I absolutely love lists of goals and resolutions.
I love writing them down and then waving gently to them as they pack their bags and move interstate because the chances of me actually working actively at my goals are about 3%. But you know what? I try. So I get acknowledgement for that. *
But before I launch into my 2017 goals, I have need to recap my 2016 goals so we can sip tea and judge my failings. As you do.
* FIFTY POINTS TO SLYTHERIN.
- WRITE AT LEAST 2 BOOKS AND EDIT AT LEAST 2 BOOKS. ✓ I actually get a solid tick for this because I wrote four books and edited 2.5 books!! Don’t ask about the 0.5 here. Just…don’t.
- WRITE DIVERSELY.✓ I’m giving myself a tick for this because all my books are diverse AND I also wrote a book about anxiety disorders which was rather personal SO I ACTUALLY SORT DESERVE CAKE NOW.
- KILL LESS CHARACTERS. ✗ I don’t know why this was on here. I failed it. I killed so many characters this year even George RR Martin was proud.
- FOCUS ON EDITING. ✗ Like I wrote FOUR books but edited TWO so…no. I have the focus of a gnat drowning in a bowl of cornflakes.
- WRITE JUNGLE BOOK RETELLING, SHERLOCK HOLMES RETELLING, AND THE ATLAS GIRL. ✗ I’ve linked to their pinterest boards there so you can see how awesome they look. Also: solid fail. I WROTE NONE OF THEM.
- PARTICIPATE IN NANOWRIMO. ✓ This was such a cheating goal because I always do NaNo. But whatever. I like ticking things.
- REACH 5,000 FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM. ✓ I actually am at 22,000 followers as we speak so #winning.
- LEARN MORE ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN. ✗✓ Like yes and no!?? I opened a Society6 Store but my designs are SO NOT COMPLICATED. Ha.
- ONLY BLOG 3 – 4 TIMES A WEEK.✓ I achieved this! I wanted to cut down on blogging (I used to do 6 days a week, peoples) and stress less AND I DID. It was hard to not be so obsessive about it?!? But much much better for what little sanity I have left. I basically blog Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday now…and occasionally Friday.
- READ 200 BOOKS.✓ Say hello to my 245. #overachiever
- PICK AN AUTHOR AND DEVOUR ALL THEIR BOOKS. ✗ Solid fail. Didn’t even try actually.
- HAVE UNDER 10 BOOKS ON MY TBR AT A TIME. ✗ HAHAHA HAHAHHAHA…HAHAHAHHAHHAH HAHAHHA …hhaha ha ha..ha….ha. There are 80+ right now.
- RE-READ ALL THE STIEFVATER BOOKS. ✗✓ Erm, I get half points because I re-read the first 3 Raven Cycle books and The Scorpio Races.
- GET A NEW BOOKSHELF. ✓ I actually stole my sister’s. I’m sure this is fine.
- GET ARTY. ✗ Did I even actually try? No.
- READ 200 BOOKS. This is a comfortable amount!! I don’t end up like a stressed coral reef and I still achieve a lot. Dude, the overachiever urge is SO STRONG WITHIN ME it’s actually a problem.
- RE-READ 10 BOOKS. I discovered I love re-reading…but I feel guilty?!? Because like there are 9385309 books on my TBR and yet here I am re-reading??? #SHAME Except. No. No it is not shame. It is brilliance. I tentatively have The Wrath and the Dawn, A Darker Shade of Magic & A Gathering of Shadows, The Raven Cycle, and Ink And Bone on my “NEED TO RE-READ” list.
- REACH 40,000 FOLLOWERS ON #BOOKSTAGRAM. Shh, let me dream.
- DO SOME COLLAB POSTS WITH OTHER BLOGGERS. I generally do a grand total of ONE per year. Dude, how am I so productive and yet so lazy???
- WRITE 2 BOOKS AND EDIT 2 BOOKS. Which is like becoming a yearly ritual and I like it! Except for the editing part. We shall burn that with fire.
- WRITE A SEQUEL. I haven’t written a sequel in, erm, five years. I plan full series, write the first book, and then FORGET WHERE I LEFT MY BRAIN. (Note: If anyone locates my brain, please return to sender. I miss it.) So I need to conquer this fear of “I can’t revisit these characters I don’t remember how they function.”
- GET SERIOUS ABOUT WRITING ADULT FANTASY. Because I need to get some feedback from readers to see if I’m doing it right???? Or if I’m just HOPELESSLY FOOLING MYSELF and should stick to YA glitter stabbtastic catastrophes.
- GET NEW PRODUCTS INTO MY ETSY STORE. Especially more bookworm themed things?!? Because that would be awesome. I mostly sell baby origami mobiles at the moment.
- START A READING JOURNAL. Kind of like a bullet journal but more reading themed. The trouble with this is I NEVER can stick to journalling…but I really want to!?? Also this could force me into Accidental Arting which would be nice.
- UPGRADE MY IPOD. Since it’s 4 years old, refuses app updates, doesn’t let me check DMs on instagram, shuts down when I ask it to preform simple tasks, doesn’t always send my texts, has no storage despite HAVING NOTHING ON IT BECAUSE I DELETED EVERYTHING I LOVED, won’t delete old audiobooks, won’t let me download new apps, and is just generally rude. (Also I don’t have a phone so my iPod is kind of everything.) I THINK I NEED TO UPGRADE. Except I am also Mister Scrooge and barely spend money on anything (hey, I have two shirts, why do I need more) so this will be a test of my delicate constitution.
- UPGRADE MY BRAIN. I need an edition that isn’t prone to spontaneous combustion.
- CONTINUE QUEENSHIP. It’s going strong. Look at my army.
- BE A DRAGON BUT NOT BURN DOWN THE CONTINENTS MAYBE. This seems like a nice goal.
- READ LESS ARCS AND MORE BOOKS I CHOOSE. I get a lot of unsolicited books! Which has stopped somewhat since I quit several publisher lists. But it’d really help my tendency to rant and give 1 star ratings if I READ MORE BOOKS I PICK FOR MYSELF. So. Here we go, Algernon.
I am loving all of these goals! Especially the read more books you want to read and less ARC’s. That’s something I also hope to do! In the past few months I have been reading less books that I have to read and more that I want to and it’s just so great 😉 (What’s even better are review book you really WANT to read) Super excited for the blogger collaborations & all of your writing! Best of luck on all your goals Cait!
Yayyy I’m glad you like them! And like don’t get me wrong: I do appreciate and love ARCs…buuuut, I think it’s easy to get caught up in them and realise you have a TON of books on your TBR that you’re dying to read and you never get to?!? So I need to avoid that this year, because that was a huge problem for me last year.😂 (I go out of my BRAIN WITH EXCITE when I get a review book that I really really really want though.) 🎉🎉🎉
My goals for 2017 are really vague, because I don’t like pressure, so it’s like ‘work on writing, i.e. short stories, non fiction essays, Lighter Places, poetry’ and ‘earn some money’ and ‘read some classics’ and ‘buy books that matter to you’ and ‘keep running, you don’t have to go fast’. This year is sort of weird though ,because I don’t know where I’m going for university so the second half of the year is like a big blank question mark. I also gave myself a really low number of books to read–only 125, because I don’t know how busy I’ll be in the second half of the year. I’m planning to write a short play, probably one mocking fairytale tropes, so that’s exciting. I like your goals, good luck completing them.
Shanti recently posted…Why Do We Reread?
That’s fair! I don’t like HUGE amounts of pressure so my goals are basically ones I’d accomplish anyway haha. Except for the reading journal. If I get that off the ground I will deserve a MEDAL. (I’m so so bad at committing to things seriously. Save me from myself.)
Eeeep, the university thing would be kind of stressful with all the decisions that would need to be made! GOOD LUCK FOR THAT.😱😱
(Also the play sounds amazing.😂)
Hi, Cait!
Oh, I’m so looking forward to 2017. I want to read 80 books, because I actually think that I can do that and of course reduce Alice to bits (Hahahahahahahaaaa!) and I’m starting saving money for every book I read. At the end of the year I will hopefully have enough to buy all the books! (Okay, even the potplants here at the office are laughing at me now.) Also, I want to take better pictures of my books. Won’t happen but a girl can dream, right?
Btw, be a good queen and stop influencing people. I used the giftcard I got for christmas to buy books – obviously. I bought the first of the Raven Cycle and A darker shade of magic. What have you done to me?! You can make it up to me by actually writing that retelling of the Secret Garden. I love The secret garden. It’s one of my favourites, as you can see by my blogger name. 😀
LG, m
Oh that’s awesome that you’re aiming for 80 books! GOOD LUCK. I SHALL BE CHEERING FOR YOU!! (And saving for books is also an excellent idea. #priorities) And hey, better pictures CAN happen. It just takes practise. Trust me…omg, my first photos were so awful.😂
OMG I AM SO PLEASED THAT YOU BOUGHT THOSE BOOKS BECAUSE THEY’RE MY FAVOURITE OF EVER AND OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE GOOD LIFE DECISIONS. Yaaaas.😂
(Yes someone force me to stop planning books and actually write them omg.)
Thus is good. This is great. Putting us all to shame with your 4 books and 2 edits. I TECHNICALLY HAVE 1 BOOK?? 2 half books count right? Also um we are literally exact opposites with the spending thing. I have to actively tell myself not to buy things. It’s a problem 😭 someone send help. I have so many goals for 2017 bookish and otherwise!! You shall soon see a goal post (tee hee GOAL POST. GET IT. #punny)
Esther @ Queen of Fantasy recently posted…10 Things Joining the Online Book Community Has Introduced Me To
Noooo I don’t want to put anyone to shame. *GIVES YOU CAKE TO MAKE UP FOR IT* I did have a very productive writing year at least, tho, to make up for 2015 where I just spent 98% of my writing time HOWLING AT THE MOON. As you do. #legit
Omg I am SO bad at spending money it’s actually hilarious.😂 People assume I buy books all the time, but HAHA NO. NOT UNLESS THEY’RE ON SALE. Or the library does a glorious 10cent sale. I’m so bad.😂
I can’t wait to read your GOAL POST.
I accept your cake. KEEP BEING AWESOME AND DON’T BE SORRY ABOUT IT GOODNESSGRACIOUS. I finished one book, and started the sequel and then stopped?? And then started 2 new books? Sooooo #antiproductive. I should try your method of setting a schedule for words. MAYBE IT WILL WORK LIKE MAGIC?? We shall see. I am terrible at resolutions and following them.
YOUR SPENDING TENDENCIES ARE LIKE ONE OF MY THOUSAND SISTERS’. She spends literally NOTHING unless it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. She was basically rich by the time she hit 18 because she never spent any birthday or Christmas money ever. I was jealous but at the same time I was like NO CHOCOLATE??? NO BUYING USELESS THINGS I DON’T NEED. #no.
WELL I AM MAGIC. SO OBVIOUSLY MY METHODS ARE MAGICAL AND WILL WORK. #CaitLogic 😂
My family keep complaining because I’m “the rich one” (I mean I am not haha, I don’t even have a solid job) and I’m like “I HAVE MONEY IN THE BANK BECAUSE I DON’T SPEND IT GET AWAY FROM ME”.😂😂 I still have the same shoes I’ve been wearing for 4 years because, hello, if they’re not 100% fallen apart I can still wear them. I may or may not steal chocolate from my parental stash. I’m sure they don’t notice. *whistles innocently*
Cait you’re super productive when it comes into writing and I AM JEALOUS! I barely started though, so… hahaha but still, it’s awesome that you managed to write 4 BOOKS last year!! And OMG my TBR is also out of control! I mean, last month alone I bought 14 books (birthday hauls!) not counting the books I already own but haven’t read, and now I’m sort of freaking out over the number of unread books on my shelves 😂😂 my goal is to read at least half of them before I go buy some new ones 😛 and I feel you with your iPod! I had an old iPhone 4 last year and it frustrated me so much! I always ran out of storage even after I deleted everything, it was so slow, and just shut down every time I open multiple apps 😂 I said good riddance when I finally got another phone hahaha
And reading less ARC is a really good call! When I first started blogging I was jealous of those bloggers who got free books to review buuuuut now that I experienced it myself I much prefer reading books that I pick for myself! Reading unsolicited ARCs/review copies started to feel like a chore and it takes the fun away from reading, especially when there’s so many better books that I could be reading 😂 anywayyy, hope 2017 will be a better year for all of us, CHEERS! <3
Puput @ Sparkling Letters recently posted…My 2017 Resolutions + I’m Introducing My Novel!
Just remember I’ve been writing for like 5 years so I HAVE LOTS OF PRACTISE IN MOVING FAST.😂 I’m sure you’ll get there!! And even if you don’t, there’s nothing wrong with writing slowly, right?!? It’s not a race. :’) And awwwk, that sounds like an AMAZING birthday honestly. I mean, we complain about our TBRs but books! books! BOOKS!! *flails because loves to eat books basically*
These apple products though omg. They just like to keep updating them so the old ones die. Although I admit, having an iPod for 4 years seems probably pretty good?! It hasn’t updated any apps for, ah, like FOREVER.😂 It breaks my soul though because my instagram is very hard to use. SO HOPEFULLY THIS WILL FIX ALL THE THINGS.
And so true right?! ARCs are awesome, but they also come with a lot of responsibility. Sometimes it’s just nicer to read/review whatever.😂 I still love receiving them, don’t get me wrong. But I feel like backing off on requesting is also opening up for other bloggers to get these coveted ARCs and that’s great too!!
hAPPY 2017 FOR ALL OF US.
