2019: Bookish Goals and Happiness

 As the kids say these days, the prodigal daughter has returned. 

Or do the kids no longer say that. I don't know, but I am happy to be back! Very happy! Returned-from-the-dead happy. Not a zombie though. I don't know where you get these ideas from.

Now, as it is the beginning of 2019, I thought I would make a list of various bookish and writerly goals I hope to accomplish this year. Some of these may be very simplistic, because I am a useless kumquat who needs to achieve something to be happy, you know?

In other news, you can now add me on Goodreads! Please do. I'm very lonely and I have 1 friend and the dead turnip living in my backyard. Fun times. This is actually the first year I've done a Reading Challenge (properly, where I actually logged books) and I am super excited about it. I'm already 4 books ahead of schedule. Go me.

Onto the goals!* 

*Seriously Minna. The goals are the whole point of this post. God, where art thou priorities.

  

My apologies for the weird formatting, cooperation is not, in fact, blogspot's middle name

⇒ Read 150 books (and properly log them all on Goodreads)

In terms of reading books, I'm great. 

In terms of properly recording them..... haha not so great.

Which is mostly why I don't only want to read 150 books this year (146, now that I think about it, because I already read four) but I also want to log them on Goodreads. So Goodreads can validate me and y'all know I thrive on validation. ANYWAY. Most of this is like I need to be more organized, which I knew anyway.

⇒ Write at least 50 reviews for books

"So Minna," says a friend, knowing I read a lot and have no social life. "How many reviews have you written on Goodreads."

"Haha," I say, knocking a skeleton and a laptop behind me. "Exactly.... 16."

I MEAN THEY ARE LONG REVIEWS FOR THE MOST PART. I JUST HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A GNAT.

I need to write more. MORE. MOREEEE.

Oh look a bunny! How did that get here?

⇒ Out of the 150 books I read, at least 20 must not be Young Adult Fiction

I have been told (read: threatened) that I read too much YA and I need to "develop my brain" (read: read dull science texts) because I'm doing the reader's equivalent of gorging myself on fast food.

If the people had their way, 75 of the 150 would be not YA. But, because I am very stubborn and disagreeable, it's going to be twenty, mark my words.

I am interested in the politics books, though. It's all part of my plans to rule the world.

I don't have writerly pictures, so you may instead enjoy this old photo I nEARLY DIED TAKING

⇒ Finish the first draft of my first official book

YAY I'm so excited about this! We are roughly 37k in so far, and I actually think I can do this. The party I'm going to throw after I complete it will be so wicked. And then I will finally be able to edit something of substance. Go me.

The book is called Catastrophe, and it's about murder and traumatized people and gang wars and breakfast donuts. You know, the usual.

Personally, I have always wanted to eat a donut for breakfast.

And because you're all being so nice by actually reading this, here's a snippet!

⇒ Write an outline & substantially start the first draft of my second book

I am also very excited about this. It will be my first hyper-detailed outline, which is exciting because Catastrophe does not have an outline and half the plot is just me screaming and making random things up as I went along. SO fun.

However, my second book is going to work much better with an outline, I hope, because it has a more complicated plot. It's about tiny child murderers and boys who play viola and also dark monsters and evil running rampant in the streets of a fantasy planet I made up and now have to figure out the rules for.

Such fun. The working title is Alice the Third, but that is subject to much change. Also, because you're still being nice, I'll give you a tiny snippet of the outline, which is tiny anyway at this point.

So professional.

⇒ Actually edit something for a change.

Wow. Self burn right there. But one of my MAIN author problems is I never edit anything, because I never finish anything. Very competent. But I am hoping to finish something(s) this year, so I will jump headfirst into the fiery lava pit of reading your own work.

What could go wrong there. Solid plan. 

⇒ BLOG at least once a week!

This will multiply by two during summer and decrease by eight during June, I can feel it already. But I started this blog for a reason, and that is because I love books and writing and talking about those things extensively! And not just because I want an excuse to use King Julien and Taylor Swift gifs and claim it's important! (.... you got me. That's why.) So THIS YEAR I want to blog at least once a week. I semi-believe in my ability to do this. Not really though.

⇒ Take photos for the blog on my own.

All the book photos in this post are mine, but I am technically cheating because they are all old and practice. NO MORE. I will take new, good photos for the blog on a decent camera. I am speaking this into existence, kids. It will happen.

⇒ Set this blog up so it can be navigated. (AKA tell a friend what I want to happen and then bribe them with candy to do it.)

I have an about page.... but I don't know how to make it so you guys can click it and read it. Oops. I'm not great at coding, so I guess it's up to me to blackmail a friend into doing it. I'm gonna be posting book stuff, writing stuff, poetry (if I can), and other things... it's going to get crowded and we need navigation. This is our year, kids. We can do this.

Look at her GO. YAS queen.

talk to me children. what are your bookish goals for this year? what is a good day to blog? do you also blackmail - wait I mean bribe - no ASK your friends to do random things for you?