Tag: year end review

End of Year Review – Elmo the Cat

Having reviewed my own achievements this year, I feel that my writing assistant, Elmo the cat, deserves the same treatment. So, his achievements this year…

He’s learnt to catch mice, which is good, as it turned out some were living in the kitchen.

He’s made friends with other cats in the street, which is a relief after the fights and face-offs at our last house.

He’s calmed the f**k down, which makes my life easier. Now he can entertain himself by running around the allotments, he hardly ever ambushes me on the stairs or wakes me up to play at three in the morning. I almost miss those crazy days.

Almost.

So well done Elmo. Treats all round. And maybe next year you can learn that the sink and the toilet aren’t good places for you to drink from.

End of Year Review – What I’ve Achieved

The end of the year is in sight, so it seems like a good time to look at what I’ve achieved in writing terms.

As a freelancer, I’ve written a load of books and articles. I hit a bump in the middle of the year when a key source of work dried up. But I’ve kept the words flowing, paid the bills, and am looking to equal or better the previous year’s earnings. I’ve recently started thinking about new approaches to finding work, which will be stressful but probably lead to more work. Starting on those will be next year’s goal.

In terms of my own writing, I’ve not had many short stories published, as I haven’t written many. On the other hand, I’ve finished writing my Epiphany Club series, and the last book will be edited and out soon. One of the novellas I wrote collaboratively for Peachill was published. I’ve submitted a novel to agents for the first time and got some very positive rejections. I’ve written my first couple of scripts for Commando Comics, which was a lot of fun. I’ve started on a cool new collaborative project. And of course I’ve kept up the flash stories here, which means there’ll be another collection of those soon.

Now I stop and think about it, that’s a lot of writing, and a lot to be proud of. That more than anything is the reason to look back now – to give myself a pat on the back and some reassurance at a stressful time of year, as well as some motivation heading into the new year.

What have you achieved that you’re proud of this year?