2024: A New Creative Start?

Art by Alexa Nelson

Happy 2024 folks! I hope you have had a good 2023. This last year has brought about some new ideas, thoughts and contemplations. Let’s talk about them.

2023 Reflection

Life has been, interesting, as of late, as it seems to be all go, go, go with not as much chill and creative time as I would like or need if you will for my own health.

For the first time in many years, I did not hit my 6k words target for the year, the equivalent to 500 words per month. I chased the muse to force it to sit down and help me but that didn’t happen. Granted I have sewn and drawn and painted but not in the way I would have liked. No projects seem to come together as I would like. I feel like I have just been chasing and finishing what I could whilst never getting around to the ideas and projects I want to do.

It has been, slow, stressful and painful. I have had a lot going on with RL (real life) and not enough time or mental energy to dedicate to the things I would like. It has been up and down, my attention pulled one way and another but never still and focused enough for me to do what I like.

In saying that though, I have managed to figure out somewhat what I want to do with some projects.

Current Projects

The SDR (Steampunk Dragon Rider) WIP is going to be fully rewritten. I have printed out and edited my current version of it (such a bouncing mess) and realised it is pretty much 3/4’s done. I also have had other notions and ideas for it that I would like to explore within it. I still have decisions to make I think before I begin working on it but I am determined to sit and at least get my ideas down for it to try and organise them.

The Hallie/Dark Witch WIP, what to say about that? It is another mess, that has been restarted multiple times and quite frankly, I am wondering if it is best to just, abandon it, I guess, for now? I have had the odd idea or thought about it but I don’t think I actually know what I want to do with it. I guess I could just work on it piece meal but it feels a disservice to the idea. Maybe the plot bunny will come back and help me organise my thoughts more on it.

The other project that is on my list is what I am referring to the Magic Cottage WIP. This one I feel is most suited to short story format with a running though line I guess for them. It just feels right for this one and I want to take it in sections, in an almost biographical sense. So this one will just be worked on as I can. I feel this one will survive breaks and occasional forays into it.

Creative Struggles

So what am I thinking for 2024 in terms of my creative work and creative life?

I think I will be looking to bring creativity more into my life but in a way that is more, sustainable. At least, I hope. Part of that is going to be hopefully sorting out some health stuff, which includes my current efforts to crowdfund for an autism assessment.

ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) could explain why my mind flits so easily from one thing to another, hyper focusing upon it without ever allowing myself to actually complete that idea or thing or whatever. I am hoping to get myself assessed to help me. You can find out more about it by visiting my JustGiving page.

Another part of the creative hope is to be working on creative projects and relaxing on stream more.

You will have noticed no doubt that I have updated this blog in terms of appearance.

This blog was set up just after I finished university back in 2023 (10 years ago! I feel old!) with the intention of being a place I could review media I have consumed (movies and books primarily) and also be a place I could write about my writing process, thoughts and ideas. And I did do that with this blog, hoping for it to become what is now referred to as a side hustle. Unfortunately, life had other ideas that made me slowly but surely stop using this place as much as I had. I am updating sporadically but it has become not even an afterthought for a place for me to express that stuff. I have moved to Twitter (it will never be X to me), Tumblr and Instagram as my main places. I am also on Threads now as well. Because they are are so convenient, I think this is why this has gone the way of the dodo somewhat.

Even so, all of my social media is under one identity: SleepyBkDragon (because SleepyBookDragon is too long for most places). Why am I talking about all this?

Plans For 2024

Because I am trying to revive the whole side hustle thing in a newer format. You will likely have noticed I mentioned something above that relates to the refresh of this site: Streaming. I have started streaming over on Twitch (find my channel here). I am hoping to stream at least once a week over there, whether it is video games, writing, painting, sewing or just having a chat with people. A place to form a community of chilled creative folks who hang out, doing our own thing with pleasant company. Will I succeed? I don’t know. Can I try though? Yes, of course! It is never too late to try something new and never too late to have a new dream (corny, I know. Shush!)

