We’ve made it to the end of another year! I hope you’re able to look back at who you were at the beginning of 2018 and see many changes (for the better, of course!) in who you are now.
Honestly, I barely recognize the person I was back in January 2018. It’s been a huge year of personal growth for me, much of which either caused or was caused by an unexpected decision to move closer to my sister and her family.
As a result, much of my focus this year has been on external events more than book production. This is the first year in ten years in which I haven’t officially released a new book. I did unofficially release my historical superhero novel Wayfarer amidst all the craziness of my move this fall, but I did it on-the-hush so I could fiddle with some marketing experiments. I will be “officially” launching it sometime in January or early February at the latest.
Other stuff that happened for me this year:
- Chinese translations of Creating Character Arcs
- Finished first draft of my portal fantasy sequel Dreambreaker
- 5th mention of Helping Writers Become Authors in Writer’s Digest‘s 101 Best Websites for Writers
Other than officially launching Wayfarer any time now, my plans for 2019 include outlining the third and final book in the Dreamlander trilogy, as well as hopefully starting its first draft. I’m intending to focus most of my “business” time this year on odds and ends, such as moving the podcast to a better hosting platform, as well as doing more concentrated research on marketing keywords and perhaps even Amazon ads for my books (using Dave Chesson’s awesome KDP Rocket, which I’ll be reviewing in a post soon). For my next writing how-to book, I’m wanting to do something about theme, so I may start working on that toward the end of the year.
On a personal level, I’m becoming more and more committed to living a sustainable life with minimum waste (maybe someday I’ll get to zero waste!). I’ve already made huge strides toward swapping single-use products (such as napkins and tissues and even coffee filters) out of my life, in exchange for alternatives that can be reused many times (such as cloth napkins, handkerchiefs, and the awesome Coffee Sock). Getting better at finding food with zero or no plastic packaging is a goal for me this year, which also ties in with another of my personal goals: getting better at navigating and driving in unfamiliar places.
So that’s me this year! If you’d like to take a journey back through my top posts of 2018 (as judged by page traffic), check out the below list.
My Top 10 Posts of 2018
1. The 5 Secrets of Good Storytelling (That Writers Forget All the Time)
2. 5 Ways to Use the Enneagram to Write Better Characters
3. 5 Steps to Writing Great Character Chemistry
4. How to Intertwine Plot, Character, and Theme in Every Scene
6. 3 Tips for Improving Show, Don’t Tell
7. 4 Steps for How to Turn an Idea Into a Story That Rocks
8. 4 Ways to Choose a Better Theme for Your Book
9. The 10-Step Checklist to Writing an Above-Average Novel
10. 4 Ways to Write a Better Antagonist
Find a Writing Buddy! (New Edition)
Looking Back on 2022: 5 Reflections on a Year of Healing
8 Tips for Dealing With Negative Reviews of Your Book
5 Tips for How to Return to Writing After a Long Break
About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland
Quitting my job to go full steam ahead on my first novel. Yikes!. . . . but I’ve got an awesome editor waiting for another revision, and this winter should turn out to be very productive. Don’t wish me luck – it ain’t about luck, people – for me it’s about swallowing pride, rethinking what has to be deleted and filled in, getting down to the task of it all, and fixing the words. Yeah. Just that :-/
Whoo, you go! All the best!
That sounds very exciting, Mary George. Congrats on this big step!
Thanks, Priscilla!
I was challenged by my daughter’s announcement to the world how proud she was that her dad had published his FIRST book, at the age of 81. I finally started in Feb. of 2018, and in December 2018 I typed The End on my second book, first novel, at the age of 83. So 2018 was a year of major accomplishment for me. Sent it out for editing, then have to find a publisher so 2019 can be an even bigger year.
Congratulations! That’s massively inspiring to all of us.
Happy new year, Kaya! This was a great year for your posts; thank you for that.
Questions:
1. Into the Spiderverse. It’s technically not a Marvel movie but it was fantastic. Will it get a Storytelling According To Marvel slot?
2. Will you promote your sister from Tunnel King to, say, Hendley?
1. Hmm, I saw it over Christmas and quite liked it, but hadn’t considered doing a post on it. Let me mull on that.
2. Considering she was Goff, Tunnel King would be a promotion. :p
Got that right! Thank you kindly.
Cheers to you and Yours ~~ Mary
You go!
It’s pretty neat to be named in WD’s top 101 sites for the FIFTH time, congratulations. Happy New Year!
Yes, I’m definitely honored. 🙂
I am revising my wip and will publish it next year. I am going to put two maps in in where the character lives. Then after doing how many revising then I will also format it so it looks like a novel then will self publish it.
All the best with that!
Way to rock it this year! For me, I got to do a book marketing consulting gig in LA where I met Larry Nivens (Hugo and Nebula Award winner) -> super scifi geek moment. 🙂
Congrats! That’s awesome. 🙂
Happy New Year Katie!
One thing I learned in 2018 was that I excel when I focus on only a few things. Hopefully my powers of concentration will improve in 2019!
Hear, hear. I’m constantly refining my battle against Internet brain.
Happy New Year! I have read your top writing posts several times over this year, and just want to thank you for this website…I certainly could never have gotten far without it! I have question about opening lines. If my opening line presents a question, is it alright if I don’t answer it until later in the first chapter? Would readers be confused if I don’t explain the opening line in the next few paragraphs? Thanks.
Definitely okay. In fact, depending on the question, you don’t have to answer it until the last chapter. 🙂
Thanks. My opening line is a solitary statement that is followed by setting and character description, which at the time seems to be unrelated to the statement itself.
As long as it piques curiosity, and not confusion, it’s all good.
Happy new year! For me, it’s about buckling down and soaking in as much as I can (through this site) about structure and applying it a couple of shorts.
Sounds awesome! Have fun!
Can’t wait to read those posts!
2018 was a fairly hard year (I’m praying for better in the new year!), but it forced me to buckled down and commit to writing a book that’s been simmering beneath the surface of my mind for a long time.
It’s been crazy, but I couldn’t be more excited, and I thank God every day for awesome resources like your blog and books.
Thank you for sharing your tools and skills through this blog, it is a blessing 🙂
Hard years bring growth, so I believe 2019 will be amazing!