Looking forward: What’s on in 2024
Welcome to another new year! I have some exciting things planned in 2024, both personally and on the authoring front. Come check out how I’ll be approaching the year and what my goals are for the next 12 months. And I’d love to hear about yours!! →
How I’m approaching the year ahead
Welcome to another new year! I’ve had a fairly slow and relaxing start to 2024, which was much-needed after everything I got up to over the last 12 months. But now I’m ready to look forward and figure out what I want to achieve in the year ahead. I won’t say I plan to have a less-busy year in 2024—because when am I ever NOT busy—but I am paring back my writing-related goals.
Why the slight shift, you may ask? Well, there are a few other things in my life that I want to focus on this year, including diversifying my exercise routine, securing a higher role at my day job, and (very likely) getting my own furry four-legged friend. These are all things I’m really looking forward to in addition to progressing my WIPs and bringing you more great content. 😀
My author goals for 2024
Don’t worry, I still have a lot planned on the authoring front, and my goals are still pretty ambitious. There are just fewer of them! Some multi-tasking will be required, but I hope by refining my goals in this way I want have my focus split across too many things at once. So here’s what’s on the cards in 2024…
Write the fourth draft of Blood of Old. Last year I wrote the third draft of Blood of Old (Graceborn #1) and put it through a second beta reading process. This year, I aim to write and complete a fourth draft of the manuscript, incorporating beta reader feedback. Hopefully it’s the “final” one!
Send Blood of Old to an editor. Providing I can achieve goal #1, it’s my intention to get Blood of Old off to an editor by the end of the year. Before then, I need to do a bit more research on editors and find out who’d be willing and able to take on this 190,000+ word beast of a novel.
Start work on the first draft of Graceborn #3. Simultaneously, I am going to be working on the first draft of Graceborn #3. I doubt I’ll be able to finish it in 2024 given I’m not the fastest writer, but we’ll see how I go. I want to have this book drafted before I start thinking of publishing Blood of Old.
Finish the blog series about my indie author journey. In 2023, I began a new series of blog posts to share my experience of self-publishing novel and some of the considerations Australian indie authors need to make. I have at least another three instalments to develop and share this year.
Read at least 20 books. While I finally hit my reading target last year for the first time since 2020, I decided not to push myself any further; I aim to read the same number of books this year. So you’ll see that my goal for the 2024 Goodreads challenge is to read 20 books.
How are you approaching 2024? What are your goals for the year ahead? Is there something you’re most looking forward to?
Rebecca Alasdair
I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!
8 Comments
alexwriter25
Hi Rebecca!!
Happy New Year, Rebecca!
You have a lot of good goals. What kinds of exercises do you enjoy doing?
I believe in you and you got this (both for exercise routines and getting a higher role) :).
I’m excited for you and your goal of getting your own furry four legged friend 🙂
Go Rebecca! I have full confidence in you and am sure you’ll write the draft and send it to an editor :). All the best with draft 3 of Graceborn! Don’t push yourself too hard :).
I’m stoked for your posts! 🙂
20 books is a good goal 🙂 You can do it!
Excellent questions.
How do you usually decide which goals to pursue?
I’m not totally sure about my goals. My more general goals is to take better care of my health, write at least one story, and hopefully read at least 15-20 prose books (I read a lot of graphic novels, so I’m not including them in the prose books goal). I haven’t decided too many specifics though. I find it hard to set personal goals with my large number of interests.
Take care, Rebecca. 🙂 All the best. Happy New Year, my friend!
Rebecca Alasdair
Hey Alex! Picking goals to pursue can sometimes be a challenge. I usually have a good idea of what I’d like to achieve, but it comes down to balancing my aspirations with what is realistic in a 12 month period. And you know what? It’s not the end of the world if you don’t meet those goals or decide to change your priorities mid-year. That’s how I look at it, anyway!
Andrew McDowell
Writing wise, this year I will publish Beneath the Deep Wave, the sequel to Mystical Greenwood. I hope to also make progress on some other projects, including the third and final One with Nature novel.
Rebecca Alasdair
Ahh that’s so exciting publishing the sequel! I hope it all goes well 😀
Andrew McDowell
Thanks.
Tomas
I’m looking at 2024 with very cautious optimism, at least when it comes to hiking. 2023 was full of doubt for me, and I’ve been left with more questions than answers when it comes to my life, and I hope that 2024 turns it around, providing answers rather than questions.
I’d love to finally finish my second book, but I’ve been stuck in a way I couldn’t imagine, and I’m not sure when I’ll manage to get out of this rut. Here’s hoping your writing goes better than mine did in 2023.
Rebecca Alasdair
Wishing you all the answers you need in 2024, Tomas!! 😊
Tomas
Thank you, and I hope so too.