I want to write and finish a story by the end of this year. I think I’m going to take it nice and slow this year – no rushing myself, just taking my time. I’m down for 100 books on Goodreads for the third year running. At least I’m consistant. 😉 Oh, and getting a blog post up before we’re a week into 2017 would be great! :’)
Good luck and Happy New Year (three days late)!
Rain @ Ivyclad Ideas recently posted…The Best Books I’ve Read in 2016
That’s honestly a glorious idea *nods sagely* It’s important for we writers to work at comfortable paces, I think!! And consistency is good too.😂 I managed 200 last year so I figure that’ll be my new average. Nopity no to trying for 300 again haha. I DIED THAT YEAR.
Happy new year to you too!!
You wrote 4 books and edited 2.5?!!! Wow! I wrote one, edited one. But hey… that’s one, right? I’d love to read one of your books. I love your blogs – you have a great style/ voice and I’d like to read it in novel form!
Oh congrats on your writing and edits!! THAT IS AMAZINGNESS FOR YOU TOO!! And aww, *blushes* Honestly that’s the nicest thing to hear of ever. :’) Hopefully I will have a book published someday. 🎉
Well I plan to read 150 books but I also have a personal challenge of reading 50 books which are released thw same year. Then there are the two reading challenges of A Classic A Month and to read books NOT released this year and tackle my TBR—safe to say I am overwhelmed and I might just end up rereading (like the first two books of this year)
Oh that’s a cool way to make sure you’re reading backlist titles!! I love it!! And good luck with the classics…I tried to make myself do that once and #fail.😂 (But hey. REREADING IS GREAT.)
I HAVE SO MANY GOALS. Including:
* figure out what to do with my life + make peace with whatever happens with university (because I honestly have no idea which country I’ll even be in in 6 months, which is quite scary. anyway)
*NEW BLOG DESIGN! which would happen if I wasn’t so lazy and full of inertia.
*Go running and stuff (yes, very vague)
*many other goals that haven’t come to my head because I am a forgetful munchkin.
STOP FEELING GUILTY ABOUT REREADING!!! Yes, you have a TBR. But if you don’t read the books on it immediately, what’s going to happen?…. the books will still be there. Books are very patient things (until you start reading one chapter, then another, then another, until…. basically the book loses patience with you and you HAVE to finish it. Anyway) If you want to read your favourite author who doesn’t have a new book, and you have a memory that’s more like a sieve (aka me), then rereading is PERFECT. Also you KNOW you’re going to like the book, (unless your memory is really bad) but if you don’t remember everything you can still reread.
And remember you can get to your TBR later. (Idea: put rereading book on TBR, so then you feel a sense of accomplishment when you finish it and feel guilt free).
OKAY I”M DONE BEING WISE NOW LET ME GO EAT SOME SNACKS AND LIE DOWN I”M TIRED OF BEING SENSIBLE.
shar@Virtually Read recently posted…Why Do We Reread?
OKAY WOAH THAT IS A REALLY REALLY REALLY HUGE #1 GOAL YOU’VE GOT THERE. No pressure at all for that. *sweats on your behalf* I wish you the best luck figuring out your future!! I’m still working on mine. *moves to Hobbiton and remains there forever*
Going running is a grand goal. ME TOO. :’) Although since I have for 3 years I feel like it’s not much of a goal haha.
Yesss, I agree with you on re-reading! I just need my brain to catch up with these fact.😂 And plus my memory is horrible?!??? So re-reading is actually like reading a book for the first time again, I just have vague memories of the character’s names. Maybe. Although probably not even though.😂 (I mark re-reads on my GR goal so I still feel accomplished. I DON’T CARE IF IT’S CHEATING. mwahahah.)
Make sure you eat unsensible snacks though. TO STRENGTHEN YOU.
2 books are great! Seriously editing is the part where we like to fail XD I haven’t read like a ton of ARCs, but I get it with them. it sounds like pressure and I am not really able to enjoy the book as much as I would if it was of my own goblin money. I want to really really really finish my WIP. I started it in November (NaNo) and kinda failed? Okay definitely failed. I wrote 7K which I know isn’t a lot, but I just wrote for 8 days.since Life and school got in the way.
Prabhleen recently posted…2017 DEBUTS I AM EXCITED FOR
Editing is haaaaaard. It’s just so much pressure?! If I take this word out WILL I DESTROY THE WORLD??? And how do I fix this plot hole. bUry me. BURY ME. *cries into laptop* Ahem.😂 So I’m a little dramatic (#writer) and editing is really really worth it in the end!! I HOPE YOU FINISH YOUR WIP AND HAVE LOTS OF FUN WITH IT.
Buying things with one’s own goblin money DOES make it really freeing. Plus I tend to get a lot of unsolicited ARCs? So I’d rather pick what I want to read.😂 Although I’m not ungrateful or anything!! I still love getting them!! I just think if I’m not 100% excited for ARCs anymore, I should free them up for people who are really keen to get them.
My goals are basically to keep up with blogging and learn how to improve my reviews! And I also want to read 20o books as well! I completely destroyed my goal of 75 last year by reading 163, so I’m hoping I can make it! 😅
Those are super great goals! I APPROVE. *hi fives for our 200 book goal* I’M SURE WE WILL DO IT. I try to make mini goals, like 20 books per month, so I don’t panic all the time that I’m falling behind!😂 (I mean 20 books a month gets you slightly over 200 but I also am an overachiever haha.)
I am cutting down my Goodreads goal this year too because I was causing me physical pain when I was behind. Time to calm down. I am starting a book journal/bullet journal too! I cannot set but dammit I am going to take notes on the books I read!
I totally get that! That was me in 2015 because I tried to read 300 books…and like I made it, but it also stressed me out SO MUCH and what’s the point of that?!? A number in a goodreads challenge is not worth it.😂 I hope we both have a calm reading year this year *hi fives*
And let’s hope we can both upkeep these journals. I mean I HAVE THE JOURNAL. I have done 0% else to prepare. *whistles innocently*
Uh… I’m just feeling kind of sheepish right now, because I’m so so so lazy I have no goals for 2017. I AM TOO LAZY TO EVEN THINK ABOUT IT (which is rather convenient). Seriously, though, my mom keeps bugging me to make a new years resolution and I’m like “No, no, no, no, no, Mama, I’m not going to because I don’t want to and I’m never gonna keep it,” (which is so true) Literally, last year I resolved to keep at least 7 rosas, which are basically fasts(?) in Ramadan (I’m Muslim, so yeah). Keeping one full rosa means I have to wake up at 3-4 a.m. to have breakfast (a very, very early breakfast) and for the rest of the day I can’t eat or drink anything until about 7 or eight at night (*scoffs because that aint night*). I FAILED. I KEPT ONE ROSA UNINTENTIONALLY BECAUSE I FORGOT TO EAT. LITERALLY. FORGOT. TO EAT. (I was reading, it’s perfectly normal)
So yeah. I guess my goals this year are to survive school, finish some artwork, READ (duh) and… survive? I guess? I’m pathetic.
I barely ever keep mine too…..buuuut I STILL LIKE TO MAKE THEM.😂 And c’mon! Mine were pretty unimaginative here haha. But woah I think keeping the full rosa would be very hard too. (I am a weak soul.) (How did you forget to eat though?!? I read a lot and I STILL get super hungry haha. I think I am the worst awk, I’m always hungry.😂)
Surviving school is a really really good goal. PLEASE DEFINITELY DO THAT.😂 (And you’re not pathetic!! You’re awesome!)
I am that kind of weirdo who stays in the bathroom the whole day long, because she is TERRIFIED of someone interrupting her precious reading time….yeah… #SoNormal.(I’m currently reading, and it is… 5: 30 A.M. on the dot. And I’ve been reading straight through the night.) In answe to your question, I woke up pretty late and just went straight to the washroom and read. For, like, seven hours. And, FYI, it honestly isn’t that hard keeping a rosa. After you pass the initial pangs off hunger, it doesn’t affect you that much. And having really really fatty food first thing waking up definitely helps (unless you throw up. Okay, just forget that).
And, um an example of my patheticness? (< It's definitely a word.)
I'm a Pakistani, so Urdu's a huge part of the curriculum here. My school is, I think, the most westernized school in Pakistan. Most speak English better that Urdu, which is just plain sad. It's gotten to the point where they are literally teaching Urdu that is meant for the class below us. I am in seventh grade, and I'm learning Urdu that is meant for PUNY SIXTH GRADERS. And still, I'm nearly failing. *sighs*
(I'll probably wake up tomorrow- no, today- and regret all all of this, because I am ASLEEP.)
Okay I TOTALLY admire you being able to read like that?!? I can’t even read past 10pm before my eyes explode. I am actually an old granny.😂
I’m pretty sure you’re the first person to say that to me. THANK YOU FOR THAT!! My parents get exasperated, and my friends are like whyyy. I AM TOUCHED, (because, it’s, like, the only thing which I excel in.)
And grannies are still pretty badass. I know mine is.
(She swears -in Urdu, no less- at pretty much all politicians she sees on TV.)
Looks like you have had an awesome year!! I managed to read 243 books, so YAY! But those were just the ones I counted in Goodreads. I’m doing the beta reading thing and getting paid for it and I read 22 unpublished manuscripts. I also set my 2017 goal for 200. Yes, I could do more but do I want to strain myself to do it? Umm, no. And I have made a promise myself to request fewer ARCs and to read books that I actually own and have not been able to read it. I am only requesting ARCs of books that I really, really, REALLY want to read. So far, so good. And I need to reread more! I would love to reread Harry Potter. I only read it for the first time last year. But I feel so guilty rereading anything. Ugh! Hate that.
Cynthia @ Bingeing On Books recently posted…End of the Year Survey
Oh that is AWESOME about how many books you read! *hi fives* We were only 2 different. WOOO. WE ARE THE READING QUEENS!! (Actually I know someone who did 365 and my mind is boggled haha.) WOAH. Getting paid to beta is awesome. I’m so glad that’s working out really well for you! I kind of lowkey would like to start a beta-service but I feel too unqualified. 🙈🙊 And I’m probably too harsh ahha.😂
And I’m glad I’m not alone with the feeling-guilty-over-re-reading. I mean, it’s silly of us, right?! Re-reading is EPIC and it’s so nice to revisit loved books and also catch things you missed the first time! Hopefully we both get plenty of rereads in this year.🎉
Some wonderful goals this year, and I thought I was somewhat over ambitious 😉
Best of luck achieving them. And a very Happy New Year to you and your family :)`
We can be over-ambitious TOGETHER.😂😂🎉 Happy new year to you too!
Your book shelves are to die for- they’re so dreamy! I can’t believe how productive you are. My main goal for 2016 was to write a short story collection and I wrote about 5. I’m in awe! I’ve always wanted to do NaNoWriMo but I always seem to remember like halfway through November so I’m gonna try do that this year! And one of my main goals is to be more interactive with bloggers because I’m essentialy an internet hermit so… Hi!
Aww, thanks, Nicole! My shelves thank you too.😂 THEY ARE MY PRIDE AND JOY. That’s awesome about your short story collection!! WOOOO FOR A PRODUCTIVE WRITING YEAR FOR BOTH OF US! And hello to you too *gives you welcome cake* 😉 It’s always lovely to meet new writerly friends! 🎉🎉
Your goals sounds quite daring; best of luck with all of them! (Also, I join you in the editing-failure; while I did edit some, it wasn’t half as much as I ought to have. And unlike you, I didn’t even write enough to fully make up for it.) Also, I sympathize with the don’t-want-to-spend money thing, but I just recently caved and bought myself a new phone to replace my old one (also four years old, also unreliable, though not as bad as your iPod seems to be) and I don’t regret it one bit. (Of course, that’s partially because replacing the phone meant I could try EverNote, because I was worried that it wouldn’t cooperate with my old phone, so now I can write things on said phone and not have to email them to myself. So. Yeah.)
Finally: as one who has written many sequels (as in, the sequels outnumber the singles sort of many), I’ve found that rereading your books helps a great deal with sequels. And if all else fails- put a decent amount of time between the original and the sequel and you can chalk any not-too-major-changes up to character growth.
Sarah recently posted…In With the New
I’m SO GLAD you understand my money-spending-problems!! I’m honestly the worst about spending money.😭😂 I’ve been wearing the same shoes for 4 years because…money. Ahem. (And actually the #1 reason I am actually breaking down and getting the new iPod is so I can try out some new apps. Like Hoopla and overdrive and now I’m keen to try evernote hehe…or I think you can Scrivener for phones/ipods too right?!? SO EXCITE.)
That is actually excellent advice for sequels. THANK YOU. The sequel I plan to write should have a nearly 2 year gap from the first so *fingers crossed* that I won’t embarrass myself too much? And I only wrote the first book in October, so that’s not TOO long ago.🙈🙊 And there’s another duology I want to write, but I was thinking of maybe writing them both at the same time??? With no writing break? That could help..although EXHAUSTION.😂
My goals are also to blog less, but increase my content quality, focus more on my fantasy series, and learn cooking/crafting things for the fam.
