Author Journey (January 10, 2022)
Apparently, I’m not allowed to make plans. As soon as I let the universe know what I’m up to, it finds a way to shoot me down. Well, not today, universe. I’m not going down without a fight this time!
January 10, 2022
Hot Topic
At the beginning of 2021, I had planned on taking a couple of days off from work to sit around and watch anime all day long. It was going to be my treat to myself for putting up with 2020 and all the garbage it gave us. Of course, the year started by closing the schools and that put that idea to bed for a while. Then, when schools reopened for in-person learning, I thought I might get to do it. Nope. We caught COVID. After that, it was a steady stream of school and daycare closures that almost always seemed to coincide with my quieter periods at work. Basically, I went the entire year without taking those two days for myself.
Well, this year has started in a similar manner. Schools have closed and there were two positive cases of Omicron at the daycare. It might seem a little extreme, but we’ve now pulled our youngest out of daycare completely. If I’ve got to watch one, it might as well be two… So, yeah! All my plans on how I was going to seize control of things in 2022 have taken a bit of a setback. Even so, I have finally, all be it at the end of the week started writing again. That’s right, I’m going head to head with 2022 and I’m not backing down!
What have I been watching?
Seasonal Anime
This week, I covered no seasonal anime shows. Usually, it works out where I have a week with no new shows in which I can release the season reviews. It didn’t quite work out this time. Only one of the shows I was planning actually started last week and rather than rush to get it into my schedule, I decided that I would push the review to this week which is also when I’ll start the other two series.
- In the Land of Leadale
- Princess Connect! Re:Dive
- Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest
That means that this week there will be three new series of posts. Admittedly, two will be season twos, but that’s pretty much the same thing. Of course, that meant that I had to find something to fill the spots I have reserved for seasonal anime or I would have failed my posting daily plan in the first week. Luckily, I found something suitable…
Historic Anime
If you’ve been following along, you may have noticed three posts last week from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?. I first reviewed season one as part of my Anime A to Z challenge and then picked up seasons two and three as they aired, covering them episodically. At that time, I didn’t have access to the OVAs that accompanied each season. Well, now I do and it was a lot of fun revisiting these characters and getting to see them goof off.
So, not only do we have three new seasonal shows this week but there will be a new historic series starting too as I have now covered all of Heaven’s Lost Property. I still can’t get over the disappointment of the final movie in the series. I loved the first two seasons, but the movies really didn’t do it justice. Anyhow, that’s all in the past now. To replace Heaven’s Lost Property, I’m trying something new with a series I’ve mentioned a few times in recent Author Journey posts. That will start tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled!
Of course, there’s always one series that beats its own drum and will be finishing this week. That is Jujutsu Kaisen, which has just the season review to go. I really enjoyed this series and am eagerly awaiting the movie and the next seasons. How do you follow a series like Jujutsu Kaisen? Find out next week! I think I’ve picked a good one and it’s a show I’ve not seen before too.
Last week also saw my favourite episode from Hundred. You should absolutely check that out as I think it took a more genuine approach to the idea of Noblesse Oblige. Bet you didn’t think I’d find something clever to say about Hundred!
As if that wasn’t already enough, I’ve started reviewing season two of Fire Force with Yomu from Umai Yomu Anime Blog. We reviewed the first season together which Yomu initially thought was a BL anime and had a lot of fun. Since then, we’ve been working on Ecchi Hunter together until it suffered at the hands of the great web hosting catastrophe of 2021.
Work in Progress
It was a pretty hectic week. My parents left on Tuesday to return home to the UK after spending Christmas with us. Thanks to the pandemic, it was the first time we’d seen them in person in almost three years. Knowing that they would be here, I decided to not start work properly until Wednesday. However, after I’d dropped them off at the airport things started to unravel.
School had been delayed by a day, but we all knew what was coming. That’s right – virtual school! Apparently, it’s only for two weeks, but I’ve heard that song before and that’s not how it goes. I’m hopeful that they will return to in-person as virtual school is not for grade two. Anyhow, until we hear anything that’s the way it’s going. We also made the decision to pull the youngest from daycare in light of the current situation.
