A Year in Review

In the spirit of the season, I've been looking back at 2013 and looking ahead toward 2014. I always find this time of year depressing. It's too easy to compare where I am now where I was this time last year and see very little difference. And apply that to a lifetime. What have I accomplished? What has my life been worth? I tend to find my self-worth in output. And when I work eight hours a day, five days a week and see no measurable profit at the end of the year, it's a serious blow. I know all that work resulted in something, but with no agent hooked, no publisher interest, I'm not sure I believe it.

So I'm going to try something to convince myself my time has worth. Maybe I can visualize this year's accomplishments.

This year I:

• Finished the final draft of By Wingéd Chair 
• Pitched By Wingéd Chair and queried over thirty agents about it
• Finished both the first and second drafts of A Shroud For My Bride
• Wrote the first draft of my seventh book, Talon Force during Nanowrimo
• Increased my online presence through Facebook, Twitter, and this blog
• Attended my third writer's conference
• Joined Delve Writing to hone my craft with a great community of writers
• Read forty-four books. Okay that's depressing no matter how I look at it considering I usually read 100 books in a year. I'll give myself a bit of a break since I wrote so much this year, but I'll have to step up my game in the future.
• Spent a month world-building for my series and created an encyclopedia for the details
• Not to mention all the personal things like my sister's engagement, joining the youth group staff, cleaning the basement, numerous vacations, celebrating my seventh anniversary, and discovering gnocchi

Wow, when I look at it that way, I accomplished quite a bit this year. There's a lot on that list to be proud of. And a couple things to improve on next year. Next time I start to doubt my progress, I can look back and see just how much I'm doing.