Diverse there, huh? 🙂
Those are awesome goals! And very achievable too *nods* which is great. I mean, I think being a dragon is achievable for me too, obviously. 😇🐉😂 (I’m glad we’re both focusing on quality vs quantity *hi fives*)
I’m so damn envy of your ability to write so many book. It took years to finish one… well, actually I finished it som many times and write it again beacuse I was never happy with it. And in the end it a completely new story. So, just to name three goals that regards book:
– read at least 120 books
– finish to correct mine (just few chapters), write a synopsis and send it to publisher… but first my beta readers will help me XD
– write the second one of the series in a good way that requires few edits
I think writing huge quantities just takes time and practise honestly! This’ll be like my 7th year writing furiously all the time.😂 And once you get started, it’s hard to stop haha.
I love your goals!! And YAY for working towards publication too! Are you going to look for an agent?
I don’t think so! In the current situation I think I cannot afford a decent agent 🙁
Well good luck with however you plan to go about publishing! But I just wanted to let you know: you don’t pay for an agent! Not until you get a book deal. And if an agent is asking for money up front, then it’s a scam and you get out of there ASAP. I spent zero money (except for a bit of postage sending queries to specific offices that wanted hardcopies) when I was querying, looking, and finding an agent.
YAY, GOALS LISTS! I love goals lists. The worst part is narrowing it down because I WANT TO DO SO MANY THINGS.
Also, I’d LOVE to collab with you at some point. On anything. Maybe about writing pirate books? We have that in common.
Astrid 🙂
http://www.astridkaniele.com/
Astrid Kaniele recently posted…Bookish Goals & Bucket List in 2017
GOALS ARE HONESTLY THE BEST ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU GET TO TICK THINGS OFF. #funtimes And eep, I shall let you know with the collabs!! <3 I have to figure out exactly what I want to do but then I SHALL GET BACK TO YOU! 🎉
These are all awesome goals,Cait 🙂 Hope you get to achieve them,especially 40K followers on bookstagram because I love your feed so much <3 Well,my goals are to read more diverse books this year and to finally complete my book which I started in 2016.I hope there were robots who could write the book while I dictate them because I get so exhausted after blogging that I wish I had more time to write.Where are those freaking robots when you need them?!😂
Oooh, your goals are terrific too! And reading more diverse books sounds like an amazingly good goal. <3 And YES to finishing writing your book! I'm so happy with how many people have writing on their goals lists because it's the besssst. (And omg don't you sometimes wish you could just like mentally dictate the book?! My books always sound SO MUCH BETTER in my head.😂)
Petition to get us robots!!
I seriously, seriously doubt you’d want to collab with me, but I think I’m going to have to do some serious reading this year, if I want to reach my goal of 250 books! (I could just read picture books… jk! #plotting)
I rearranged my entire bookshelf yesterday, because my birthday was on New Years Eve, so I figured that even though I only got ONE book, I could pretend I got 2,8m more and just spend 9 hours making a beautiful mess of my books. ;D
I REALLY WANT TO BE A DRAGON. I would blow up the continents for sure. As always, your posts are the best, and I sincerely can’t wait for your next one! <3
-Samantha
WOOO 250 BOOKS IS AMAZING!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!! (And like you could always add in a few graphic novels too? I read the occasional comic and MG book last year and got to 245.😂 I don’t think it’s cheating haha.)
oooh, rearranging shelves is SO MUCH FUN. I really want to get a new shelf and then maybe make my big shelf not so overcrowded and weepy. But there’s no more space in my room. #bookwormproblems
LET’S ALL BE DRAGONS. EXCELLENT GOALS.
Yeah, I realized I was running out of shelf space a few years back, so my Mom built me a whole wall with planks attached so I could store my books. it’s beautiful. *tears up*
-Samantha
YOU CLEARLY HAVE THE BEST PARENT OF EVER OMG.
Well most of my goals are *writing goals* so it’s the usual stuff: write more, write often, keep track of projects + stay organized, etc etc. LOL I did a lot of laughing at my good intentions last year because I completely veered off track (which meant I accomplished things that I hadn’t initially planned on accomplishing). In the end, I don’t care as long as something gets done haha but this year I’ve made my goals more intentionally vague. So far, I’ve only decided that I want to work on 2 writing projects which I’d already started last year because I don’t see the point in committing to any other ideas yet. I’m planning on rewriting a YA contemp featuring a bi Indian girl who attempts to write a book in the summer. I also need to draft a book inspired by Hindu myths (which I’m researching + asking my parents about right now :P). Ooh and I want to read 125 books! ALSO: congrats on all the writing you got done omg!!! You’re basically a writing machine.. I mean seriously! I don’t know how you do it haha. (well actually I do – you are persistent AF + smart + talented!). Also very impressed by the amount of books you manage to read every year – your reading (and blogging!) habits are always a source of inspiration for me when I’m feeling tired! <333 Hope you have an amazing year Cait!
Rachana recently posted…new year’s resolutions for 2017
I totally get that actually!! I mean, all THREE of the books I planned to write in 2016…did not even get a look in.😂 I don’t even know how that really happened, omg, but it did. And 2 writing projects is a great goal *hi fives* WE ARE TWINS. I loooove the sound of your contemporary already.😍 If I saw a YA about Hindu myths on Goodreads, I would be adding it immediately because #need.
I think I’m just obsessed bahhaha.😂 That’s the only reason I get so much done.
*gives you all the cake* I hope we both have a super productive writing year. <3
all of your goals are so great!
one of my biggest goals this year is to finish writing my first novel and try to edit it! (plotting is underway right now!) I set my goodreads goal at 60 books, but I really don’t even know how many books i can read in a year soooo ?? Plus, Big Changes™ are (probably?) coming to my life this fall, so I don’t want to put too much stress on myself. loved reading this post!
Madeline recently posted…december wrap-up // goodbye 2016!
Good luck with your writing and editing!! THOSE ARE AMAZING THINGS AND I HIGHLY APPROVE. *flings confetti at you* Honestly editing is hard but 1000% worth it. It makes you such a better writer. And oooh, Big Changes sounds super scary. GOOD LUCK. (There are potential Big Family Changes happening for me too but I’m trying to deny that it might happen.😂 So I totally think putting less stress on yourself is a good idea!)
Good luck with your goals! My biggest goal is to stay alive. So much stressful stuff is happening this year.
Aj @ Read All The Things! recently posted…Review: There Once Lived A Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, And He Hanged Himself: Love Stories – Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
I 10000% approve of your goal *nods sagely* DEFINITELY KEEP THAT ONE. And I’m sad 2016 was rather stressful but I also completely understand. 🙁
I love all these goals. Here are some thoughts : 1) How did you learn graphic design? You said you were teaching yourself. I want to learn for blog purposes. 2) 80+ on your TBR is NOTHING friend. Just my physical book shelves are 187. That’s not counting the books in my kindle app and iBooks app…. It’s bad. very bad. 3) I would LOVE to give you feedback on your books. you said you wanted it…. 4) A reading journal is awesome. And you can just make it abunch of lists. Like Bullet Journaling. 5) I <3 U. You are amazing. Keep being the best dragon you can be.
I honestly didn’t learn any graphic design.😂 I still use picmonkey.com (my sister has photoshop but I took one look at it and GOT TOTALLY FREAKED OUT and decided never to try it again) and I just buy graphics with commercial licenses and slap ’em together and voila. My terrible “design” process.😂
Duuuuude, your TBR is definitely wild. GOOD LUCK WITH WRANGLING IT INTO SUBMISSION!
And I will definitely have to do a call out when I’m ready for some beta-readers (thank you so much for the offer, I appreciate it <3) but I'll need to do a ton of edits first. Hehe. It's SUCH A MESS right now.
WE SHOULD ALL BE THE BEST DRAGONS WE CAN BE. #goals
I really hope you are able to achieve all your goals, Cait! I am sure you can reach 40,000 followers on Instagram soon. I mean, your goal for this year was 5,000 and now you’re on 22,000? That’s what I call ovearchieving!
My goal for 2016 is to read more diverse novels. I think many bloggers will relate to this one, since this has been a very popular subject on book community. I didn’t read as much on 2016 as I wanted to, so I’ll keep that goal for the new year.
I also want to maybe move my blog for WordPress? When I first started blogging, I didn’t want to go fancy, because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to manage blogging + school + books + LIFE. But after almost one year, I can say that I did very well! So I’m thinking about going to another plataform and trying to reach more people. I have no idea how WordPress work, though, so I’ll have a lot of research to do.
I hope you have a great 2017, Cait! 🙂
Ahhh, thank you, Lais! YOU ARE SO NICE.😊 And yessss that was a really nice spot of overachieving. :’) Although I honestly don’t expect my account to grow really fast from now on so much? So we’ll see. Aim high, right?!😂
And yes I’ve seen tons of pledges to read more diversely! And like lots of diversity bingo book challenges going out, which is awesome. Although I am WAY too non-committal to join in something like that.😂 But I do want to hopefully increase the diversity books I read too. Which seems like it’ll be easy because soooo many epic diverse books are coming out this year.
WORDPRESS IS AMAZING SO I APPROVE OF THIS GOAL. It’s actually not to hard to figure out how it works! I was on blogger for 3 years and then moved to WP for the last 2 years and I got the hang of it rather fast. I’m sure you’ll be great. 😉
The fact that George R. R. Martin would be proud of your character killing is mildly terrifying… O_O
I’m sure you’ll get to 40k+ on instagram since your photos are gorgeous and you deserve it ^_^ Also, I wish I could read 200+ books in a year but alas, I can barely manage 52 XD
Happy New Year!
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
Brittany recently posted…Top Favorite Books of 2016 & 2017 Recs!
YEAH I SHOULD PROBABLY LEARN TO CHILL TBH. *puts that on to-do list too* 😂 Awww, thanks, Brittany!! <3 That is like the super nicest thing of ever to hear!! <3 And 52 is still AWESOME. Reading isn't a race after all.😊
Is sell more items a good goal? haha. Sometimes it’s really hard having stores and trying to sell what you make, but we can dream, right?
Anyway I love these ideas of goals – but I am hopeless and will never complete mine
Angel @Angel Reads recently posted…Top Ten 2017 Debuts I’m Excited For
I think it’s a good goal! And my Etsy store does pretty well already which is nice. 🙂 I just want to expand in a bookish direction! And fair enough…lists of goals aren’t for everyone.😂
I love all of these goals! Checking out those Pinterest boards now (You never told me you had Pinterest). Oh, and do write a re-telling of Sherlock HOLMES! I’ve never read the books, but I love the show (especially the recent epsiode, did you watch it?)
Oh and I love your goals, good luck! I want to read 60 books (very small compare to your 200, ik) and I think I can! As for writing. I think NaNo is too challenging for me just yet but I do want to start a Short Story//Creative Writing series on my blog with writing prompts, contests and things like that.
Happy New Year!
I have all my social media accounts linked in my footer if that helps.😂 BUT I’M OBSESSED WITH PINTEREST OMG. SO MUCH STORY IDEAS. (I haven’t seen the recent Sherlock episode because I’m not so keen on the BBC version. I think it uses Autism as a butt of a lot of jokes and that bothers me. I looooove Elementary though, and the RDJ movies!!)
And YAY for your reading goals too!! And omg the short story series sounds aaaamazing and I can’t wait to read it!
omgns Cait…this is the bestest goals list!
Props for writing + editing so many books woah.
When you write a Sherlock Holmes retelling, TELL ME. I NEED IT IN MY LIFE.
Ahhh, thanks, Hanne!! I really hope I get all of this done, heeh.😂 And omg I would love to actually settle down and WRITE this Sherlock retelling!! I know what’s going to happen in it!!
Where is the goal: PUBLISH THE BOOKS SO WE CAN READ THEM?!?!?! I am genuinely dying to read something of yours. If anyone can write a book it’s YOUUUUUU!!!!
My goals for 2017 are v modest, I want to gain social media followers, but I haven’t given myself numbers because I am many things, but I am not a popular girl. HOW DO YOU EVEN MAKE FRIENDS? It’s like everyone on Twitter is already friends. I also want to read 200 books so yay TWINS/SNAP.
You are already Queen. *bows down* *feeds you grapes* *hands you books*
Leah recently posted…Books I’m Excited To Read In January
I WOULD LOVE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN. BELIEVE ME. LET’S JUST CROSS OUR FINGERS AND HOPE HARD OKAY?!?😂
Omg making friends is hard. I tend to just shout at people about cake and dragons and they stick around??? 10/10 recommend food to lure followers in. We all relate to how glorious it is. :’)
YAAAS TO OUR 200 BOOKS GOAL. We are the book queens. *flips hair*
Sounds like you hit most of your goals for 2016! And I think your 2017 ones are totally achievable! I really like the idea of reading less unsolicited books and focusing more on the stories that I want to read – dare i say it, but when I feel obligated to read a book its almost *almost* like work. Especially as very rarely will I give up on a book even if I hate it!
Otherwise I hope you also get to write everything you want to next year. Like you I always only write book one, despite planning out series after series. This year might be the year to start some sequels – even if its just for fun. I really hope I can stop look at publishing as such a huge goal – like those unsolicited books – writing solely to be published also takes the fun out of writing.
All the best for 2017!
Oooh, we are pretty alike then! I mean, I don’t think ARCs are terrible or anything. I still love and appreciate them a lot!! But there is a lot of pressure, right?! And I hate sending negative reviews to publicists. Eeek. And I HATE DNF’ing so that doesn’t get me out of any bad books!!
