Simone’s Achievements and Lessons Learned in 2020
It’s been a weird year. On the one hand, global pandemic, perpetual uncertainty, civil unrest and the looming weirdness of 2021. On the other, I’ve experienced a lot of personal success and so I’ve felt a strange disconnect from the horrors being reported in the media.
Early this year, my GF put forward the idea that we had to make the very best of 2020. A lot of people were suffering or losing things and we were quite privileged to be making gains on life goals we’d been pursuing for a couple of years. We’d be squandering our opportunities if we didn’t make the best of them and didn’t show gratitude for what we’d been given.
So what, exactly, did I achieve in 2020?
+ I wrote approximately 1,020,000 words from January to December.
+ I wrote a novella in 20 days.
+ I landed over 40 stories in 10 different publications just this past year.
+ Appeared as the first story in the anthology ‘Reach for the Sky’ from Rogue Blades Entertainment.
+ I placed in 5 different contests.
+ I was asked by a publisher to turn a short story into a full novel to be considered for publication.
+ I was invited to 5 different invitation-only projects.
+ I’ve been interviewed by companies who’ve published my work for their sites.
+ I joined the beta and read team of a small press I work with for a taste of how the other half live.
+ I’ve met some amazing writers and received signed copies of their work.
+ And more, which I can’t bring myself to divulge right now.
Note: This is equal parts bragging and blessing-counting, because I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but also just kind of astounded. This time last year, I didn’t have an author Facebook page (I didn’t even use Facebook), this blog didn’t exist, my Twitter didn’t exist and my previous writing credits numbered exactly 3. That’s quite a jump in just one year.
Of course, all this gloating is kind of pointless if I can’t explain HOW I achieved any of this. So this is the part of the blog where I try to unpack the behaviours that led to these successes:
1. Leave social media alone
One of the biggest drains on productivity has to be using social media. You can waste hours and hours on Facebook and Twitter and feel like you’re really achieving something but, the truth is, you’re not. Follower count is just a number. It doesn’t equate to book sales.
I’ve long held the opinion that social media makes everyone feel like the world moves faster than it really does. The ability to check throughout the day just means disappointment throughout the day.
My solution is to check social media once a day, at most, and only for an hour. Take the apps off your phone, do it at the PC/laptop and limit yourself. Not only will you enjoy that hour more, look forward to checking for new messages with less disappointment, you’ll also get more done around it.
So what, exactly, did I achieve in 2020?
+ I wrote approximately 1,020,000 words from January to December.
+ I wrote a novella in 20 days.
+ I landed over 40 stories in 10 different publications just this past year.
+ Appeared as the first story in the anthology ‘Reach for the Sky’ from Rogue Blades Entertainment.
+ I placed in 5 different contests.
+ I was asked by a publisher to turn a short story into a full novel to be considered for publication.
+ I was invited to 5 different invitation-only projects.
+ I’ve been interviewed by companies who’ve published my work for their sites.
+ I joined the beta and read team of a small press I work with for a taste of how the other half live.
+ I’ve met some amazing writers and received signed copies of their work.
+ And more, which I can’t bring myself to divulge right now.
Note: This is equal parts bragging and blessing-counting, because I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but also just kind of astounded. This time last year, I didn’t have an author Facebook page (I didn’t even use Facebook), this blog didn’t exist, my Twitter didn’t exist and my previous writing credits numbered exactly 3. That’s quite a jump in just one year.
Of course, all this gloating is kind of pointless if I can’t explain HOW I achieved any of this. So this is the part of the blog where I try to unpack the behaviours that led to these successes:
1. Leave social media alone
One of the biggest drains on productivity has to be using social media. You can waste hours and hours on Facebook and Twitter and feel like you’re really achieving something but, the truth is, you’re not. Follower count is just a number. It doesn’t equate to book sales.
I’ve long held the opinion that social media makes everyone feel like the world moves faster than it really does. The ability to check throughout the day just means disappointment throughout the day.
My solution is to check social media once a day, at most, and only for an hour. Take the apps off your phone, do it at the PC/laptop and limit yourself. Not only will you enjoy that hour more, look forward to checking for new messages with less disappointment, you’ll also get more done around it.
Next time you think to yourself: “I’ll just check Facebook”, why not say: “I’ll just type another couple hundred words” instead.
2. Get yourself a burner project
It’s hard writing quality all the time. When you want everything you write to be perfect enough to be published first time, you’re going to get performance anxiety eventually and it’s going to be hard to write through. The solution? Get yourself a project that doesn’t need to be perfect.
