Hello everyone. As you will probably notice, I took a little break for the holidays and am just now getting back into writing blog posts. Today I’m going to look back at the year 2016, specifically from my writing POV. Of course, I only started blogging a couple of weeks ago, so I’ll have to fill you in on the rest of the year.

I wrote a couple of short stories – one of them is still sitting around somewhere waiting for me to go back and revise it. And the other one I hope never to see again.  You know how some stories are just simply horrific until you go back and reread them after a few months? But then you also have the stories that are still simply horrific even after you reread them. And yep, that was one of those stories.

There were also periods of time this year where I suffered from writer’s block. I had no ideas and thus nothing to write. It was terrible. But then I decided to do NaNoWriMo, so that sort of took care of that. NaNo was probably one of my two writing highlights of the year.

I was also able to edit a novel I’d written a while ago – the purpose being so that I could get it printed on this amazing machine called the Espresso Book Machine. That was really fun, and I consider it my other writing highlight of the year.

In addition to writing projects (and numerous ideas that only turned into a couple of scenes before I got bored – that’s what happens when writer’s block decides to linger for two months at a time), I also grew a lot closer to God this year. I think I can say that the overall thing I learned was that I need to trust him. I need to stop relying on myself for strength and instead place my trust in him. This year I learned that if I do that, he will always give me strength to face whatever is coming at me.

This makes me think of a verse from Proverbs: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (ESV) (That verse is from Proverbs 3:5-6, if you want to know.)

Throughout the entire year, God has been teaching me this, but there was one time in particular that comes to mind. It was during the week where I volunteered at Camp Attitude, which is a summer camp for special-needs kids and teens and their families. I was assigned to one kid, and for the entire week, I was just her special friend. It was very hard, but it was so very rewarding! During that week I learned to rely on God every day. I learned to trust him.

So, this year, I learned at least two very important things: Trust God, and writer’s block doesn’t last. Although… I seem to forget that little fact whenever I actually get writer’s block. But hey, this brings me to another very important point: When you’re going through darker times or when you’re really struggling with something, it can be hard to remember to trust God. I’m pretty sure every Christian has experienced something like this at some point in their life. I’m still trying to learn it myself. God is still teaching me.

Oh, I guess I shouldn’t leave without saying something about new year’s resolutions. I’ve never really been big on resolutions. Mine have always been something along the lines of “write something amazing” (2016), “build a hoverboard” (2015, and I epically failed… sorry, Marty McFly), or… wait, I didn’t even have one in 2014. This  year, though, my resolution (I guess it’s more of a “goal”) is to GET A BOOK PUBLISHED. I’ll keep you posted on how I do, because it’s very ambitious, especially if I decide to write the last two books of a trilogy at the same time.

So, this year has been somewhat of an adventure, a journey… and I hope 2017 will bring all new adventures. All you writers, what was this year like for you? Do you have any resolutions? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy New Year! I’ll see you in 2017!