I hope you have fun with some sequels too!! I actually always rotate the reason I’m writing too *nods* Like I write one book for me, purely for fun and it can be as wild and non-conventional as I want! And then my next project will be something I think might work to send to my agent.🙈🙊😂
All the best for 2017 for you too!! *shares cake with you*
Sounds like you have some great goals for the new year! Can’t wait to read more about what you’ve been reading and writing. 😀
Thanks, Abi!! YOU’RE SO NICE. <3 I plan to do a post with what books I'd like to write this year soon too!!
Welcome! Oh awesome! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for that post.
Awesome goals there Cait! Also good job on the ones you achieved from last year! I should try and make a list like this… But that would require thinking… and effort. And ick that’s so tedious. OH WELL.
Also, I volunteer as tribute for a collab post Cait!
Bee @ Quite the Novel Idea recently posted…{Effie Reviews} You by Caroline Kepnes
IT IS SO HARD THINKING UP GOALS OMG. Mine basically are a repeat of last year, minus the delusion that I’ll actually do anything artistic.😂 I’m the worst.
(And I’ll let you know!!)
Happy New Year Cait!
Your goals for 2017 are amazing and I hope you’ll achieve every single one of them 🙂
My goals are a little more vague because I tend to get distracted and then subsequently stressed from the pressure, haha 🙂 But they would include things like reading 75 books, re-reading more, and (not so vague) re-reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians so I can finally binge-read the entire Heroes of Olympus series 🙂
Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads recently posted…Top Ten 2017 Debuts I’m Excited For {Top Ten Tuesday}
I totally get distracted from my goals too.😂 And I tend to not add in anything to strenuous because PRESSURE IS BAD FOR MY SOUL. *hyperventilates in the corner*😂 And oooh, re-reading Percy Jackson is a GREAT GOAL. I would like to do that sometime because I miss the HoO series. It was the besssst.
RE-READS ARE IMPORTANT MY PRECIOUS CHILDREN I MUST REVISIT THEM I MUST REMIND THEM OF MY LOVE I MUST DIE INSIDE AGAIN
I THINK YOU ARE 100000% RIGHT HERE AND I WILL LEARN TO NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT REREADING BECAUSE NEED.
I approve of your goals. (You’re such an overachiever, lol.) But next year I want to see “learn to DNF books” on the list. ;P
(Can I upgrade my brain, too?)
I guess contributing to S.’s blog counts as a writing project! But other than that, my goals are to learn how to fit in reading time once I move and to skip mediocre books.
Maraia recently posted…[Top 10 Tuesday] Top Ten 2017 Debuts We Are Excited For
A terrible terrible overachiever, omg. See this is why I need a brain upgrade. I need a “chill and be calm” setting, yes please and thank you. And HAHAHAAHA to learning to DNF. That will be the day.😂
You might become a regular coblogger there.😉 And I admire the skipping-mediocre-books goal. I feel like I accidentally gravitate towards them. Someone bury me.😑
Ooh, yes, sign me up. I need that setting.
I might! We’ll see. I feel rather guilty about that blog I haven’t started, though…
I’ll bury you in books! Ha. 😛
Best of luck with your goals for this year! I tend not to do New Year’s resolutions; the idea of expecting the goals you make the first day of the year to fit the rest of your completely unknown and volatile year seems rather silly to me. But I do have a few, which are mainly continuations of habits I picked up earlier: write 400 words a day, read 100 books, finish my novel Karissa Goldlock’s Guide to (Almost) Utterly Everything, and maintain at least a 4.00 gpa (which should become substantially easier when I switch from Adv. Chemistry to AP Biology later in the year).
Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality
Ellie @ On the Other Side of Reality recently posted…2016/2017 Book Survey
I do get that, haha.😂 I mean, mine are more like a checklist? Like I’d make a checklist for a week, so why not a year! But these are mostly things I was going to attempt anyway…except the reading journal. Honestly if that happens and I manage to do ANY ART AT ALL, I will award myself with cake. (Tbh I’ll probably award myself with cake even if I fail, but shhh, let’s pretend I’m better than that.)
Good luck finishing your novel and doing school!! That would be a lot to balance!!
These are all very noble goals. *nods* One of my resolutions was to stick with one book until it is finished. As in, completely rewritten, edited, read by all my family and friends (and the goats in our backyard. They give very good feedback), and just waiting to be shipped off to a sympathetic agent who will listen to my poor little words.
I have indeed stuck with one book, BUT AT WHAT COST?? At what cost?
Goats give terrific feedback honestly. Also dogs. I’m hoping my dog will do a read through to catch typos but he keeps running off with a ball and refusing to enter some serious business meetings?? Idek. How do we get good help around here?
BUT YOU CAN DO IT. I SHALL BE CHEERING FOR YOU!! (And *whispers* it is 1000% worth it to stick with a book and really get through edits!! I promise!! Even if it is torture!!)
I completed my 2016 goal. It was to go the dentist because I am deathly allergic(*cough* afraid *cough*) of the dentist. My goals for 2017 is to be more arty, I have some watercolors and a Game of Thrones coloring book. I want to read 200 books! I don’t know if I want to do NaNoWriMo 2017, but if I do I think I want to write a Little Prince retelling. I also have to edit my last NaNo and then finish writing the second half. Argh! Writing I hate editing, and see why you hate it to. I just read it back and am like soooo many dumb typos.
I am deathly allergic to the dentist too. I DEFINITELY say it’s “allergic” because if I go, I will 100% die. I know this. Fact. (Also I admire you for making that a goal?!? I could never do that.😂 My goal is to avoid the dentist until I die.)
Ohhhhh being more arty would be amazing!! I keep making that my goal and then doing NOTHING to actually achieve it.😂
I still need to actually READ the Little Prince, but retellings are amazing so good luck!!
Good luck! Winter is the coziest season for re-readin. I wonder, how many words do your books average? You sound very productive!!
Yes winter is super nice for reading…but it’s Summer where I am. 😂 But all weather is good reading weather tbh. And for “how many words do your books average” do you mean the ones I write? Last year two of them were around 80K and the other two were 100-130K!
(I’m just motivated I guess.😂)
Generally I try to make about half of my goals things I actually can achieve and then half of them are just things I know I won’t achieve but I can dream. Also seeing collaborations between you and other bloggers would be really cool. I feel like your creativity in terms of post ideas will help you to come up with something awesome.
Hahah, YES, that’s the best way to make goals honestly. Like I put on a lot of stuff I know I will do?? So at least when I get to the end of the year I know I’m not a total failure.😂 Eeep, thank you!! I will start brainstorming some epic things really soon!!
Sounds like a spontaneously awesome list of things to do for the year! How are you so productive all the time? Unfairness abound! But seriously, awesome!
I guess it’s just about priorities, right?! And…not sleeping.😂
Thankyou!!
So true on the not sleeping part, already there!
I hope to get my current WIP finished and editing this year, because I really want to start the search for a literary agent. I just need to make writing my own things more of a priority. It looks like you did pretty good with your 2016 goals though, so I hope 2017 is even BETTER! And I like working with other bloggers on things—if you want to collaborate with me, let me know, and we can brainstorm!!
-Lauren
ShootingStarsMag recently posted…My Word of 2017
Oooh, that is an AWESOME GOAL!! And I’ll be cheering for you. I have to make writing more of a priority too actually, haha, because I want it to be my career someday but yet I often end up reading instead of editing. #shame I need to work on this.😂 AND AWWW THANK YOU! You’re so lovely and encouraging. <3
I read a grand total of three books last year! So if I can do better than that this year, I’ll be happy. I’m not going to make it an official goal or anything, though, because that’s just too much pressure. (I can hear you laughing with your 245 books from the other side of the world now…)
I always say I’m going to do NaNoWriMo, and one day I might actually do it, but only if I’ve already gotten into a habit of writing every day. Otherwise, it’s just too much pressure and… well, not fun. And writing is supposed to be enjoyable. (Except when it isn’t.) One of the things I find hard about NaNo is that you’re supposed to pick a new project and start writing. If I’m on a roll in the middle of another project, I don’t want to stop just so I can write some other story and potentially kill my momentum. I guess it’ll come down to timing. If I end up typing the last word of a book on October 31st one year, and I already have an idea for the next, then maybe I’ll give it a try.
My goodness, your iPod sounds persnickety. I’ve got an iPod Nano (3rd generation), which doesn’t do all that much, so it’s behaved itself so far. Not that I’ve used it a lot; I think I’ve listened to one audiobook all the way through in the time I’ve had it. (That iPod Nano version came out in 2007, so it hasn’t been used much at all!)
La Coccinelle @ The Ladybug Reads… recently posted…Review – Change Places With Me
Oh I’m not laughing!! Life can get busy right?! Not every year is a good reading year *nods* Although I do hope 2017 is a nice reading year for you.🎉
Writing is a hard thing because I don’t think it always has to be enjoyable.🙈🙊 I hate writing a LOT of the time…but then I also love it WHILE I’m hating it so it’s a complicated relationship. (And there are tons of NaNo rebels if that makes you feel better. I think you could do whatever you wanted if you don’t care about the rules!) And omg I don’t write everyday so if you can keep that up, good for you!
Mine is an iPod touch and DUDE, YES IT IS PERSNICKITY. It literally delights in making my existence difficult. I have like a super old iPod shuffle that must be like 5 years old that my parental won. I wonder if it still works…😂
You are a magical creature, I don’t understand how you can write books, edits books, and then READ so many books. Oh and open an etsy shop. No big deal.
Goals are fun to have! I too ignore mine promptly, but the fact that you TRIED is a great first step!
Haha, well, I mean…I JUST WORK FAST MAYBE?! 😜 And don’t sleep. Pfft who needs sleep. (But the etsy is already open and it’s been established for like 2 years…I jsut want to expand my stock haha.)
aND YES AT LEAST WE TRIED! Even if we abandon all hope by February….
I’m trying to add diversity into my novels too! I have some, but I really want to add more, and that’s something I plan to work on, right alongside reading more diverse books. My instagram goal is over 3,000 followers, which I’m pretty confident in. Right now I have 1.3k but I’ve been gaining more followers now than I used to. When it comes to writing, I want to finish my novel before the start of summer so I can work on something new over the summer then hopefully edit my first one? Hopefully I’ll be able to do it. But like I’ve been working on my same dark fantasy retelling for MONTHS now and I’m not even close to finishing it. :'( I don’t ever set myself a ton of goals, that why I don’t stress about them. My reading goal is only 85 books. Reading over 200 would be like a dream come true.
Happy New Year, Cait! And good luck with all your goals 🙂
Adalyn recently posted…Let’s Talk Setting New Year’s Reading Goals
Yayyyy for our diversity goals. *hi fives* This is definitely what the bookish world needs. And omg CONGRATS ON YOUR FOLLOWERS!! I find that the more followers you get, the more visible you are?? Which is super helpful.😂 And good luck finishing off that dark fantasy (which btw is like the BEST genre of ever so squeeee I’m excited for you). I write really fast but it takes me months and months to edit and it’s basically torture.😂
Good luck to you too!!
I always set so many goals and then I forget about them a few months into the year XD THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT. Maybe. XD
These sound like really great goals and I hope you manage to achieve most, if not all, of them! <3
Oh don’t worry that is 100% me too.😂 I didn’t even remember I’d MADE 2016 goals until halfway through last year. I am the worst.😂
The reading and writing goals, however, should be achievable!! We’ll see what happens with the rest…
good luck to you too!!
I laugh at the words “New Year’s Resolutions”….I quit making those several years ago (and I quit counting the number of years when I hit 40). I actually set reading goals for last year….failed miserably. I signed up for the 2016 Reading Challenge at Goodreads, set my goal at 100 because I figured that would be a good way to get through a chunk of my books I have on my Kindle for PC app….um, no. The challenge was to read books that had numbers in the title, and the words “first” and “last”, “first,” “second,” etc. counted. Great! I have about 120 of those. Easily. Even more now. Yeah. I started reading the first one on my list. Never finished. Got about a quarter of the way through it. 46% to be exact. Lost interest but hate not finishing a book, so it’s just sitting there, in my computer, languishing away. I also signed up for a couple other reading challenges, one devoted to cozy mysteries (I think I managed to read 4 or 5) and one was called Cloak and Dagger or something like that, basically mysteries in general, thrillers, suspense, yadda yadda. Yeah, I failed miserably on all fronts. I applaud your yearly goal of 200 and your surpassing the goal last year by, like, a lot. You would think since I have absolutely nothing else to do with my time except read (and write, and chase my furry grandbabies [6 kittens who will be a year old in March, the evil little adorable furballs] and their parents, plus take care of their Uncle Snowball [albino guinea pig who loves veggie straws as much as I do], plus eat tons and tons of chocolate of all kinds, and Swedish Fish, and gummy anything that’s not sour…) that I would be able to finish off a measly 100 books in a year’s time, but apparently not. I’ve also been actively working on two different fanfiction stories, planning a third, and have had a fourth on hold for quite a while (although I started writing that one over two years ago I’ve only made it to chapter 6, and that one came about because I started writing another one and then got a brilliant “what if” idea and put *that* one on hold so I could run with the idea, and…well…I suck at follow-through). I’m actually doing pretty well with the two I’m actively working on, one of them is up to chapter 11 now and I’ve only been working on them since September or October, so not too bad, I’d say. I was wanting to use at least one of them for NaNo…yeah, still working on them, so I’d say that was a fail as well. But at least I’m still working on them!
My TBR pile is so big, I couldn’t cut it down to 10 if I tried. I have ARCs that I haven’t read yet because I got distracted by books that I was reading for fun, then got distracted from THEM by my fanfiction, and, well….yeah. I stopped signing up to be on authors’ review teams because I am so far behind right now I may never catch up.