This all means that I now find myself watching the kids during the day and doing the day job at night. Fun times for everyone. Sleep will be a luxury for the next while I think. This time around though, if things get too stressful with the virtual school, I’m just going to turn it off and let them play. There’s no point fighting it. It’s not a normal year. It’s not been normal for some time now!
That said, I actually found some time to write. So, I’m working on my project for quarter one which is the paranormal rom-com with the working title MSR. I started writing this in November 2020… I know. It’s far too long. Anyhow, after doing a full edit on what I had, I needed to delete the last chapter I wrote so that I could get it back on track. I’ve been thinking about the final act while walking all this week so it was nice to get some work done. I only wrote one chapter, but it’s a step in the right direction.
The Plan
This year, I thought I would try to track my progress weekly on all fronts. That way I can easily see where I’m falling behind and where I can ease off. I like to schedule posts for the future so that I can spread them out over time instead of hitting publish the second I finish writing it. It’s pretty well established that Google prefers regular content to a boom and bust process so that is what I do.
I split my year into quarters, each consisting of thirteen weeks. It helps to keep them comparable. I also prefer the uniformity that comes with weeks over months. My day job is very analytical so this fits with that mindset too.
Quarter One
- Posts
- Author Journey – 2/13
- Historic Anime – 39/39
- Season Anime – 1/36
- Bonus Posts – 10/16
That’s almost as good as it can get. It’s a great feeling knowing that I have an entire quarter’s worth of historic posts banked up. I also have seventeen posts from quarter two banked up as well. I’d like to keep at least a quarter ahead, but I can slow down if I need more writing time.
- Writing
- Plotting – 49/58
- Writing – 43/58
- Editing – 42/58
- Artwork – 0/9
Luckily, I started the year with forty-three chapters completed. I did delete one and rewrite it and I’ve been working on the plot for the remaining chapters too. It’s coming together and given the current situation, I’d like to get through it early and have more time to get on with the next quarter’s project. Of course, I also have the artwork to do, but I think I can work on that while the kids draw.
Final Thoughts
It’s not been the perfect start to the year that I was hoping for, but there are plenty of positives. I’m fully prepared for some parts of my plan to take a little longer than I had originally anticipated. It’s ironic as I was just thinking that I should add a web novel to my plan, but that was last Monday. I have no time for additions just yet.
How has your year started? Are you keeping to your plans and resolutions? Anyhow, thanks for reading and stay safe.
I’m impressed with how flexible you’ve managed to be!
This year is all over the place with me. I know more people who have contracted COVID in the last two weeks than almost the duration of the rest of the pandemic. I think you made the right call pulling your child out of daycare. Omicron’s ability to spread has not been exaggerated.
Do you find that keeping to your schedule cuts into exercise and mental health time? It does for me. What with primary career, family obligations, and writing (novels and anime), I just don’t have time for much else. Though, to be honest, nothing is better for my mental health than writing. So there’s that!
I’m enjoying your Hundred reviews, too. It’s refreshing and relaxing to read your perspective, since you enjoyed the show.
How’s your Wacom tablet working out for you?
Thanks. I think being able to adjust is one of the most important skills we can learn. Probably get that from my agile background.
I’ve definitely noticed a spike in people on Facebook and Twitter saying they’ve had it. When we caught it last May, it came to us via the daycare so we decided that it was best to bubble up and look after ourselves. Luckily, we have managed to find a nanny who will start in a couple of weeks so that I can work during the day again. Will take a lot of pressure off.
I have almost zero time for exercise, but that’s been hard ever since we had kids. My wife is a lawyer and works long hours so I end up doing a lot of the family stuff. Walking Gus is my main source of exercise at the moment, but I used to run and swim a lot. Writing is great for my mental health too. That and watching anime helps a lot. If I don’t do either in a day I instantly notice the difference in the way I feel.
Thanks. I wrote those while my site was down for those two weeks last year and they kept me from losing it.
Hahaha! The Wacom tablet I got for Christmas last year… It’s sadly next to the set of professional markers I got the year before and haven’t had any time to play with… I’m hoping to rectify that. Drawing is another of those great stress relievers for me.