November 2019 Update and Tentative Plans For Next Year
Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 01:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabled_librarianCW: Brief and vague mentions of chronic illnesses and health issues and (indirectly) autism, brief and vague mention of cold or flu
I missed the third quarter update by a lot, but I have some thoughts I want to put down. Also, it's Nanowrimo, and -- ideally -- I'll have three planners to set up and a detailed to tarot spread to do and record in December, plus signing up for both GYWO and (hopefully) Beat the Backlist again next year. I also have a cold or a flu, which is not helping matters, so I want to get as much taken care of as early as I can.
* I vastly prefer keeping track of all of my writing in one main sticky post, as opposed to quarterly updates, and using the updates more casually and to elaborate. It's much easier for me to find things and track my progress. I think it will make it easier for me to compare from year to year. I also like having all the detail of word count, monthly, quarterly, and (eventually) annual days written all in one place, plus any marathons I do.
* Likewise, I also prefer how I am keeping track of the books I read this year as compared to last year. Last year, I organized them by genre and made no distinction when I began reading them, even though the Beat the Backlist challenge is technically only for books read in a calendar year that were published before that calendar year. I like participating in Beat the Backlist, but this way feels more honest to me because not all of the books I read qualify for the challenge. It also gives me more detailed information. Finally, I didn't like organizing by genre because it made tracking more complicated. Additionally, several books fit into multiple genres -- for example Young Adult Fantasy that also happens to be a reread. This way is simpler and much more detailed, even though it doesn't specify genre.
* I have stayed much more on track with books I wanted to read this year than I did last year -- at least insofar as finishing books I'd begun previously. I still deviated quite a bit when it came to new books -- that is, books I hadn't started reading in a previous year or years.
* I discovered I read nonfiction books much faster and process them better when I can switch between them and fantasy. That's actually probably true of all reading for me. This is probably something that should have immediately been obvious to me, but wasn't.
*I'm largely pleased with the books I deviated from my reading list for, and I think I made good choices, though I'd still like to stick to the plan a little better. Part of that is flexibility, and part is coming up with a better plan. Without flexibility, I wouldn't have read nearly as much as I did this year, and if I had been flexible sooner I may have managed to read even more (though possibly not. But maintaining structure is good, too.
*Regardless of whether I meet my GYWO goal this year, I've decided that I'm going chose the habit goal for 120 days again next year, which will make it my third year in a row. I did not meet my goal last year. I may or may not make it this year. It's very possible I will, but I'll have to continue to apply myself.
*I wrote and worked on writing far more consistently over the year this year than I did last year, and I am pleased with that, but I still didn't write and work on writing as much as I would like. Additionally, I still find myself in Autumn realizing that I have procrastinated a good deal and that if I'm going to meet my word count goal for the year, it's going to be tight.
* I am hoping to have a medical issue partially resolved in the coming month, and two-thirds to completely resolved in the following year. If I'm right, I believe that getting this health issue resolved will help me be able to write more consistently and reliably. I may be wrong, but I really hope I'm right. Of course, it won't solve all of my writing problems, and for the most part, I'll just have to really apply myself and push through procrastination, perfectionism, fears, anxieties, and (when possible) executive dysfunction. Some days, due to other health issues, I am genuinely unable to push through, but that makes it even more important to push through on the days when I can. And some days, mercifully, I don't have to push through at all -- I just write, or work on writing. Those days are a blessing and I am profoundly grateful for them.
* I significantly reduced my annual word count goal for next year. I used a similar formula to what I used for the last two years, but I drastically reduced the number of words I am hoping to meet or exceed for writing for the next year. I did this mostly (if not entirely -- I'd have to look at my plans in detail right next to each other, which I'm not up for right now, for a few reasons) by drastically reducing the number of words I expect to write during each Nanowrimo. I halved my April and July goals and I chose the same goal for November, despite it being nowhere near 50,000 words. I came nowhere near meeting my goal for the last two years, so I think this is significantly more attainable and less likely to be setting my self up for failure. I still worry/wonder if, with all the health issues I have, if I should give myself more days "off" for next year in case I need them. It's something to think about. And regardless of whether or not it works, I can change the goal again next year, if I need to or want to adjust it for the following year. This still only applies to the word count goal, though, not my daily GYWO goal, which, as I stated above, I'll keep the same.
*I think I want to try to set up my 2020 Beat the Backlist list early, and adjust it as it gets closer to time. I don't know if Novel Knight is planning on holding the challenge again next year, but regardless I plan on doing something similar. If there is a challenge for 2020, I'll officially sign up, and if not, I'll just keep track on my own. But I find I really like keeping track. I'm both goal and detail oriented, and it helps keep my brain more organized and helps keep me on track. I like having a record of things, as well. This is even nicer given the brain fog and memory problems I have developed.
*I'd like to be less ambitious with my reading list for next year, but we'll see. I'd also like to finish books I've started reading this year or in previous years but didn't finish reading this year next year. I made good progress with that this year, but there are still more I'd like to finish. There are also books that I meant to or wanted to read that I didn't (which seems to be the main goal of the challenge), as well as books in series I started reading this year but wasn't able to finish this year. Additionally, there some broad, but yet niche categories of books that I would like to read books from next year, but I think I'll wait until next year or closer to it to make definitive decisions on exactly which books in those categories I'll read.
