Reflection and New Goals for 2021 | Reading, Writing & Blogging

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! ✨✨✨

(this post is late, sorry)

I know at the start of these posts everyone has been saying 2020 was awful and I’m no different, 2020 was awful. Whilst I don’t think 2021 is a magical restart and things that were important last year are still important this year !! I feel like I am just ready for it *not* to be 2020. I think it is just a mentally thing. However, I’m going to hold onto a bit of this energy and make some goals for 2021. 

I have decided to keep it in the topics of *drumroll please* reading, writing and blogging as I think they are the most interesting to you. I really don’t think anyone wants to hear me write about trying to find a savings account and new hair colour.

READING

My reading is 2020 was actually my best year by far. I read the most books I’ve ever had in a year. I reached the grand total of 100 BOOKS, surpassing my goal of 40 books. I read the most variety and tried out new things. Plus, I found many new favourites. 

I appreciate goodreads’ support here.

I thought I would run down a few of the charts that StoryGraph gives you at the end of a year (plus two I made) so we can see what my reading was like…. 

Here we have a little look at the main mood of the books I’ve read. It is no surprise to see emotional and adventurous at the top because I would say they are my favourite moods. Going forward, I would like to check out more dark and funny books.

This is my favourite graph, it’s so beautiful. Clearly, May and June were the best months for my reading quantity. Probably linked to my Scribd free trail and the fact that I had stopped blogging, so I had more free time. It is also no surprise that July and November had the lowest numbers as they weren’t the greatest of months.

As you can see, I definitely read books mostly in-between 300-499 which makes sense as I read mostly YA fantasy. I was quite surprised to see so many books under 300 but I’m here for it. Going forward, I definitely want to read more books with over 500 pages.

This chart was the most surprising realisation of the year. I used to only read physical books so to learn that they were the format I read the least of, only 20%, really surprised me. But I do feel very fortunate for my digital library as it gave me access to so many amazing books (they added a lot of book this year too).

Obviously, the dream scenario would be all 5 stars but I’m still really happy to have almost 50% of my reads with 4 stars or higher. How I rate books did change this year as I’ve really cemented that 3 stars is good, just not a great read for me. Therefore, it is no surprise to see I had mostly 3 and 4 stars. I am very happy to see I only had one 2 stars or lower. 

2021 Goals…

(1) read 50 books

I still think 50 books is quite a lot and I didn’t want to go for a really big goal, as I don’t like being pressured to read loads.

(2) complete my specific reading goals…

• • read more books by indigenous authors
  • read more adult fantasy
  • read more non-fiction
  • read more books featuring disabilities

I basically looked back at my reading to make some specific goals for books I enjoyed and want to check out more (adult fantasy, non-fiction) or areas of diversity I can improve on (indigenous authors, disabilities in books). 

(3) read more books set outside the USA and the UK

The majority of books I read are set in the USA, so I want to prioritise books set in other countries all over the world.

(4) the out of my comfort zone reading challenge (hosted by Caro @ The Bookcheshire Cat)

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you will know I participated in this challenge last year and I wanted to this year as well, especially as there is an exciting bingo board. You should all check it out here. I haven’t got a strict TBR as I want it to be chill, you can see potential books I want to read here though. I think my goals is going to be 20 or more books… (outside of YA fantasy and contemporary)

WRITING

Writing in 2020 was almost nonexistence and yet I completed my first ever draft. I say completed as I wrote the majority in December 2019 then in January finished it off. This genuinely feels like years ago so to remember that this was this time last year is rather scary. I haven’t done anything with it since but like any first draft it is miles from being done. I don’t know when I will pick it up, but I know it isn’t now.

After doing that… well… I don’t know…. I was busy…. I must have been doing something… baking ?? …. 

Safe to say, I spent most of the rest of the year avoiding writing and thinking…. just going to highlight that word again…. THINKING about one project. I was really in love with the project and the characters. In my own way I found them very comforting.

But then I just had a moment where I realised this wasn’t going to work. This project was just a comfort and didn’t push me creatively, so I dropped it. It just made sense, especially as I had yet to actually do anything and I didn’t want to work on it in that way.

So, I kind of turned back to my main project. This has been *my baby* since the beginning really and I keep hitting a rock with the project then hiding basically. I’ve done the planning like 5 times already. The progress is slow, but I can see the structure getting stronger and I just need to truly dedicate myself to building it up. So…. that leads me to 2021.

2021 Goals…

(1) complete series outline

(sort out the problems and all the intertwining links. also, why did you just decide to add two more books 😭😭😭)

(2) add details

(this is vague, vague is this 😭😭😭)

(3) complete the world building

(you know those two things you’ve been avoiding !! 😭😭😭 )

(4) complete the characters designs

(why is this such a drag. also, why do you have like 100 characters ??????? 😭😭😭 )

(5) plan pacing/chapter layout for book one

(obviously have the freedom to change as you write but it is still important to plan because I know what happens when I don’t 😭😭😭)

(6) begin

(please, please, please 😭😭😭)

I just want to get this project rolling SO bad 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭. Do I try NaNoWriMo ?!?! nooooooo …… but MAYBE. I do enjoy it, I promise.

BLOGGING

I am kind of tempted to say it was a flop of a blogging year because I legit didn’t blog for half of it. BUT, I’m more tempted to say it was kind of a strong blogging year personally because I finally redesigned my blog, had my first blogging collab on my blog, started the nook with my sister and I think I actually did my best content this year. Plus, I prioritised getting blogging to work with me personally, got nominated in the blogging awards and I kind of fell in love with blogging again. Therefore, I’m going down the more positive and narcissistic route, saying, I did awesome.

I, also, want to thank the internet community aka the book community for me has being so important this year. In a time where we weren’t able to meet up with people in your real life, you could always rely on people being here in this community. Even though I know I’m not the best at keeping up with messaging/replying, I’m so grateful for everyone being there. 

I so need to improve at talking to people in every aspect of my life, I’m sorry to everyone.

2021 Goals…

(1) remember to blog when you want. if you feel like you are doing something because you have to, stop.

I don’t want to push blogging to the point where I don’t enjoy it. As writing is a big goal for me this year, I am going to have to accept that sometimes I will have to prioritise other things, even if I feel super guilty about falling behind on the blog.

(2) get my blogging ‘features’ up and running

I know I am being ominous about it and building them up too much, but I have a few series I went to set up across the year. I’m going to start planning them this month so I can begin to get parts in motion and I’m excited.

(3) blogtober… maybe ??

I know I want to be more chill but I have a few ideas I want to do so maybe I could do it ?!?!? I’m kind of into the autumn aesthetic at the minute so I want to, but we’ll see.

(4) start working on my bookstagram more

Back in early 2019, I loved instagram and I want to get back into it, especially as I have a new theme. 

So, there we have it. A brief overview of some of my goals for 2021. These posts are so satisfying to write, I don’t know why.

Anyway, I wish you all the best for 2021 and I hope it is a better year for everyone with less of this… 

How was your reading last year? Are you a writer? How do you balance your time? Have you made any goals for 2021?