Happy New Year! 2020 promises to be a year of change, inspiration, and I don’t know—other stuff. I’d like to start with a review of the 2019’s goals and progress and spin off new goals for the coming year. I had a few extra vacation days this holiday break, so I used those to catch up on my writing schedule for book number four. I’m happy with the progress, such as it is. But, first things first, let’s see where I’m at.
Read 20 books in 2019: According to goodreads.com, I completed 15 books in 2019, for a solid grade of 75, or a C. Passing, but I should be able to do better. Goodreads says that’s below my average over the last five years:
On the whole, I have been disorganized this year, finding less time for reading. I think I’ve been hitting social media more instead of reading on my phone, so I need to tamp that down if I want to do better on this goal in 2020.
Goal for 2020: Read 20 books.
Write 50 posts in 2019: I posted in fits and starts, but according to my website, I wrote exactly 18 posts, adding nothing since my Q3 post, which put me at 18 posts for the year. So…18/50 = 36% for the year, which is a solid F in the US education system, but in the UK it might squeak by as passing. (Or maybe not—I think I needed 37% to pass a course there.) Regardless, that’s not the result I’d have liked. Despite my raising this bar up and down over the years, I seem to come in low regardless, so I’m going to randomize the goal this year. I will write 10d6 posts for the year. And the roll is:
Looks like a 38, so that’s what we’ll shoot for.
Goal for 2020: Write 38 posts.
Get back on schedule for Togahan #4: This is a softer goal, but an important one. When I made this goal one year ago, I was 186 days behind schedule. By September, despite my efforts, I was as much as 345 days behind schedule. Ugh. But like I said, I had a few extra vacation days which let me hunker down and get some traction. I completed the first revision a few days ago, and I’m currently “only” 149 days behind schedule. Progress! While I’m not back on schedule yet, I have refined some of my working habits, so I’m hoping to continue closing that gap and get the new book into your hands sooner rather than later. That said, I still have several tasks ahead: compile the book, have my beta readers review it, incorporate their feedback, do a second revision, then have it copy edited before a final compilation and some bookkeeping for publishing.
Goal for 2020: Get back on schedule for Togahan #4.
Do any of you like audio books? I’ve been toying with the idea of recording ATogahan’s Tale as an audio book for a while, but I just haven’t found the time. This is sometime I’d like to do though, as folks often tell me that I have a perfect face for radio. My wife has recently been recording music, so she has some of the technical elements nailed down. I’m going to take on an extra goal then, because I think this is do-able.
Goal for 2020: Record the first chapter for A Togahan’s Tale, and release that as an audio file on this site.
I have one more non-writing goal that I want to track regardless. My sedentary lifestyle has not been helping me, so I’m realizing that I need to exercise a little more. With wearable technology, this is reasonably easy to track, so I’m going to tack this on at the end:
Goal for 2020: Walk 5+ miles every day.
Fingers crossed, I’ll have more success with these, because as Barbara Walters says, this is 2020.
Best, -Pete