Best of PBW 2012

Every year I look back through the archives to see how things went, what I accomplished and where I might improve things with PBW and my writing life. It's a helpful exercise and it always surprises me in some way.

As I mentioned yesterday, my theme for 2012 was coloring outside the lines, and I made some serious progress with that by stepping outside my comfort zones, trying new things and pushing myself almost daily to be more creative. I was also very public about it, which is not the usual thing for me, but I think it helped to share the process. I can't say I was 100% successful in always coloring outside the lines, as I ended up dodging a few things I really intended to do, but overall I'd say I did well with the challenge.

Several people have mentioned to me that I wasn't as funny this year on the blog as I have been in years past. With all the self-improvement projects I've been working on (and the related stress) I think I probably have been too serious. Thus one of my goals for 2013 is to remember to be more entertaining on a regular basis.

The world didn't end in 2012, so a lot of Doomsday theorists have egg on their face. I'm proud to have been one of the people who lobbed some eggs. The world did change, however, and not always for the better. No year will ever be entirely happy, and we shouldn't expect that. What I hope is that what caused so much hatred and ugliness in 2012 will inspire us to come together in kindness and generosity, and do what we can to help each other more often. Silly, I know, but a girl can dream, right?

To summarize the rest, here is a list of:

Ten Things I Did in 2012

Lost a friend and an inspiration.

Decided to make a thousand pieces of art in a year (and did it.)

Discovered my fiction had become reality again.

Laughed at myself.

Read lots of great books.

Resurrected the second series I've had killed by a publisher.

Snapped some neat photos.

Sold a new series in a new genre.

Survived yet another Apocalypse.

Took an online art class.

Wrote a novel, and posted it online while I was writing it, and won NaNoWriMo in the process.

As for the blog, here are the posts I think were the best of PBW 2012:

January: Mistake Me For, Depression, Despair and Do Nothing, Domain Explained.

February: The 8-Track Mentality, The eBrush, Fiction Becomes Fact II.

March: Shopping for Vampires (guest post at Silk and Shadows blog), Carry On, Next Stop Irony.

April: Ten Things That May Indicate You've Written a McQuery, Unveiling Your Characters, EuroSPAMmed.

May: Ten (Weird) Things That Happened Last Week, Balloons, City in the Sky.

June: Ten Excuses for Your Paranormal Heroine Not to Have Sex with Your Paranormal Hero, Short Story Sins, Seeing Story.

July: LEGO® Logic, Ten Things That May Indicate You've Written a McOpener, Ten Things I Saw on My Trip to Savannah.

August: Wordsmithing, See for Yourself, Must Chuckle.

September: Poetry Sparks, Writers Visual Dictionary, Rio.

October: Mr. Ray Persists, Ten Things I Hate About Cover Copy, Making It Work.

November: Character Art, Making It, Battling.

December: Dreaming in Emerald, You Might be a Writer if . . . , Creative Collisions.

Welcome 2013. May you bring more good luck than bad for all of us.