Another year means more goals to plan for! This year will bring a lot of changes in my life, including university graduation and a big move, but that’s only more of an opportunity to get into new habits and continue to progress in my writing journey.
In 2024, I managed to do a lot, including the publication of my debut novel, Ghosts of the Steel Road. While I don’t know if I’ll be able to top that with more self-publications this year, I do hope to create the foundations for future publications and more.
So, without further ado, let’s check out my goals for 2025!
Get into a stretching and workout routine
I know I say that I need to workout more every year, but this time, it WILL happen. After all, I’m not getting any younger, and I’ve been saying for years that I wanted to get stronger. This year will be about strength and consistency in my exercising and stretching through some sort of routine that I’ll establish in the next month (and then re-establish once I graduate university and move to my new city).
Get my 5k under 30 mins
Going with my previous goal, I wanted to give myself a more tangible number to strive for. In the summer of 2024, I managed to run a 5k in nearly 35 mins with little training, so what can I do with consistent running throughout the year? At first, I considered trying for a sub-25 minute 5k, but then I realized that would be around an eight-minute mile, and I'm pretty sure my best mile in high school was around 8:20. Therefore, I’ll settle for a sub-30 minute 5k before the end of 2025!
Cook more
Now, let’s get into the most important thing: food. For years upon years, I’ve been hoarding recipes on Pinterest like they’re going out of style, only to never really cook most of them. This year, things will be different. With a cookbook that I’ve been compiling of all those online recipes, my goal is to cook as many meals as I can and focus on fueling myself for all of the things that I want to accomplish. After all, you can’t be your best on an empty stomach.
Get back into volunteering
When I was younger, I loved volunteering, especially at my local library. It fulfilled me to help out my community in physical ways, no matter what the job was. Once I got to university, though, I quickly got far too busy to seek out traditional volunteering opportunities, and my busyness just got worse with each year. Though I know the mentoring that I do through my esports organization is volunteering, in a way, there is still a lot more I want to do. So, once I complete my move, my big goal is to get back into volunteering at least once a month, if not more than that.
Keep lists of what I read, play, and watch (to do more of that and fill my creative well)
I’ll admit it: I’m still bad at actually filling my creative well. If I had a nickel for every time I said “oh I’ll watch or read that thing later,” I would have enough money to keep me afloat while pursuing creative work full-time. But part of being a creative is taking in the creative works that are already out there. You can’t boil an empty kettle, after all. There are times when rest from creation is needed, and it’s something that I need to be better at. Therefore, I’ll be falling back on my trusty lists to give myself some badly needed reading, watching, and playing time.
Get GSR's sequel drafted and at least through 1 round of betas
Now, we’re onto writing goals. First off, I’ve got to get to work on the sequel for Ghosts of the Steel Road!I started the draft this past fall, but unfortunately was not able to finish it by the end of the semester like I planned, due to the work that needed to be done for my classes. This year, though, this project will be one of my main focuses. The current goal is to not just draft the sequel, but edit it to the point where I can get the novel through a round of betas before the year is over. If I really end up being generous, I could maybe get on schedule to release the sequel in 2026, but that’s not something I’m committing to right now.
Get The Unwanted Sacrifice through 1 round of betas
Additionally, I’ve been hard at work with my other project, The Unwanted Sacrifice. I’m currently working on a second draft/rewrite of the novel, which is very high fantasy, and I know I’ll need a few rounds of beta readers to make sure my worldbuilding gets through the way I want it to. This is another project that I plan to get at least one round of betas completed for before the calendar turns over again, though it is honestly difficult to say whether this project will be ready for betas before Ghosts of the Steel Road’s sequel.
Draft at least 1 themed short story collection
As mentioned in my last blog post, I somewhat enjoy writing short stories now due to a class I took last semester. So, as a smaller project than my two novels, I plan to draft at least one themed short story collection over the year. What will that look like, exactly? I’m not yet a hundred percent sure. But I hope it’ll be a project that’s a little more manageable between the chaos of my fantasy novels, and that it will help me continue to grow in my writing skills when I’m in the editing trenches that loom on the horizon.
Overall: 525,600 words (and be better about keeping words organized)
2024 was fun, with over 300,000 words written, but what if I wrote even more? Given that I’ll soon have much more time to write, I thought it would be funny if I aimed a little bit higher. 525,600, perhaps?
Yes, I chose this number because I am a theater nerd that can’t turn down the opportunity for a good song reference, but I also think it truly is possible, given how much I wrote over the summer while I had a full-time internship compared to during the semester.
Of course, this goal will mean I have to be better about the organization of my projects and word counts, as I was terrible at it to end this year especially. I’ve already done some of the groundwork with a new word count spreadsheet and a project dump document, but that’s definitely a secondary goal as a part of this!
Stay consistent on blog posts and social media presence
I know, I know. I say this every year. It’s certainly not easy to maintain an author platform while in school and having 2 part-time jobs, but I learned a lot about how to make things easier for myself when it comes to this area. Therefore, my goal is to be at least a bit more consistent about my website and my posting on social media. The bar is kind of on the floor right now, so it’s only up from here.
Survive moving!
This is a big part in completing any of my goals this year. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be graduating from university in May, followed by a two-part move to become a Real Adult(™) with a full time job. The first part is getting all of my stuff from university back home, followed by my move to a brand new city in early July. Honestly, I’m already nervous for the whole thing, and who knows if I’ll be able to manage? Of course, a big part of this move will be taking the process one step at a time. Once I get through this, it’ll be smooth sailing through the second half of the year. Hopefully.
Overall, as usual, I have high hopes for the coming year and the audacity to potentially get at least most of those hopes fulfilled. 2025 will most certainly be full of trials and chaos, but I’m thankful for each and every one of you who are around for the ride.
Let's take this year by the reins!
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