Posted by Its strange to believe, strange but true, but if its possible 2021 has been both a better year and a worse one than the last. Worse, because of the disaster that I don’t want to name, because I hate it now but you know it starts with a C. I’ve never felt more disheartened at the world than when the second wave hit India and the situation worsened across all other countries as well. I know that on the cusp of 31st December we always hope for a better year next time, but we’ve never needed it more.
Though I didn’t expect it, my writing this year has actually fared better than last year. This is not necessarily in terms of quantity, but quality. I had never dreamt my stories would place in venues like Khabar’s Singapore at Home anthology, Forge, Temz Review, Agnes and True, Jaggery, Vestal Review.
I even got a higher-tier rejection from Granta this time last year and a similar one from Poetry journal. This emboldened me to send out my poetry. I’ve picked up flash fiction more this year and plan to submit more of those next year.
Other highlights from the year include:
- My Chapter One interview!! I blogged about it here. This is one of those opportunities that came out of the blue and I embraced it fully.
- 11 acceptances – I had hoped for one last acceptance to kick in during the final weeks of the year so that I’d have one per month, but it didn’t materialize!
- More than 200 rejections – Submitting creative work is largely a numbers game, and the more you submit the more chances for acceptance you have.
- Got nominated for Best Microfiction 2022!!! This was wholly unexpected but it came with the publication of my story Mother, Believing in Issue 59 of Vestal Review.
- Attended this workshop with Kritika Pandey as part of Himalayan Writing Retreat
The one and only negative point was the dreaded C-word and the anxiety that followed after that.
For 2022, I can only hope and pray that the situation improves across the world. For the second year running we hope life returns to some semblance of normal, but it remains to be seen if that truly happens.
As for my writing, I expect to put in the same hours I did this year, maybe more. I plan to focus more on my flash fiction as that’s become something of an obsession for me.
How has your year been? Have you made a round-up of your year or set any New Year resolutions? Do let me know in the comments!
Gargi's World 