Good Morning! Alright, you know the drill. YouTube video drops and then a companion blog post follows. Ready? Let’s do this.
2020 Goals
I pretty well laid out all the goals and my progress toward them in the video. Let’s talk about some behind-the-scenes stuff.
- Like the fact that immediately before this video was filmed there was some kind of police presence on my street. They had the entire back half of my street cordoned off and were walking my street with guns drawn. We still have NO IDEA what they were looking for but it made for an interesting morning.
- Or the fact that throughout this video you can hear a mild chirping in the background. Do I have a bird? Nope, sure don’t. So, what happened? Well, it was a (rare) rainy day in the valley of the sun. We opened the windows to enjoy the delightful smell that is a rainy day in the desert. I honestly didn’t even notice the bird. My editor is the one who caught it. OOPS. I didn’t have time to refilm the video so, instead, I guess you get to enjoy the sounds of a happy desert bird singing about the rainy day.
- I usually film these videos when my children are not home. That’s the ideal time. Why? Well because this video had more than the usual amount of restarts and chopped sections thanks to opening bedroom doors, flushing toilets, and slamming refrigerators. Plus I’m pretty sure if you turn your sound way up (don’t do that–the bird steals your eardrum joy when you do that) you can also hear the sounds of my goofball of a dog eating his food at some point in the video. This is why I normally film alone, people.
Actual Numbers
- Unless your feedback tells me otherwise, my videos will continue to focus on the yearly goals and NOT on the individual month numbers. Basically, that is a decision I made for my sanity. My irrational perfectionist self could not handle the number of times I posted goals that I had failed. It was taking a toll. It remains to be seen whether this new system will keep the stress and imposter syndrome to a more manageable level. But here are those numbers anyway, just between us.
- 16,379 total words (as of today). Not good. 2019 me would have (epically) failed a monthly goal with a number like that. Then I would’ve had to spend time explaining (to myself and, by extension, you fine people) that it was an EDITING month (sort of). So glad we’ve moved past that guilt.
- Highest writing day was the 21st when I wrote 3,005 words.
- Overall, 4 days were above 1500 words and an additional 3 days were above 1000.
- I averaged just over 682 words per day. Again, awful. This would’ve sent 2019 me into some kind of crazy downward spiral.
Statistics
In the video you’ll hear a total number of pages and books read, but no other statistics. I like statistics (you knew this about me) but not everyone does. Here they are if you happen to enjoy them as I do.
- 38% of what I read in February was authored by males. This is a HUGE discrepancy (again). I spent a little time wondering if this was something I should pay more attention to and try to balance. I haven’t come to a decision yet. I’m open to feedback/suggestions/opinions, if you have them.
- Look at that contemporary bar! Wow. I knew I was sort of digging into a lot of contemporary, sort of to find inspiration for my YA Contemp that I’m working on, but I didn’t realize it had pulled ahead. Interesting. Otherwise, nothing too shocking on this graph.
- Not bad, right? I’m impressed with what a large section of the pie 5 star ratings had (almost 39%). Not a bad month, overall.
- 46% of what I read this month was independently published.
To Sum it Up
- I made (a really small amount of) progress toward my year long goals
- I read a LOT of books
I’m calling February a win.
As always, if there’s anything you’d like to see on my channel or right here on this blog in the future, drop a comment to let me know.
The Video