So that is where I am at, at the moment. Is it a lot and overloading and crazy? Yes but it is what it is. Life never goes quite how we hope but we can try to at least control the parts of our lives that are under our control. Even if I do not revisit here again this year, I hope you all have a good 2024, filled with good things amongst life’s inevitable difficulties.

I am going to link all my social medias below but feel free to comment below what your hopes for 2024 are.

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sleepybkdragon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SleepyBkDragon

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sleepybkdragon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepybkdragon/

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/sleepybookdragon

Happy New (Writing) Year

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Happy New Year all!

Yes, I am a week late and yes, I am alive.

RL has really taken over recently, pushing this blog to the far back of my mind. I did have a plan on how to revitalise this blog however I have hit a bit of a wall, well, Page.

I was planning on setting separate pages on here that would allow me to post various pieces of my work depending on if it is the Magic Cottage WIP, SDR (Steampunk Dragon Rider) or the Hallie/Demon/Dark Witch work.

I have become a bit piece meal in how I write. I have noticed as it befits my RL routine and health issues a lot better. That means I jump between different WIP’s more than I use to and so I have started writing various scenes, ideas and shorts that all fit within that WIP as it comes to me. It is a chaotic way of working I will grant but it genuinely fits better for me. For that reason, I wanted to start posting work in a more disjointed but still connected way.

This is where the rub comes into it though: separate pages on a WordPress blog are static, meaning I cannot just post to that page. I guess I could just post onto the blog and link the posts on the pages but if anyone has any suggestions, I would be grateful. I have had archiving suggested to me as well as specific tags for the posts.

Meanwhile, I have also started doing other creative stuff, like sewing, drawing, painting, crafting, etc. I am still learning a lot but I am proud of what I have produced so far. This leads into me starting to do handwritten story bible type stuff for my written work. It is another way I keep writing even when I am struggling to do so otherwise. This means a lot more paper I need to store so I can reference it quickly. If you have seen my Twitter thread on my Study/Craft Room Renovation (see here), you will know I have a large desk and can put a lot of stuff on it, like folders. Those folders, I am planning to paint and make them look, as best as I can, like book covers, to fit in with my planned decor scheme.

Increased creativity is something I am planning to try and do more of this year to help with my mental and physical wellbeing. Heck, who knows, I might post stuff here as well as my Twitter. No promises though posting more on here is a goal for this year.

How are you all? Any goals or plans? Ideas on how I can post, in an organised way, on here? Feel free to comment below.

#Writing Update June 2019

Word Count: 2,595 words.

A quick update. May turned into an interesting month.

Various RL stuff, including some that could or will impact my immediate future, means that my writing has continued to be a bit sporadic but I am keeping to one of my New Year Goals of writing at least once, every week. It was touch and go about if I would hit my target for the month of 2,500 words but I managed it in the end.

Last month also saw me starting to foreshadow certain things whilst tying up some plot threads that were threatening to be forgotten. I have been able to potentially find a way to start a mini subplot I have been wanting to put in as a bit of fun too. I have also discovered that the BBC series, Gentleman Jack, about Anne Lister, the lady they call the first modern lesbian, to be quite inspiring for the Hallie chracter in particular but also the Simone character. Something rings true between the two stories so I think the series is going to be joining ITV’s Victoria as inspiration help for the WIP.

Even so, I think fatigue with the Hallie WIP is also starting to set in, possibly because some planning and rethinking is going to be needed, for me to be able to move forward. I love the WIP and the idea but I just hitting a point where I think I am going to be switching to the SDR (Steampunk Dragon Rider) WIP for a while.

Never hurts to switch things up instead of being stuck in a rut.

Because of the changes in RL stuff, I have had to review my targets for this month and the rest of the year. My targets were already fairly low already: 2,500 words per month for June-August, 1,000 words per month for September and October and 500 words per month for November and December. I have felt it necessary to lower my June-August targets though as a precaution. My new target for this month and the next two is 1,500 words. It feels more attainable whilst still being a challenge, all things considered. Hopefully, it will keep me going, come what may.

