{"id":6912,"date":"2021-11-29T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/?p=6912"},"modified":"2023-03-18T08:06:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T14:06:28","slug":"two-years-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/29\/two-years-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"(Almost) Two Years in Review: An Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;text-align: center;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/dot.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Email\",\"Print\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"big\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"bxwretlind\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"%28Almost%29%20Two%20Years%20in%20Review%3A%20An%20Exercise\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years is a long time to review, and these past two years really feel like 20. Still, I think it&#8217;s necessary for some of us to look back on where we were and what we&#8217;ve accomplished. If anything, it&#8217;s a record. While I know it&#8217;s not quite December, I still feel the need to get this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My two-year journey started with a visit to Ice Castles in Dillon, Colorado and dreams of&#8230;well&#8230;nothing, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What are dreams but wishes left to rot? Rotting things should be discarded. Right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">COVID hit early in the year and in May, I and two other employees were laid off because we were &#8220;not working out.&#8221; I hated that job, actually. In fact, I was scheduled for the fifth and final interview at a different place when the world stopped. I didn&#8217;t get that job because the company (a hospital system) stopped hiring days before my last interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lucky me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Was I angry? You bet. Did I think it unfair? Absolutely, especially when I learned that the lay off of those three people occurred right after the government provided paycheck protection money, leaving the owner with a nice profit off our salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, I digress. I was at that moment unemployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What do you do on unemployment? I had worked constantly since I was 16 without a single break between jobs. That&#8217;s nearly&#8230;a lot of years. I wasn&#8217;t even sure what extended time off looked like, and navigating a suddenly-overwhelmed unemployment system was not easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I looked for work constantly (a very difficult thing to find in my field as learning and development is apparently the first thing to be cut from most organizations in times like this). Life was not easy, and yes, I was very depressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was during this time I decided to return to a novel I had started in 2017 then quit after only 10,000 words. I dusted off the manuscript and after applying for yet another twenty jobs, took a look at what I had written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Something in me snapped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three months later, I finished <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ZTi55A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">that novel<\/a>, the first in a series, and plotted out seven more. Right after, I got a job with Yale, and since it was remote work, I had plenty of time to continue writing, go to my <a href=\"https:\/\/pikespeakwriters.com\/ppwc-2\/past-conferences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first ever writing conference<\/a> and chat up agents via Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While that first novel went through edits and then out to agents for a bite, I wrote a second. Four months later, I started the third in the series while editing the second. I decided (on the advice of others) that I would take a little break from the world I created and write a completely different novel. That novel was posted on Kindle Vella and will be published later next year. I also edited <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3lvVPzH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a collection of short stories, novellas and poems<\/a> and prepared it for publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Needing to continue the break on the series while working with beta readers for the first two novels to make sure the story didn&#8217;t have holes that would show up in the third novel, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3TtowtW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I wrote a novella<\/a>. It was nothing special&#8211;a scifi-western-philosophical tale&#8211;but it was fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I managed to finish that novella in time for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nanowrimo.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NaNoWriMo<\/a> 21, something I had never participated in before. During NaNoWriMo (and I believe <em>because <\/em>of its gamification), I wrote a fourth novel in 17 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So now I sit with the following, all because I was let go:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>4 novels<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 novella<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 collection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a fully outlined 8-book series<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>an infinite number of story ideas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a complicated spreadsheet or two<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>an <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/authority-magazine\/author-benjamin-x-wretlind-on-how-to-write-compelling-science-fiction-and-fantasy-stories-5456c8d93194\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview with Authority Magazine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>an invite to speak at the <a href=\"https:\/\/pikespeakwriters.regfox.com\/pikes-peak-writers-conference-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pikes Peak Writers Conference in 2022<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I will actually finish the third novel in the series by March of next year, so that will mean 5 novels in 2 years post layoff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I once took <a href=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/19\/how-to-write-a-book-in-just-under-20-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">20 years to write a novel<\/a>, so this is something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I realize that my COVID story is not your COVID story, and for those of you who lost family and\/or friends during this pandemic, my heart goes out to you. I only write this because I need to tell myself something, need to remind myself that I am <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not<\/span><\/strong> &#8220;not working out&#8221; like I was so rudely told in May 2020. I need to feel alive, to feel like I can take those dreams I once discarded and revitalize them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lastly, here&#8217;s a snapshot of one of those spreadsheets. This tab is not as complicated, but does give me an outline of the next few years. Each one of those colored lines is a novel, novella or collection due for publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"215\" src=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-1024x215.jpg\" alt=\"The next 3 years of publication dates\" class=\"wp-image-6972\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-1024x215.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-300x63.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-768x161.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-1536x323.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-2048x430.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/the_long_view-e1638136902578-1920x403.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I will likely add a few other novels and novellas in there, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/two_years_pin-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/two_years_pin-1-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6986\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/two_years_pin-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/two_years_pin-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/two_years_pin-1-720x1080.jpg 720w, https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/two_years_pin-1.jpg 735w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div><div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;text-align: center;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/dot.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Email\",\"Print\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"big\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"bxwretlind\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"%28Almost%29%20Two%20Years%20in%20Review%3A%20An%20Exercise\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two years is a long time to review, and these past two years really feel like 20. Still, I think it&#8217;s necessary for some of us to look back on where we were and what we&#8217;ve accomplished. If anything, it&#8217;s a record. While I know it&#8217;s not quite December, I still feel the need to&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"button small blue\" href=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/29\/two-years-in-review\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,121,3,6,131,134,29,4,69,25,138,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beans-of-anafi","category-beneath-gehenna","category-books","category-difficult-mirrors","category-nanowrimo","category-out-of-due-season","category-reflection","category-regarding-dead-things-on-the-side-of-the-road","category-silence-and-fire","category-sketches-from-the-spanish-mustang","category-sunset-on-maior-pales","category-writing-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6.1 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>(Almost) Two Years in Review: An Exercise - Benjamin X. Wretlind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two years is a long time to review, and these past two years really feel like 20. Still, I think it&#039;s necessary for some of us to look back on where we were and what we&#039;ve accomplished.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bxwretlind.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/29\/two-years-in-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"(Almost) Two Years in Review: An Exercise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two years is a long time to review, and these past two years really feel like 20. 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