I posted every day in October here, and I wrote tens of thousands of words.  In November, I hardly posted here at all, but I managed to get my writing goal accomplished.

I managed to maintain the writing inertia into December, and I finished the Mel Walker story.  That was a week and a half ago.

I’ve been trying not to feel bad for slowing down.  I’ve hardly posted anything here, and I haven’t done any new writing since I finished the Mel Walker story.  I’ve done some editing on Unclaimed Goods (formerly known as Baggage), but that editing was mostly using a highlighter and a pen to capture proposed changes.

Christmas did happen during this time, and I did take a trip to Southern California for work.  There was shopping, and work, and family, and work.  I’ve been busy, so I can cut myself a little slack.

Now we’re at the end of the year, and the start of a new one.  Let’s count some blessings:

• I have some success under my belt.  I know that I can finish a first draft of a novel.  This is huge.
• I have a couple of groups of people I meet with and share stories with.  These are really good people, that are talented.  They’ve given me feedback that I needed to hear, and they’ve tried to be gentle with me.  These are friends and peers, and I don’t have to feel alone in my solitary activity.
• I have a new technological device.  I received a Surface Pro 2 for Christmas, specifically so that I would have a device for writing as my old writing laptop has deteriorated.
• I have a family that is proud of me and supportive of my writing.  I couldn’t do this without their support.

I think the first thing I’m going to do in 2014 is give myself a writing schedule.  It’s kind of like a New Year’s resolution.  It’ll be good for me.  I’m good at following rules, and if I don’t do something like this, I run the risk of going silent again.