Author Journey (December 26, 2022)
Happy Holidays! Hope you’re enjoying some well-earned time off to spend with your favourite characters, both real and fictional. Just remember, it’s fine to want some alone time too!
December 26, 2022
Hot Topic
Last week was crazy! Almost all of it was consumed with preparing for the holidays which is tiring without considering that I’m not that big on holidays. If anything, they tend to get in the way of my regular schedule so I end up feeling like I’ve not put in my time. I know, I should embrace it and fully relax, but it’s hard when I’ve got so much I want to do and only a finite amount of time, and who knows how long that’ll last? Haha, happy holidays…
The other news is that I took possession of my first figurine! Well, it’s the first that I actually chose and bought. I have a couple that were from blind boxes, and while I like them, it’s not quite the same. So, who did I choose? So, this may seem a little crazy, but I bought a Pop Up Parade version of Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. That doesn’t sound that crazy when you consider that I like strong women with swords… However, I’ve never seen Fairy Tail… Yeah, now it’s crazy. Well, that’s something I plan to rectify, especially now that I have Erza staring down at me as I work.
What have I been watching/reading?
I found a little bit of time at the beginning of the week and managed to watch the remaining nine episodes of a show I started rewatching a little while back. The reason that I’m rewatching a show when there are lots that I haven’t seen is that I plan on covering the second season which just come out. The problem then comes from the completionist in me who doesn’t like to only have part of a series documented. It’s the same reason I can’t drop a show once I start reviewing it. This is going to be a bit of a reoccurring theme in the early parts of next year as I try to tie up some loose ends.
I also watched episode eleven of Chainsaw Man and I’ve not quite worked out how I’m going to watch the final episode tomorrow with family around. I have a nephew who likes anime and my kids are slowly getting into it, but I think Chainsaw Man might be like throwing them in the deep end.
Work in Progress
I’ve been listening to more stories from The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume 1, 1929-1964 and have been absolutely blown away by several of them. Of course, that’s just lit a fuse under me where I will need to pick up some of my old short stories and rework them into slightly longer ones. Many of them are deliberately cut down so I think I can easily beef them up to novella length. Maybe, even light novel size. Anyhow, I have a lot to work with and I’d love to get some of them out into the world again.
While I’m not actually doing any writing at the moment, I have been doing some outlining and planning on how my year will go. I’d like to have an idea of what projects I want to work on so that I can really focus my time. In the past, I’ve made lots of grandiose statements, but never really worked out how I will achieve them. This year, I’m going to take an approach similar to how I plan the blog.
The Plan
At present, I have all my posts planned for the first two quarters of 2023 and all of the first quarter scheduled except for four Chainsaw Man posts, two manga and two anime. Beyond that, it’s a little looser and that’s deliberate. I’m trying to focus my work on the next quarter, filling in all slots there before moving on. Planning a quarter ahead of that when the time comes will allow me to include some more timely posts. I’m not going back to seasonal shows, but I do want to be somewhat current.
There are always going to be some older shows and projects that spark my imagination and slip into the schedule. Doing it this way has allowed me to schedule two hundred and thirty-four posts in quarter one, which is half as many as I did in the whole of 2022. It’s daunting and will take some work to keep up with, but I love a good challenge and this draws on all of my interests. I’m excited about 2023. I think it’s going to be a good year.
Posts
- 2022 (Full Year)
- Author Journey – 52/52 (+1)
- Review Posts – 247/247
- Review Pages – 131/131
- Inktober – 5/5
- Specials – 2/2
- 2023 (Quarter One)
- Author Journey – 0/13
- 08:00 Posts – 76/78 (+1)
- 14:00 Posts – 50/52
- 20:00 Posts – 89/91 (-2)
- 2023 (Quarter Two)
- Author Journey – 0/13
- 08:00 Posts – 17/78
- 14:00 Posts – 32/52
- 20:00 Posts – 15/91 (+12)
- 2023 (Quarter Three)
- Author Journey – 0/13
- 08:00 Posts – 0/78
- 14:00 Posts – 1/52
- 20:00 Posts – 0/39
With this post, I have finished 2022. I also did a little rearranging of the schedule which is why there’s a minus 2 in quarter one. That was to make room for a show that will air in the Winter season. I’ll start as it comes towards the end of the season, so I can still binge it.
Writing
- Out of Time (Time-travel Murder Mystery)
- Chapters – 7
- Words – 7,423
- RIP Tide (Zombie Novella)
- Chapters – 17
- Words – 18,261
- Swap Isekai (Isekai)
- Chapters – 9
- Words – 10,146
- The Beach (Ecchi)
- Chapters – 35
- Words – 40,861
My plan here will be to get this looking more like the posts section above where I have defined goals for defined periods of time. I’m thinking of writing a novel and a short story per quarter, but I’ll have to go through the numbers to make sure it’s achievable.
Final Thoughts
So, it’s the holidays and even though I’m not actively working on the blog right now, my mind still won’t switch off. That doesn’t bother me though as I think that’s one of the things that drives me to be consistent. I believe that you should work out what your strengths are and play a game that utilises them to the max. If you’re lucky enough to find a way that turns a weakness into a strength, all the better. I think my completionist tendencies and competitiveness could easily be seen as flaws, but it’s all about how you direct them.
Anyhow, happy holidays and thanks for reading.
Last Week’s Posts
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
“If anything, they tend to get in the way of my regular schedule so I end up feeling like I’ve not put in my time.”
Kinda nice to know I’m not the only one with this perspective!
Good choice of a first figure! I don’t have one of Ezra, at least not yet.
Haha! It’s good to know that I’m not the only one too. They always catch me when I’m busy planning what I’m going to do. What do mean the kids will be home on Monday… I was going to do some writing…
And thanks. Already got my eye on my next one but she isn’t available until April. It’s another girl with a sword…