How are things going for you? Happy writing everyone!

#CampNaNoWriMo Week 4 (& A Bit!)

Final April Word Count: 5,759 words.

Nearly doubled my word count since the last update. Not bad considering everything that has been going on personally in the background. To quote Homer Simpson, DAMN YOU REALITY!

The scenes that followed on from where I had left off from last time did indeed write themselves with ease. Before I started writing again, I have had to be looking stuff up about UK courts, youth justice, murder sentencing, 5* hotels and high end fashion. I guess it is true what they say about a writer’s Google search history. I promise, it isn’t as random as it appears!

When I did get writing, I had a couple of short scenes, a glossed over travel scene before going into a new bunch of unexpected descriptive and expositional material. This helped my word count along nicely and introduced Hallie into a new world of luxury that she is going to be living in, as well as a few new characters that even I didn’t know about. It has been fun discovering the new characters, including one that I can feel myself getting attached to already.

It has been fun to write this contrast and it feels right as the character’s background is so different to what she has and is about to experience. I guess it is an unintentional theme throughout this particular WIP: the differing living experiences of the poorest people in society versus that of the richest people. (I am sure someone can explain it much more succinctly than I have). Hallie has experienced being dirt poor, then a middle class life with her foster family and is now living life (somewhat) of the very rich. It will be a nice bump as well for the character for when she begins school. It will give her a differing view of things when she interacts with her future classmates.

Now that April has ended up, I will still be working on this WIP obviously. I know where I am going and what I am doing with this one so I may as well keep going and put Steampunk Dragon Rider (SDR for short) on the back burner to jump into when I hit a wall on the Hallie WIP. I did get a Steampunk Comic as part of Free Comic Book Day yesterday so that could get the cogs whirring on that WIP when I need it. Life yet could get very unpredictable so going with the WIP that is easiest for me to work on right now seems to be the right thing to do. Something to escape into when I need it.

How did your Camp NaNoWriMo go? Did you win? Did you have fun? Whatever happened, you are amazing for going for it and I hope you are going to continue on this crazy writing journey we are on together.

Camp NaNoWriMo Weeks 2 & 3

Current word count: 2,852 words

A bit overdue but it is Easter Weekend so I have a little time to catch up.

I wouldn’t have been able to report anything for week 2 in any case as I actually wrote nothing due to real life need to be the priority. That is happening a lot as of late as anyone who follows me on Twitter knows.

In the end though as last Sunday, I ended up writing for quite some time and actually finished my Camp word count! I didn’t even realise until I went to update my word count on the Camp website and the Excel word count sheets I use. That was a nice surprise plus anything I write now goes towards the deficit that has been building this year.

A lot of the words actually came from the fact that I just jumped into a big turning point scene that is very important to the plot and the character as a whole. I have been struggling with this for a while due to the nature of it and how best to reveal everything. I just had to force myself to write it and it actually proved quite fun. It also included a few tidbits about other characters and the backstory that I hadn’t thought or didn’t know about before. Birth certificates, newspaper stories and letters are very good ways of doubling word counts I have discovered!

I have also used something I have noticed that Persona 5 does when you see any dates mentioned. The year is always written out as 20XX, to make the story timeless I guess? Either way, it proved a good way to write out dates and street addresses without having to work them out properly. I’ll either leave them that way or go back maybe and update them later. Either way, it is a good way to mark the passage of time without actually being specific. It also makes me want to have a good gaming session on that game. It is amazing and worth tracking down!

The scene gave me a potentially fun subplot to play with at some point too: the powerful, cruel and evil King of all Demons, suddenly having to pay child support for his 16 year old kid (plus loads of backpay!) This idea is very funny to me for some reason. Curious as to how anyone else feels about it. Feel free to comment on it.

Going forward, I have a few scenes that pretty much write themselves which will add more words and hopefully get me moving forward again. I definitely need it with this draft but I feel this is tighter and better than the previous one so hopefully this will keep being the case.

