Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
It’s almost impossible at this time of the old year to resist looking back and weighing up what kind of twelve months it has been. The days and months of the calendar never change (well, bar leap years I guess and even then only by one day!), yet our attitudes towards the passing of time can vary so much.
I must admit this year has struck me as a sad one. I’ve known several friends lose loved ones and I was deeply saddened by the death of the Queen. I was (and remain) saddened (and angered) at the war on Ukraine. So on the face of it, 2022 has not been a great year (and we thought 2020 was bad!).
What I find helps is remembering feeling like this is normal. Every year has its ups and downs though in some years, it is harder work to recall the positives!
I believe an interest in any kind of creativity is good for us, regardless of what form that creativity takes. Writing has helped me make a lovely circle of friends, all of whom are as firmly bitten by the writing bug as I am and so “get it”.
That helps a lot when you’re at your desk and you’re tired and the words don’t seem to flow so well. Everyone goes through that. It helps to know that is the case. But you’re not really convinced by it until you meet other writers who tell you about their ups and downs and suddenly you realise you’re not on your own after all.
Looking Back
It has been another good year, writing wise, for which I am grateful. At about this time of year, I set myself a rough goal as to what I would like to have achieved by the end of the following one. I deliberately set myself goals I know I will achieve, others that are a distinct possibility, and one or two which will stretch me (but where I’d still like to see progress made).
Last year, I wanted to get my third flash fiction collection submitted and while that took longer than I anticipated for a variety of reasons, I got there. I also wanted to do more on social media and have done so by setting up my author newsletter. I have another long term project on the go. Didn’t do as much on that as I’d have liked so I will try to push ahead more on that one in 2023.
Looking back then can be a great way to evaluate where you are and where you would like to be. I’ve found having some thoughts in mind here encourages creativity rather than stifles it. The secret, if there is one here, is to not over-think or over-plan it.
It also pays to have some easy goals so you can tick them off your list too. I find that alone encourages me. In 2022, things came up which I hadn’t expected, but which I was right to follow through on. I know now in a way that I hadn’t on first starting out as a writer this is all part and parcel of the writing life. Best thing to do with it is to take it in your stride!
Negatives
Every writer still needs to look out for the writing scams. And it is amazing how many widowed US Generals want to be my “friend” on Facebook! I am friends with precisely none of them. It is all a con (and every female writer I know gets this. It would not surprise me at all if my male colleagues are approached by widowed ladies though whether they’re in the US Armed Forces is another matter!).
My approach on these things is usually to delete and block though I sometimes leave these “requests” on my posts and then put up a reply saying very loudly this is a scam, am not interested etc. If you can’t beat them, you can flag them up!
A writing friend sometimes gets to my posts with these comments on before I do. In the week running up to Christmas, I had a comment on one of my posts from a US “gentleman” saying how lovely I was etc etc and my friend responded with the wonderful comment “What again? You man magnet, you!” which made me laugh. I then flagged up this was a scam!
Always, always beware the flatterers. Always ask what is in it for them. There will be something. It is usually your money!
Scams of all sorts have always been around. They, sadly, always will be. They adapt to technology. Scammers prey on people’s dreams and this is where writers can be at risk, especially those not yet published. So it always pays to ask questions, to seek advice from people like the Society of Authors and/or the Alliance of Independent Authors.
Such questions are not you being negative. They are you rightly being aware of the sharks out there and checking things out thoroughly before committing to anything. In the case of dodgy US generals, delete and block is a good way to go!
Is it harder to get into print now? Hmm… I’d say the jury is out on that one. For approaching the top publishers, you do need an agent and it can be harder finding one of those willing to take you on than a publisher. Having said that, the independent presses are growing, are out there, and give authors a legitimate way into being published, especially if you’re like me and not keen at this stage at least to self publish.
And if you do want to self publish, do check out the Alliance of Independent Authors. Your subscription fee there may well save you far more in preventing you being scammed. I know my membership of the Society of Authors has done that for me.
Positives
There are more options for writers out there. It is also easier to research publishing services and the like thanks to the internet. It does pay to join writing forums on places such as Facebook. There is lots of useful information out there and it is a nice way to network with other writers. I’ve learned so much from chatting to other writers in person and on line.
More people are more aware of the scams out there and flag them up! Do check out Writer Beware! While it is an American site, the general principles hold good no matter what side of the pond you’re on.
There are easier ways to find independent presses (do check out the Mslexia Indie Press Guide here. It does for the smaller presses what the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook does for the bigger ones). These don’t need you to have an agent. The link takes you to the third version of the guide on Amazon. (There is a fourth one being produced but it appears not to be available yet).
And Zoom again helps writers. There are various online events held using this medium which are either free for writers or don’t cost much to join in with. Plus there will, I hope, be plenty of writing events to look forward to during the coming year.
Conclusion
My basic building blocks for any writing year is to continue blogging and writing flash regularly. My other goals fit in around this. I want to work on my other long term project this coming year and just see how I get on with it. I will be running another workshop this coming year and hope more of those come in. It will be interesting and fun to find out what happens.
I hope you have a fabulous and fun creative year! Happy New Year!
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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As a writer of fiction I also find myself constantly harassed by requests for ‘friendship’ on all the various social media platforms…. let alone the offers to ‘improve’ my website etc etc! It’s a minefield out there…
But thanks for the reminder to get some resolutions for the year set down – writing is so all-encompassing that at times it’s hard to see the goals and simply get lost on the words and mounting chapters! Like you, some goals were achieved in 2022 – but I have far more to reach in 2023 – with novel 4 being published for starters!
Happy 2023 !
Many thanks, Jude. Yes, I get the offers to improve my website all the time too! Good luck with your novel. I find it encouraging when I can tick off the “shorter” goals I set myself. It spurs me on with the longer term ones! Happy New Year to you too.
Allison, I hope you have a good new year. There are lots of positives you’ve done this year.
Best wishes for 2023
Many thanks, Lynn. Happy New Year to you too.
Thanks for the useful information in this piece. Allison. Power to your pen for next year.
Many thanks, Mike. Best wishes to you and Brenda for next year.
Nice one Allison. Lots to reflect on here. It has been an up and down year for me. Some successes with my dogs in various competitions, and a gradual withdrawal from various teaching activities and committees. I was pleased that Routledge have re-published four of my books; one on the German philosopher, G.W.F. Hegel, which drew the attention of a German friend and scholar who I seem to have lost contact with One on organ transplants and two on medical ethics or bioethics. Hopefully these two will restore interest in medical ethics which of late has been reduced to discussions around cost-benefit analysis. And in November International Ethics Press published a large book – 370 pages – on Moral Awareness and Animal Welfare – which developed out of courses I taught on animal welfare at Cambridge and other universities. In this book I attempt to unite Animal Welfare, which has been a recognised branch of science since the publication of the Brambell Report in 1965, with my own approach to practical ethics. As for next year, I have plans to participate in a series of international conferences to celebrate the centenary of P.K. Feyerabend, philosopher of science, and possibly several re-publications of earlier books. As for scams, there are offers of friendship on Facebook from attractive Ukrainian ladies, invitations to edit academic journals who will kindly publish my work for a small donation, and the FBI agent with headquarters in Nigeria who requires my bank details in order to place $2 million into my account.
Many thanks, David, and Happy New Year to you. Well done on the good news with the dogs and the re-published books. I thought there had to be the equivalent for men of offers of “friendship” on Facebook and, yes, the invite from someone in Nigeria to give them your bank details is very much still doing the rounds.
Be alert, folks. The old adage if it seems too good to be true, it is IS true here.