Whenever you’re having a hard time writing your professional pieces, write a couple thousand words of your fan fiction, your self-indulgent nonsense, and feel better. It doesn’t just clear the dross out of your brain. It’s also good practice. And who knows? It might help you thrash out some concepts and make a good basis for a professional story at some point. Think of it like drafting without the burden of actually having to edit.
Trust me, if my word count for this year is anything to judge by, the more you relax and just write, the more “real” writing you’ll get done.
3. Become a reviewer
Stephen King said that every writer needs to also be a reader. Without reading, he said, you don’t have the tools to write. I would go one step further and suggest becoming a reviewer.
Reviewing is a good way to give back to the community. A review on Amazon can help independent and self-published authors my giving their work more spotlight. It also just means a lot more to people who don’t get many reviews. Being a reviewer has also opened a few doors for me. Since the start of this year, I’ve worked on virtual book tours, joined an ARC team and become a beta reader. Hopefully, I’ve also spread a little love to people just like me.
4. It’s not a rejection, it’s a miss
Rejection is the wrong word for what happens in this industry. Since joining a reading team towards the end of this year, I’ve realised that picking stories for an anthology is a carefully weighted and painstaking process. It’s really hard. And sometimes a story that you love just doesn’t make the cut for any number of reasons.
So it hasn’t been rejected. It’s been loved. It’s been desired. But reality has gotten in the way. Personally, I tend to look at this more as a “miss”. Yeah, it’s a great story but it doesn’t fit the theme as well as some others or it doesn’t have the right tone or the genre’s a little off. The good thing about missing with an arrow you fire is that you can put it back in the quiver for later. This year, I refired over half a dozen missed arrows and they all hit. It’s just about finding the right target.
5. Forget your darlings
You wrote a novel and you love it. Now that you’ve written it, reread it, drafted it, fixed it, edited it, had it beta-read, you want to find an agent and get published. That’s the process, right?
Well, maybe not. Querying takes forever because the traditional publishing industry has no agility whatsoever, despite technology having made everything more rapid. Yes, it’s where the money is, but if you haven’t demonstrated that you can get published, how are you going to get published?
My success level climbed significantly when I gave up on landing the big one (for the time being). I’d say I probably look like a more appealing candidate as an author with 40+ acceptances under my belt but I’d never have achieved that if I’d doggedly pursued that one goal everyone else in the industry is also pursuing.
So, yeah, I’ve put a pin in finding an agent for the time being. Maybe I’ll try again in 2021. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll wait until I hit 100 before I try it again.
6. Get the right tools
Microsoft Word is great but it comes with a lot of unpleasant distractions. The internet is always just a task bar button away. You need the right music, you need to research something, you need to play a couple of games of solitaire or something on Steam before you can get writing. There are too many things on a PC that aren’t just writing.
That’s why I have an Alphasmart. Specifically, an Alphasmart Neo. It’s basically a calculator screen with a QWERTY keyboard attached, slightly smaller than a laptop. It doesn’t have a backlight and it certainly doesn’t have an internet browser. What it does have is enough space to write a novel.
I do all my writing on the Alphasmart. All of it. I write in the car (when I’m not driving). I have a little reading light so I can write in the dark. I write in cafés and restaurants. I even wrote this on the Alphasmart. It doesn’t need to boot up. It just switches on. It takes AA batteries and lasts for MONTHS. When I’m done, I connect it to the PC with Ye Olde Printer Cable and hit “Send”. It types the story into Word for me and I can go and make brownies. When I come back, it’s ready to save and edit.
The Alphasmart’s grotesque lack of features is its primary selling point. Literally all you can do with it is type. There are no formatting options, no music player, not even a spell check (not one that works anyway). And it’s faster and easier on the wrists than trying to write it out in long hand.
7. Appreciate your fans
If someone takes the time to tell you that they loved your work, take the time to say thank you. We are past the days of anonymised authors in ivory towers unreachable to the general public. If you keep a wall erected between you and your fans, they’ll likely just go and find someone who they can connect with instead. If you can say nothing else about this red ocean we’re paddling in, there are always more fish in the sea.
I’m fortunate enough to live with my biggest fan. She is part of my process, part of my life, part of me. I would wish everyone that happiness in whatever form it comes in: a good friend, a regular reviewer, a contributor or beta reader, or any combination thereof.
The thing I’m most thankful for, the thing I’m most proud of, is being with her through this trying time, and continuing on with her into next year. That’s the note I want to end on.
Whatever it looks like for you, Happy New Year. I hope that maybe 2021 is for you what 2020 has been for me.
2. Get yourself a burner project
It’s hard writing quality all the time. When you want everything you write to be perfect enough to be published first time, you’re going to get performance anxiety eventually and it’s going to be hard to write through. The solution? Get yourself a project that doesn’t need to be perfect.