I’ve actually tried starting a reading journal several times. I’ve even tried putting it on my laptop, since I’m on it like 24/7 (yes I do sleep, but thanks to my furry grandbabies not very much, so probably 20 hours a day I’m doing something on my laptop, either writing, researching, or playing on Facebook…guess which I do more of)….yeah, still epic fail. I can never seem to remember to keep track of anything very well. I even have a document on my laptop so I can keep track of when I’ve cleaned out Snowball’s cage, and even though I actually clean it out more often than it appears I do by reading that document, sometimes I’ll go three weeks or more before I remember to record the dates in said document, so if all you do is go by that, it looks like he’s severely neglected, when he is actually one spoiled little guinea pig. He even gets veggie straws for treats. Plus cereals. He gets his own box of generic Cheerios and Chex cereals, and I give him a handful of those a day in his bowl along with his pellets from the store. He gets salads (without dressing, naturally) whenever I have a chance to get them for him, and occasionally cole slaw which he also loves. This pig eats better than I do! But keeping track of said schedule…yeah, not so much.
I even recently (like a few months ago) discovered Bullet Journals (probably when you wrote about them one time) and went to the site to check them out…thought it was a great idea but can’t afford to buy one of theirs, so now I have yet another folder on my desktop with all these ideas in it for what to do with my own homemade version, should I ever get a big enough notebook to put all these ideas in, but in the meantime they just sit there on my computer giving me dirty looks every time I have my desktop visible. So maybe first I just need to get a bunch of new notebooks and try once again to start a reading journal and see how that goes before I commit to a Bullet Journal of any type….yeah, that’s what I’ll do, I’m sure it will work this time….okay, you can stop laughing now….
Sounds like those little grandbabies kittens of yours keep you busy!😂 And I totally get that overwhelmed feeling of having too many books and feeling like you’ll never catch up. ‘Tis the bookworm curse, isn’t it?! But that’s awesome you write as well. I find writing AND reading simultaneously is too hard for my small brain to manage…so when I write I tend to not read as well. 😉
I really really want to try bullet journalling, eeep! (I don’t think I’ve even written about them though? Because I haven’t ever done it.😂) I just bought a $3 art journal from woolies so we’ll see if I can actually stick to this haha. Good luck to your journalling efforts too!
Okay, must have been someone else’s blog that talked about it and I decided “hey what’s a bullet journal, let’s go find out…oh, this looks like fun!” and so started collecting things in a folder that I want to add to a bullet journal if I ever actually get around to getting one started. I’m pretty sure the house would fall down around my ears in shock if that ever happened though…
I actually have one original story that I got the idea for several years ago and have mostly been researching ever since, because it starts out like a really long time ago and moves forward through time (no not as in time travel, just as in a natural progression but I don’t really want to show every detail of that because it would take like 6 books just to get to modern times if I did) so I need to research the time period itself, plus the way people dressed and talked back then, as well as things like how homes were furnished and other things, stuff that may only be used in the vaguest way, like basic descriptions and stuff, but without the research it just won’t sound authentic, and even if I’m the only one who recognizes it (doubtful) it just won’t feel right. So therefore years of research, and barely any actual writing involved in this story. I know basically what I want to do with the story, it’s just getting it from my brain onto paper/my computer screen that’s the problem (ain’t it always the way). I find I can start writing a lot easier with pencil and paper, then transfer it to my computer, then type for a while, then back to paper and pencil. I also carry a notebook and my mechanical pencil with me everywhere, so whenever I get an idea I can write it down. I will even copy some of whatever current chapter I’m working on into my notebook (assuming it’s not already there) so that whenever inspiration strikes I can just pick up where I left off and write like 20 more pages in my notebook (which usually translates to about 10 or 12 pages on my computer). Sounds great, but then inspiration will strike for a different story, and I’ll start writing it, and the next thing you know I’ve written six chapters of a completely different story, and have neglected the previous story, and it sits in the corner sulking and giving me dirty looks and threatening to report me for neglect, but as it’s a story I don’t think anyone would really take it seriously so I tend to ignore it. 😛
I love doing research, so I tend to spend a lot of my time doing that (in between running after the furry babies). I’ve even done research on good names for the furbrats (only one is named so far, the rest don’t seem impressed with the names I’ve come up with for them and refuse to answer to them). This is further complicated by the fact that they are all jet black with only one of them having a small white patch on her belly, and all but maybe two of them having yellow eyes like their mom (their dad has green eyes, and one of them definitely has green eyes like him and the other one I just can’t tell, it depends on the lighting at the time). Plus they all act the same, with no real distinguishing characteristics. They all like to jump on me whenever I clean out their litter boxes and use my back as a table and/or jumping off point to get to the next spot, they like to jump onto my shoulder whenever I’m climbing the stairs (sometimes from wherever they’re sitting on the stairs, sometimes taking a running jump) and then riding on my shoulder the rest of the way back up the stairs….it’s making it very difficult to come up with names for them when they all look and act alike. Making a list of possible names is easy, assigning them to the furbrats is not….I suppose I could always save some of the names for future characters, but as a lot of the names are taken from mythology (Egyptian and Norse, mostly) that would be kind of difficult to do….
They all also like laying on my computer and computer desk. I have to keep closing my laptop lid every time I go downstairs or before I go to sleep at night, or they will find a way to mess up everything on the laptop (they’ve done it several times). And because they love running around like they’re training for the Kitty 500 at all hours of the day and night, and have absolutely no regard for Grandma’s stuff, I have to take my laptop off its desk and place it on my bed, a safe distance from the edge, to keep them from knocking it onto the floor every time I go downstairs, even if it’s only for a couple minutes (another thing that has happened several times). I keep telling them they’re lucky Grandma loves them, and threatening to find an obedience school for kitties to take them all to (yeah I know one doesn’t actually exist, and apparently so do they, because they keep ignoring my threats). If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear they like my computer so much because they want to learn to use it, and after some of the stuff they’ve managed to do to it simply by walking across it or laying on it, I’m starting to think I need them to teach me a few things. 😛 (43 week old kittens shouldn’t be that much smarter than their 45 year old grandmother!)
Maybe I need to make them all characters in another story I’ve been toying with for a while, but haven’t actually started writing…it’s an all-animal (mainly cats and dogs) version of The Godfather (basically)…not using the same storyline, but the premise of a Kitty Godfather just sounded so hilarious to me that I decided to run with it, with the main character being Don Gatto Catleone (I know, what an original name, right?) and their rival families being German Shepherds and Dobermans, with the Don’s consigliere being named Tom (okay, that’s straight out of The Godfather, Tom Hagen was the name of Vito Corleone’s consigliere, but I couldn’t resist…a cat named Tom? Too easy!)….aaaand that’s pretty much as far as I’ve gotten with that. I’m trying to create a full cast list before I really decide what to do with them.
My problem is I come up with about 20 story ideas a year, write the ideas themselves down, maybe a few character names and settings, and then they sit there and languish on my computer trying to guilt trip me every time I work on something else instead, or sit there reading one of my ebooks, or play on Facebook, or basically do anything other than work on them….but then I continue to ignore them and eat lots of chocolate and gummy candies and eventually drown out the sound of their screams for another couple weeks…
This year I want to finish writing a full novel and write in my journal/diary everyday (yes I keep a journal/diary, just start it and push yourself to write often.
ohhh good luck with both of these goals because they are AMAZING.🎉 And that’s actually very encouraging that you’re planning to journal!! I need all the motivation I can get.😂
Reading more of the books I choose is also my goal this year. So I’m cutting way down on ARCs and not really doing any reading challenges. At least not any themed ones. I’m hoping this will help me to tackle my TBR.
Tiffany @ I Was Angelized_1st recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2017 Debuts I’m Excited For
YAS! Good on both of us. *hi fives* I mean, ARCs are awesome, but not when they suck the joy out of reading! And I skipped all challenges in 2016, so I’m keeping to that this year too. I just…agh, I get to competitive with challenges and again they suck the fun out of things.😂
OMG DUDE ADULT FANTASY. If you ever need someone to take a look at it… *ahem* Anyway, these are some pretty awesome goals, and you’re literally like the most productive person that I know… so I have faith that you’ll be able to complete them, haha. This year I haven’t really set any goals–but I HAVE written out an outline of all the writing things I want to complete this year. Not technically goals, more of a loose plan. Good luck, Cait, and Happy New Year!
Kara @ Diary of a Teen Writer recently posted…Some BIG Blog Changes + What I’m Currently Working On
SERIOUSLY?! OMG I WILL 100% TAKE YOU UP ON THAT OFFER, KARA!! *flails wildly* You are like the published writing queen now so I admire you 50000%.😊😊 And loose plans are AWESOME too!! And like a bit less stressful too maybe?! heh. I mean, none of my goals are to strenuous yet, except the reading journal. I AM LITERALLY THE WORST AT JOURNALLING WHAT AM I DOING HERE.😂
Bahaha, published writing queen? YEP, I’m totally going to own that title now. And yes, I’m being 100% legit!! Literally just shoot me an email whenever!! 😊 😊
Your list of goals is the best. XP I SALUTE YOU for writing AND editing 2 books??? HOW. You must be superhuman. OH WAIT YOU’RE THE QUEEN DRAGON I FORGOT. *bows* Also, I will come along in the brain search because MINE WENT AWAY SOMETIME LAST YEAR HELP *flops around*
Hannah White recently posted…What I Learned from 2016
YAS I AM THE DRAGON QUEEN. IT IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING. 😂 (And also I’m just really obsessed haha. And one of those books I actually took like 4 months to edit, which is severely embarrassing considering it was A VERY SMALL BOOK TOO. I hate editing.😂)
Let’s like start a world-wide brain search. BECAUSE WHERE DID ALL OUR BRAINS GO??? THE BAHAMAS???? SERIOUSLY.
It’s funny you said something about collabing because I was actually going to write you an email about doing something sometime this week. YOU READ MY MIND, CAIT.
I kind of want to get into bookish bullet journaling too, but I want one of those journals that has dots instead of lines, and those things are like $40, and I’m a poor college student who needs to buy practical things (like books and weird ingredients. Clearly).
DUDE, I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS EMAIL NOW OMG. *refreshes inbox impatiently* 😂
Oooh, those dot journals did look cool. I confess I just bought a $3 one from a cheap store and it has no lines/dots, BUT the paper is good for drawing on and I hope to do zentangling again. So hopefully it’ll work out.😂
Wow these are such great goals!! My main goal is to read all of the unread books on my shelves. I don’t know if I’ll read ALL of them, but I’ll certainly try! I also want to edit my fairytale retelling and then get family and friends to read it to get feedback. Since you mentioned re-reading: I’ve been really enjoying listening to audiobooks of books I’ve already read. I like hearing how someone else does the characters and it’s easy to listen and do something else at the same time. Say, plotting to take over the world. 😉
~Sara
Sara Strauss recently posted…Watch | Read | Listen {January 2017}
That is SUCH a good goal!! I kind of wish I could do a goal like that…but I’ve already overstuffed my kindle so I have 0% faith in myself.😂 I would LIKE to think I’ll get through a lot of them though, because I want to read them so bad!! Ahh, these TBR problems.😂
And YES I love listening to audios for re-reads!! I’m going to do that for ADSOM for sure…and I secretly want to reread the Six of Crows audio because it’s actually the best.
I hope you have a lovely 2017 too!!
Amazing resolutions Cait 😛 As always laughed my head off! CONGRATULATIONS for achieving so many 2016 goals! And good luck for 2017 <3 😀 And I know what you mean about journaling!! I buy the most gorgeous journals and write for maybe 4 days? and then it goes to the back of my cupboard and my brain 😛 lol..BUT GOOD LUCK CAIT!! YOU CAN DO IT!
Aww, thanks, Uma! YOU LEAVE THE NICEST COMMENTS OMG. (And why is journalling so hard?!?? I literally CANNOT stick to it and it’s almost embarrassing how fast I fail.🙈🙊😂 But heeey maybe this year will be different!)
Not only are you #winning Instagram AND writing, you are SOOOOO winning reading, too. 200+ books AND you wrote FOUR!?! Winner. ALL the cakes. WON THEM ALL. As someone who internalizes way too much shit, I am so proud that you wrote about something so utterly personal that most people don’t understand – and, in my experience in the professional world, that most brush off (in a variety of ways). Saw it happen to a dear friend of mine at my own school. UGH, the comments I heard! Just so proud of you.
You should plug away at your adult fantasy writing! Do what you gotta do, Queen! I’m also starting a bullet journal AND need to commit to working on my own writing project.
Hehehe, thanks, Charlie!! I definitely was motivated this year or something?!? I felt it was a REALLY great writing year which is nice. EEEEP. (Aw that’s sad about your friend’s personal story getting brushed off! So far no one’s read mine so IDK how it’ll be received, but I made sure not to make it ME because I don’t want to self-insert, you know? That would be too strange for me.🙈🙊)
YAY THAT WE’RE BOTH DOING BULLET JOURNALS. *hi fives* We can glare at each other to keep them up. 😉
Goals:
Re-edit all of my published books, because I was just reading some of them, and they need help.
Write two books.
Finish and Publish three short stories.
Learn all the stuff.
Become famous.
Finally make use of the company that I own. I’ve decided that I’m going devote it to the promotion of GOOD indie fiction.