I hope Camp or whatever you are working on is going well too everyone! For UK folks at least, I hope this long weekend is going to aid you greatly in improving your word counts.

Camp NaNoWriMo 2019 Week 1 #AmWriting

First week of Camp NaNoWriMo and I have written a grand total of 1,059 words. Not bad to say my target is 2,500 words. Most of those words have been written within the last two days as life hasn’t been kind as of late.

What I have written though has been good for world and character building though I am struggling in how to reveal a very important piece of information. I have a feeling I am going to end up just info dumping and letting it be sorted out in the future if I get that far. Hopefully I will.

Not much else to say really. This was just a quick blog post to aid accountability and get me use to writing blog posts in this new (to me) format on WordPress. Hope things are going better for anyone else doing Camp!

#Writing Update and #CampNaNoWriMo

Once more I have neglected this blog. Not intentionally. Purely because, well, I forgot about this! Oops!

As you might have guessed from the picture above, I am doing Camp once more next month, working on the same WIP that I have worked on for a few months. Since I am aiming to get words written every month, I might as well. Been assigned a Cabin today and there’s a few Twitter tweeps I might connect up with too. If you are doing Camp, feel free to say so. Target is set at 25,000 words but there’s a chance that will drop yet.

As for words written last month, I had a target of 2,500 words and hit 6,509 words so some words ahead. Not all the words were on my current WIP, the magic school story though. Some of the words were, bringing in a story line earlier than anticipated but it did show some character stuff so not all bad. I also wrote words from events many years later after getting stuck, which did get me thinking about some world building stuff I need to work on.

I then went off the story to write other bits. I ended up writing a very quick Destiny fanfic that I posted onto Tumblr and may yet get rewritten or more fan fics spawning from it before beginning to write a second WIP that I have worked on before alongside the current one, the slave story.

I will take the words at least because it’s better than being stuck and writing nothing, right?

So far this month, whilst melting in this heat wave, I have continued writing events that happen later before writing small tit bits relating to these Pride month prompts. Current word count is 2,739 words (239 words beyond my 2,500 target).

Having been forced to take a break, I think I might be able to return to writing what I should be writing in the WIP. That break has also highlighted to me that getting a complete first draft of this done by the end of the year is just not going to happen. The new target is to get somewhere near a complete first draft by the end of the year. All things considered, this seems to be a more plausible target.

How are things going for you? Good, bad, indifferent? Entering Camp next month? Any advice for me on keeping going? Please do comment below.

Monthly #Writing Update: April 2017 #CampNaNoWriMo

Word Count: 4,808

192 words off target but considering how busy I was last month, I don’t mind. This is also going to be a quick update as there is not much to really tell.

Most of it covered my FMC learning a new game. I am still messing with the idea and considering dropping it all together. I am not sure it adds anything to the world but it gave me words at least because of the amount of exposition. Giving up on the game led to me then getting stuck as I had no idea what to write next. I had run out of planning due to me not having thought that far ahead if I am being honest. I started this story with just a concept and planning up to a certain point.

The last week of Camp I was in Cardiff and managed to write a grand total of about 100 words. All of those words were written on the train home and came from me jumping ahead to something that happens later. I added more words on the last day of Camp as I tried to hit 5k but it just didn’t happen. Whether it was laziness, panic or something else, I don’t know. I just didn’t hit target.

This month then is just about keeping going, trying to figure out what to write next in this draft so I can be completing it by the end of the year, per my yearly goals. How is everything for you? Congratulations if you finished Camp and congratulations still if you even wrote a word!

What are everyone planning for this month? Same story or moving on? Any plans to enter July? Don’t be afraid to reply below.

January, February & March 2017 #Writing Update

 

 

Happy time zones folks. Life likes throwing in surprises and spanners and that has led to me not posting here. Writing wise, I have been much more successful.

 

Save for any words I write today I am on 17,926 words for the year. My target for the end of this month (March) for the year was 7,500 words. Whilst it is good over all that I am nearly 10.5k ahead, it is even better with Camp NaNoWriMo starting tomorrow. It is looking the next month is going to be very busy for me so having a buffer that I can use is going to be very helpful. The buffer is intended for the end of the year but if I have to use some now, so be it.

