2021, Way Better Than Last Year

Can we say yay that 2021 was superior to 2020? Yay!

I mean, there were still plenty of bumps, but I actually made progress with my writing, including three publications. That's a big win for me.

This post is a bit earlier than usual, but unless I get the motivation to add more words to Magic Morsel before the end of the year, I'm calling myself done. Decompression break to prepare for a productive 2022. Yes? Yes.

Here we go with the data for 2021!

2021 Publications

❦ Well of Solitude (Fortunes of Fate, 7)

❦ Bytes Bite, And So Do Fairies (Fractured Fairies, 4)

❦ Dawn of Fate (Fortunes of Fate 1-6 - Collection)

After nothing released in 2020, these three publications feel amazing. If you haven't grabbed a copy of one yet that you've had your eye on, treat yourself for the holidays!

2021 Progress

So, how exactly did I fare with the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the year? If you'd like a reminder of what I had planned, wander on over to 2021 - This Year Has To Be Better.

❦ Completed revisions and edits of Well of Solitude.

❦ Completed revisions and edits of Bytes Bite, And So Do Fairies.

❦ Completed drafting Nymphs Need Love Too (Fractured Fairies, 5).

❦ I only added 1,884 words to Gemini's Echo (Zodiac Aegis, 1)... BUT...

❦ Due to the announcement of Kindle Vella, I started drafting Magic Morsel. I've currently written 27,037 words on that project!

❦ No blog posts in August, but at least one all other months. And the newsletters went out as needed (I've decided December isn't the best newsletter time unless I have a holiday related title releasing).

❦ The Year of Cats kind of evaporated on Instagram. I'm still posting pictures there occasionally, though. Social media can be such a time sink!

Now for the nitty gritty. The big, overarching numbers for the year. You know, what I love. XD

❦ I drafted a total of 39,232 words.

❦ I revised a total of 17,934 words.

❦ I edited a total of 71,033 words.

❦ 104.75 hours spent writing, revising, and editing.

❦ 42.08 hours creating cover art and dealing with other publication tasks.

❦ And finally, 222.08 total hours on writing and writing related tasks (per usual, up to the time of this post, and this excludes reading as well as any Haunted Unicorn Publishing work).

Wow, I hit most of my goals. How'd that happen? I mean, Magic Morsel ousted Gemini's Echo, but I wrote almost 29k words between the two projects. That puts me at 13k short of my word count goal for Echo. With some ups and downs throughout the year, that's damned good for me. And a million leagues better than 2020.

I've already planned 2022, so watch for that post in the first week of January. Even years seem to be a thorn in my paw, but I'm determined to break that cycle. But more about that in the next post.

Happy holidays, all, and try to enjoy the rest of your 2021 before it disappears!

NaNo 2021 - Final Wrap-Up

Where exactly did the month of November go? Well, it's gone. That's for sure - lol.

My kids failed as spectacularly as I did. Maybe if I had pushed myself more, they would have as well. But as usual, November ended up being such a rough time to write. Between planning holiday gifts, Thanksgiving, and some family issues to deal with this year, the second half of the month blew up in my face.

I did add 6495 words to Magic Morsel, so I exceeded 2020's total. And hey, I have episodes scheduled for that on Kindle Vella through the end of the year now. ;) Any progress is good progress, yes? Yes.

My 25k goal was still overly ambitious, though. That goal changed the first week, as I felt burned out after three days straight of writing. I think next year I'd rather take a look at my monthly word count average, and then aim to up it slightly for November. Now, if I remember that, all the better. In all likelihood, I'll want to try to torture myself yet again with an insane goal because... NaNo!

It's time to take a look back at how 2021 went and plan for 2022, which will be my next two upcoming blog posts.

I hope all of those who tackled the NaNoWriMo challenge are happy with their accomplishments for November, even if 50k wasn't reached!