2019… what a year! Some big things happened in my personal life, while other pursuits stalled out. It was a time of transition and growth, and I’m getting better at being kind to myself in those times—understanding myself in a more wholistic way, realizing that I can’t do everything, and letting go accordingly.
As I mentioned last week (thank you for all your encouragement on that post, by the by!), I took more time than usual to figure out where to set my sights this year. But ideas and goals are taking shape now, and I thought I’d bring you along for the ride.
First, though, how did those 2019 goals turn out?
2019 Goals: How’d I Do?
Continue my devotional habit
I’ve been doing a 3-year reading plan through the whole Bible, and this was year 2. It’s been transformative for my devotional habits. Even if I don’t spend as much time on it every day as I’d like (baby steps!), I’ve been reading the Bible and journaling for at least a few minutes every morning and evening.
Give myself more grace
This isn’t exactly measurable, but… I’m working on it. And I think 2019, in its own quiet way, built off my attempts from the year before to accept more grace.
Take better care of myself
I wanted to unplug more and get better sleep in 2019, and while I’m nowhere near the healthy balance I want for myself, I almost doubled the days I DID succeed at these things from 2018 to 2019. Which is still not a lot, but once again: baby steps.
Graduate college and get a great job
Done and done! I now have my diploma in business with a marketing major and have been working at my new job for three-quarters of a year! Definitely the two biggest milestones of 2019. I’m incredibly thankful for the way God not only brought me through my final semester of college, but lined up a dream marketing position before I even graduated. While being an author is still the TOP dream job of mine, where I am now is such a good fit.
Finish editing The Brightest Thread
I did NOT finish. But I made a lot more progress than I realized! Between May and October, I finished revisions on draft 5 (chapters 12-33) and went on to revise chapters 3-30 of draft 6. I still have the beginning and ending to edit this year, plus some other tricky spots to go back and rework… but getting the majority of two drafts done in six months? I’m awfully happy about that!
Send TBT to a literary agent
Because I didn’t finish editing, this did not happen! And I’m okay with that.
Attend Realm Makers for the third time
Yes! This time I took my brother, Josiah, along and we had such an amazing time! I didn’t pitch my book to any agents this year, but I learned a lot, reconnected with old friends, and made new ones.
Actually finish The Creative Way writing course by Ted Dekker
Oh wow, I forgot about this goal. OOPS. I think I listened to one or two lessons, though? At least there’s an app now, so that makes it easier to listen on the go.
Move Adventure Awaits to a self-hosted website
I did this over May and June, and it was a heck of a lot more work than I first expected! But ta-da, we’re here now, and I’m so happy about finally making the move.
Bring my secret project into existence
I made some steps forward in this department, and I hope it’ll be time to start it up soon! FOR REAL THIS TIME, PROMISE.
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Well, that’s not too shabby! But those don’t give a full picture of the year, so hang on. Here’s a few more highlights!
Other 2019 Highlights
January: Dead Magic appeared in Havok and I guest-posted for Realm Makers.
March: I was a bridesmaid for a dear friend’s wedding.
April: I bought a new laptop and named him Sebastian. I also joined the Havok editing team! (Though after nine months of growing as an editor and helping up-and-coming writers put wings to their words, I’m taking a sabbatical.)
June: I went on vacation and devoured 6 books in a week. #bookdragon
July: I saw my writing in a BOOK for the first time—my flash fiction story Ordained was included as a staff feature in Havok’s Rebirth anthology! I also participated in Camp NaNoWriMo to give me a boost in revising The Brightest Thread.
September: I helped host the fourth annual Silmaril Awards, this time as the host for the Strangest Character Silmaril.
October: I submitted a short story called Petrichor to a big contest. (I keep forgetting that I’m waiting to hear back on the results… which is probably a good thing, because there are still a few months to go before anything is announced.) I also chopped my hair and got a pixie cut!
November: I turned twenty-four and joined NaNoWriMo for the FIRST time ever. The result? The first draft of Dead Magic (the expansion of the original flash fiction from January) came into existence.
