to holiday season, I’ve had an opportunity to reflect and plan for the coming year. Over the course of this 2015 I graduated from college, moved, started working fulltime, and made forward strides in my writing career.

As I have previously mentioned (and will continue to mention in the future!) it has been my lifelong dream to be a fiction writer. This year I made several steps to make my dream come true. In 2015, I’m proud to say that I:

Started this blog
Published two novellas
Had a short story accepted into a publication
Wrote a guest post
Got interviewed by another author
Read a gazillion books and articles on writing, blogging, and marketing

Along the way, I learned some major lessons about writing and self-publishing:

1. I can face my fears

Only a couple of years ago I had dreams of becoming a published author but was too fearful of criticism to take the steps to put my work out there. Last Fall I joined a critique group, which I found immensely helpful in learning how to give and receive feedback.

This helped prepare me for submitting my work to the world, where my stories are open for rejection or harsh critique. But I’ve learned that even if I do receive a particularly stinging piece of criticism, it’s not the end of the world. Instead of dwelling on and internalizing the criticism, I’ve learned to look for nuggets of truth that can help me improve my writing. At the end of the day, I believe in my writing abilities while also accepting that I have room to grow and improve. This is just the beginning of what I hope to shape into a long and fruitful writing career. And as I’ve said before, being afraid is not a valid reason to not pursue my writing aspirations.

 

Words of wisdom from Harper Lee. Photo from Buzzfeed

 

2. Crushing my perfectionism

From AZ Quotes

 

I read awhile ago in If You Can Talk, You Can Write just how much perfectionism can lead to paralysis, resulting in never getting any writing done. While I’ve learned the importance of overcoming my desire for perfection when writing a first draft, this year I experienced my perfectionism flare up in regards to the self-publishing process, sometimes too caught up in my fear of making a mistake to choose a course of action.

I particularly found myself falling into the trap of drowning myself in books about writing, hoping I would find the perfect solution elsewhere. While there is definitely a lot of value in soaking up the wisdom of others, it’s also necessary to go out and use the advice instead of simply reading about it. I’ve learned to give myself the room to make mistakes and learn not just through books and articles, but also trial and error. 

 

I am thrilled to take all that I’ve learned in 2015 and do even more in the coming year. Among other things, I hope to make 2016 a big year for Kindred and release more stories in some of the other worlds I’ve created. I want to make 2016 an even more successful year for my writing than 2015.

 

What have been your biggest accomplishments this year? What goals are you setting for yourself in 2016?

The post Reflections on 2015 appeared first on Zed Amadeo.