Author Journey (July 5, 2021)

“What if…” has got to be one of the most important collections of words we’re likely to face. It’s led to innovations and explorations. As an author, I must start at least a hundred thought processes a day with what if!

July 5, 2021

Have you ever seen that episode of The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon and Raj are working on a theory and they just sit and stare at a whiteboard? I feel like that is exactly how it works as an author. As I put together the background for my epic fantasy series, I constantly find myself getting to a point and asking myself how a part of the story works. That will then lead me down a rabbit hole of ideas trying to make something work.

It might sound crazy. Probably more so if you’ve seen me taking Gus for a walk as a stare into nothingness with my headphones on. Out of the blue, a wicked smile might appear on my face. It’s because something has just slotted into place. There was something that I needed to happen and it didn’t make sense. Now, it does and it’s glorious.

One of the things I love about creative writing is that it’s like a puzzle. You start out by sorting out the edges or maybe you found a cluster of pieces that fit together. Then, the more you stare at the picture and the more pieces you add, the clearer it becomes. I’ve not done any official writing on the rewrite yet, but so many pieces are falling into place and I’m really enjoying what I’m seeing.

I’ve got lots of notes about the history and how things work. I think I’ve solidified a magic system, its limitations, and how it works. The thing that I haven’t quite got my teeth into is my naming system. I could use placeholders and it’s possible that I will so that I can get started, but it’s something that will need a lot of thought. There’s a lot of names to come up with.

I’m already finding that I am enjoying the process once more. It’s hard because I was really excited for the Black Death trilogy. However, having put that series to one side has completely freed my mind. That makes me believe that I made the right decision as hard as it was.

I mentioned last week about how I like to draw and now that my son has started his summer program, I am finally going to have a chance to open up my Christmas present to myself from seven months ago… That’s right, I got myself a digital drawing tablet for Christmas and haven’t had the time to open it. It’s something that I will need to learn, but I have a good track record of picking up software so I’m cautiously excited.

So, this week will be my first full week in some ridiculous number of weeks where both kids are out of the house during the day. I’m looking forward to working out a daily schedule that allows me to do a little bit of everything. It’s going to be interesting.

And now I’ve finished Fruits Basket! The final episode review went live last week and the third season review will be out on Thursday. It’s been one incredible ride and I’m a little sad to see it go. I never thought that I would get swept away in a shoujo supernatural romance, but here we are. It just goes to show that you should never discount something because of its genre or some preconceived ideas. Widen your horizons. Try something new, it might surprise you.

I’m really enjoying rewatching Heaven’s Lost Property again. It’s a completely absurd comedy with some really interesting ideas. My reviews for Otherside Picnic are all done and will continue to appear. It’s another show that I wasn’t expecting to be as good as it was. I’ve even started reading the light novel, to see how that translates. I’ve also been working on two more series of reviews and while I would love to get them finished before they start releasing, that’s probably a little ambitious.

One spanner that has appeared lately is that my Tweets have all lost their previews which is the image and text it shows when you add a link to the Tweet. There was an update to the plugins and suddenly everything has stopped working. I’ve checked the HTML and everything is there so I’m not quite sure what it is, but it is definitely annoying. I love self-hosting my site and I’ve learnt a lot doing it, but it really can be a pain when something like this happens.

This week, my bonus review was for the first season of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. I had a lot of fun with this show, even if there were some troubling elements. It’s one of those times where you don’t have to like the character to enjoy the show. If anything, it’s showing you how flawed he is in the beginning and giving him a chance to change. Change is hard and it’s not going to happen overnight, so I’m interested to see whether he manages it or not.

And that’s it for today. Next week, I’m looking forward to reporting back on some actual word counts that count towards the story and not just me making up histories and compiling character profiles. It’s going to be a busy week. Anyhow, thanks for reading and stay safe.

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