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Speaking of all the writing stuff, I was intensely curious to see how many words all the editing and drafting added up to in 2019. And I’m rather shocked.
New words written: 67,716
Revised words: 125,679
Total: 193,395 words
I’ve never tallied up the year’s wordcount before—and it’s not even the most important writing metric to measure—but still! Even though I spent five months of the year NOT WRITING, somehow there’s almost two hundred thousand words to show for it?!
Favorite Stories of 2019
Because stories are part of the fabric of life and I’m not planning to write a whole post on favorite films, so… here. Just titles, no explanation.
- Avengers: Endgame
- Christopher Robin
- Stranger Things
- Venom
- Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
- The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
- I Can Only Imagine
And this is where you can find my favorite books of 2019.
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Okay, if you survived that long recap of the year, you deserve tea and gingersnaps! On to the NEW YEAR.
2020 Goals: What’s Coming Up?
Personal
Focus on being rooted
Finish my 3-year Bible reading plan
Do an actual in-depth Bible study (topic to be determined)
Keep getting healthier in all regards. I won’t bore y’all on the specifics, but I will say this means…
- prioritizing relationships
- more exercise and maybe even martial arts classes of some kind (who knows???)
- better quality sleep
- unplugging from electronics more consistently
Writing
Finish revising The Brightest Thread
Research literary agents and begin querying The Brightest Thread
Write something else in the meantime while queries are out in the wild (I’m leaving this intentionally vague because I’m a one-project-at-a-time kind of writer)
Attend Realm Makers for the fourth time! It’s in New Jersey this year, and I’ve never been to the east coast before.
Finish The Creative Way. I mean it.
Reading
Read 48 books, including…
- more fairytale retellings
- some series I’ve been meaning to finish for approximately forever
- more of my owned-and-unread library
- more audiobooks
- at least four nonfiction books
- this reading challenge my friend Cassia and I came up with (feel free to join us if you want!)
Blogging
Properly celebrate this thing’s fifth blogiversary in March! (Anything you want to see? It’s early, so I’m open to alllll the suggestions!)
Narrow in on my niche
Figure out a consistent Instagram posting schedule
Launch that super secret project. Is this a hint that it’s sort of related to blogging? MAYBE.
* * *
Whew, that looks like a lot, but this is a birds-eye-view and I’ll be breaking it all down for myself by month. Even if I don’t hit all of these goals, I’ve got a feeling 2020 is going to be a good year.
I love this! Thanks for sharing your recap and goals! 🙂
Aaahh you did so much this last year! Graduating, editing for Havok, a new job, Realm Makers (it was so fun seeing you and Josiah there!), being in an actual BOOK, not to mention your first NaNo and all the writing and editing you did! :O
Best wishes on all of your goals this year! I can’t wait to see all the awesomeness I just KNOW is in store for you! You’re going to rock this 2020. 😀
Oh, and I adored the Christopher Robin movie toooo! <3
Thank you, my dear! 😀
I’ve had moments where I thought “I did nothing this year!” and then I take a moment to look back and feel a little sheepish. It’s no wonder I’ve needed time to recover. XD (It was soooo much fun seeing you at RM again too!)
Thank you for ALL your encouragement, Deb! I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for both of us! <3
Saaaame! *sniffles* It's just so perfect and brought me right back to my childhood.
Woot woot! Can’t wait to see you progress with your goals this year! Also the reading challenge 😉 And congrats on all your accomplished in 2019 😀 I’m with you on the giving yourself grace thing. It’s hard to do. I always have to remind myself that grace has already been given to me. The price has already been paid, so why am I still paying it?
Anyway, pumped for another year writing and reading alongside you ^_^
Thanks, Cassia! Looking forward to comparing notes on the challenge as we progress. 😉 Oh yes, that’s SO true–why would we keep paying what’s been paid? Love how you put that.
