2016 was a mess in so many ways. My writing proved to be one of the few things I felt as though I could rely on. I drove myself crazy with perfectionist urges from time to time, but overall, writing kept me sane this year.

I spent the entirety of 2016 working on my writing. Aside from some odd jobs, all of my income this year has come from writing. I’m still letting that sink in. I’m writing and earning money doing it. The amount I’m making now isn’t enough to live on, but it is enough to help out. My wonderful, amazing boyfriend deserves so much credit for supporting me while I’m still in the beginning stages of this writing journey. Someday I plan to make enough so he can turn his attention fully to creative pursuits while I take care of the bills. I’m on my way to reaching this goal and it is all thanks to the support and encouragement of you wonderful people.

At the end of December last year I made a blog post outlining my goals for 2016.

My 2016 Goals

1. Write every day
2. Post a chapter every week
3. Finish The Dreams
4. Start writing another novel
5. Win CampNaNoWriMo at least once
6. Win NaNoWriMo

I did not write every day. I wrote most days, though. Some day I might be able to accomplish this goal, but as of right now I’m still learning what prevents me from writing and how to circumvent those problems. I’ll continuing to work toward this goal because I think it is my personal ideal writing routine.

I almost managed to post a chapter every week. I only missed a few weeks and I know I just did not have it in me to get a chapter out during the weeks I missed. I’ll aspire to do even better in 2017.

The Dreams was completed in 2016. The final chapters were posted earlier this month. I’m extremely pleased to have completed this goal, even if I did expect it to happen much earlier in the year. Sometimes I overestimate my ability to complete a large project. In the case of The Dreams, I think I also underestimated how much story I had left to write.

I started writing Inbetween during NaNoWriMo this year so I can certainly mark that goal off as complete. I’ve started posting the revised chapters of it as well. Progress!

My losing streak during CampNaNoWriMo continues. I’ve attempted CampNaNoWriMo every session and I’ve failed every single time. Even setting a low, attainable goal hasn’t allowed me to win. I’m starting to suspect I have some sort of Camp curse.

I managed to win NaNoWriMo this year. November is the perfect writing month for me, it seems. I always have my most productive month of the year in November. This year I finished writing The Dreams and started writing Inbetween during NaNoWriMo. Between the two, I managed to write enough words to achieve victory.

Now with only a few days left in the year, I need to start thinking about my goals for 2017. There’s a lot I’d like to do that is not entirely in my hands. I’d like to reach $50 per chapter on Patreon. I’d like to reach 300 followers here on WordPress and 4,000 on Twitter. While there are things I can do to improve the chance of these things happening, accomplishing these goals is not something I can accomplish all on my own. For the official list I’ll stick to goals I can reach under my own power.

My 2017 Goals

1. Write every day
2. Post a chapter every week
3. Finish Inbetween
4. Write draft 3 of The Dreams
5. Start a new novel
6. Win CampNaNoWriMo at least once
7. Win NaNoWriMo

Most of my goals are the same, but that’s because they’re good goals. 2016 was a good year for my writing and I only aspire to make 2017 even better.