Author Journey (July 10, 2023)
I don’t know if it was the change in schedule or whether things just finally caught up with me, but I crashed this week. There were other factors, but it was just one of those weeks where nothing went to plan.
Author Journey (July 10, 2023)
It was supposed to be a fairly quiet week with the day job. The kids were back at full-day summer camps. Basically, it looked like it was going to be the ideal week to catch up on some things I’ve been putting off and working towards the novel contest. Why does it never go as planned? The day job suddenly kicked into gear and it started to take up some of my evenings too. That pushed everything else back. Then, I had a real-life family event that killed one whole day, forcing the day job to move well into the night. Hopefully, this week will be calmer, although the day job is about to get busy again…
The Weekly Recap!
I started my journey into one of the longer-running anime shows in a bid to lighten the load on my post-scheduling. The show I chose to dive into this time was Fairy Tail and I am now eleven episodes in. Wikipedia has the first season listed as 48 episodes so this was fine progress. I also watched episode 0 of season two of Mushoku Tensei. If I keep this pace up, it’ll give me another three or four weeks to catch up on all my outstanding posts.
Even when the day job gets busy, manga is always there for me. I’ve mentioned before how I run a lot of code and processes that take a lot of time. That leaves me staring at a screen for ages. When we were based in the office, I had to look busy. At home, I can grab a book and start reading. Depending on the series, I can sometimes read an entire book before the process has finished. This week, I managed to read four books.
I had planned on writing seven posts, but that was before I remembered that I was going to review Mushoku Tensei so it probably should have been eight. However, since I only managed seven I’m not going to correct that for last week and celebrate the victory!
I had very little time to look at the revised outlines for RIP Tide and MSR, but I did spend a lot of time thinking about them. Whenever I’m doing something that doesn’t require much thought, I’ll drift off and start running through the events in my head. It may not sound like much actual work, but this is how I process the scenes to make sure they work. I’ve already decided to adjust several characters because it wasn’t working. I have also been thinking about a possible third story, but I need to get one finished first before I consider the next one.
I failed to pick up a pencil for the second week running which is a real annoyance because it’s probably one of the most calming things I can do and I feel like I need it. There’s something strangely relaxing about pushing a pencil around a piece of paper and seeing what you can create. Hopefully, I’ll find some time this week.
| Tasks | Goal | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Anime Watched | 12 Episodes | 12 Episodes |
| Manga Read | 3 Books | 4 Books |
| Posts Scheduled | 7 Posts | 7 Posts |
| Chapters Written | Outlining | Mental preparations |
| Artwork Completed | 3 Sketches | 0 Sketches |
Aspirations for the Week!
There were several nights last week when I completely ran out of steam. Hopefully, that’s out of my system now, but my body has been through a lot this year with fractured kneecaps and herniated disks. Maybe, it’s all finally catching up with me. I know I didn’t sleep very well for several months this year. I find I don’t need a lot of sleep, but if it’s broken then it doesn’t work. All the times I now wake up in the night have no doubt taken their toll on me.
I had started a plan to go to bed earlier and that’s kind of slipped away of late with work and real-life events, so my goal is to get that back under control. I want to start the day refreshed, not still tired. I need to work on my routine.
Watching Anime
This week, I will continue as I did last week. I’ve got a long way to go before I’ve completed season one of Fairy Tail so I’m going to keep chugging along. I’ve also got an episode of Mushoku Tensei to watch each week, so I will aim for twelve episodes again.
Goal: 12 Episodes
Reading Manga
My stack of books from the library has reduced slightly and I’ve paused all my holds until November. Basically, I have more than enough reviews scheduled and books still to read that I don’t need to pick up more books. It will also give me more time to focus on my writing. Once I’ve cleared the to-read pile, I’ll have a mini manga break. I’ll stick with three books a week for now though.
Goal: 3 Books
Posts Scheduled
Again, I forgot all about Mushoku Tensei when I set my goal for last week. This week, I’m including it, three manga reviews, three catch-up posts, and an Author Journey. I managed to knock off one of my backlist of posts last week, but I’d like to get three more done this week. I want to have everything caught up before I finish Fairy Tail.
Goal: 8 Posts
Writing
I will definitely finish the revised outline for RIP Tide this week. Then, I’ll start reading through MSR, making notes on each chapter as I go. If I’m lucky enough to get to the end of the first draft, I’ll outline the last third of the story in the same manner. I want to get myself into a position where I can start working on the second drafts next week.
Goal: Complete RIP Tide Outline and Tie up Loose ends in MSR
Artwork Completed
I’m going to stick with the goal I set last week which was for three sketches. I know I didn’t achieve it, but I also think if I make it any smaller, it will become completely insignificant. Plus, I really enjoy doing it and it helps me relax.
Goal: 3 Sketches
Final Thoughts
Here’s another thing that’s slipped by me thanks to things being a little too hectic in my real life, not last week, but the week before, I posted my two-thousandth post on Otaku Author. It’s taken me just under four years to reach that number and while it doesn’t feel as special as when I hit one thousand, it’s still a pretty crazy number. It’ll probably take me a little longer to reach three thousand since I’ve slowed my schedule down, but that’s fine. I’ve got plenty to keep even the most avid reader busy.
So, it wasn’t the week I was hoping to kick start my attempts to finish my two stories. At least, I have lots of time to play with, but I wouldn’t want to have too many more weeks like this. I know what I need to do. I just need to do it. Anyhow, I’m going to run because I’ve got lots to do and who knows how much time I’ll have available to me. I’m going to remain positive and plan on having a great week. Hope you do too! Thanks for reading!
Must be something in the cosmic weather. I suffered a reactor containment failure this week — complete meltdown. Fortunately, I have the blueprints to rebuild, but man. What a pain.
“It may not sound like much actual work, but this is how I process the scenes to make sure they work. ”
That is absolutely work. It’s some of the most intricate and difficult work, too. Just because it’s all mental doesn’t mean it’s not real. I know you know that, but I’ve had people walk up to me when I’m either in programming mode or novel writing mode and say, “You look like you were just spacing out, so can you answer this question for me?” And ten minutes of work evaporates.
So I’m a bit touchy about that point!
Yeah, there must have been some sort of convergence that we knew nothing about. Damn, universe always screwing with our plans…
I often tell people that my job is like that episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon and Raj are working together but they are both just sat at their desks staring into space. I don’t think people realise how much visualisation goes into coding and building databases. Got to work through the kinks before you start developing.
Same goes for stories. I think that’s why there are a lot of people with fairly analytical backgrounds in the writing world. They’re able to see the patterns and break stories down in their heads.