The year is coming to a close; with wet shoes, falling frost and the hope of new growth in the lengthening of days.
Following months of transition, unsettledness and anxiety, I found myself grounding gently. December, as a whole, was okay. Not grand, but not terrible either. I did a lot of reflection: both painful and promising. We saw family and friends (both old and new), and I refocused a little on conserving energy for my own reflections and trying to navigate through stormy weather.
Reflections on the Journey
Goals:
At the beginning of the year I set myself four goals: track my daily wordcount, write a minimum of once a week, “sort out” Resilience, and submit my manuscript to someone by July 1st.
So, how far did I travel this month?
i. The Daily Word Count
I’ve reached my annual goal of 150k, but just barely. I measured my wordcount each day, so this specific goal is checked – I measured every single word of fiction that I wrote this year.
Considering how difficult writing felt this month, I’m pleasantly surprised to see I wrote 5,807 this month.
The Felled Gods: From 31,171 To 37,674
ii. Write Once a Week
Check! As usual, I only took 6 days off in a row.
iii. Work on Resilience
I’ve been thinking a lot about Resilience this month; reading through bits as I become stuck in TFG. And I did work on it a little early on in the year. I’d say this was a half-tick, because the motivation was to not get stuck with Planes Shifter all year, and I feel I managed that.
iv. Work Towards Submission by July October May2015
I submitted a short story around July, another by September (which was accepted for an anthology) and then submitted a third just after. I’m still thinking about my goals for 2015, but at this stage, I’m tentatively pondering the process of submitting Planes Shifter in spring.
v. Read 24 Books
I had three books to complete this challenge. I managed two. 23 books is still two more than last year.
This Month’s Score: 1/2
This Year’s Score: 23/24
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Closing the Gate…
This Month:
* We had our annual Yule Buffet with our families.
* We had Christmas morning together, then went to his parents for lunch, then my parents for tea. It was the first time we’ve ever seen each other on Christmas day, let alone had the whole day together.
* Presents included: Settlers of Catan board game, Sea Monkeys, sweet foods (chocolates etc), placemats, a fluffy blanket, tiramasu-flavoured hot chocolate, and some glass mugs.
* OH came with me to my mum’s choir concert, which he’s never been to before. I discovered that I don’t know the second verses to a lot of the Christmas carols. Also, someone messed with the tune for Away in a Manger – I stood in the audience speechless, looking like this:
* I bought some yarn and attempted to re-teach myself knitting. I got some lovely mixed green wool, which i’m too scared to begin yet, since in 8 rows I managed to add 15 more stitches to my black wool ‘practice’ run.
* O.H. and I watched a few movies this month. This is one reason for late book completions and less novel-writing.
* I re-connected with two of my oldest friends after a long time apart, which was a lovely present in itself.
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The Opening Door…
Next Month:
* January marks a new job role, new management and new colleagues. I’m pretty apprehensive, but seeking out the positives and opportunities within the change.
* My new theme and goals are being set.