I’m hit and miss on my goals. I usually set them a bit high, though, and attain somewhere between 50-75% of them. I’m hoping this shall be the year that I break that trend.
I’ve set my goal for fifty books. I’m sure I can read more than that (I literally read twenty-five books in just over a week last month), but I don’t want to overstress myself.
Big writing project? Outside of the stuff stated above, I plan to run the first annual Indie e-Con in March. It’s gonna be big, and great, and hopefully I’ll be posting the details later this month.
Kendra E. Ardnek recently posted…Oh, Hello 2017
These sound like good goals, Kendra! Good luck.🎉 Starting your own company sounds HUGE too and also running and indie con thing, woaaaah, all the best with that.😊
Those are some great goals! Especially continuing queenship. I’d say you’re doing a pretty great job of that already.
I didn’t set nearly this many goals – my main ones are read at least a little bit every day instead of reading 2 books in a day and then not reading for a week and a half, read more diverse books (both regarding the actual book and the author), and…I can’t remember my last goal. I have it written down, and I could go look it up, but I think this is a pretty good reflection of how SPLENDIDLY I’m doing.
Clara @ Lost in My Library recently posted…Top Ten 2017 Debuts I’m Excited For
WHY THANK YOU. *flips hair majestically* I have been working hard and the armies are rising from the darkness.
YAS to reading more diverse books! I should’ve had that on my list honestly. It’s an excellent goal. I’ve kind of got a mental goal of trying to read more #ownvoices books too? Although IDEK HOW I’M GOING TO READ ALL THE THINGS I NEED TO READ.😭😂
I think it is an excellent idea to not burn down continents… they’re generally pretty difficult to replace. Besides, ruling burned wastelands is never very fun. It takes a lot out of you. This is why Frodo was able to defeat him. #truth.
If you ever do need a beta reader, let me know- I’d love to help! All these outline snippets and draft snippets and SNIPPETS GOSH DARN IT are driving me nuts and I’d love to read moooooorrrrreeee!!!!! 😉
*defeat Sauron. what even. I lost my brain too, we need to start a lost-brain search committee.
I agree *nods* See this is why I’m being nice and NOT burning them down. Unless they really really annoy me? Tbh Antartica keeps really annoying me, so no promises there. (And I definitely accept this petition to start lost-brain searching comities. IF I REMEMBER I’LL START ONE BUT YA KNOW. NO BRAIN SO.)
Aww, thanks, Katie!! I will definitely do a shout out when I finish edits. <3
Love these goals Cait! I think you did a marvellous job of achieving what you did in 2016! Especially when it comes to writing. I feel like sometimes I should cut back on how much I blog to stop those moments when it’s like SO MUCH BLOGGING NOT ENOUGH TIME. But I don’t think I could physically do it. As you say, I’m obsessed with it. I have so much to say and it’s not enough. Looking at my stats I actually, genuinely wrote 365 posts in 2016 – but didn’t post every day. Send help.
Awww, thanks, Kirstie!! I do feel like I got a lot of writerly things done which was nice.🎉 And I totally get that fear of not being ABLE to blog less. I basically spent the first 6 months of last year feeling horribly guilty and worrying about my page stats.🙈🙊 But then it kind of evened out??! Like I post less, but my page stats aren’t affected, wonderfully, because I guess quality vs quantity does work!! BUT JUST BLOG HOWEVER MUCH MAKES YOU HAPPY. THAT’S A GOOD GOAL.
OKAY SO NO ONE LAUGH. My goals are 1) write/finish the 6 books on my plate, 2) maybe edit some of them if I dare??? 3) promote my recently published novel so people see it INSTEAD OF IT JUST SITTING USELESSLY ON AMAZON, 4) make more time to read, 5) maybe try and publish another book if I’m not a completely broke pigeon???? 6) blog more because my poor old blog has been pushed aside for greater things like working on publishing my above mentioned novel and reading and I know no balance or how to juggle these things and it is crying out and whimpering in the cold lonely night.
So yes. Those are my goals. #Sensible If my plate weren’t so full, I would include “become pirate terror nemesis of the seas”, but looks like I should save that for next year. #Balance
I like all of your goals; they are smart and achievable and I will anxiously await the day of your royal campaign conquering America. I want you for queen, pls.
These are great goals!! *flings confetti in your face* AND THEY ARE A LOT OF BIG GOALS OMG. You’re much more productive than me.😂 And it does sound reasonable to put of pirate nemesis until next year. That’s very responsible of you. *nods sagely*
THE ARMY IS RISING SO ANY DAY NOW PROBABLY WILL BE THE DAY OF ALL-OUT CONQUERSHIP.
WOAH 245 books Cait? That is freaking amazing! I’m so glad to hear that you met lots of your goals, I mean your Instagram follower count and Nano goals were absolutely amazing!
I’ve discovered the love of re-reading too and it’s actually so great experiencing a world. Collab posts are the funnest! Errr yeah every year I try and start a reading bullet journal and things don’t happen hahaha. One of my goals is also to read more books that I want to read myself, as opposed to ARCs.
Good luck Cait!
Jeann @ Happy Indulgence recently posted…My Diverse Book Picks for #DAReadthon: HUFFLEPUFFS REPRESENT!
Aww, thanks, Jeann!!😂 I am a bit of an overachiever…I ADMIT. bahah. Ahem. And omg you’re too niiiiice to me. *blushes* Also: why are bullet journals so hard??! Like they SEEM AWESOME but I basically buy the journal, look at it, and then remember my hand is allergic to writing and I need to type everything. (And by “allergic” I mean “lazy”.😂)
And here’s to us reading more books of our choosing this year! *HI FIVES*
You know…you could just devour all of Tamora Pierce’s books this year…just saying 😂😂😂 Cause that’s kind of what I did last year and now I don’t even remember what other books I read. Like was there anything other than Tamora Pierce? Probably not.
My goal is to read 40 books. I read 60 in 2017, but this year is going to be crazy and stressful so I’m lowering it. I have so many good books planned!!!! I bought the whole Winners trilogy and the Scattered Sea trilogy. So that’s going to happen. Also, I’m a very bad hobbit cause I’ve still yet to finish LOTR – so that needs to happen. My goal for bookstagram is 2000 followers 🙈🙈🙈
As for writing, I got back into it in December because of Tamora Pierce, but I’ve only written one fan-fiction story (which definitely counts), but I have this idea for a good book, except I need to do the research for it and it’s kind of dangerous. Like I might get possessed by djinns or someone will find out and kill me for googling “black magic”. So yeah…I need a different story idea 😂😂😂
LOTR has been on my TBF list for so long, the Age of Men may pass before I get to check it off my list! Although I read The Silmarillion and The Hobbit ages ago (and if you haven’t read The Silmarillion, I highly recommend it…plus it makes some of the things in LOTR make a little more sense when you know the backstories of some of the characters), I still haven’t even touched The Lost Tales. Oh, and I have The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, which I have found very helpful with reading his books.
Between all my general research for all the stories I’ve wanted to write/started to write over the years, I’m pretty sure I’m already on every watchlist out there, so I no longer care and just look up whatever I want, cause if they’re not already paying close attention to me, they’re probably not going to (everything from vampires, werewolves, and the fair folk to the Writer’s Digest Howdunit Series of books which covers such lovely subjects as poisons, firearms and bladed weapons, and police procedurals….so I’m pretty sure those alone put me on a few watchlists, even though the books clearly state that they are writer’s guides, to help in writing the perfect murder mysteries, which just so happens to be my favorite genre, with fantasy/sci-fi running a very close second). I’m sure I’ve confused the hell out of the local librarians with my choice of research materials, even though I’m always careful to tell them that it IS research for whatever story I happen to be writing. I’m not sure they always believe me. 😛 But now one of my friends works there, and he’s a fellow author (And actually PUBLISHED I am so freaking jealous I can’t even begin….he’s had to self-publish all his books, but he’s still published and I am still so freaking jealous because I love his fiction and every time I see him I keep bugging him to put the second book in his series out so I can read it, or at least let me proofread it as he goes like I was able to do for the first 17 chapters of his first book) and he totally gets all the research I’m constantly doing and will even offer suggestions for my next trip to the library, so YAY I finally have helpful help there instead of just blank looks from the other employees, like “Why in the name of all that is holy would you want to know about THAT?!?” Because, Pinky, I plan to take over the world someday and need all the help I can get….geesh, what a bunch of sheep!
Haha at least you have someone who understands all the crazy research you have to do. I’m definitely going to look into reading the Silmarillion at some point!
Some of the stories in the Silmarillion are about the ancestors of some of the LOTR characters…like either Elrond’s parents, or Galadriel’s parents or someone like that…plus I think the guy who found the One Ring (The one they showed in the movie) he’s Aragorns’s ancestor and the one that Elrond went to Mt. Doom with so he could throw the Ring in, and then of course he didn’t and decided to keep it for himself and Middle-Earth basically went to hell after that for a while….anyway, these are the stories of the early days of Middle-Earth (early being a relative term for immortal beings) and some of them may seem boring or confusing or whatever at times, but they are totally worth it!
Yeah, Joe is great, we are writing similar books (his is about a half-human girl who finds out that magic is real and her father is actually from an alternate realm where magic still exists, and she finds a way into that realm and starts to learn about her heritage and about the evil she will have to fight—kind of Harry Potter meets LOTR with a female protagonist, with lots of comically stupid orcs and it’s absolutely hilarious at times; mine is kind of Harry Potter in that it has a magic school and stuff, but it is set in Ireland and starts way back when magic could be practiced openly and the fair folk could freely walk among humans without fear, and then through the main character being granted immortality by a goddess we get to see different periods of Irish history up until modern times, hence all the weird historical research I’ve been doing) so we compare notes a lot and give each other ideas. Whereas JKR uses Latin for the spells in her books, I’m using Irish Gaelic for the Irish characters, and will figure out the rest as I go, I may use Latin for some of the characters depending on where they’re from, but I wanted to use a different language for my main character and since I start the story in ancient Ireland, and that’s where the magic school is going to be, then it just makes sense to use Irish Gaelic for her and her fellow countrymen. What’s stalling the story is that I don’t know enough about that time period, and I’ve done lots of research on ancient Ireland, but a lot of it is overview type history, not a lot of day-to-day information about life back then, and that’s what I need to make it believable. I’m pretty sure the language itself has evolved over the years, so I don’t even know enough about it to accurately use it—the last thing I need is to be using modern Gaelic in ancient Ireland, anyone who actually knows the language (not me, that’s for sure) would take one look at it, laugh their heads off, and toss the book in the trash (that’s assuming anyone besides me ever gets to read it, that is), and rightly so—if I can’t even portray ancient Ireland accurately, then why should they bother getting to know the characters I worked so hard to create? And because I’m setting my story in a real place, using real languages (unlike Joe, who’s making most of his stuff up, although the spell language he’s using is a mix of Latin, Elvish from LOTR, and totally made up cause it sounded good at the time) and real history as much as possible, my story needs to actually be accurate in those details or not only will they not be believable at all, but people won’t want to read past the point where they figure out I don’t know wth I’m talking about. (Okay, so a lot of it is my OCD tendencies, and my sheer laziness in not wanting to just totally make up stuff when I can just use real information, but unlike Tolkien I’m not a master of languages and especially not of my own, I couldn’t conjugate verbs in school to save my life so how can I possibly be expected to create my own language)
@Sakina: Ahhhh, I mean, I’ve kind of thought about trying Tamora Pierce but I’m not sure if they’re ME books honestly. Sorry!!😂🙈🙊 And that’s an excellent idea trying to keep things less stressful! I need to work on that, haah. I have SO MANY WRITING PROJECTS PLANNED but literally no time to do it, omg. I may actually have to read less, but we’ll see.
I tried to read LOTR and fell asleep.🙈🙊😂
YAS YAS YAS DO YOUR READING BULLET JOURNAL THING, CAIT. I will yell at you until you do. *snod*
YES KEEP YELLING AT ME. DON’T LET ME SLACK OFF ON THIS. I WANT IT SO BAD BUT ALSO WHERE IS MINE MOTIVATION.
GURL LIKE DO YOU NEED HELP DO YOU NOT KNOW WHERE TO START???? I CAN GIVE ALL THE HELPS OKAY.
I JUST NEED TO GET OFF MY BUTT AND START TBH. I LOVED YOUR POST AND WILL BE TAKING MANY NOTES.
YES GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND DO IT, CAIT.
I’M GLAD YOU LIKED MY POST. I’M AIMING TO FILM A YOUTUBE VIDEO OF MY BULLET JOURNALS TODAY SO YOU’LL GET TO SEE MORE SOON.
Good luck with all your 2017 goals! We’ve got the same reading goal, which is pretty cool 😉 And I’m definitely excited to try to write more in 2017 too.
Alexa S. recently posted…The Picky Pledge: 2016 Review
Yayyyyy I’m glad we both have an epic reading goal *hi fives* 😂 2017 should be the YEAR OF GLORIOUSNESS. I have no doubt. :’)
I CAN’T REMEMBER IF I COMMENTED ON THIS ALREADY, so therefore I must comment again… maybe <3 lol. Your 2017 resolutions are seriously epic goals! If I could do just one of those, I'd be so proud. I started a book journal for the new year too. I'm keeping track of all the reading challenges I want to complete, books I buy/borrow, even how long I spend reading/how many pages I read at a time! Now only if I can keep it up… lol. With your amazing skills, I'm sure you can conquer journaling in no time flat!