*I've read more books by the beginning of November this year than I did in the entirety of last year, but not by much, and there are still several more I'd ideally like to finish before the end of the calendar year. I'm not sure how successful I'll be at that goal.
I missed the third quarter update by a lot, but I have some thoughts I want to put down. Also, it's Nanowrimo, and -- ideally -- I'll have three planners to set up and a detailed to tarot spread to do and record in December, plus signing up for both GYWO and (hopefully) Beat the Backlist again next year. I also have a cold or a flu, which is not helping matters, so I want to get as much taken care of as early as I can.
* I vastly prefer keeping track of all of my writing in one main sticky post, as opposed to quarterly updates, and using the updates more casually and to elaborate. It's much easier for me to find things and track my progress. I think it will make it easier for me to compare from year to year. I also like having all the detail of word count, monthly, quarterly, and (eventually) annual days written all in one place, plus any marathons I do.
* Likewise, I also prefer how I am keeping track of the books I read this year as compared to last year. Last year, I organized them by genre and made no distinction when I began reading them, even though the Beat the Backlist challenge is technically only for books read in a calendar year that were published before that calendar year. I like participating in Beat the Backlist, but this way feels more honest to me because not all of the books I read qualify for the challenge. It also gives me more detailed information. Finally, I didn't like organizing by genre because it made tracking more complicated. Additionally, several books fit into multiple genres -- for example Young Adult Fantasy that also happens to be a reread. This way is simpler and much more detailed, even though it doesn't specify genre.
* I have stayed much more on track with books I wanted to read this year than I did last year -- at least insofar as finishing books I'd begun previously. I still deviated quite a bit when it came to new books -- that is, books I hadn't started reading in a previous year or years.
* I discovered I read nonfiction books much faster and process them better when I can switch between them and fantasy. That's actually probably true of all reading for me. This is probably something that should have immediately been obvious to me, but wasn't.
*I'm largely pleased with the books I deviated from my reading list for, and I think I made good choices, though I'd still like to stick to the plan a little better. Part of that is flexibility, and part is coming up with a better plan. Without flexibility, I wouldn't have read nearly as much as I did this year, and if I had been flexible sooner I may have managed to read even more (though possibly not. But maintaining structure is good, too.
*Regardless of whether I meet my GYWO goal this year, I've decided that I'm going chose the habit goal for 120 days again next year, which will make it my third year in a row. I did not meet my goal last year. I may or may not make it this year. It's very possible I will, but I'll have to continue to apply myself.
*I wrote and worked on writing far more consistently over the year this year than I did last year, and I am pleased with that, but I still didn't write and work on writing as much as I would like. Additionally, I still find myself in Autumn realizing that I have procrastinated a good deal and that if I'm going to meet my word count goal for the year, it's going to be tight.
* I am hoping to have a medical issue partially resolved in the coming month, and two-thirds to completely resolved in the following year. If I'm right, I believe that getting this health issue resolved will help me be able to write more consistently and reliably. I may be wrong, but I really hope I'm right. Of course, it won't solve all of my writing problems, and for the most part, I'll just have to really apply myself and push through procrastination, perfectionism, fears, anxieties, and (when possible) executive dysfunction. Some days, due to other health issues, I am genuinely unable to push through, but that makes it even more important to push through on the days when I can. And some days, mercifully, I don't have to push through at all -- I just write, or work on writing. Those days are a blessing and I am profoundly grateful for them.
* I significantly reduced my annual word count goal for next year. I used a similar formula to what I used for the last two years, but I drastically reduced the number of words I am hoping to meet or exceed for writing for the next year. I did this mostly (if not entirely -- I'd have to look at my plans in detail right next to each other, which I'm not up for right now, for a few reasons) by drastically reducing the number of words I expect to write during each Nanowrimo. I halved my April and July goals and I chose the same goal for November, despite it being nowhere near 50,000 words. I came nowhere near meeting my goal for the last two years, so I think this is significantly more attainable and less likely to be setting my self up for failure. I still worry/wonder if, with all the health issues I have, if I should give myself more days "off" for next year in case I need them. It's something to think about. And regardless of whether or not it works, I can change the goal again next year, if I need to or want to adjust it for the following year. This still only applies to the word count goal, though, not my daily GYWO goal, which, as I stated above, I'll keep the same.
*I think I want to try to set up my 2020 Beat the Backlist list early, and adjust it as it gets closer to time. I don't know if Novel Knight is planning on holding the challenge again next year, but regardless I plan on doing something similar. If there is a challenge for 2020, I'll officially sign up, and if not, I'll just keep track on my own. But I find I really like keeping track. I'm both goal and detail oriented, and it helps keep my brain more organized and helps keep me on track. I like having a record of things, as well. This is even nicer given the brain fog and memory problems I have developed.
*I'd like to be less ambitious with my reading list for next year, but we'll see. I'd also like to finish books I've started reading this year or in previous years but didn't finish reading this year next year. I made good progress with that this year, but there are still more I'd like to finish. There are also books that I meant to or wanted to read that I didn't (which seems to be the main goal of the challenge), as well as books in series I started reading this year but wasn't able to finish this year. Additionally, there some broad, but yet niche categories of books that I would like to read books from next year, but I think I'll wait until next year or closer to it to make definitive decisions on exactly which books in those categories I'll read.
*I've read more books by the beginning of November this year than I did in the entirety of last year, but not by much, and there are still several more I'd ideally like to finish before the end of the calendar year. I'm not sure how successful I'll be at that goal.
