Taking Stock of 2016 Reading/Writing Goals

So we're officially halfway through the year (!!), which means I decided to take stock of what I've done this year so far, and look forward to the next six months with some new goals and milestones. My resolutions for 2016 were:

1. Read 70 books
2. Write one new manuscript
3. Finish revising current manuscript
4. Prioritize taking care of myself throughout the year

So far I'm making good progress. I've read 36 books so far, drafted one and a half manuscripts, finished revising the manuscript I was working on at the beginning of the year (or at least, finished revising it enough that I would have considered it finished in January), and I established a weekly day off for myself to make sure I don't forget the self-care thing. Also I started strength training with free weights for the first time ever this year and the (now visible) results have made me very happy. So far so good. 

I decided to take a closer look at the books I've read so far, however, because back last November I did a diversity reading analysis and I wanted to see how I'm stacking up so far. 

So of the 36 books I've read so far, 21 have included some sort of marginalized representation, while 15 have not. 

Of the diverse narratives, 3 included neuroatypical or mental illness representation, 14 had QUILTBAG characters, 9 had major characters of marginalized races/ethnicities, and only 3 had characters with physical disabilities.

Bright side, I suppose, is I've read a grand total of one more book with physical disability rep in the first six months of the year than I did all of last year. I'd like to read more books with POC characters for sure, so that's something I'll focus on the next six months, along with looking for books with some neuroatypical characters because apparently I've been severely lacking in that department this year. 

Looking at the authors, I've read books from 24 cis women authors, 9 cis men authors, and 2 trans/nonbinary authors. 

And based off what I know/can find easily online, 17 of the books I've read so far were by marginalized authors and 19 weren't. 

So all in all, I think I'm doing okay. I'd like to continue to prioritize marginalized authors in my reading list whenever I can. Looking at what's left of my owned TBR shelf, a lot of what I have already isn't written by marginalized authors, but there are a couple books I've wanted to read anyway that are, and plus the library is a thing, and also I have some pre-orders coming in that will help with that too. 

As for my writing goals, I'm definitely aiming to both finish drafting and revise the manuscript I'm currently working on, plus I'd like to make it a goal to first draft the WIP I've already plotted, but I'll have to make that a flexible goal because some other projects may take priority. Still! I'll set it as a bonus goal. 

All in all I've met many goals this year already and look forward to more progress. Yay. :)

What reading and writing goals have you been working toward this year?

Twitter-sized bite: 

How have you been progressing with your 2016 goals? @Ava_Jae takes a look at her progress so far. (Click to tweet)