Year-End Review: The Writing Edition

Let me not lose sight of what I have done in terms of writing:

--I have written 5 short stories.  It's not the pace of a story every 6-8 weeks that I was hoping for, but it's close.

--I have filled more than one purple legal pad with poems--it's about average for me.

--I wrote a month of prayers for the devotion book Bread for the Day, and I wrote 6 weeks of corporate prayers that Sundays and Seasons sends to Lutheran churches across the nation.

--I blogged on an almost daily basis, for both blogs that I keep.

--I continued to create blog pieces for the Living Lutheran site, about 1 a month.

--I wrote one book review for a journal.  I also created a presentation for an academic conference.

--I made some progress on my memoir:  I got it organized into a rough draft (no small thing), and I'm revising it into the book of essays that I want it to be.

--I continued to send work out into the world.  This has not been a good year for acceptances, but I know these things go in cycles.  Maybe I'll have better luck next year.

So, when I feel like I've done absolutely nothing creative in the past year, clearly, I'm wrong.  It's good to take stock.  I often make goals, and when I accomplish one thing, I immediately add 5 more things to the list.  But I don't often stop to say, "Good job!"

Let us all say it to ourselves now:  "Good job!  Keep up the good work!"