Author Journey (April 4, 2022) – Quarter One Review
Wow! We’re one-quarter of the way through 2022 which makes this a great time to look back at everything I’ve done so far and also take a quick look at what I’m planning for the rest of the year.
April 4, 2022 – Quarter One Review
Hot Topic
Ironically, I fully adjusted my plan for the remainder of the year a couple of weeks ago and since then, I’ve just been making preparations. For those that don’t remember or didn’t see it, I am officially stopping seasonal reviews as of now! I will continue to look at shows at my own pace and continue to provide what I hope are valuable insights into the inner workings of the stories involved. Sometimes it might be me gushing about how wonderful a show is or trying to get my head around some of the decisions the creative teams made.
Anyhow, I see this as a temporary slow down here in order to get the fiction side of things thriving once more. It’s been a couple of years since I was last super productive on that side and this shift should free up a lot of time and make those pesky Family Real Life Events less impactful. I’ve made some real strides towards preparing for quarter two and I’ll get into those shortly. First, however, it’s the last seasonal anime section…
What have I been watching?
Seasonal Anime
So, yeah! This is it. I have finished all three of my seasonal shows with the last of the episode reviews going live yesterday. As you might imagine, I have already written up my season reviews which will be out later this week. It was a real mixed bag of finales.
First to finish was In the Land of Leadale and this last episode was completely pointless. Everything that happened had been alluded to or revealed in the previous episode. It certainly wasn’t the strongest finish to a series that started well and then kind of stumbled towards the finish line. It was fine, but I’m glad it’s over.
Princess Connect! Re: Dive, however, finished with the strongest episode of the season. It was incredible. This has been one of those series where it just gets better and better, which is impressive when you consider the mid-season episodes were as good as some season finales. If you’ve not yet given this show a chance, please do. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
And then there was Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest. The final episode was all right. It was nowhere near as good as the previous episode, but it did answers some questions and set things up for a possible third season?! Annoyingly, this episode brought back some of the more frustrating elements that had been missing for the last four or five episodes.
Historic Anime
As of next week, this section will just become Anime, or something equally clever… There are lots of shows that I plan on covering so there will always be plenty of material for this site. The fact that I can schedule ahead is going to ensure that things are running smoothly regardless of whatever crazy subplot 2022 hits us with next.
- Fire Force
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- The Rising of the Shield Hero
Fire Force continued to focus on Joker and Benimaru as they attacked the Holy Sol Church in the hopes of finding some damning evidence. Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy… just like Joker’s past which was brutal!
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood took a breather and allowed Edward and Alphonse to relax for a moment. Then, they had to assist with childbirth so… you know… real relaxing!
I made it to the mid-point of season two That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which was when I stopped, when back to the beginning and worked my way back to this point. After this post, it’s all my first reaction to the episodes so that should be fun.
This week also saw the full first season review of The Rising of the Shield Hero. I’ve really enjoyed rewatching this series and putting together my thoughts on the matter. The second season is about to start and I’m actually not going to watch it… Well, not until the end is almost upon us and I can binge-watch it. I’m sure, I’ll have a lot to say about that too.
Work in Progress
This week I have no anime watching obligations and it feels pretty exciting. I will probably still watch some shows, but I’m not bound by a fixed release schedule. The best thing about the current situation and my continued efforts to schedule posts ahead of time is that I now have eleven weeks where all I “have” to do is write up an Author Journey update and watch an episode of Fire Force.
That’s a full eleven weeks that I can focus on my fiction. I’m not going to make too many predictions, but that is a good amount of time and if I can get back to the NaNoWriMo speed, I’ll have a completed novel in that time.
I will also work on my posts for quarter three, but there is no hurry. I can’t believe just how much time I’ve gained from making the decision to step back from seasonal anime. That doesn’t mean I won’t miss it, because I will, but this is definitely the right choice for my author career.
I was recently speaking with one of my author friends about how he went from a day job to a full-time author and it wasn’t a particularly crazy plan he had come up with. Now, he’s not one of these six-figure authors, but he earns enough to quit his day job and support his wife who is about to do something similar. Ultimately, that’s the first step that I’m looking for – making enough to do this as my full-time job.
The Plan
This felt like a really productive week. I finished off my posts for quarter one, making my total 106. I also came close to completing quarter two. Other than my Author Journey and Fire Force posts, I only have two more posts to complete. That’s what I was talking about earlier when I said I have eleven full weeks with nothing hanging over me. Once I’ve read those two mangas, it’ll be thirteen weeks.
This new plan should be a lot easier to maintain and I’ll be able to take breaks from writing to read a volume or watch an episode here and there. I can truly use them as rewards for completing a chapter. It took a lot of work to get to this point, but I think it was worth it. However, only time will tell.
Posts
- Quarter One
- Author Journey – 13/13
- Historic Anime – 39/39
- Seasonal Anime – 36/36 (+2)
- Bonus Posts – 18/18
- Quarter Two
- Author Journey – 1/13 (+1)
- Historic Anime – 37/39 (+3)
- Seasonal Anime – 3/3 (+2)
- Bonus Posts – 1/13 (+1)
- Quarter Three
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Historic Anime – 9/39
So, I cleaned up quarter one and almost did the same for quarter two. I now only need to write up two posts a week and one is a collaboration. Exciting times!
Writing
- MSR (Paranormal Harem Rom-com)
- Plotting – 49/58
- Writing – 43/58
- Editing – 42/58
- Artwork – 0/9
- Valiant Lineage (Epic Dark Fantasy)
- Plotting – 41/41
- Writing – 0/?
- Editing – 0/?
- Artwork – 0/?
- Black Death (Post Apocalyptic Shoujo AI)
- Plotting – 0/?
- Writing – 0/?
- Editing – 0/?
- Artwork – 0/?
- Asteroidea (Horror Science-fiction)
- Plotting – 0/?
- Writing – 0/?
- Editing – 0/?
- Artwork – 0/?
I didn’t do any work on my fiction this week, but that was so that I could start this week with a clear schedule. Now, I can focus on getting these stories written. I’ve got more than enough to work on and now I have the time to do it. These numbers will have changed by next week.
Final Thoughts
So, in response to last week’s final thoughts, I successfully wrapped up quarter one and got very close to doing the same to quarter two. If nothing else it is completely manageable from here. I’m really looking forward to reporting back next week with some positive news. It’s been a hard couple of years and I’m hoping that I can now rediscover my flow.
I may even be able to go to bed at a reasonable time once more. Actually, it’s been so long, that I don’t even know what is considered a reasonable time to go to bed anymore. Any thoughts? Leave your suggestions in the comments. Thanks for reading and stay safe.
