20 Things I’m Doing in 2020

Hi and welcome to 2020! (Yes, it’s already been 2020 for more than three weeks. Yes, I’m late on my “New Year” post. No, I’m not sorry about it.)

I don’t know about you, but I am super excited for this new year.

There’s just something inspiring and exciting about 2020. Maybe it’s the big round numbers. Maybe it’s the start of a new decade (kinda). Maybe it’s the leap year (happy birthday, leaplings) or the US election (no, not that) or the Olympics (definitely!).

Whatever the reason, I’m super stoked for what this year will bring.

My 2020 Theme

For the first time, I’ve decided to define a THEME for my year. Basically, this means that everything I do throughout 2020 should answer to this theme. I’ll use it at a compass to make sure I’m working in the right direction.

Curious as to what my 2020 theme is?

I thought you’d never ask.

Create and Grow

It’s that simple. This year, I want to create and grow. These words can take on different meanings and interpretations, which means I won’t feel restricted by a specific goal or resolution.

Since 2020 is a really cool-sounding number (it also looks cool in Roman numerals: MMXX) I thought it would be fun to throw another 20 into the mix by making a list of 20 things I’m planning to do in 2020.

Are you ready for it?

20 Things I’m Doing in 2020

Note: These are mostly focused on my career and mindset, not personal interests.

1. Creating Something Every Day — Primarily this means writing, whether it’s a book, a screenplay, or a blog post. But it could also mean a digital drawing (I am LOVING Procreate), a fun book-related extra, or even trying a cool new recipe. So far, I’ve finished the first draft of my first ever screenplay. Off to a good start!
2. Learning Something Every Day — I’ve always been a voracious learner, but this year I want to expand my horizons. I’ve been doing Procreate tutorials on YouTube, daily Swedish lessons on Duolingo, and digging back in on some online classes that a bought (and never finished) over the past few years.
3. Developing Other Creative Skills — This goes hand-in-hand with Thing #2, but specifically I want to develop creatives skills that will enhance my writing business. This could mean improving my Photoshop skills to make better book covers, training my voice to record my own audiobooks, learning lettering so I can make pretty quote graphics, or learning drawing techniques that will let me create my own character art.
4. Writing Screenplays — Even after taking a couple of screenwriting classes two years ago, I haven’t made time for screenwriting in my life. That changes this year. It’s already changed! (See Thing #1.) I don’t want to set specific goals (because I’ve learned that I tend to rebel against arbitrary goals) but in addition to revising the script I’ve already written, I want to write more.
5. Writing Stage Plays — This is another format I’ve been wanting to tackle for several years. As a lifelong theatre brat (seriously, why do you think I moved around so much as a kid?) I have a natural affinity for plays. I know what I want to write for my first play, and this year I intend to write it.
6. Writing Fiction of Various Lengths — Recently, I’ve been mostly focused on writing novellas. I love that length of story. It’s short enough that I never feel like I’m losing control of things but also long enough that I feel like I can get into some meatier storylines. This year, I want to really diversify my writing projects. I have several short stories planned, along with at least one novel.
7. Read All of Shakespeare’s Works — I’m super excited about this one! Despite my self-proclaimed theatre brat status, I haven’t actually read all of the bard’s works. I know a lot about them and have seen many of them, but this year I want to actually read every word. And it just so happens that there is a great project called Shakespeare 2020 which is designed to help readers like me do exactly that. I’m getting a late start, so I’m going to catch up on Twelfth Night in the next several days and pick up the schedule with Comedy of Errors on February 4.
8. Blogging Every Week — Filed under something I’m going to keep doing from last year. I didn’t quite make EVERY week last year (I definitely took a couple of weeks off at the end) but I feel so accomplished for keeping up the blog in 2019 that I’m going to keep it going in 2020.
9. Video Every Other Week — Another keep doing will be posting a new video to YouTube and IGTV approximately every other week. Once I got the hang of recording and editing last year, I had a lot of fun producing videos. Looking forward to more and better this year.
10. Newsletter Every Month — And one more thing to keep doing. My monthly touchstone with my Mythfits makes sure they always know what going on in my world (and the world of my books and stories). With all the writing I’m planning to do this year, I’m going to have a lot of exciting announcements in the coming months.
11. Sharing Early Access Stories in My Newsletter — This is a new one this year. I’m planning to write a handful of short stories throughout the year with some guidance from my precious Mythfits, and my newsletter subscribers will get early access before the story is released to the public. The first story, set in the Forgive My Fins world and starring a certain bad boy biker we all know and love, is set to go out in my January newsletter. (Subscribe before January 27th to get early access!)
12. Launch Special Things for Superfans — I love my Mythfits. There is nothing that makes me happier than sharing something special with my superfans. And I’ve got some extra funs things in the works for later this year. If you’re a TLC superfan, make sure you’re a newsletter subscriber (cough an engaged newsletter subscriber) so that you don’t miss out on any of the fun I have in store.
13. Recording My Own Audiobooks — I love audiobooks and audio content. I probably listen more than I read these days. So it only makes sense that I want all of my own books available in audio. Currently, only the first three Forgive My Fins books have audio versions. Since I’ve become more comfortable talking into a microphone in my videos, I’m ready to try recording my own audiobooks. I mean, I do have a degree in theatre and (some) acting training. Plus, I think it’ll be fun!
14. Opening My Online Store — This has been another long-time goal of mine. There have always been a few obstacles in the way that prevented me from being able to have everything I wanted in the store without having to stock and ship my own goods. But I recently learned about a couple of new services that overcome those obstacles. There are a couple of things I have to do first, but this one is definitely coming in the next few months.
15. Getting Over Revision Paralysis — Revising used to be my favorite part of the writing process. The stage where I finally get to turn the terrible draft I’ve written into the story I want it to be. But lately, I’ve been running from my revisions. I have a number of first drafts (a short story, a novella, and cough four novels) sitting in my digital drawer, waiting to be revised. I think it comes down to treating the stories as too IMPORTANT. This year, I’m going to focus on the fun and entertaining aspect of story, knowing that the underlying message will get through where it needs to.

