My 2024 Annual Review
And the seeming luxurious, yet necessary act of reflection
Buddhists say that time is a construct of the mind, and it’s the only plausible explanation for why I was panicking over having an hour before school pickup to exchange something at Sephora, pick up gift wrapping supplies, and swing by the optometrist when earlier that day, three hours went by before I tore myself away from the keyboard to eat lunch and run said errands.
So between you and me, it can feel luxurious—wasteful even, during the whirlwind of holiday festivities, to sit down and reflect on the year when there are so many other things to get done.
And yet—the answer to the overwhelm is that you can’t break through it unless you’re willing to celebrate the wins and grieve the disappointments. Part of my work for 2025 is celebrating my needs as a mother and artist, to fill my cup before I’m depleted, and to quit apologizing for needing moments for myself. But before I commit to new goals, I need to acknowledge what worked and could have been better.
So without further ado, here’s my 2024 annual review.
WRITE 👩🏽💻
It took months longer than I expected, but I finally completed a complete scene-by-scene outline for my novel. Writers commonly refer to themselves as plotters or pantsers, which really comes down to one question:
Do you like to map things out in advance or write as you go?
As a right-brain intuitive, it was a huge intellectual endeavor to map out every plot point in advance—while questioning my sanity throughout the duration. I don’t even want to talk about the hundreds of scene ideas I brainstormed, iterated on, and tossed out for the first half of 2024, until one day, something clicked and I found myself staring at 42 scenes in a color-coded Excel spreadsheet that filtered by timeline, point-of-view, and Save the Cat beat.
Does it mean the story will land me an agent? I have no idea. Do you have to do this to succeed as a writer? No clue. Is this a substitute for writing the darn thing? Definitely not. But my friend
once said that you have to accept the hard things that come with the pursuit of an ambitious goal, and coaxing out the left-brained thinker side of myself has definitely increased my confidence as a storyteller.LIFE 🛟
Between my husband joining a pre-seed stage startup and my daughter’s last year of part-time preschool, there were definitely moments where I felt like I was in the elusive Waiting Place, juggling childcare, household duties, and writing while he worked nights and weekends or traveled—and that wasn’t counting the times illness was involved. There’s a reason I stopped recording interviews—I was drained and didn’t know what else to do beyond clearing stuff off my plate to soak up every minute of my daughter’s last summer before starting kindergarten.
Thankfully, September gave us the space to examine what was working and what wasn’t in our life. My husband’s transitioning out of executive leadership back to where he shines best, as an advisor and independent consultant. My daughter is thriving at her new school, where she takes Spanish three times a week and builds marble runs in STEAM class. And after years of being front-and-center as a mother, it’s a big change having my daughter out of the house, giving me the space to breathe and finally set some goals for myself—which I’ll share in an upcoming newsletter.
BALANCE 🏋🏻♀️
There is written proof of how resistant I was to strength training, and it took
nearly a full year to coax me into the weight room and learn how to do a proper deadlift. With only 62 pounds on the bar, I won’t be entering any powerlifting competitions soon. But when a recent DEXA scan revealed I lost 3% of my body fat in addition to increasing my muscle mass, it was validation that whatever we’re doing, it’s working.
Bonus things I also didn’t account for on this journey: showing up to the gym even the power is out, consuming a lot of lactose-free Greek yogurt and Fresca (I dare you not to make a Caddyshack reference), and warming up on my new air bike, which used to feel like the longest five minutes of my life before I discovered doing it to Jonathan Bailey singing “Dancing Through Life” makes the time pass by faster.
Now over to you 💬
What went well for you in 2024? What could have gone better, and what are your plans for 2025?
Leave me a comment and let me know.
Recently on The Write-Life Balance ⏮️
I ruminate on the depiction of Vietnamese characters in Western stories—specifically theater—and to quote Hairspray the Musical, “how far we’ve come and got so far to go.”
Links for December 🔗
📓 Already a huge fan of the Full Focus journal, but am swapping it out for the planner version for 2025. Let’s go!
🥤Lift days are better with Karbolyn (and the cherry limeade flavor is a pretty good dupe for the Sonic version.)
🛍️ This medallion print turtleneck is a welcome burst of energy amidst my collection of knits in black and blue.
📚 Laughing out loud while reading Rental House, featuring a Chinese female protagonist and a white working-class male protagonist couple who invite their families on vacation.
😍 Swooning over this traditional Scottish love ballad.
Talk to you in 2025,
Sophia :)
Good and interesting reflections, Sophia. I did a chart much like yours after completing very rough first draft (and at recommendation of my dev editor, Mary Carroll Moore). It basically saved the book. No agent but a much tighter read than pre-charting. As for you, this was against my creative grain but oh so helpful. Hi to Matt and let’s talk soon.
I love this. Thank you for sharing. I agree with you that you should not apologize for wanting more time to give yourself more breathing room. I'm also impressed by your scene-by-scene snapshot! For me, my annual review involved a lot of rest and life transitions (and career). You reminded me to write down goals for 2025. Happy New Sophia! :D