Looking back at 2011

As 2011 draws to a close, I thought I would jot down some of my more notable writing achievements that happened over the year.

Firstly, after two years of procrastinating, I started this blog! I am still finding my way in the new parallel universe that is the blogging world, and have yet to firmly establish what the hell I'm doing here, but I am enjoying it nonetheless. I am going to work on all the points Laura Barnes mentioned in her critique and hopefully have a new and improved blog in 2012. I've changed my background already.

I loved participating in Rachel Harrie's amazing Writer's Platform-Building Campaign, even though I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights. A very steep learning curve to participate in this after only 5 days blogging, but sooo worth it. Can't wait for the next one, now that I know what to expect. The best bit was meeting so many of you wonderful bloggers and I hope to meet many more over this next year.

I was very honoured to have my three Campaign Challenge entries in this ebook compilation of flash stories. All proceeds went to "Help Harry Help Others" which is a charity set up by an 11 year old boy who died of a brain tumor in October, but not before raising a ton of money for further research. If you missed this, please check it out and tell all your friends. A great cause started by a great soul.

I made real progress with writing my memoir 'Right From The Start' this year. In fact, I have 'the first shitty draft' just about done and am now editing. I actually love editing so I am enjoying it. I just need to allocate some regular writing time and I will be finished in no time. Then I can start the hunt for an agent and publisher OR go it alone and self-publish like so many of my friends have done. Oooh ... how exciting!

I uploaded more documents to Scribd and made a concerted effort to increase my number of reads and followers. I read more of what other people were writing and commented more on their documents. It was fun. I got to know even more people. I was amazed at how quickly I saw results. Helped in part by a scantily clad beach babe, I now have over 77,000 reads and 590 followers and the numbers increase daily.

A fellow author whom I much admire told me that if I wanted to raise my platform and get an agent for my book, then I absolutely HAD to Tweet. Damn. I had been doing a good job avoiding all the twittering and tweeting going on around me. But I blindly jumped off my perch and joined in the noise. With the help of one of my lovely Scribd buddies, I managed to work out some of the basics and now have over 1,000 followers since July. I still don't fully understand it but maybe that's a goal for next year.

In the next day or so I am going to define all my goals for 2012. Yikes! I hardly ever do this, but I am going to write them down and tell you. Maybe then I will keep a couple, who knows?

What have you achieved this year that you're proud of? What didn't you achieve that you would like to done? What was great about 2011 for you?