Author Journey (February 7, 2022)
It’s been another one of ‘those’ weeks, and I’m struggling to pinpoint exactly what is causing it. I think I need to do some time analysis and work out where it’s all going. It’s got to have gone somewhere!
February 7, 2022
Hot Topic
I guess the big news was that this site had its first ten-thousand view month which was nice. There’s been pretty consistent growth since the dark couple of weeks in August and September of 2021. Restarting my seasonal coverage has no doubt had a big impact, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s my reviews of Hundred. Surely, that’s not just a coincidence.
My youngest son is becoming more and more familiar with the nanny which is great. I have had some quiet time during the day, although my desk is in the basement which is also where we have the playroom, so it’s not always as quiet and distraction-free as it could be. Basically, I continue to work in the evenings to try to keep on top of everything, but hope to start going to bed at midnight again and not between two and four in the morning…
What have I been watching?
Seasonal Anime
It was yet another three-episode week which makes it even harder to work out where all my time is going. If I was watching tons of anime it would be easy to make the adjustments and find more writing time, but that really isn’t the issue. If anything, I’d like to be able to watch more. Back in the early days of the pandemic I was covering seven seasonal shows a week and watching that much definitely kept me sane. I can feel that slipping!
This week I got to see possibly my favourite episode of Princess Connect! Re: Dive in either season. It was spectacular. I can’t wait for the next one. I’ve been developing a theory about In the Land of Leadale and I think it makes sense, but possibly not for the genre. Maybe, they are going to surprise us. And then there was Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest. I almost enjoyed the entire episode the week before, but this week’s episode was a stark reminder of the wonky pacing that made the first season such a chore to watch. Hopefully, it’s just a blip.
Historic Anime
I’m just chugging away with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which is going to take me over a year to fully review. That’s quite the commitment, but I’m confident that it will be worth it. It’s already starting to win me over. I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Fire Force season two especially as I heard quite a bit of negative feedback regarding it. I may have watched the whole of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, but that’s not been the end of it. The posts will continue to come and I have all the OPs and EDs in my playlist and listen to them daily.
This week saw the final episode review of Hundred go live and I’m going to miss this series. It definitely picked me up when I was looking at the possibility of having to start blogging from scratch again. I’m still gutted that there isn’t a second season or an English translation of the light novels. Anyhow, this week will see the full season review go live and then it’s on to another series. Would you believe it, another isekai!
Work in Progress
I know I was busy last week. I barely stopped and even now, I can’t work out where all my time went. After struggling to get anything going with my fiction writing, I decided to try and pick just three things to do each day. However, every time I got derailed by something important coming in from work or the Mrs. I’m going to try again this week, but I’ve also thought of something else to try.
Part of me wonders how it is that I can’t get back into the flow of writing when I write for this site daily. I’m on a twenty-seven-day streak for writing a post. So, why can’t I channel that energy into a creative writing project? I used to do it all the time. What’s changed?
Maybe I need to treat my fiction in the same way I do my blog posts. This leads me more and more to think about releasing it as a web novel. That would make each chapter equivalent to a post. I would get the same feeling of achieving something as I would for scheduling a post. Admittedly, I don’t want to start releasing it until I have finished editing it but maybe I need to try something to push me on.
There’s also a part of me that thinks I might have been stuck on the events that happen in the next chapter I need to write. My plan was good when I wrote it, but there must be something there. I always write in chronological order so it’s not like I could skip ahead and then come back. It definitely needs a little more thought. Looks like more walks for Gus are on the cards.
The Plan
It’s almost the mid-point of the quarter and while I’m progressing nicely, I haven’t done too much for the next quarter in a while. Hopefully, I can get a bit of momentum going again. My concern is that this will become an issue all the way until the summer when my youngest will start the summer program that’s attached to his future school. I’m definitely over the whole pandemic and can’t wait until I’m not just doing whatever I can to maintain rather than build shiny, new things.
Quarter One
- Posts
- Author Journey – 6/13 (+1)
- Historic Anime – 39/39
- Seasonal Anime – 13/36 (+3)
- Bonus Posts – 13/17
As I said, I’m keeping up with the seasonal anime and my Author Journey posts which are starting to feel more and more like the journal of a tired and frustrated blogger. I’m going to keep plugging away, however, as I know that if I just keep going, it will come together.
- Writing
- Plotting – 49/58
- Writing – 43/58
- Editing – 42/58
- Artwork – 0/9
The lack of progress can be attributed to the current situation. I need more sleep, more time to watch anime and read manga. Basically, I need more time and fewer distractions. Will this be the week? Only time will tell!
Final Thoughts
My Wacom tablet has been sitting on the corner of my desk for over a week. It’s staring at me and I really want to get it out and see what I can do with the digital pen. I am a little hesitant as I feel more comfortable with pencils, but I also realise that this is something I need to learn. I might also try and get a couple of early nights, as much as that would feel like wasting time.
What do you do to track your time and see if there’s anything holding you back? Anyhow, thanks for reading and stay safe.
