End of the Month Report: December 2011

Submissions: 3
Rejections: 1
Acceptances: 0
Published: 0
Stories out in the wild: 10
New stories completed: 1.5
Extra achievement category added to pump up my final stats for 2011: my story The Nameless Seamstress was a semi-finalist in the 4th Quarter of the Writers of the Future Contest.
Mood: optimistic and raring to go. I've been trying not to compare my 2011 with at all the amazing 'Year in Review' blogs posted by writers who are, I keep reminding myself, further ahead in their careers. They write of achieving many publications, and receiving awards, and winning arts grants that will give them time off from their day jobs to just write and do research, and one can't help but feel a teensy bit deficient. This is a classic mistake to make, of course, because you should NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS. That way lies the Desolate Road to Self-Imposed Misery, a terrible highway travelled by insecure people who insist on flagellating themselves with psychological cat-o'-nine-tails. The writers in question have all weathered their own ups and downs, and worked hard and consistently to achieve their successes. Instead of feeling inadequate, I choose to be inspired to follow their worthy examples and focus even more on my writing in 2012.

So, repeat after me: "You get out of it (whatever you choose 'it' to be) what you put into it. You get out of it what you put into it. You get out of it what you put into it. You get out of it what you put into it. You get out of it what you put into it..."

Now, which way to the fireworks? Happy 2012, everyone!