Episode 259: 2024 Recap

What this episode covers

These notes include affiliate links. In this episode of Fable and the Verbivore, we’re reflecting on the intentions and goals we set for 2024 and talking about how the year actually unfolded in both life and our work. At the start of the episode, we talk about how setting these phrases help us clarify what we hope for the year and how they often have an uncanny way of describing the year in ways that maybe we don’t expect, but that absolutely fit. We feel these words become almost self-fulfilling prophecies and can also help us change how we see the year and more actively lean into those things that reflect our desires and goals. For the Verbivore (Laura)’s 2024 intention the word was “improvisation” — the act of making or doing something without preparation and trusting you already have what you need inside you — and the phrase “look for and embrace opportunities”. For Fable (Beth) in 2024 she came up with the phrase “slow and steady” and this vision of a triathlon that requires training in several different areas. We both initially felt resistant to these phrases, but as the year went on it was clear that they really suited us well. The Verbivore had a year of great pivoting, needing to help a lot more in actively homeschooling her kids and absorbing some significant shifts in her schedule. But the rules of improv — especially “don’t block” — helped her use the small stretches of time she did have to meet her goals of going through the exercise of querying one of her projects to agents and developing further two of the stories she’s actively writing, while also doing a lot of writing practices. Fable was able to expand her work into many different areas — publishing with 5 different co-writers and creating her first audio book, while also writing several book length and novella length stories and submitting poems to several poetry collections. The steadier pace of her work in comparison to 2023 allowed her to get many things done, but also notice she was starting to feel burned out towards the end of the year and needed a break. Towards the end of this conversation, we talk about the complications — both positive and negative — to having a project do well. We note that it may be helpful to set up your own markers of success prior to putting your work out, that loving your own work is a practice, and that a book's quality isn’t always reflected in sales. This led to a discussion about navigating through seasons of doubt, noticing how other authors deal with bestsellers and disappointments, and consider doing preparation to support yourself through both failure and success — including listening to and then reframing the messages you tell yourself. This is our sixth year of doing this process and it’s one of our favorite practices. We hope you enjoy this episode. We’re so grateful to you, our listeners! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there! Into the woods, Fable & The Verbivore

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