2023 Recap and 2024 Dreams | behind the scenes of my blog

When the rain you want is a flood instead
And the roses bloom, but they’re not quite red
When I reach the edge of my bravery
I’ll still be singing at the banks of an unparted sea

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2023 Recap

I really don’t know how to summarize 2023. It was unexpected and just what I thought it would be. It was stressful and exhausting, it was energizing and beautiful.

And now I’m starting to sound like Charles Dickens. 🤣

Looking back on the year, though, I feel that the biggest thing God was teaching me was trust Him. To acknowledge Him in all my ways, even in the small, mundane details.

So much happened that I hadn’t expected, bringing a lot of stress and anxiety when it came to deadlines and obligations, and I was forced to realize that I cannot rely on myself. I just can’t. My talent, my determination, my time management skills – I will always be lacking, even at my best.

But that’s good. Because in our weakness, God is strong. And He knows. He knows our past, our vulnerabilities, our desires, our struggles, our anxieties, our future, all of it – even better than we could ever hope to know ourselves.

He also loves us. He’s our heavenly Father. And when I choose to trust Him instead of leaning on my own strength, He answers my prayers in the best of ways.

So, I’m grateful for 2023 and all its craziness. 😊

I should also probably mention that I reached my two-year blogiversary, since I launched this blog January 1, 2022. 🎉 THANK YOU for supporting me on this journey – whether that’s with your comments and likes, or just with the time you take to read a post or two. It means the world. Honestly, sometimes it’s crazy to just think that someone enjoys reading what I have to share. 😅 So really, thank you. ❤

Blog Stats for 2023

Views: 5,671

Visitors: 1,805

Likes: 1,280

Comments: 1,058

Posts Published: 76

Followers: 164

Most popular month: January (with 8 posts)

Least popular month: December (with 3 posts)

Top 7 Posts of 2023

1. Gillory Edition – Book Aesthetic Blog Tag! (this post was SO much fun to make! It definitely inspired me to continue writing my story 😉 )
2. Introducing…the Write Your Worst Challenge! (another incredibly fun one. As you know, I come back to this one now and then when I’m in a creative rut. XD)
3. Introducing…To Be Loved! (Tell Me You Love Me Anthology, character Q&A, + fun extras!) (I loved sharing about my TMYLM story, and I was probably more excited about all the fun extras than anyone else. And the character Q&A was the most fun I’ve ever done. I totally need to do that for my future stories.)
4. 2022 Recap and 2023 Dreams (my first life update!) (just like this is my second life update on the blog. *facepalm* I don’t know why I don’t do monthly updates. I guess I have a hard enough tie with consistency as it is. Haha.)
5. Make Your First Sentence Shine (aka prompts for desperate writers) (This was so fun to write. I’m liking my “prompts for desperate writers” series. 😆)
6. how to write unemotional characters | the art of subtlety (This was a part of my challenge to share unfinished art/content. Because my definition of finished is usually perfect. *sighs in perfectionism* I’m trying to change it to good enough so I can share more things with y’all. Apparently this one went over well enough. :P)
7. To the Exhausted Creative – a Letter (I wrote this for myself, and many of you found it relatable and encouraging. 😭 I took that as more proof that the most impactful encouragement often comes from a place of pain and honesty.)

Reviewing My 2023 Goals (aka the depressing part 😇)

• Finish my WIP Gillory – Nope.
• start an editing business – Nope.
• rewrite Magnolia (a historical fiction WIP) or outline Quest for the Jewel (a fantasy WIP) – Nope.
• write To Be Loved sequel and several short stories – Nope. But I did write several short stories which I’m very happy with.
• reach 200 blog subscribers – Nope.
• reach 100 newsletter subscribers – Nope. (I’m at 75 right now.)
• build a street team – Nope.
• read/review an ARC a month – Though I worked my way through several ARCs (and was able to review some of Kristina Hall’s books – which was a goal of mine haha!), I didn’t review one a month, per se.

It’s both amusing and depressing looking at this list. I literally did none of this.

The most disappointing thing is probably not finishing Project Gillory. 😭 It’s all the external pressures that have been making me feel guilty for not having completed it, especially the fact that it was supposed to have been my senior year project. But the story itself…it’s right where it needs to be. I’m not disappointed with it. (Y’know, I should actually do a post just about this. Yeah, I will.)

