2025’s Final Words
I’ll be honest - from the moment I first understood the concept of “New Years”, I have never been this excited to close the book of the current year and welcome the next. Has 2025 been bad? A little. Am I awaiting the cleaning of the slate January 1st awards us? I am indeedie. But most of all, for the first time ever, December 31st is the day where I can open my word count log, add up all the words I have written this year, and see one large number representing my success. No, I did not finish a novel, or get published, or win a writing competition, but as someone who is the birdy piñata to a wide-eyed, chin-to-paws, cat of an ADHD riddled brain, the final word count will be something not only I can swoon at, but hopefully many other writers who are still squelching through “writer’s block” swamp.
This ADHD dome sees the glowing, golden goals of “write every day” and “read 50 books” with a quivering bottom lip. It would flail off the start line and, a step or two in to January, slouch over to let out crackling, dog-like coughs. Reading books felt like I was relearning English and my writing streak would step on its own shoelace, rock forward and slam face-first against the tarmac. I’ve seen so many writers say to write everyday. That you need to write daily to be a successful writer. I’m sure they’re right. But, as someone who feels the bad influence of ADHD like a cat’s back twitching at an approaching hand, a flawless writing streak threatens me and makes me growl.
I gave up this year. I retreated my hand away from the snarling cat. I wiped my cuff against the whiteboard, squeeked clean the year’s goals, and presented my ADHD brain with something new: by the end of 2025, my only two aims were to write 100,000 words and to read 20 books. In 2024, I “attended” NaNoWriMo, in which writers aim for 50,000 words written within a month. On my new meds, I was determinded to do it, and yes, you are right, I got the gold medal. So, at the end of the year, I thought to myself: if I can do 50,000 in one short, sweaty month, what’s the harm in aiming for a leisurely 100,000 across twelve? Writing guides say agents and publishers want debut novels to settle at the 100,000 mark. So, what’s the harm?
This year started with a £2.99 refill notebook where I jotted each trickle of words I wrote. Then, it evolved, and another £2.99 down, I had a new place where I wrote important thoughts and observations from the books I read. It took me until a branch worth’s of biro-covered pages peeled and plucked themselves free from its cover to made me switch to my beloved little journal.
My beloved journal! It holds three notebooks: a daily writing count log, my reading log and my random thoughts journal.
As a writer, it comes with the territory to collect notebooks and take years to finally settle on a good use for it, but this journal has been in my hands daily, used countlessly. Honestly, before leaving my flat, I check to see my journal is secured in my bag before I remember to pat down my sides for that fiendish glowing rectangle of a “smart” phone. In short, this journal has carried me through my writing and reading journey, and I believe, has a hand in helping me commit to so much writing. And, I have scribbled through one “reading journal” since making the switch in late March.
The cat straightens, relaxes its ears, and blinks. Oh. The once offending hand is good. OH! The once offending hand is scratching that spot! I can only describe the sensation of my winning over ADHD as “salivating”. I’ve tested my writing endurance, and for a long time, it was weaker than a child that fell over on a plush carpet and burst into tears. So, having conquered 50,000 in one month, the idea of 100,000 in one year was salivatingly fun. Pecking at the keyboard every other day, seeing 1,000 words one day and a meagre 650 the next, resulted in big numbers at the end of the month. With it, grew my story, my skills, and my passion.
This year, I have written over twenty chapters of my story, ‘Consumption’. In previous stories, I have never reached chapter five or six. I found myself in the centre of scenes I had been dreaming and sighing about in my spare time. I saw characters change and grow before my eyes. I am down a new path, and I can see the bloody and terrifying end of my story. I can feel my characters’ hands in mine, all of us nervous together, as we see what lurks in the fog that obscures the path between us and those glittering words in the distance; the end.
As one of my first posts on my website, let me beam my toothy grin, stick a finger at the achievements lower down on the page and say: ‘yay!’
