Reflection
A first blog entry should typically be about what is to come - what to expect, the future, ect. Yet, as I sit here trying to figure out what the hell I’m actually going to write on this blog, all I can think of is the past.
The past year, to be exact.
You see, I don’t think I’ve told many of you this before but my goal for 2022 was to finish writing a book. To take my love of writing seriously and make it happen. And somewhere along the way, it has grown into something more.
This year has been one of my wildest yet. What started out as a solitary journey into writing somehow made a slight deviation and snowballed into one of the greatest online communities I have ever had the pleasure of being part of. And that’s saying something as I’ve been around the internet a time or two.
So how did we get to where we are today? Lets dive deeper to find out.
QUARTER 1
January - March
I’ve always wanted to write a book - I have been writing since I could hold a pencil and it has always been one of my greatest dreams. But life always got in the way, I was too busy, school too stressful, and work too exhausting. All of those things are true, but nonetheless they were excuses. So I decided that this year I was going to take my dreams, desires, and passions seriously. I started out January with a rough idea for an epic fantasy book. I took the month of January while I was between jobs to work on outlining, worldbuilding, and developing my characters. I even worked with a writing coach who helped me change the trajectory of my story for the better. As I decided to become more present online, I thought about what my ‘brand’ would be (because let’s face it, at the end of the day that is what we all are on social media). I settled on being known online as an ‘Author in Progress’ - and that’s something I think I will forever be. In progress. Always learning, always growing, and always perfecting my craft.
But I found myself feeling rather lonely in the writing process - missing community I used to have when I first started writing all those years ago. So I started making TikToks to outreach into the writing community and find friends who shared my passions. But I noticed something that was missing for me to really thrive in my writing process. Something I discovered during college is that I work best with other people around. Body doubling makes me a super productive individual. And at the time and in my current space, I wasn’t able to do that. So I posted a TikTok asking if anyone would like to hold a Zoom meeting with me and we could do writing sprints together to hold each other accountable. The video kinda blew up and we held what would become the first meeting of the Second Cup Writer’s Cafe.
After a few more zoom meetings, I figured it would be best to get all of the awesome people I met into one place (that didn’t have time limits on its meetings). So I quickly delved into creating a discord server- learning the ins, outs, and how bots work over the course of several days. This was the first discord server I had ever created - or ever really planned to be active in. I had literally zero clue what I was doing, but I invited my new friends and eventually opened it up to the public on national pie day aka 3/14/22 bc why not.
QUARTER 2
APRIL - JUNE
I started my next work contract and moved several states away from my husband for 13 weeks, but the writing server kept me company. And it kept growing and growing and growing.
I started thinking that maybe I should create a place - a hub for all the information about my projects, the server, and myself. So I buckled down and figure out how tf to create a website and newsletter. And had many, many technical difficulties. Bless the guys at IT who helped me iron things out. Soon the server was a little too big for just myself and my manager to handle. So we brought in extra help - our lovely employees!
QUARTER 3
JULY - SEPTEMBER
The server hosted its first big event - Camp NaNoWriMo July 2022! We hosted weekly group writing sprints and had an absolute blast trying to complete our 50k word count and encouraging each other along the way! Then during August I was on the move again to a new city again for my next contract (this time with my husband!) and began to settle into a new routine.
This time frame is probably one of my favourites -so many fun things happened! It was when I decided to begin offering alpha reading services and received my first reviews. When I began designing merch for the Second Cup Writer’s Cafe server at the request of its members and eventually launching it in September! And people actually bought it, which still baffles me (in the best way possible)! I never thought that anybody would want merch of anything I ever created so the fact that people asked for it??? And then bought it???? Literally the coolest thing ever.
QUARTER 4
OCTOBER - DECEMBER
My real life was so dang busy omg. I finished my last travel nursing contract and decided to put my mental health first so I made the move to get a job that would allow me a better work-life balance. During the month of October my life completely changed - I left my old work life and started a new one in a new specialty, my alpha reading services really started to take off with several inquiries, all while buying and moving into my first home! So many exciting (but exhausting) things have happened but unfortunately it left me too drained to write. Now that I’ve settled into my new life, I’m buckling down to finish the first draft of my current book - a high fantasy Phantom of the Opera retelling with magic and dragons! I am aiming to have it down by the end of this year - to make my goal from the beginning of the year a reality.
If you made it to the end of this post, I hope you enjoyed this little trip throughout my life this year and I hope you stay around for my next entry on my plans for the upcoming year! I’m excited to see what new and unexpected joys 2023 brings me - and am excited to bring you on this journey with me!!
As always, I am forever grateful for your support <3
