If I had to choose one word that described this year, it would be work.
It feels like the focus of 2018 has been split between two things: my job and my writing. There hasn’t been as much time or energy to spend on the other things that are important to me, things like travel, blogging or reading. Sure, I’ve done some, but noticeably less than in the past.
This year I’ve spent so much of my free time attached to my laptop.
But I’ve achieved some things I’m proud of. I’ve managed to crowdfund my debut novel and it is due out in the spring. Over the last few weeks I’ve being working on structural and line edits and I’m pretty proud of the improvements I’ve made to the manuscript. It was worth all those nights I stayed up until 12.30am writing and then hauled myself out of bed at 6.30am for work
I guess the other word that describes this year would be tired.
But I’m not complaining. I’m very lucky to have a book due for publication.
This year I also completed a year-long mentoring programme where I started work on my next book and had several one-to-one sessions with a literary agent, which were really useful. I also made some lovely new writer friends and joined a writing group, which has been a great motivator.
I did also manage a few short trips, to Amsterdam, Krakow, Northumberland, Fuerteventura and Glasgow, all of which were a lot of fun.
What I didn’t manage to do was blog much about those trips. I used to love nothing more than wandering round a new place with my camera, then spending hours editing my photos and sharing them here. But I seem to have lost some motivation for that, as other things have become more important.
And over the last few months, as both work and my writing life have become ridiculously busy, I just haven’t had the capacity to post much here. It does make me sad: I’ve been blogging for almost six-and-a-half years and I’ve gone from unfailingly posting four times a week to being lucky if I post once a month.
I hope that’s something I can change next year – it’s a little scary to have broken my regular blogging habit and I need to build it up again.
Next year I also hope to recover my reading momentum and get back to work on my next book. I’m not sure how much travel I’ll manage though, with work projects and my book coming out; it will be hard to juggle commitments. Not to mention the B work – Brexit that is. I’m so nervous about booking anything without knowing what our situation will be. And I’m not just worried about the travel side of things, but I don’t want to turn this into a political rant – I seem to spend half my life doing that at the moment!
Despite all this, things for me feel pretty exciting at the moment. I can’t wait for my book to come out next year – although part of me is terrified too!
2019 is definitely going to be memorable.
Lynsey Taylor says
You’ve had such a year! I really hope 2019 is just as every bit exciting but far more relaxing than 2018. You have certainly earned the rest. Look forward to reading more about your book release – you’ll always have readers coming back no matter how many times you post to your blog!
Merry Christmas xx
Lynsey || One More Slice
Amy Lord says
Thanks Lynsey, that’s so lovely of you!