The Writing Babbler : End of the Year

The end of the year is nearly here... Gets me thinking about what I've accomplished in the course of 2013. Here are some of them:

Completed my first novel "The Wood Keepers" which is a young adult dark fantasy novel. 93,000 words is quite a feat for me. I started writing with simple poetry and then exploded into larger things. Currently querying to agents (evil process)
Started a sequel to my novel but put off finishing at 50,000 words until I know if the first novel is going somewhere
Begun a third novel and quit at chapter 9 around 40,000 words, where the cliche monster came to eat me.
Bought some land to build a house. Now I just have to argue over what the family "wants" in the house. I'm pro castle-tower and giant slide from top floor to bottom floor (Yes I'm serious).
Improved my German language skills. DON'T ever assume that someone who lives in a foreign country from your is actually a native to the country they live in! I'm not a German native, although my ancestors are.
Learned how to make kick-ass Zwetchen Oil Teig Kuchen like Ur Oma. No one bakes better than Ur Oma. There's no one better to learn from.

Not everything on my list is the most positive accomplishment, but even the unfinished things I have to include. I've learned a bunch about my own writing abilities and I'm satisfied with that. We grow older, we change, and we learn constantly. Even if my life remains boring, I'm happy to know I learned something about myself.

The end of 2013 also reminds me of what I've done in the past years. I've really slowed down on the creative scale. I'm writing, but I'm not creating physical works of art so much. I enjoy sculpture, painting, ceramics and working with craft materials, but I've fallen away from it. At one point in time I was painting or busy doing something physically creative on a daily basis. Looking back at some of my favorite pieces of artwork makes me want to get into it all again. Have a look: