2020 Goals

Mariajauthor/ December 21, 2020/ Author Journey/ 1 comments

Way back at the start of 2020, I set my goals for the year in this blog post. This is probably my last blog post before 2021 so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how many goals I met!

Here were my goals:

1. Finish first round of edits of my historical fiction novel

I actually met this goal all the way back in March, just in time to start prep for Camp NaNoWriMo in April (you can find out more about Camp Nano and my project here). In May and June I started the second round of editing. I must admit, I struggled a bit with motivation and had a bit of a block about it (probably due to the dreaded virus and lockdown taking its toll a bit) so I didn’t make amazing progress.

It was in August I set myself some goals and really cracked on in earnest. The NaNoWriMo website now lets people track goals all year round, so it was great to track how many pages I was editing. I’m excited to say that in the last 5 months I have edited 187 pages in the last 5 months. With the few pages I managed to edit earlier on in the year, that brings me to 192 pages. There’s only 9 pages left to go and I’m determined to finish them before Christmas Eve. This also means I’ve edited over 110k since March, with only just under 6k to go.

2. Finish 1st draft of mystery thriller

I hit this goal back in April, as this became my Camp NaNoWriMo project (again, see this blog post for details). I enjoyed this project and it proved a great distraction for when the virus was reaching its peak in the UK. My husband read it recently and commented that the style/plot of the story was darker than usual, but perhaps that makes sense considering it was written in the depths of the first lockdown! The first draft ended up being 32,600 words.

3. Outline a potential 4th historical fiction novel

This might be the goal I’ve made the least amount of progress on, but I have done some thinking about a 4th novel this year. So far, I think it would be set in the same era as the first 3, but set about 10-15 years later and from the point of view of another character. I’ve written some bullet points and a drafted a couple of scenes in my notebook, so I’m counting it! 🙂

4. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo

As well as Camp NaNoWriMo in April, I hit this goal by writing 20,400 words for my historical fantasy in Camp NaNoWriMo in July and in hitting the 54k for my science fiction project, IRIS. I enjoyed writing the project in July, but I absolutely loved writing IRIS! You can find out more about the project here and how I hit the goal of 50K here. Out of the three projects, this is the one I can imagine editing and expanding.

So, I’m happy to say I hit these four goals! In total I’ve written 107k with the combined nano projects (110k if you count my Christmas short story). That’s as well as another 110k/192 pages edited of my 3rd historical fiction novel, with only 9 pages and just under 6k to go.

I’m excited about the other things that have happened this year, too. I wasn’t expecting to set up a new website this year which was definitely a learning curve (especially as I have zero marketing or website building experience) but it was great to set up my newsletter and send out the editions for November and December. I’ve also really enjoyed blogging more regularly – check here if you’d like to read my other posts.

Of course, the other thing that happened was just under a month ago, my children’s fantasy/mystery novel Lottie’s Locket was published! It’s sold a few copies so far and I’ve received some really nice feedback. I’m still keen to get more reviews, so if you’ve read it or you would consider reading and reviewing the book, that would be greatly appreciated. PS don’t forget if you sign up to my newsletter, you can get a free preview of Lottie’s Locket.

That about brings 2020 to a wrap! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. My next blog will be in January where I’ll talk about my goals for 2021.

Till next time,

Maria