Wow what a year! As I’m writing this, I currently have 95 books towards my Goodreads goal out of 100. Already that is more books than I thought I would read, but I am determined to get to 100 if only to prove that I can handle big goals. Big goals was a huge theme for last year and that, I realize now, is where I went wrong. I aimed way too high with both reading and writing goals and as a result, I fell short. This year, I’m changing it up so I can make the most out of 2022 without stressing myself out.
So What Did I Do In 2021?
College essays. A lot of them. I assumed I would be done with them by October if I started early. I was wrong. I did not anticipate just how much energy these essays would suck out of me so unsurprisingly, I had to change my goals to match.
Over 50% of the books I read in 2021 were finished in the spring and over the summer, when I had a lot more time to binge read to my heart’s content.
I also had a little bit of time to work on a few stories! In the fall, I managed to draft and polish three new stories for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and I started a new Masterclass to improve my creative writing skills.
2022 Bookish Goals
In 2021, my goodreads goal ended up being 100 books. This year, I’m taking it back down to 50. With freshman year of college on the horizon (ideally I’ll know which college soon) I’ll be pretty busy- busy enough that I do not need the extra stress of trying to squish reading 30 books into my schedule.
I’m also going to busier running my new bookish podcast (which all of you should totally check out) and my bookstagram. My goal for both is to post consistently once a week for my podcast and three times a week for my bookstagram.
Posting consistently was a goal of mine for 2021 too but I never succeeded because I procrastinated my posts. This year, that is not happening. This year, I’m making all my posts at least two weeks in advance so I can adapt to any roadblocks that come my way.
2022 Writing Goals
I would love to draft a novel. I began a Jason and the Argonauts retelling in September but never got the change to finish it. I would be ecstatic if I could have a first draft of it completed by the end of 2022.
Part of being a writer is always striving to improve your skills and that is another thing I intent do prioritize this year. I’ve already watched the first episode of Amy Tan’s Masterclass. My goal is to complete it and all of the assignments by the time my subscription expires this summer.
And that’s it! I have a lot of new projects in the works and I am so excited to see how they play out!