Becca @ Faerily Bookish recently posted…Review: A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1)
YAY FOR BOOK JOURNALS!! See, omg those are what I want to keep track of!! I have a little notebook for instagram tags but it’d be great to have it in a journal along with all my other reading things. 🙂 I just need to, erm, start mine.😂 GOOD LUCK TO US BOTH, RIGHT?!
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR GOALS. I BELIEVE IN YOU. And I will be receiving all of these books you’re writing, yes? 😉 😉 And yes for reading more books you want to read! It’s helped me SO much hardly requesting any books. I’m loving life.
Of coooourse. I’ll beg you to read them.😂 And honestly, omg, I wish I’d decided to start reading more of my OWN books earlier last year, because I might’ve had a better success rate?! But 2017 SHOULD BE GOOD. (Shh, we won’t talk about the three 2-stars reads I’ve had already.😂 I’m tryyyying.)
Those all seem like solid goals, so I hope you’ll achieve them, Cait! I would love to start a bullet journal, but I have neither the time nor the patience to be honest. Plus, I am way less artsy than I wish I were. Honestly. Don’t ask me to draw anything. IT WON’T END WELL.
I especially hope you’ll do well on your adult fantasy goal, because YAY ADULT FANTASY.
Also, you don’t have a phone? You are a unique creature, Miss Paper Fury.
Jolien @ The Fictional Reader recently posted…Favorite Movies of the Year | 2016 in Review
I’m way less artsy than I wish I was too.😂 We can dream right?!? I’ve been pinning tons of IDEAS for my journal but actually DOING them will be the miracle.😂
I LIVE IN A HERMIT CAVE APPARENTLY.😂 I don’t even know anyone without a phone except me?! My sister tried to give me her old one but I may or may not have run away screaming. Phones = talking to people = WHERE IS CAIT OH SHE IS GONE TO BE A DRAGON IN THE SKY.
YOU HAVE ACHIEVED SO MUCH WOW WHAT A FAILURE I AM UGH.
ALSO BLOG COLLABS? heck yes, can we collab?! also also i saw the word journalling and screamed BECAUSE OMG PLEASE START JOURNALLING IT WILL BE AMAZING.
and congrats on your insta fame, soon you’re going to be the queen of all social media.
as for my goals, they’re pretty simple,
-journal every day
-write more poetry
-blog CONSISTENTLY
-read more books (i read a grand total of about 15ish new books THE ENTIRE YEAR BECAUSE I HAD NO TIME WHATSOEVER. and although i do start uni in sep (*whimpers*) I STILL WANT TO READ MORE.
-work on my WIP (ahahahahahahahh like that will ever happen)
HERE’S TO 2017 AND CONQUERING THE WORLD!
NO HOW DARE YOU. YOU ARE LIKE AN ART GENIUS AND ALSO IN COLLEGE (uni?) AND THAT MEANS YOU ARE AN AMAZING FISH DON’T DENY IT NOW. *flings congratulatory cake at you* 😂 Omg don’t have too much high hopes on my journalling. It’s going to be a TERROR.😂 And yes, oh yes when I figure out what kind of collabs would be good I WILL BEG FOR YOU TO DO ONE WITH ME. <3 (And if you have any ideas, just yell at me. I am here. Ready to be yelled at.)
Oh I like your goals and YAS to the blog-more one because I love
stalkingreading your excellent posts. And work on your WIP for sure. *cracks whip* C’mon, any progress is still progress and I want to hear more about your incredible novels.🎉Reading all of these 2016 wrap-ups/goals for 2017 posts has me continually impressed with and proud of all of my blogger friends. Go you for writing diversely! And writing about something that’s extremely personal to you has to be both terrifying and freeing. I still feel that way and sometimes avoid it for that reason.
Ooh, a Sherlock Holmes retelling from you would be AWESOME. Your Pinterest board looks so black and dreary and ominous and I love it.
I LOVE collab posts! Especially because if I don’t know one of the collaborators, I get to discover a new blog, and if I do know them both, I get to fangirl over my favorite bloggers writing together.
I always procrastinate upgrading my electronics. I don’t know why, but whenever there’s an update ready on my iPod, I just freeze and screech a little as I jab the “remind me later” button because WHAT IF EVERYTHING CHANGES AND I DON’T LIKE IT.
Oh I agree!! I admire all these #ownvoices authors because honestly it’s traumatising trying to write my own experiences.😂 I’m sticking to writing about dragons after this. (Although, no denying…anxious dragons…that would be interesting….)
THANK YOU. I’M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT MY EVIL HOLMES. Maybe it’ll happen this year?!😂
Yaaas, I shall have to come tackle you for collab ideas later on this year!! I have to figure out exactly what I have in mind yet.😂 But it’ll happen! YAS.
Agh, apple updates are like terrifying. My iPod hasn’t updated for 2 years though because the isos is so old. So at least that’s a win? Sort of?
Despite the few 2016 goals you didn’t meet, I agree you still get cake. 😉 But read all the things! Write all the things! Sell all the things! Get all the bookstagram followers! Go Cait! Go Cait! You can do it! 😀
Elisabeth Wheatley recently posted…New Year’s Resolutions: 2017 Edition
Aaall the cake. I mean, cake is just a reward for living anyway, right? WE ALL NEED CAKE TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. YOU GET CAKE TOO BECAUSE THIS COMENT IS SO NICE. <3
Hang on, you don’t own a phone? How is this even possible smushter? I use my phone in the same way you use your iPod. For a bit of social media / IG / music for when I don’t want to sit in front of the laptop. It’s nothing fancy, just an android but it gets the job done. It would be a much cheaper option too.
Let’s be honest, you blow us all away. I don’t know how you manage to do it all but I suspect an army of sticks and Bob might have something to do with it.
Here’s to an incredible 2017 smushster. A year of great books and even greater friends <3
And sticks.
BECAUSE I’M TERRIFIED OF PHONES THEY ARE ACTUALLY THE MOST EVIL THING IN EXISTENCE. *cries* Ahem. So basically I avoid having a phone so my family can’t force me to use it to contact people.😂 It’s a winning solution. Ahem. And *GASP* c’mon Kelly, I am Apple trash by this point. I can’t betray my Apple adoration.😂
The army of sticks and Bobs is actually the truth. You caught me out.
I HOPE YOU HAVE A LOVELY 2017 TOO. *sends hugs* You’re an invaluable and lovely friend. WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU. (PROBABLY EXPLODE, TBH.)
Some solid goals going on for this year. I mean, you’re allowed to have goals which may not always be achievable but definitely something to aim for. You could have aimed for ruler of the world, best go with Queendom first, although will it interfere with your goal to be a dragon?
I do think you should screw feeling guilty about rereading. I mean, if you just reread one book a month then that’s really not taking time away from other books too much. That’s a totally achievable goal. I don’t think your TBR will suffer too much from 12 less books being read, as long as you don’t gain too many books. I know what you mean about feeling guilty, though, I frequently feel the same when I pick up a book to reread.
Exactly! We don’t have to achieve everything, but it is important to aim high. *nods* Like obviously I’ll be a dragon queen, but no worries if I don’t start that reading journal. The journal is asking A LOT after all.
Yesssss. There is only goodness to come out of re-reading! So I definitely want to stop being scared of it.😂 I’m definitely aiming for the 1 re-read per month and hopefully that’ll increase too a bit, because like I have all these books I LOVE to death?!? So why not re-read them?!
Good goals! My reading goal this year is 100 books. Hopefully I can accomplish this by the end of the year! Wish me luck, (I’ll need it)
GOOD LUCK!! YOU CAN DO THIS!! *cheers you on wiht confetti and cake*
I love all of your goals 😀 I’m planning on reading 200 books as well, I suck at re-reading though, I’ve re-read like 3 books last year which was kinda sad lol. Good luck with your goals!
YAS WE ARE TWINS. *hi fives* I only re-read like 5 or 6 books last year.😂 Hooopefully I’ll do a bit more this year? But I honestly don’t even know!
Fabulous goals as always, Cait! I love that you’re disappointed that you didn’t write specific books even though you wrote four freaking new ones…. you deserve at least ten pats on the back for that. Well done! And good on you for making the effort to write diversely as well. I know that can be really hard sometimes – the pressure to get it right can be difficult but I know you’re a massive researcher and will have done fabulously with it. Good luck with all your new goals!
Rachel Lightwood @ Quiet the Novel Idea recently posted…Monthly Releases with Rachel • January, 2017 Edition
Ahhh thank you, Rachel! *flails* And omg I’m the worst right?!?😂 I just think it’s hilarious how I thought those would be THE books of the year for me, but I had 4 ideas that were 1000 x better. hehe. So who knows what this year is going to bring?! And writing diversely is very tough and I think it can be very anxiety inducing right now with the amount of people getting it wrong and being in deep trouble. But I think doing my best + sensitivity readers = should come to a hopefully good novel eventually, right?!
My goal’s for 2017 is actually a pretty long list! I’d have to say that my main goal right now out of my others, is to actually get started on writing my novel that I have been procrastinating like my life depends on it. To be honest, while starting with the first page, even with the first paragraph written out, it feels as if your looking up a tall mountain that reaches the clouds and your trying to tell yourself just to take it one step at a time, but get butterflies in the stomach and sit down – at least that’s how I feel.
PS. I have been looking at many types of websites to create blogs with, such as blogger, WordPress and several others that I am currently forgetting, what have you used to make yours? Thanks.
Ohhh that’s an amazing goal AND I TOTALLY SUPPORT THAT AND SHALL CHEER FOR YOU! *flings confetti and encouraging cake at you* Writing is amazing and finishing is even more amazing. Just don’t expect yourself to be perfect. The important thing is getting that first draft down!
I’m on self-hosted WordPress, so it’s actually paid, but you can use wordpress.com for free wordpress! Blogger is also a good easy-way-to-start-blogging too. I’m not much a fan of wix or weebly, but do whatever feels good. GOOD LUCK!
Haha, thanks for the confetti and cake.
I keep telling myself just to get the first draft of the novel down, don’t expect it to be perfect, and then edit like crazy, but it’s hard to train yourself not to go into editing mode and edit until there’s nothing left.
I used to just laugh at my good intentions, but then I just started making easier goals 😉 I don’t know how many books I WANT to read, but random.org told me to read 139 so… somewhere in that vacinity? Sounds good! I also feel like your goal of killing fewer characters is misguided. Your goal, since it is you, should be to kill more characters. Just saying- make those goals easier to achieve, like I said muahhah.
You should definitely collab with other bloggers. Because I am “other bloggers”. Just saying. Also, you should add more products so I can buy them. See how these benefit us both? Totally not selfish. I am super excited about your anxiety book! You definitely deserve cake, that is wonderful! I am very proud. Also, good for you on the “more books I choose” thing. I am going to do the same. Maybe. Probably. Or not. I mean, I will try. But I never set this as a goal because… I will inevitably fail. I also don’t get many unsolicited books. And when I DO, I think I get subconsciously mad that I have to read them? Even though I don’t *have* to. You know what I mean. So I feel you.
Good luck with your goals. I think you have already achieved the Queenship one. And as Queen… commissioning yourself to become a dragon should be no problem. Done and done.
Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight recently posted…“Organization” in the New Year
I’m loving how you just made random.org do your challenge number. haha. 😂 WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU, SHANNON. I SUPPORT IT.
Ahhh YES definitely expect me to come shouting at you for collabs sometime this year. Because I NEED TO DO MORE OF THIS. It’s actually really fun if I shed my Super Lazy Cape and actually get organised.😂 (I’m also looking forward to your Shattering Stigmas event! I’m so super impressed at how you guys put that together omg. It’s amazing.)
And I know what you mean about the unsolicited books *nods* Like I know we don’t HAVE to read them…but I always feel like I did sign up for this?? So I can’t be a little cranky plum pudding and not actually read them. I feel too guilty.😂 I’m hopeless.
Oh yes. Queen + dragon = easy, just let me snap my fingers and it shall be done.
Read less ARCs! I am only scheduling one a month unless it is something I want to read anyway. More rereads, for sure, and to get ALLLLLLLLLL of Hidden Magic up on Wattpad by the end of the year. Good luck, I am sure you will manage everything on your list with ease and styke. 😀
La La recently posted…52 PINS IN 52 WEEKS CHALLENGE
Creepers… could I manage just one comment without a typo?! *style
La La recently posted…52 PINS IN 52 WEEKS CHALLENGE
Yaaaas for wattpad!! I hope you’re having fun with that venture too? *gives you cake* And YES less ARCs is such a good idea honestly. I mean, I’m doing more eARCs but I just review them on Goodreads and don’t feel too pressured about them hahah. But it’ll be good to hopefully get on top of my TBR this year. #dreaming 😂
How in the world did you write FOUR books in ONE year??? Like, that’s not even possible??? I can’t write one book in 3.5 billion years, so you are most definitely a writing inspiration to us all.
Also, I too am cursed with the I WANT TO START JOURNALING BUT OH WAIT, NEVER MIND curse!!! I’m so glad I’m not alone! I’ve actually been considering trying it again recently, so LET US TRY AND FAIL TOGETHER! (Well, let us try. Hopefully, we shall not fail…[right?])
Oh!!!! And please please please please please write a Sherlock Holmes retelling!!!! I NEED that! Honestly, I’ve just started watching the BBC Sherlock Holmes, and it is AMAZING!!! AGH!!! I need a book of Sherlock Holmes!