WRITING OF 2025
The grand total comes to: 129,041 words
This is purely from the first draft of my vampire novel, ‘Consumption’. Can you tell it’s my first draft? My writing, as someone with ADHD, is atrocious. I have had friends ask me when they can read it, and my only answer is a long, dry laugh. With such a bouncing train of thoughts, I have to jump forwards and back a lot. I try to stick within scenes, but I will write a sentence, write a completely separate one, and continue that process until one sticks. I don’t like deleting anything—my uni lectures taught me well—and maybe I can feel a little smug about the boost that my lines of waffle adds to my overall word count. But yes, even with that number, I do have a good chunk of my story left to write. I accept this learning process. I have fun overwriting, too, and returning to certain events like a murder scene, to sweep again for any hidden clues.
READING of 2025
The grand total comes to: 37 books
Here is my physical trophy: my Completed Book pile.
My 2025 Book Tower! (Minus a few books that I borrowed from friends)
Due to the crampedness of my flat, having too much stuff starts to overwhelm me fast. There is something exciting and refreshing about keeping my completed books on my bedside table, because I know I have made space on my shelves for new books, and at the end of the year, I plan to organise all these books into ‘HIT’ or ‘MISS’ piles and declutter. Hauling a stack of books to a local charity shop feels so good.
Alongside starting my ‘writing progress’ journal year, I have begun a ‘reading’ journal. This isn’t me simply writing down the time I started and finished a book—I write down EVERY thought I have. A well-written sentence. A strangely worded one. A character pissing me off, or a random idea for another story altogther, which usually sends me drifting through the lives and scenes of characters born a mere minute ago while my eyes continue to travel across the lines of the story. I thought stopping and starting would be annoying, but honestly, this has helped my writing more than I could have imagined. I would forget plot points and thoughts constantly. In the past, I used sticky tabs as points of interest, yet I would return and stare at unfamiliar words and lines and think ‘what the hell could I have possibly thought here?’ With the state of my distractible brain, giving myself the time and space to fully commit and file away those loose strands of thoughts helps me return to the book as easily as pressing play on a paused movie. I can remember well written and badly written lines, and can pinpoint moments I felt elevated the story or caused the ride to shudder. Taking time to stop and reflect on my feelings helps me understand my thoughts past “I liked it,” “I didn’t like it,” and to also figure out what went so right or wrong. It teaches me what I like and don’t like, and because I am extremely nit-picky, I tend to learn a lot of things to avoid rather than incorporate.
Pages from my reading journal when I read ‘Sense and Sensibility’ by Jane Austen. Here, most of my notes are words I am unfamiliar with, which I found quite useful to stop and learn rather than brute force my way through a narrative I wasn’t quite up to speed with.
This year, I have probably read the most I have in my life. I’ll be uploading a whole other post on the highlights of my year, but before I get too excited and wiggly, I will crown my book of the year as…
Me with my copy of ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara. Trust me, that smile does NOT reflect the mood of this book.
… Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Five stars out of five, I will never read a book like it again. It isn’t horror (though maybe it should be), and for a book so divergent of my interests, I can only praise the flawless writing and incredible characters with my whole heart.
The goals for 2026
I won’t frighten myself. Let’s do a nice, easy goal. I want to beat my new records. I’ve seen how far I can go, but 2026 will be taking the same, successful path and now I aim for just a few steps further. So, my goals are:
Writing goal: 130,000 words
Reading goal: 38 books
With the progress my story has made, I can see myself finishing the first draft of my novel before 2027. As well as that, my Christmas wish list included a lot of new horror stories published this year (as well as a lot of Jane Austen!), so not only am I excited to beat my reading record, but there are so many books I am drooling to read. Perhaps the fact that my horror books this year have left my horror-hungry tummy rumbling for more, but I am eager to delve into new, modern horror and to also expand on classic gothic novels as a way to see the expansive land of the eerie. Launching my new website, I aspire to share my thoughts on recently read books each month. Any recommendations for horror, especially lesser known and newer stories, are always welcome.
For now, I hope you have a lovely New Year, and have time to reflect on any achievements or self-improvements you have made in the last twelve months. If you have managed to beat a positive personal record, then I am proud of you. Let’s toddle into 2026 like penguins and take time to enjoy our growth.