It’s going to be an awesome 2020! Can’t wait to see where it takes us! <3
EEEEEE!!! SO MUCH EPICNESS. I am SO proud of you on all you accomplished in 2019. Graduating and finding a wonderful job and making it to RM and moving your blog over and accomplishing so many of your goals. And oh my goodness gracious, you STILL found time to work on 200k words??? TRACEY. THAT IS SO FANTASTIC.
I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT YOUR QUERYING TBT. *SQUEALS* Querying BT will be my big focus for this year too. So we can scream about it together. 😀
Oooh, that reading challenge looks so fun. Love this idea!
I love ALL of this! You’ve totally got this year, girl. Cheering you on all the way!
THANK YOU for all the encouragement!!! God has been so good and I have much to be grateful for! <3 Haha, the 200k might be a walk in the park for some writers, but I was shocked that I even broke into six digits for the year, lol!
Eeep, thank you again! We shall DEFINITELY have to scream together... o.o I was just reading your post about 2020 goals earlier, and it's crazy how similar a lot of ours are! Again! XD
Love you, Christine! Thanks for cheering me on!
That’s a great reading challenge. If anyone needs recommendations for books set in the ’20s, I have plenty.
It looks as if 2019 was a productive year! I wish you all the best for 2020!
Oooh, yes! I need recommendations! I read few classics, so I’d love to hear some of your favorites set in the 20’s. 😀
It definitely was. Happy 2020 to you, and may all your endeavors (writing and otherwise) go wonderfully!
Excellent! Here are my top three 20s recommendations! (note that I’ll be cheating by giving series and authors)
Storming by K.M. Weiland is a fun adventure with planes, airships, and family reconciliation.
P.G Wodehouse is a hilarious British Writer. His Blandings Castle story Something Fresh (sometimes titled Something New) is fun. But I recommend starting with a Jeeves and Wooster story, particularly Right Ho, Jeeves.
But I think my favourite series set in the 1920s would have to be Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. These can be dark (dealing with murder and whatnot) but Sayers often leaves something interesting for the reader to think about after the book, and Wimsey is absolutely charming.
(Cheating is totally accepted in this case!)
Oooh, Storming! I have a couple other ebooks by her waiting to be read. I didn’t realize Storming was set in the 20s!
I’ve heard great things about Wodehouse too. *takes note*
And your third recommendation sounds so interesting too! Ahhh, now I want to go hunt everything down at the library and spend a few days reading. Thanks so much for your suggestions! 😀
Woah, you accomplished so much last year! (Am I the only one who still feels like its 2019? XD)
Your RM posts are honestly probably my favorite, they’re so fun to read!
(also I’ve probably said this before, but I cannot wait till TBT gets published, it’ll be a best seller for sure!)
Good luck accomplishing your goals!
(You’re not the only one! Where did the year GO? And who gave it permission to be 2020??)
Awww, thank you! So happy you enjoy those humongous posts. XD (Oh my gosh, Sarah, you’re SO SWEET. *clutches heart*)
Thanks–hope you have an awesome year too!!
So many great goals and accomplishments! 😀 I hope 2020 is amazing for you!
Thanks, Tori! <3 May your year be an epic one too!
You did amazing! Still so happy to have a copy of your story!!!
Awww, thank you! *hugs* And as of Christmas, *I* now have a copy of *yours*! (Five Poisoned Apples, yayyy!!!)
Looks like you had a great year! And got a LOT done! Wow! Congrats again on graduating and getting a job, that is such an awesome accomplishment. And I’m so excited about all the progress you’ve made on TBT! I seriously canNOT wait to read the final version someday.
Love your goals and dreams for 2020! Hope to see you at RM! (Still not sure if I’m going yet, but I’m hoping) 🙂
It makes me so thankful to look back and notice all the bright spots! Of course there were struggles too, but the big picture makes me realized how blessed I am. <3 Thank you so much, Jenelle! (I can't wait eitherrrr!!!!)
I so hope you can make it to RM too! I'm 98% sure I'm going, and I'd LOVE to see you again. 😀