In pursuing my ambition to publish great YA novels, here are some things I learned over the past year:

1. Beyond the thrill of being able to express my passion for writing and books, there are great benefits to blogging, the best of which is getting to know creative, supportive fellow writers and book lovers, many of whom I now consider friends. I see you, Tracy L. Jackson, Beth @ betwixt-these-pages, Kelly Deeny, Elena Johansen, FamilyRules, Wallace Cass,  Annika Perry,  Pat Sherard, The Glitter Afficianado, Stephanie @ Eclectic Scribblings,  Melanie Noell Bernard, Nate Philbrick,  Sabrina Marsi Books,  Jennifer F. Santucci, Mackenzie Bates,  Stephanie @ yourdaughtersbookshelf,  Karen @ MyTrain of Thoughts,  Amanda d Bat,  Carolyn @ A Hundred Thousand Stories,  Erica @ Books the Thing,   the bookwormgirls123.
2. I am better at editing a first draft on the computer than on a hard copy, even though a lot of advice-givers recommend against it.
3. A style sheet is helpful, especially for tracking important plot dates.
4. Literary agents are regular folks and book lovers just like us.
5. To write first drafts without censoring myself.
6. To create headers for each scene in Word so I can easily find them later using the navigation screen.
7. To  keep a “book blurb” Word file for when I feel especially excited about my novel and get ideas on how to pitch it in future query letters.
8. Short stories are not my preferred medium; what I truly love is writing novels (and I’m sort of learning it’s okay to be better at some things than others.)
9. Flash fiction is fun…and challenging.
10. Collecting images for novel inspiration boards on Pinterest is a blast and really does stimulate ideas.
11. It’s still great to be able to hold a book in my hands, but reading novels on electronic devices won’t kill me.
12. I want to get more into #bookstagram and #booklr.
13. Saving the previous draft of a story before making editing changes avoids a lot of lost good writing.
14. All writers, even the most successful ones, find writing novels to be really hard work.
15. When I stay away from my novel for too long, I forget I’m actually good at writing it.
16. Even when I’m afraid to work on my novel, I do have the discipline and faith to always return to it.
17. Daily writing goals and rewards make me a much more productive writer.
18. My writing really does improve with practice.
19. Beta critiquing other people’s novels makes me a better writer.
20. Google Docs is a really handy tool that allows me to work on manuscripts on my phone, home computer, out-of-town relatives’ computers, and hotel lobby computers. . . but I still always keep multiple back-up copies of my work.
21. A change purse is a great place to keep a flash drive.
22. I really am dedicated to publishing YA novels and maybe, just maybe, I am worthy of success.