It seemed to take the better part of a decade, but the year 2020 is finally over.

Indeed, once December hit, the year seemed to make up for its previous glacial progress due to Covid-19, at once jetting by and forcing me to likewise race to try to finish my outstanding resolutions for the year.

So how did I do? Although I decided last quarter that I no longer like my simple scoring system of 0, 0.5 or 1 point to grade the smaller sub-goals of each overall goal, I’ll use it one last time for consistency. For some incomplete tasks, I’ll also give a percentage estimate of how far I progressed.

My 2020 goals and final progress for the year is as follows:

1) Continue to make progress in my writing journey

• Completely finish my WIP – Points: 1 (First, second, and third quarter points: 0.5, 0.5, 0.5) (95%)
• Query my WIP – Points: 0.5 (0, 0, 0.5)
• Figure out the rest of the plot for my next novel – Points: 1 (0, 0, 0.5)
• Start my next novel – Points: 1 (0, 0, 1)
• Read at least three writing craft books – Points: 1 (0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
• Always be researching in general in support of future novels – Points: 1 (0.5, 0.5, 1)
• Read the first draft of my WIP’s sequel and make general/overall revision notes – Points: 0 (0, 0, 0)
• Rewrite my blog bio – Points: 1 (0, 0, 1)

Total points: 6.5/8 = 81% (1.5/8 = 19%, 1.5/8 = 19%, 4/8 = 50%)

Summary of progress: I was already on a roll at the end of Q3, and made a point of keeping my momentum going for the final quarter.

I got feedback on my WIP from one CP at the beginning of October and one near the end of October. While waiting on CP #2, I gave my full writing attention to the beat-sheet-turned-zero-draft for my next WIP. At the end of Q3, this document was some 18,000 words long.

It ultimately wound up at over 30,000 words.

I finished this a mere three days before the end of 2020 because once I did finally get CP #2’s feedback on my WIP, I immediately returned to it. I did one last edit to part of Act I and a thorough chapter by chapter line edit of the whole thing—both on paper and by ear using a text-to-speech program.

(By December 31, I actually still had five chapters left to do, but finished X days later, which I consider an acceptable grace period.)

I finished the last writing craft book I’d left half-read for two whole quarters. I also got final feedback on my novel’s synopsis in preparation for querying, which I’ve since reset as a goal for 2021, as I’ve also done with the reading/annotating of my WIP sequel’s first draft.

2) Improve my non-writing life

• Explore and sample potential new hobbies – Points: 0 (0, 0, 0)
• Create/put myself into situations that allow me to meet new people – Points: 0 (0, 0.5, 0) (10%)
• Go on a trip somewhere I haven’t been before – Points: 0 (0)

Total points: 0/2 = 0% (0.5/3 = 17%, 0/3 = 0%, 0/2 = 0%)

Summary of progress: If the pandemic made my success in this goal/sub goals impossible before, the second wave of Covid-19 made it even worse.

I remained largely at home, going out only to jog, go to the grocery store, have a couple of socially-distanced, outdoor gatherings with friends, and once to evacuate my apartment when wasps that had built a nest in my living room ceiling chewed their way through and ended up in a swarm in the corner.

Yes, really. 😬

Obviously I wasn’t getting out to meet new people in public. But I did have an opportunity to chat with a few mutual followers in DMs on Twitter.

Two of them actually slid into my DMs themselves to ask me questions, and I enjoyed the experience so much I tweeted out encouragement for others to message me as well if they wanted to.

One person did and we had a nice chat (I can’t give myself high marks for this, though, since it only just happened in the second-last week of December).

3) De-clutter/Mary Kondo my entire apartment

• Remove excess/unnecessary items from every room – Points: 0 (0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
• Attempt to give usable items away to friends/family who want them – Points: 0 (0, 0, 0)
• Donate usable items that no one wants – Points: 0 (0, 0, 0.5)
• Minimize the amount of garbage generated – Points: 0 (0.5, 0.5, 0.5)

Total points: 0/4 = 0% (1/4 = 25%, 1/4 = 25%, 1.5/4 = 38%)

De-cluttering Checklist:

• • Living room

[ ] Bookshelf
[ ] Desk
[X] Armchair
[X] Magazine box
[ ] Couch

• • Dining room

[X] Table
[ ] Side chair

• • Kitchen

[X] Fridge
[X] Cupboards
[X] Drawers
[X] On top of cupboards
[X] Behind the oven
[X] Behind the fridge

• • Hallway

[X] Coat closet
[X] Shoe trays
[ ] Storage closet

• • Bathroom

[X] Shower caddy
[X] Medicine cabinet
[X] Cupboard under the sink

• • Bedroom

[X] Closet
[ ] Top of dresser/ornament shelf
[ ] Dresser drawers
[ ] Smallclothes drawers
[X] Bookshelf
[ ] Nightstand
[ ] Under the bed

Summary of progress: My progress on de-cluttering stalled after Q3 because I left home at the start of November to return to my parents’ house for the duration of the year.

I did leave my apartment very tidy, though (save for the two corrugated boxes of goods I have to donate), and will be finishing my de-cluttering in 2021.

4) Complete additional long-standing/outstanding tasks

• Get new running shoes – Points: 1 (0, 0, 0)
• Make a will – Points: 0 (0, 0, 0)
• Try to get a doctor – Points: 0 (0, 0, 0)

Total points: 1/3 = 33% (0/3 = 0%, 0/3 = 0%, 0/3 = 0%)

Summary of progress: I finally got the new running shoes! I went at 10:00am in the morning when the running shop first opened on a weekday I had off (in order to avoid contact with excess people).

From behind a plexiglass partition, with my mask on, I tried on no less than 10 different pairs of shoes before finally finding my best fit.

These new shoes are considerably more attractive than my previous pair (for all that modern running shoes in general are quite hideous). I do wonder, though, why it is that every time I get new runners, the size ends up being larger—from size 10 years ago to size 11 for my previous pair, and now these new ones a Sasquatchian size 12!

Why is it that every time I buy new running shoes I end up needing one size bigger?? Staying in shape is starting to make me feel like a sasquatch 🦶🏾 pic.twitter.com/251QRKcspp

— Janna G. Noelle (@jgnoelle) October 10, 2020

Although I did take advantage of an unexpected opportunity to ask someone a few preliminary questions about will-making, with the pandemic, honestly, I didn’t really try to make headway in it, or in getting a doctor, despite during a pandemic being a rather perfect time for such considerations.

I’ve added making a will to my goals for 2021, and as the Covid-19 vaccine rollout advances and life returns to something closer to normal, I will put more effort into the search for a doctor.

(A/N: This was a bonus post to wrap up my reporting on 2020. My normal posting schedule remains the first Monday of the month.)

~

(Images: J.G. Noelle)