{"id":1169,"date":"2017-12-26T15:03:36","date_gmt":"2017-12-26T21:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yayserver.com\/jessicaconoley\/?p=1169"},"modified":"2017-12-26T15:03:36","modified_gmt":"2017-12-26T21:03:36","slug":"2017-eight-practices-to-this-years-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yayserver.com\/jessicaconoley\/2017-eight-practices-to-this-years-success\/","title":{"rendered":"2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year was big.<\/p>\n

I signed with a major literary agency<\/a>, did my first solo reading<\/a>, went to my first writers\u2019 retreat<\/a>, sat on an editorial panel at a writers\u2019 conference with a major acquisitions editor from Penguin (looks like I haven’t told you guys about that yet, but I’ll get that story out to you pretty soon), and finished a massive re-write of The Color Eater<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Do you like how I snuck that last part in there? The part about finishing the rewrite.\u00a0 Well it’s true. I sent it off to Lucy on December 8th, and now we wait to see what she thinks. The book grew significantly jumping from 76,500 words to 101,000. A major character was added, and a handful of minor characters were given larger roles. I added a few new fight scenes, a rip your guts out and make ’em cry scene, and a whole lot more. I’m proud of how it turned out, and know I turned in a better book than the last draft.<\/p>\n

You were with me for all the setbacks along the way, but overall I\u2019m calling 2017 a success. Thank you adventuring with me and all your support and cheers.<\/p>\n

Of course my 92% analytical mind wanted to figure out what made this year a success.\u00a0 And since everyone loves list posts I decided to make a list of what I had done differently in 2017. Turns out more than one of the things that made me a better writer, also made me a happier, emotionally-healthier person as well.<\/p>\n

Here are a handful of things that helped me become a better writer in 2017:<\/p>\n

1) Reading. The penultimate teacher. By reading books in my genre I learn about the business. By reading writers I admire I learn about style and craft. By reading non-fiction I learn about reality and how it can inform my fiction. By reading all of it I learn about the world, others, and myself.<\/p>\n

2) Setting up a proper workspace. I bought myself a weirdo kneeling chair and a monitor riser, hooked my laptop up to a hand-me-down gargantuan monitor and plugged in a full size keyboard. My body is much happier with me now. Turns out looking down for hours on end a day, while working on a laptop, while sitting in bed, or hunched over in a chair, is really hard on your body. My body still gets mad at me, but I\u2019m doing much better since I set up a proper desk.<\/p>\n

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