Author Journey (May 27, 2024)
Well, I’ve had a very productive week. Even with a shortened week thanks to a public holiday, I managed to grab every moment I could to keep things going. It’s a great feeling when you can see your efforts coming together.
Author Journey (May 27, 2024)
Favourite Moment!
Some of my books arrived! That means that I now have all seven volumes of Highschool of the Dead in English and Japanese. I already had the two hardback, colour volumes that comprised all seven books so this finishes off the collection… or does it. At least for now, it does! I have been able to track down some other hard-to-find books that are out of print and were missing from my collection so that was a nice feeling and will be even better once they are all housed on my bookshelves. Seriously though, I think I might need to do some rearranging to fit everything in…
On top of that, I had another golf lesson and really enjoyed that. My swing is coming along and we did some putting as well, which was nice when I landed a couple of long putts. I’m starting to think I could really get into golf. I like the idea of still being competitive since I’m not going to start playing rugby or football again. My knees just wouldn’t hold out. I just need to put in some practice and see where it takes me. It’s definitely nice being out at the course surrounded by nature.
Writing!
I’m continuing to work on the foundations for my monster novel and have taken a play from Terrrance Crow‘s game plan by casting characters. However, I’m casting anime characters which seems wildly appropriate. These are just placeholders since I will eventually draw them exactly how I see them, but it’s nice to have a reference point. The two main characters in the story are a marine biologist (played by Hizuru Minakata from Summer Time Rendering) and a mechanic (played by Azuki Shinatsu from Maken-ki). Although, they are also Kei and Yuri from Dirty Pair. It’s quite a fun process and since I have a few more characters to think about, I’m sure I’ll be borrowing characters from other shows. Again, I’m not using the actual characters, this is just a reference point.
Anime!
I finished ‘Tis Time for “Torture”, Princess and then dived into another of the Winter 2024 shows I had lined up. Surprisingly, I also finished The Strongest Tank’s Labyrinth Raids -A Tank with a Rare 9999 Resistance Skill Got Kicked from the Hero’s Party- which is yet another ridiculously long title, but I enjoyed it all the same. I’ve already made it to the halfway point of 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! Seriously, these titles are out of control! After that, I have two more shows to watch and then I’ll have some free time to catch up on other shows. I also finished watching Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers. Lots of progress!
Catching up on my To-Watch List
Winter 2024
Spring 2024
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
- Mushoku Tensei II: Jobless Reincarnation (no new episode last week)
- KonoSuba: God’s blessing on this wonderful world!
Manga!
Of course, I had to slow down somewhere and while it was here, it wasn’t too much. I still managed to get my three books per week which included two more volumes of Gigant. Hopefully, I’ll have finished the entire series before I’ve even posted a single review.
| Tasks | Goal | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Anime Watched | 6 Episodes | 28 Episodes |
| Manga Read | 3 Books | 3 Books |
| Posts Scheduled | 10 Posts | 10 Posts |
| Words Written | 5,000 | 0 words |
| Artwork Completed | 1 Piece | 0 Sketches |
Aspirations for the week!
I’d love another week like this one. That’ll do nicely. One metric that I’m going to start tracking again is the number of scheduled posts I have. For a while now, it’s been around eight which would be a week’s worth, but with the seasonal shows, it doesn’t work that way. Yet another reason that I’m going to focus on shows that I can binge-watch. Then there’s the occasional schedule change from episodes being delayed and such. As much as I enjoy the discussions that come with seasonal shows, I want to have a more stable routine. Anyhow, I’m up to fifteen scheduled posts now, which is a big increase.
Another fun thing that I’ve been slowly working on in the background is a bit of a site refresh when it comes to the links at the end of each post. Now, this is not going to be a quick process as I have almost two and a half thousand posts. I’m almost tempted not to bother, but I want things to be consistent throughout my posts, at least with the formatting. Well, it’s a new week and I’ve got lots to keep up with. Thanks for reading.
Just knowing what a character looks like gets the gears turning. I also use Google Maps to find their house using Street View. That helps me place them, and it helps me generate back stories.
Using anime characters makes sense, too! I used Silence Suzuka and Ikuno Dictus in one of my books.
Very cool that you’re going to draw them yourself. That should give you great insights into the characters!
Hope this coming week goes well!
Yeah. It’s a nice shortcut to getting those base elements down. My story takes place on another world so no Google Maps for me, but I have been grabbing images of industrial complexes, particularly oil rigs as these are really helpful for enhancing the environment.
Hopefully, I’ll end up with a characters sheet for the main characters with a couple of full body images and some profiles. It’ll be a nice bonus to be able to give away too.
And thanks. I hope so too.
Good luck on your novel.
Thanks, it’s a lot of work, but hopefully, it’ll be worth it in the end!
Once again, I wish you the very best in completing your first novel regardless of the genre you’re writing under. Better if you get preliminary reviews praising that novel of yours.
I wish to receive one soo , and even though I think my story is dull in comparison with Changeling (by Mecanimus; justified since he wrote months before I did; his world building is much more complex than mine), I surprisingly got a 4-star from an anon so that gave me a bit of confidence in myself to keep writing and publish the next chapters.
Thanks. I’ve been far too slow for far too long. Hopefully, I’ll get back on track soon.
That’s awesome that you got some good responses. Keep it going!