Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I know it’s Saturday. Similar to a mere two weeks ago, where I also forgot to submit my blog post on Friday, I had a sudden realization that yesterday was Friday, dammit. 

Anyway, I’m not going to dwell on that too much. I’d rather talk about some resolutions that I will be trying to implement this year. The first is that I want to read more books. I was looking at my reading insights on my Kindle and saw that the number of books I had read in 2024 was quite a bit less than 2023. And 2023 was less than 2022. And 2022 was less than 2021. And can you guess what comes next? Yep, 2021 was less than 2020. Now I’m not holding myself to 2020’s standards. That was COVID season. Everything was cancelled, school was virtual, my job became non-existent, and so on and so forth. All of this to say, I had more free time and used reading to escape everything going on around me. 

While that was not the only year of COVID, it was the reason for me getting through 319 (!!!) books. I’m busier now, I have more going on, and I recognize that a goal in the 300s is unrealistic at this point. However, I do hate that I have been reading less and less each year. So my first goal is to read more books. Right now, I am aiming for 200 but I’d be happy with 150. I’ve already started the first on my list and it’s really freaking fantastic. I might have to make a blog post at the end of 2025 to share all of the books I made it through and how I’d rate each of them. What do you think?

My next goal is related to my writing (as it should be). I want to finish my first draft and learn more about the different processes involved in getting my book out into the world. I want to look into publishing - it’s different methods, pros vs cons of each, who I might be able to reach out to for advice, all of that. I want to look into editors, cover designers, the ins and outs of alpha and beta readers. Even though I’m nowhere near that stage yet, I don’t want to get there and have no idea on how to take the first step. I’m sure all of it can be quite daunting, especially if I’m trying to get through it fast and get to the next stage. By starting now, I can gradually navigate those processes and learn bit by bit so I don’t end up becoming super overwhelmed. For the first draft, I’m going to start slow and aim to do one chapter a week. I know that that doesn’t really seem like a lot, but I have a feeling that things will start to move faster as I get into it more and I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I tend to be my biggest stressor and I really need to work on that. 

But those are my main resolutions! What are yours?