Whenever you’re having a hard time writing your professional pieces, write a couple thousand words of your fan fiction, your self-indulgent nonsense, and feel better. It doesn’t just clear the dross out of your brain. It’s also good practice. And who knows? It might help you thrash out some concepts and make a good basis for a professional story at some point. Think of it like drafting without the burden of actually having to edit.
Trust me, if my word count for this year is anything to judge by, the more you relax and just write, the more “real” writing you’ll get done.
3. Become a reviewer
Stephen King said that every writer needs to also be a reader. Without reading, he said, you don’t have the tools to write. I would go one step further and suggest becoming a reviewer.
Reviewing is a good way to give back to the community. A review on Amazon can help independent and self-published authors my giving their work more spotlight. It also just means a lot more to people who don’t get many reviews. Being a reviewer has also opened a few doors for me. Since the start of this year, I’ve worked on virtual book tours, joined an ARC team and become a beta reader. Hopefully, I’ve also spread a little love to people just like me.
4. It’s not a rejection, it’s a miss
Rejection is the wrong word for what happens in this industry. Since joining a reading team towards the end of this year, I’ve realised that picking stories for an anthology is a carefully weighted and painstaking process. It’s really hard. And sometimes a story that you love just doesn’t make the cut for any number of reasons.
So it hasn’t been rejected. It’s been loved. It’s been desired. But reality has gotten in the way. Personally, I tend to look at this more as a “miss”. Yeah, it’s a great story but it doesn’t fit the theme as well as some others or it doesn’t have the right tone or the genre’s a little off. The good thing about missing with an arrow you fire is that you can put it back in the quiver for later. This year, I refired over half a dozen missed arrows and they all hit. It’s just about finding the right target.
5. Forget your darlings
You wrote a novel and you love it. Now that you’ve written it, reread it, drafted it, fixed it, edited it, had it beta-read, you want to find an agent and get published. That’s the process, right?
Well, maybe not. Querying takes forever because the traditional publishing industry has no agility whatsoever, despite technology having made everything more rapid. Yes, it’s where the money is, but if you haven’t demonstrated that you can get published, how are you going to get published?
My success level climbed significantly when I gave up on landing the big one (for the time being). I’d say I probably look like a more appealing candidate as an author with 40+ acceptances under my belt but I’d never have achieved that if I’d doggedly pursued that one goal everyone else in the industry is also pursuing.
So, yeah, I’ve put a pin in finding an agent for the time being. Maybe I’ll try again in 2021. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll wait until I hit 100 before I try it again.
6. Get the right tools
Microsoft Word is great but it comes with a lot of unpleasant distractions. The internet is always just a task bar button away. You need the right music, you need to research something, you need to play a couple of games of solitaire or something on Steam before you can get writing. There are too many things on a PC that aren’t just writing.
That’s why I have an Alphasmart. Specifically, an Alphasmart Neo. It’s basically a calculator screen with a QWERTY keyboard attached, slightly smaller than a laptop. It doesn’t have a backlight and it certainly doesn’t have an internet browser. What it does have is enough space to write a novel.
I do all my writing on the Alphasmart. All of it. I write in the car (when I’m not driving). I have a little reading light so I can write in the dark. I write in cafés and restaurants. I even wrote this on the Alphasmart. It doesn’t need to boot up. It just switches on. It takes AA batteries and lasts for MONTHS. When I’m done, I connect it to the PC with Ye Olde Printer Cable and hit “Send”. It types the story into Word for me and I can go and make brownies. When I come back, it’s ready to save and edit.
The Alphasmart’s grotesque lack of features is its primary selling point. Literally all you can do with it is type. There are no formatting options, no music player, not even a spell check (not one that works anyway). And it’s faster and easier on the wrists than trying to write it out in long hand.
7. Appreciate your fans
If someone takes the time to tell you that they loved your work, take the time to say thank you. We are past the days of anonymised authors in ivory towers unreachable to the general public. If you keep a wall erected between you and your fans, they’ll likely just go and find someone who they can connect with instead. If you can say nothing else about this red ocean we’re paddling in, there are always more fish in the sea.
I’m fortunate enough to live with my biggest fan. She is part of my process, part of my life, part of me. I would wish everyone that happiness in whatever form it comes in: a good friend, a regular reviewer, a contributor or beta reader, or any combination thereof.
The thing I’m most thankful for, the thing I’m most proud of, is being with her through this trying time, and continuing on with her into next year. That’s the note I want to end on.
Whatever it looks like for you, Happy New Year. I hope that maybe 2021 is for you what 2020 has been for me.
Congrats on seeing results from so much hard work. Your tips are excellent.
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