That Old End of Year Feeling - Looking back

It's weird. This time of year always seems to make people reflect on their lives. Not just the past year, but the whole thing. Maybe that's why the older one gets, the more melancholy the season. More time to think about. More regrets to ponder. And more sweet memories to recall.

My writing goals for last year were ambitious. And I don't think I actually got all the way through any of them. But--and here's the thing that seems to happen every year--I did quite a few things I never imagined at the beginning of the year. Does it even out? No idea. But there it is.

So, what were my goals for last year?

--Finish revision of MMG in January (or be prepared to throw it in a drawer). Wow, was I harsh or what? It has changed, but needs more.
--Revise Vesta by end of April. She's still waiting until I get MMG done.
--Finish draft of TNN by end of February. I do have a draft done, but didn't make it by February.
--Revise TNN by end of summer. Still working its way through CWC.
--Write rough draft of some other novel that I haven't thought up yet by end of year. Yeah huh.
--Query Dan and other agents in March (only if MMG is submittable, otherwise wait for Vesta). See above.
--Write flash fiction piece for anthology by mid-January. DONE!! Although I ended up not submitting it to the anthology.

What did I do that I hadn't planned?

--Wrote a second flash fiction piece that I like better than the first one.
--Started a dance class that I love.
--Read a lot. A whole lot. See list at left. And that doesn't include the full manuscripts from CWC throughout the year.
--Took on new duties at work that left little time to write there.
--Visited my aunt in Florida for the first time in too many years.
--Several dog-sitting sessions.
--Learned much more about the craft of writing from all the reading I did and from the wonderful people in CWC. That would be (in alphabetical order) Ali, Fleur, Jenny, Mary and Shane.
--Finally redecorated the Writing Room. Yes, I've been planning to do that for a long time, but it happened this year.