As for the rest of the things on this list, I don’t have much to say about them. Yeah, it’s sad. But this list doesn’t mention any of the things I WAS able to accomplish. Probably because there were so many things that were thrown my way in 2023 that I had no way of planning for before the year began.

So, without further ado…

Reviewing My 2023 Accomplishments

• “To Be Loved” was published in the Tell Me You Love Me anthology
• wrote nearly 100 pages of my novella for The Black Rose Collection (then proceeded to edit it so it wasn’t so long)
• wrote several short stories and flash fics (and edited some already-written short stories)
• got a job at a coffee shop
• volunteered at a local thrift shop
• graduated high school
• “Invisible” was published in the Heard in Silence anthology
• made around 40 story graphics for the Heard in Silence blog tour (this makes the list because I didn’t realize how long it would take 😆)
• started playing piano for church
• sent ten emails to my newsletter subscribers
• added about 100 more pages to Project Gillory, wrote (and shared) the prologue, and reached 159,776 words in the manuscript
• reviewed 9 books (but read many more than that. I’m so bad at keeping track of all the books I read on Goodreads. 😭)
• studied copywriting
• was a part of many blog tours and cover reveals
• beta-read several books
• worked on behind-the-scenes author branding stuff
• wrote a short how-to ebook for my newsletter
• actually shared some of the short stories I wrote (in my newsletter)

I’m sure there are more things I’m forgetting, but even just that, I’m content with. God sent so many opportunities that I hadn’t planned for, which enriched my life even though they also barred the way from achieving the goals I’d hoped for. But those unexpected things were even better for me than all those goals I’d thought I was ready for! 😉

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There’s what I want, and then there’s where I’m at
Every one step forward, it got me five steps back
And I cried, I called, God knows I prayed
But most days, faith is climbing up a mountain that stayed

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2024 Dreams

In light of that, I’m approaching this year differently. I’m holding all my hopes and dreams very lightly, knowing that God has things planned for me that I would never expect.

For some reason, I didn’t really take that huge caveat into account when making my plans last year lol 🤔

One thing I want to focus on this year is slowing down. 2023 was the most stress-filled year I’ve ever experienced (go figure, I technically became an adult 🙃😂), and for 2024, I want to work on choosing to rest, refilling my creative well, mindfully taking breaks. I know life will still be busy and unpredictable, but while I can’t delete those stressors from my life, I can add in recharging routines that will better prepare me to handle them.

I’m going to make a bucket list of creatively recharging things to do during everyday life, and I’ll try to choose something to do each day during the work week. It could be playing on the piano, crocheting, journaling in a new way, painting, sketching, organizing (yes, this is creatively recharging for me haha), rearranging my spaces, reading a classic, writing letters, doing calligraphy, decluttering, riding a bike, writing a song or a poem, doing a sketch of a character, learning guitar…or even just spending extra time in prayer and reading the Bible.

I’ve simply realized that I need to stop charging straight into Burnout™, and doing everything like it’s my last chance to do it. With my perfectionism, I either overwork myself, or completely procrastinate so that I won’t have to deal with the barely-decent results I fear I’ll get.

(Then throw in my aversion to planning. I do need to be more self-disciplined, but I also want to find a way to approach time management and planning that works WITH my brain, not against it.)

ANYWAY. One thing that I know will help prevent burnout is actively doing recharging, restful things. For just, like, ten minutes a day.

Did any of that make sense?

I hope so. That said, here are some goals I have for 2024!

2024 Goals

• start a Patreon
• build a street team
• help with the release of The Black Rose Collection
• actually finish Project Gillory
• write a secret project I can’t really talk about right now lol
• experiment with different routines to find something that works with my very unscheduled personality
• make original music
• start revamping one of two old, beloved projects: Quest for the Jewel or Magnolia
• maybe create a writer’s course that’s been brewing in my mind for over a year now
• sell ebooks for writers
• land copywriting gigs (or editing jobs)
• publish a short story or two
• write and share more short stories
• work my way through my ARC library
• buy a domain for my website and revamp said website
• grow my newsletter and create a stash of newsletter magnets and freebies

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Happy 2024!!! What are your dreams for this new year? How do you approach time management and planning? DO YOU HAVE TIPS FOR ME? What creatively recharges you? What did you learn from 2023?

lyrics from “That’s the Thing About Praise” by Benjamin William Hastings and Blessing Offor