Listing Our Accomplishments

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Writer Lynda R. Young wrote a great post for the Insecure Writers Support Group: 4 Reasons to Celebrate Your Writing Milestones.  In it, she talks about the benefits of thinking back on past accomplishments.

I love looking back on past achievements. That’s because my to-do list is frequently so scary that it gives me a sense of security to see what I’ve finished.  I read once that to-do lists help us be more productive if we keep the crossed-off items on our list instead of making new lists all the time.  I can see why—it’s motivating to see how far we’ve come, no matter if the project is writing and promoting a book or cleaning out a garage.

This is particularly important, I think, during this time of year. That’s because it’s resolution time.

I’ve gotten so that I’d rather make to-do lists for my year and plop the tasks on my calendar than come up with a list of resolutions that might be lost or forgotten. Even then, the list seems unmanageable sometimes.  I knew, for instance, at this time last year that I’d have at least four books release in 2013 (if I didn’t, I’d be paying back some advance money).  I also knew I’d promised readers to put my self-published books in print. In addition, I wanted to explore going into audiobooks.  Plus, I knew that my blog—which had issues ever since Blogger had pushed through a major update—needed to migrate to WordPress.  It was a lot to do.

But—I crossed all those tasks off my list this year.  And instead of relentlessly moving forward to the next item, I slowed it all down a bit.  I stuck most of my accomplishments up on my website’s News page.  My news page is always a bit sad, anyway, since I don’t really do readings or signings anymore. What’s more, these accomplishments help alert readers that I’ve got print books and audiobooks available for sale now.

Even if you don’t do something as public as a website list, you might want to keep a note somewhere that you can look at when you get overwhelmed by what’s ahead. You could keep it in a Word doc or your calendar, on Evernote or on a sticky note.  These could be tasks as big as finishing a first draft, or smaller, important tasks like finding a cover designer or formatter, researching agents, reviewing self-publishing options, or learning social media and how to effectively promote.

Do you track your accomplishments?  Celebrate your milestones?  What did you accomplish in 2013?

Addendum–I should also mention that I had a book release yesterday! (Not sure where my brain is with promo lately.) Quilt Trip , a Penguin NAL book, is now available.