{"id":1860,"date":"2021-12-30T11:45:01","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T19:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/?p=1860"},"modified":"2024-08-27T03:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T03:39:41","slug":"2021-writing-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/?p=1860","title":{"rendered":"2021 Writing Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I didn\u2019t post much this year, so I\u2019m cramming to fill you in before it\u2019s over! I’ve already written about volleyball<\/a>, so now it’s time for my…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 Year in Review (Writing Edition)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Moving to Idaho might have been hard for volleyball, but it was great for writing. Ketch started school this year, leaving me time alone in the day to write\u2014like a real writer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But more time does not necessarily = more productivity. Just like gym workouts or sand conditioning, writing takes discipline. But unlike volleyball I have no partner or strength coach holding me accountable. No one cares if I sit my butt in the chair and write or not. Until I\u2019m actually making money, the motivation is up to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had my ruts, times when I questioned if all the time spent working on a book was worth it. But for the most part, I kept my head down and worked, pounding the stone every day. A novel feels daunting, especially knowing once I reach the end I\u2019ll just have to start again on a second draft, then a third, and then a fourth. But each time I sit down and work, the book gets a little further along and a little better. And that is the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Book 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the very end of last year, I released Dark Blood<\/a>. The second book in the Descendants of Terene series. Dark Blood was even more challenging to write than Good Blood. One of the storylines came easy, the other I had to rework again and again. But I\u2019m happy with how it came out, and I hope fans of the series are too. There is one more book scheduled in the series, and I still have a lot of work ahead of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This year I also published a short story in my college\u2019s literary magazine, The Northridge Review. Short stories have always been a passion of mine\u2014it\u2019s the form I studied in college\u2014and I\u2019d love to write more. Perhaps as a palate cleanser between books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re interested, you can read the short story here: Compound Interest<\/a><\/strong> (with pictures added).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of 2021’s writing was devoted to a new book. It was a project John Mayer pushed me to do, a cross between Good Blood<\/em> and Coach Your Brains Out<\/em>. That pitch doesn\u2019t make sense, you say? You may be right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was to write a fictional story that wove in coaching lessons we\u2019re excited about: effective practice, how to compete, mindset, etc. Think of it as a parable for athletes. The book proved to be a tough genre-mashup, and I struggled to find a balance between story and coaching lessons. But in the end, I wrote the book I’d want to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as an athlete\/fiction reader, this book is definitely for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Available now!<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading my year end reviews. Let\u2019s chat more in 2022!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I didn\u2019t post much this year, so I\u2019m cramming to fill you in before it\u2019s over! I’ve already written about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[11,18,21,25,26,106],"class_list":["post-1860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-billy-allen","tag-coach-your-brains-out","tag-compound-interest","tag-dark-blood","tag-descendants-of-terene","tag-the-inner-knight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1860"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4670,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1860\/revisions\/4670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billyketchallen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}