New year, new goals: Targets for 2020
A belated Happy New Year to you all! Circumstances have forced me to delay my first blog post of 2020, but now I’m back and I’m finally ready to share my goals for this year. Come and tell me about what you want to achieve in the next eleven months! →
2020 marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. Having graduated from uni last year, I am no longer a student, and as of yesterday I commenced my very first Real Job. I’m not yet sure how being a Proper Adult will impact my creative output, but I’m certain it will, and have decided to be prepared for ANYTHING. If that’s actually possible! 😂
For now, it is time to share with you my targets and goals for this year. I did intend to publish this post several weeks ago, but due to some bushfire-related work I was doing through my part-time job I had to delay its release. My goals for 2020 are probably a little ambitious, but we’ll see how I go and I have scheduled a review for mid-year! What do you think?
Like last year, I intend to focus most of my effort on my writing projects while keeping this blog ticking over. I’m very happy with the content I produced and the growth I saw in 2019, so my blogging goals for 2020 are somewhat similar. They are as follows:
Publish 2 content posts + 1 update post per month. With the exception of January, of course, since January is already over! I managed this kind of blogging schedule last year without too much trouble, and while I think it will prove a bit more of a challenge in 2020, I’m ready to give it a shot!
Share at least 3 blog posts per month. For more than a year, I have been meaning to share some of my favourite content by those I’ve engaged with in the online writing community. So I’ve decided to add a new section to my monthly update post, where I will showcase at least 3 of my favourite posts by others!
Despite how busy I know I will be, I have SO MANY PLANS for my writing in 2020. I may be a little ambitious (again), but I suppose that only time will tell! My key writing goals for the next eleven months are:
Create a comprehensive guide to self-publishing. The purpose of this is to assist me in making informed decisions if/when I self-publish any of my works sometime in the future. I want to learn more about the whole process, so have decided to conduct some thorough research and compile it in a “guide”.
Determine publishing pathway for Holding Up the Sky. Holding Up the Sky is my contemporary YA novel, which I finalised last year and have finally started querying! I intend to continue exploring traditional publishing options in 2020, but if I have no luck then I will self-publish. Either way, I’ll know for sure!
Write the first draft of First the Song. This is the second instalment of my epic fantasy series Graceborn. Writing the first draft of book 2 is probably my main goal for this year, and I’m super excited to get started! I’ve started the detailed outline this week and intend to launch into drafting by the beginning of March.
Conduct beta reading of Blood of Old. I finished Graceborn book 1 during NaNoWriMo 2019, and commenced the beta reading process not too long after. This will continue throughout 2020, and I intend to make key adjustments as required ready for a second beta-reading phase later in the year.
Write 50k words of a new standalone WIP. No, your eyes are not deceiving you! I want to draft something completely new during NaNoWriMo 2020, so I intend to plot this one out in the lead-up to November. I’ve decided on the general concept, but all I’ll say right now is that is will be another contemporary YA standalone!
Ah, reading…my One True Love! As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t like setting very detailed reading goals since I’m such a mood reader, and I have no desire to restrict myself. My key reading targets for 2020 are:
Read 40 books. As per my Goodreads challenge, I’d like to read 40 books in 2020. I had a very successful reading year in 2019, but as much as I hate to admit it, I just know I won’t have as much time this year. Since I don’t want to stress about reading of all things, I decided to significantly reduce my reading target!
Read at least 5 books writers I follow online. I REALLY want to make time to read a few books by the other writers I follow online, particularly on Twitter. So I’ve decided that at least 5 of the 40 books I read this year fit into that category. I haven’t decided which ones they will be, but I’m excited to find out!
What are your goals for 2020? Are they more or less ambitious than last year? Anything exciting happening in the next few months?
Rebecca Alasdair
I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!
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Andrew McDowell
Best of luck with your goals! I’m hoping to complete the sequel to Mystical Greenwood, as well as get more reviews.
Rebecca Alasdair
Thanks Andrew! Good luck to you too, especially with the sequel!! 😊
Andrew McDowell
You’re welcome, and thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed Mystical Greenwood.
Tomas
Best of luck with your goals. I can’t wait for the guide 🙂
My goals are pretty much three: keep reading around the same level as last year (though I’d want to be more involved in betas to improve my own skills), finish Eternal Defenders #1, and hopefully get #2 to beta by the end of the year.
Rebecca Alasdair
I definitely plan to blog about the guide at some point, so keep an eye out! And good luck with your own goals! I hope yoy achieve all you want to! 😊
Lorraine Ambers
Great goals Rebecca. I’m sure you’ll achieve them all. 💜
Rebecca Alasdair
Thanks Lorraine!! Fingers crossed! 😂