At the end of every year, my social media feeds fill with productive creative people touting how much work they’ve done in the past 365 days. Seeing how much everyone has accomplished, it’s very easy to feel like you haven’t done anything at all—or at least you haven’t done enough.
This past year, my son was born. In the most important of ways, it was the biggest year. He’s the best thing I’ve ever had a hand in creating and being with him daily is the best “work” I’ve ever done. Naturally, it was a pretty busy year. (So busy I’m finally writing those post in February!)
While parenting is a life shift that redefines everything, I still wondered how my year stacked up in terms of creative output. Even when you’re having an incredible year, at least for me, it’s hard not to try and tally your efforts. (I’m a bit of a listmaker.) When I crunched the numbers, expecting it to have been a light year in creative work, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve had busier years, but to have done all this…
13 comic scripts
1 TV pilot script
1 movie script
1 graphic novel script
2 pitch consults22 comic script pages
2 accepted comic pitches10 recorded episodes, and
9 of those aired
…while raising a kid, working a day job 40 hours a week, and living the rest of my life, it feels like an even bigger year!
My point? Don’t get caught up in a “grass is greener” trap. You might see fellow writers or artists who logged a ton of work in the past year, but what they did is not your standard. You don’t have to keep up. You need to do your work. Focus on what you did, not what you didn’t get to. Progress is progress, even if it’s just a little.
At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. So far, it’s working!
Naturally, I’m aiming to be even more productive in 2018. That includes a monthly newsletter on writing and editing. Check it out by signing up below!
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