Many of you who read this blog, have also celebrated your first year of blogging during the last couple of months.
Today it’s my turn. As usual, I started off on fire. I had no idea what I was doing or how to do it. Many of you were there to share experiences and advice on what to do to get the ball rolling. Thank you all.
I went back an looked at my first post. It was a typical welcome to my new blog site post. However, reading it reminded me of the reasons I started writing in the first place. I remember the first character background that I wrote up for a role-playing game. I gave it to my friends to read and got rave reviews. A few years later I tried my hand at a novel. After about 30,000 words I hit a wall. Real life interrupted me and I never finished it. However, it planted the seed that writing was fun. It was a change of pace from reading. I realized I could write the types of stories that interested me instead of relying on someone else to write them.
The idea to start a blog came as a result of advise from several sources that said a serious writer needs to have a blog. So here we are a year later. I have learned a great deal. There is a lot more to blogging than I ever imagined. Not only must I publish my own posts, but I learned that I have the surprisingly enjoyable responsibility to view, comment on, share, and support all of your blogs as well. Some weeks I do better than others. I am constantly amazed at the wealth of information that exists within the blogosphere. Thankfully, this community is more than willing to share with each other.
The last few months have been about trying to find balance. Most of us struggle with this. How much time to devote to posting, reading, commenting, working on our own WIP’s, and taking part in the rest of our real lives. I am starting to figure out what works for me. So, we’ll see what happens in 2013.
As for 2012, my blog introduced me to some amazing people from across the globe. Many of you have helped me find tools that will make me a better writer. For that I am eternally grateful. My blog provided opportunities to share my work with other writers and editors. It opened doorways to types of writing I had not considered before.
One of the goals of starting this blog was to assist in getting published, hopefully by someone other than myself. That goal was achieved. Even though it was not a short story or novel, the magazine article was published and distributed to several thousand people. I see that as a good start. It lifted my confidence which is always appreciated and needed. 😉
I follow so many blogs and receive comments from so many of you that it would take all day to list you all. However, I would like to reach out and thank a few individuals specifically for their support, generosity, and most excellent humor, which is so important to me.
First is Tony G. Tony is a professional boxing promoter, entrepreneur, friend, and was the individual who helped me kick off this blog. Thank you Tony. See you at the fights!
Then there is:
They are all great writers and bloggers that I can count on to make me laugh and make me think. They provide sound advise and share their lives and writing adventures with enthusiasm. Thank you.
I am looking forward to 2013. I have some writing goals that I think are achievable and for the most part, family and friends are healthy. (I hope I didn’t just jinx it!)
My quote of the day: Laugh every day. It makes you and everyone around you feel better. Besides, the alternative is completely unacceptable! 🙂
Tales From The Hare 