And yes, I am fully aware that the TV show is based off a book, but seriously, where am I supposed to find that? The library? It’s probably dusty or something. I’ll just wait for you to write it and then buy it the second it hits the shelves.
Kenzie recently posted…I Am No Longer A Writer.
The BBC series Sherlock is actually based on the short stories (and four novels) written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at the turn of the 20th century. And yes you could find them at your library (and if you can’t find them there, you need a new library because the stories are AWESOME) but you can also find them on Amazon. I have four collections of stories—The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (short stories), The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (more short stories), Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories (which has all four novels and every short story written by Doyle), and Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection (illustrated) (which has 6 Holmes stories, including A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles). I got them all free from Amazon. I have no idea if they’re free all the time or not, but seeing as how their author has been dead for a very long time, unless someone from his estate has kept up the copyright it should be considered free domain by now and those, as far as I know, are always free on Amazon, at least the ebook versions which is what I have.
But yes, I would love to see you write a Sherlock Holmes retelling, since he is one of my favorite characters I love reading anything about him I can get my hands on! 😀
@Kenzie: I DON’T KNOW. I WRITE FAST.😂 I think it just takes practise though! I’ve been writing seriously for nearly 6 years now, so I’ve kind of got the hang of doing things fast? Doesn’t mean that they’re very good drafts though haha.
JOURNALLING IS ACTUALLY HARD AND HOW DO WE EVEN STICK WITH IT. *cries* I want to do it so bad but I never make time and never get around to it?!? This year it haaas to change. (Says she who has literally not even touched the journal she has for 2017 yet.😂)
YAS SHERLOCK HOLMES IS AMAZING.😍 Have you ever heard of the Every Breath trilogy by Ellie Marney? They’re Australian so they might be hard to find but omgggg BEST RETELLING EVER. That’s my goals inspiration. hehe. But mine shall have this epic twist of Moriarty + Watson being the same person.😇😈 Sherlock’s BFF will also be his secret ENEMY. I’M SO EXCITED.
OMG congrats Cait! That’s fantastic that you were able to achieve so many of your goals last year! 🎉
Also, we all know you’re going to read more than 200 books this year Cait. C’mon…just admit it. 😉
And yes to more blogger collaboration posts! I miss doing the Bookish Twin feature with you – we should definitely make it a plan to start it up again sometime this year.
Good luck with all your resolutions for this year – although I doubt you need it! I’m sure you’re going to accomplish them.
Zoe @ Stories on Stage recently posted…Ever the Hunted
Yayy, thank you, Zoe! It was actually a pretty productive year, heh. AND YES OKAY I ADMIT IT. I’ll most likely be secretly aiming for 240…but shh. I’m hoping to write more so MAYBE I will actually under-achieve this year. But also: probably not.😂
YES! We must do a bookish twin thing again!! I’ve been so scatter-brained this year with blogging honestly omg. I’ll send you a DM soon so we can organise something?
Sometimes I complete goals. But often I get to laugh about my good intentions. We get cake for that too, right?
Annemieke recently posted…Dancing Out of the Year -Looking Back on 2016
You do. For sure. ALL THE CAKE BECAUSE WE DESERVE IT JUST FOR LIVING. #sensible
WOW! You accomplished a lot! To be honest, I didn’t really accomplish many of my goals, BUT I did read 115 books, which was 15 more books than my goal of 100. I had wanted to finish Gearbound, but lately I haven’t even had the chance to think about it. But I did blog a bit more, and I’m happy with that.
My 2017 goals are to read 150 books, finish Gearbound and edit it, start on the second draft, blog once a week, and learn not to stress so much bc it triggers my anxiety, and to be happy.
Mironiel Blokzyl recently posted…Mini Review || In which I review two books I loved
115 is AMAZING!!!! All the congrats and all the cake for you!! And I’m loving the sound of these goals *nods* And I’ll be rooting for you with all the writing and reading. And YES…no stressing about blogging! It’s not worth it and it sucks the fun out of things. It took me a long time to figure that out.😂
I think I’ll forever be jealous of your ability to write so much in a year. I have so many stories in my head, but I’m a perfectionist, and the struggle to put them into words is just. Ugh.
I feel you on the ‘rereading and feeling guilty’ thing. It’s something I want to do more of too, but that tbr is always in the background glaring at me. (It’s taking up two shelves now?? I’m scared.) I’ve found it really helps me get out of slumps, though? So I’ve kind of got a plan to reread whenever I’m not in the mood for anything specific during the year.
My basic reading goal is to just get through 100 books. I read 86 last year, so it’s not toooo much of a jump, but reading slumps hit bad sometimes. I’m remaining optimistic for now, though! xD
adaline @ not gary cooper recently posted…|| 2016 Book Reading Survey ||
I toooootally get the perfectionist thing DO NOT WORRY. I’m a perfectionist too, but honestly I had to learn how to mute that to get my first-drafts out. But my edits take me 300 YEARS because I make them perfect.😂 And writing gets better with practise. 😉
My TBR stretches like the entire top of my shelf and…it’s scary. Maybe we should run away from our TBRs and hide? THIS IS PROBABLY THE WAY TO SURVIVE. *shrieks* 😂 I’m going to try and re-read at least one book a month. But we’ll see. heh.
I’m cheering for you and your 100 books!! I hope you have fun with it!
So, I suck at resolutions. And I’m of the mindset that I’d rather just not make any so that I don’t fail…. but that’s kind of lame. I’m also a total listy person so this should appeal to me. Read less ARCs is quite possibly my goal EVERY year… but I can’t escape. HALP.
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (157)
No, I get that! It’s fair! Resolutions aren’t for everyone…and (#confession) I tend to give myself resolutions I KNOW I’ll do anyway so I don’t stress too much.😂
I’m loving your goals, Cait! I’m actually not trying to read a certain number of books this year. I always find I start stressing myself out when it starts getting towards the end of the year and I’m not close. No, I’m lying. It stresses me out any time of year when Goodreads tells me I’m so many books behind schedule, and then I feel like I have to catch up, and in doing so, I’m not reading enjoyably, I’m just trying to get through quickly, and who wants that? It’s no fun.
Oooh, Cait, tell me more about this reading journal! Because the only reading journals I know of are like book versions of Goodreads, where you record the books you read and your thoughts. But if yours is like a bullet journal, then it’s different. So what would your journal be like? What would you be using it for? I’m interested! 🙂
Also, it may not be how you wanted to be arty, but I think you’ve been pretty creative in regards to your bookstagramming, and that could be considered getting arty, in which case you get all the ticks for last year, because wow. ALL THE TICKS!
That’s totally fair! I don’t think GR goals should stress us out, right?!? Otherwise if we’re not enjoying reading…what’s the point?! So I totally get not doing any challenges. 🙂
And if I DO get the reading journal going I will 100% do a post on it.😂 The trick will be, erm, starting it. I REALLY NEED TO SINCE JANUARY IS LIKE A WEEK IN ALREADY. *panics* 😂 I’m thinking it’ll be more a bullet journal / reading journal…but basically just for books because I have nothing else in my life to record anyway bahhahah. I’ll let you know more when I know more.
Aww, thankyou! I do really love doing zentangle drawing…bUT I NEED TO PRACTISE. And I’m kind of a terrible person in that if I don’t get it right instantly I tend to not practise enough. *buries self* I do want to break this habit though!
Wow Cait you’re definitely an overachiever, I mean your 2016 goals are amazing and you did almost all of them! Also being really productive… I mean, write 4 books?? *gives you cake* I also like re-reading, but I didn’t do alot so maybe I can put them on my 2017 goals too… I plan to read 70 books, because I want to focus on more things than reading this year 😀 And my biggest goal for this year is to actually getting my driving license hehe, even though I’m scared of driving.
Tasya recently posted…December Wrap Up & January TBR
*eats all the cake* Thank you!!😂 Even though I didn’t edit as much as I should’ve haha. But it’s the thought that counts right?!? 70 books is AMAZING and go you!! And best of luck with the drivers license. That can be kind of scary, I totally concur.🙈🙊 I’m still on my provisional license because I’m too scared to take another test haha.
Oh dear xD I’m so glad that you’ve decided to blog less. 6 weekly units! That’s crazy. And creatively draining I’m sure. But not just that – I like reading all your content (you can see that I’m only reading this one NOW). It would be kind of hard to read 6 weekly articles xD so I’m glad you thought of me and my schedule in advance 😀 #sonotfullofmyself, lol
As for graphics, who told you they NEED to be complicated? Simple is best, increasingly more so.
Less than 10 items on the TBR though. Were you on acid when you are thought of that goal xD let’s get realistic now.
I’m going to try to read more ARCs this year instead. But I’m going to be pickier about them – I’ll try not to just request anything that sounds cool. However, I’ve already got like 4 or 5 and it’s just the 11th of January -.-
Evelina recently posted…This is me joining Mount TBR
YES IT WAS A CRAZY BLOGGING SCHEDULE.😂 I don’t even know sometimes omg. (Although to be fair, back then I got a lot less commenters so I spent more time writing posts than networking!) But it’s much more relaxing not to push myself all the time and stress out over blogging. And this way I get more writing done. ;D
And I tooootally planned my schedule JUST FOR YOU OF COURSE. That’s my #1 blogging priority. 😉
Simple can be best, but I kind of like the complicated busy ones.😂 I mean, you’ve seen my instagram, c’mon. The more the messier the better for me.
HEY I CAN DREAM SOMETIMES WHEN IT COMES TO TBRS. Not everything has to be realistic. I’ll most likely get immortality before I actually have only 10 books on the TBR at once.😂
WELL first of all. I’m very late to this party. I’m SORRY but I wanted to be fashionably late. Or something. Second of all, I feel the need to respond to a number of things, so this comment will probably get long, so I’m apologizing in advance! You said you like to read, RIGHT?! This counts!! Just go with it.
Okay, were we go!
– I love that you wrote a book that features/touches on anxiety. I have depression and anxiety, which makes being social and you know, going outside and having a life, hard. I still feel like there’s a stigma attached to mental illness, and that makes it hard for people to talk about it. I feel like the only way to combat that is for those of us who suffer from it to speak up, which can be hard! So I commend you for that – it’s super brave.
– Reach 5,000 on Instagram hahahah YAY for being an over achiever!! I really hope you make it to 40,000 this year! I’m aiming for 2,000 ha!
– The laughing at having under 10 books on your TBR…I feel you. I want to hide in SHAME because my TBR list on Goodreads has over 700 books on it! SCARY.
– I feel you on the re-reading books thing. I feel guilty about it too. I really am dying for a re-read of The Night Circus, so I need to make that happen!
– I’m the opposite of you when it comes to writing/editing. I’m not an author, because I don’t have the desire to write books, but I love editing and could do that all day long ahahaha I’m weird like that. It’s okay. Someone has to like it, right?!
– Collab posts with other bloggers is one of my goals too actually! I want to be more active in the blogging community in terms of guest posts, blogger interviews, buddy reads, etc. Even just commenting (LIKE NOW, good job me!) and chatting with other bloggers is part of my 2017 goals!
– Reading fewer ARCs and more of other books is another one of my goals too! Reading fewer ARCs and new releases, actually. Or at least balancing them out with books I already own. I have GOT to cut down that 700 book list!
– LASTLY (finally, right? Are you even still here? If you ARE, you deserve cake for a reward. I’ll have some shipped over 😉 for reading this novel) I love the goals around art/adding stuff to Etsy! I can’t art at all. I’m an art failure. But I love other people’s art and creations, and I like to support them!
ANYWAY, that’s all for now! I’m sorry that comment got out of control! HA!
I LOVED THIS COMMENT AND OF COURSE I READ IT ALL. <3 Chatting with people about books and writing and aaaall the things is my favourite. *gives you cake*
And omg I agree about the stigma of mental illness. And I actually think it's getting worse in some ways? Like people are so quick to condemn books for "bad rep" at the moment and it's terrifying, because two people can have anxiety and it comes out COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY. I have pretty severe social anxiety and I've read books I've hated with SAD and ones I've loved! So it's about experience and everyone's is different. So idek if I'll ever be brave enough to do something with my book BUT I HOPE SO. And also *whispers* I find it infinitely easier to edit other people's work instead of my own.😂
I hope you get to squeeze in some rereads too!! AND achieve your insta goal! I SHALL BE CHEERING FOR YOU.
Thank you! I agree about people getting quick to condem right now. I feel like the book world (at least on twitter) is sort of a contentious place right now which makes me reluctant to comment on certain books or be excited to read certain books, which is a frustrating thing!
My goals are kinda simple: read more, write more, procrastinate less, be more creative, and blog more. And art more.
I hope you accomplish all your goals! I baked a cake for you as encouragement 😉
Mironiel Blokzyl recently posted…2016 Wrap Up || In Which I Completed and Went Over My Goodreads Reading Challenge And Yet Still Somehow Did Not Read All The Books.
Cait, what have you done to me!? I’ve spent 3+ consecutive hours on your blog. And even though I dismissed Maggie Stiefvater before for whatever reason, I’m going to be reading all of the Raven Cycle. And I suddenly want to write with footnotes even though I NEVER have. Also, it’s 2 am and I’m craving cake. WHY!? In conclusion, you’re going to do just fine with world domination.
WELL I AM SO PLEASED I CAN’T EVEN. *flails about happily* MY EVIL DOMINATION PLANS ARE GOING SPECTACULARLY FOR SURE.
ALSO THIS IS PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE COMMENT.😂