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

Walt Disney

16. Publishing What I Write (and Have Written) — Clearly, this goes along with Thing #15. In addition to writing things and revising the things I write, I also need to get them out there in the world. What good is a story sitting in my computer?
17. Put on Blinders When/Where Necessary — This applies to so many aspects of life. And I think it applies in two different ways. First, to avoid distracting things/places where distracting things pop up (I love you Twitter, but sometimes you’re just too much). Second, to filter out things that seem great, but don’t actually apply. In the writing, self-publishing, and online entrepreneurial worlds, there are so many voices insisting that THIS is how things must be done. But I usually find that those ways don’t work for me, my readers, and my business. I’m going to ignore those voices as much as possible this year, and keep to my own path.
18. Streamlining as Much as Possible — I generally find that the more complicated I let things get, the less effective those things become. Whether it’s how I organize my digital life, my skin care routine, or my writing process. Everything benefits from streamlining. This year I’m going to keep an eye out for ways to streamline in every aspect of life and business.
19. Focusing on Progress over Perfection — If you watched (or read) my What I Learned from NaNoWriMo 2019, then you know I believe that (especially in creative matters) it’s more important to make progress than to aim for perfection. I’m taking this advice to heart in 2020 and making sure that I prioritize progress in all things… and forgive myself for not achieving the unachievable.
20. Focusing on the Important Things — This is connected to almost every other Thing on the list. This about prioritizing. About doing the things that I need to do and want to do over the things I think I should do. Some stuff might get cut in the process, but at the end of 2020 I want to look back and see all the positive, productive things that I accomplished, with very few things I regret wasting my time on along the way.

There you have it. The 20 things I’m doing in 2020.

I’m ready for you, MMXX. Let’s do this!

If you want to keep tabs on my progress along the way, be sure to sign up for my email list so you never miss an update.