Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favorite works you’ve created last year (fics, art, edits, etc) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2017. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work.
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I was tagged by NanaM of DreamcatcherBJD for the 2017 Creator’s Meme! NanaM is super creative, and she channels that creativity through art, writing, and crafting for her ball-jointed dolls. Please do check out her blog, like her own 2017 Creator’s Meme post and her Inktober 2017 drawings!
Let’s get started! Here are five projects I’m proud to have accomplished in 2017:
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#1: Winning NaNoWriMo 2017
As my big project for 2017, NaNoWriMo is probably the thing I’m most proud of accomplishing in 2017. I squeaked by the 50,000 word goal on day 30 of NaNoWriMo, making this my first win!
The project is a Cloud-and-River Original, Rondo of the Rising Sun: “Trapped in a game world with no hope of getting home until the final boss is beaten, what are you supposed to do when you know you aren’t a hero? Ruby, Lazuli, Tiria, and Luna – together the guild Rondo of the Rising Sun – may not have all the answers, yet they work every day to make lives worth living, even in the dangerous world of The Third Turning.”
In those thirty crazy days, we made it about a third of the way through the story – a good start! I’m excited to continue working with Cloud on Rondo of the Rising Sun, and hope to have more news to share with you all soon. 🙂
For all my NaNoWriMo 2017 posts, click here.
And for more on Rondo of the Rising Sun, click here.
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#2: The Storm
“The Storm” is an experimental short-fiction piece I wrote in April 2017. You can read it here! It was a joy to write a short story after taking such a long break (the last time I posted flash fiction was in 2015), especially since most of my current projects are novel-length. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this piece!
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#3: Inktober 2017
Of course Inktober deserves a mention too! 2017 was my second year attempting the challenge. I took a low-key approach because I was doing Plotober at the same time and finished with 13 ink drawings by Halloween! Despite the low number, I feel that this challenge helped me feel more confident doing traditional art vs digital and to practice techniques I’ve neglected.
To see all thirteen Inktober drawings I completed, head on over to my Portfolio!
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#4: How to Paint a Galaxy in Watercolor
Tutorials are something I’ve wanted to do for a while and last year I had the opportunity to make one for watercolors! Using simple techniques, you can make awesome galaxies in watercolor. They’re quick, easy, and look amazing – my favorite kind of technique! You can read the full tutorial here.
I’d like to do more tutorials in the future. If there’s anything you’d like to see, let me know in the comments!
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#5: A Year of Challenges
2017 was the Year of Challenges for me. Not challenges as in difficulties (thank goodness!), but rather challenges that encouraged me to push my boundaries and learn the things I wanted to learn.
From January, when I participated in the Gemstone Streak Challenge, to June with SenshiStock’s Draw Everything June challenge, and on to Sketchtember and events I’ve already mentioned like Inktober and NaNoWriMo, 2017 was a year where I gave it my all. So I’m very proud of that. . . that at least I tried, even if I didn’t complete every challenge “perfectly.” I was able to try many new techniques and materials, and get a little closer to my dreams that way. (^_^)
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Thank you for going down memory lane with me! I’d like to tag Cloud, Claire, and Shaun for this challenge – and you! Please do feel free to take it too, and let me know if you do! I’d love to see your Top 5 creative works of 2017. 🙂
Strike A Spark 
Yay! You can be very proud of yourself!
I loved to see your progress and all the amazing things you did (and still doing).
I am always amazed which challenge you are going to do next – drawing, writing and so on. But remember to take a break in between 😉
Hugs ❤
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Thank you!! (^///^)
And thanks for following along with each challenge! You’re right, though, I should take breaks. . . this year, I won’t do so many, it was exhausting last year to do challenges one after another like that. Phew!
Hugs to you too! ❤
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These are suuuuch amazing point’s I agree surely many things you can be proud of yourself! You took many challenges with success! I appreciate your work and the tutorial, wow I somehow missed that! (it is awesome!!!!) I really enjoyed it a lot you put so much effort in it and it was worth it. Great I had a chance to keep up with that! 🙂 You are a talented person and you will surel ycreate even more lovely art and stories to be proud of! Keep on ^_^
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Thank you so much! You’re always so encouraging, Yureya, it warms my heart. (^///^) And I’m glad you like the tutorial! I’d like to do more tutorials too, when I level up a bit more. ^^
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Congrats on all your projects! I’m particularly impressed by NaNo (it’s one of my goals I’ve never been able to reach); good luck as you continue working on your book! I also loved your Storm story. The metaphor where you compared the storm to a play was one of my favorite parts – it was super unique and creative. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank you, Alex! 🙂
NaNo is always tough, it took me around five tries to beat it; the fact that it’s November means a full course load + upcoming midterms doesn’t help, right? The important thing is that it encourages you to work on your book, and if you do beat it, that’s like the cherry on top. 🙂 Are you planning to do NaNo, or Camp NaNo, this year?
And thank you for the kind words about “Storm,” I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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Of course! I look forward to following your other writing adventures! 🙂
I totally know what you mean about NaNo. Schoolwork + writing always makes November super stressful, and that’s probably the number one reason I haven’t had much success! Hopefully April is a little calmer… I am planning to do Camp NaNo, but I don’t have much of an idea yet. :0 What are your plans for NaNo this year?
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It takes a lot of guts to do NaNo during the school year, that’s for sure! Now, if only they’d do one during summer. . . Ah, but a lot of people take summer classes too. Ah well. ^^;;
Good luck with Camp NaNo! I hope it goes well for you, and that the schoolwork load will be light during April! 🙂
I’ve been thinking about doing Camp NaNo too, but well. . . we’ll see. I might just keep working on my current projects, and since a lot of that is art-related, that doesn’t count towards word goals, haha!
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Yeah, I’m with you on that one. It seems like there’s never a perfect time to put everything else off and do NaNo. I guess that’s why it’s such a good challenge!
Thanks, I’ll definitely need it. Luckily, April has Spring Break in it, so I’m hoping that’ll make it easier to juggle everything! 🙂
Good luck if you do decide to do Camp NaNo! I totally know get where you’re coming from though. It’s hard enough to write a novel, but to start such a huge project when you already have a bunch of other WIPs sounds difficult, to say the least 🙂
I hope your art projects turn out well! (Looking at some of your other work, I don’t doubt they will.)
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Thank you so much for the tag, River! You’ve accomplished a lot of wonderful things this year. Rondo of the Rising Sun sounds like a fascinating novel, and how awesome that you’re a third of the way through it…an epically long book, my favorite kind. 🙂 Your drawings for Inktober are all so beautiful, too! I look forward to doing this tag myself when I get a chance, thanks for mentioning me. 🙂
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You’re welcome, Claire! I’m looking forward to seeing your top 5 of 2017~
Thank you for the kind words! RRS is basically a “just-for-fun” project, so it’s one I’m always excited to tinker with. Glad you liked the Inktober drawings too! 🙂
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