 

Majority of what I have written in the last three months has been my FMC’s first week of school, meeting classmates, teachers and first lessons. Seems a lot of words to spend on it but I am also aware that this draft is an absolute plantser mess! I have accepted that. I am focused on getting it written, not getting it right. The next draft is for tightening up and getting the big picture stuff sorted. I have also written some stuff that happens a few months later in story time. It connects with what I had written in December.

 

When I have not been writing, my mind has been on world building, new ideas and solving certain issues that had come to mind. Particularly, my thoughts have been about certain secrets and possible plans for the future. I may actually write some of the future stuff now, if only to get the ideas out of my head. My focus though is on completing this draft though.

 

Plans for the next few months is to keep writing, keep pushing for one completed draft of this story. Right now, I am reconsider certain word counts. A certain life surprise means the original goals I had set are now unlikely or pushing it too far. Take next month for example. I had planned on getting 10,000 words written during Camp. That goal has had to be revised down to 5k to accommodate it whilst also giving me the push to keep writing despite it. In May and June, I have set a target of 2,500 words each. These goals are based on what I wrote last year. All things considered, I am leaving them as is for now. They are attainable and any extra words will add to the buffer.

 

How is your writing going at the moment? Planning to enter Camp next month or in July? Had any problems or is everything going well? Do comment below.

Monthly #Writing Update #amwriting

I know. New Years Goal failed about the blogging part! Life taking priority once more.

On the upside, final count for last month was 4,669 words. Not too bad going. It does mean I have already started creating a buffer for myself that I strongly suspect I am going to need.

Majority of what was written was about the raid of the house and FMC going to Oxford to be with her grandparents. Also ended up writing background stuff for two other characters, the traditions that the my FMC’s family and my MMC’s family have before getting stuck between two possible ways for the story to go. The first revolved around my FMC’s father showing up and sharing a brief bonding moment over the FMC’s cat and the second, which had just one sentence written before I abandoned the idea, was intending to start the romance story line earlier than intended but it felt too soon and possibly forced. Stuck where to go, I jumped back to where I had left it before and started writing about both FMC’s first day at school.

Might seem a little odd writing two versions of the story but I had no idea which way to go and, after tweeting about it, @Draebox suggested writing each to see which one worked. It didn’t fully work but it did help. Writing background stuff did help as well, both for word count and for background, even if most of it will disappear at a later date possibly.

My word count goals were created or even copied over from/using my data from last year but after this last month and considering how life is and could go over the next few months, I think I might have to consider adjusting them further or even just suspending my belief that I will hit them. The main goal for this year is just to get a draft completed. I also failed to write on 18 days this past month. Granted it means I wrote on 23 days of the month but I know there were days that I could have written on, even if it was just writing a few sentences into an e-mail on my phone. That would still have been a few more words and a bit more productivity.

In that vein, I think I need to look to finding a community and joining in with challenges that will help that goal as well as finishing the draft. I hope these links will help anyone reading too.

As well as the NaNoWriMo challenges (the Camps in particular), I have signed up to a new challenge on the DraeBox website called The Free Story Starter 14 Day Challenge. You can find all the details in the link. For me, I am hoping it will help me to keep pushing and make sure I write everyday as well as helping me prepare other materials for agents, etc. I have also been participating (when I can) in the #Storycrafter chats on a Sunday run by @Writerology. The community has been very welcoming and I am hoping to take part in more. Finally, there is a challenge I discovered through the Storycrafter chat this past Sunday that started today. Called #FebWIP and run by @reagancolbert97, it asks questions to be answered from the protagonists POV. From looking through Reagan Colbert’s Twitter timeline, she runs the WIP challenge through the year with different themes.

For the next month then, I will be aiming to write on as many days as possible, doing the above challenges or participating in chats and hopefully, continuing to build on the buffer I have created for myself.

How did your January go? How was your word count? Do you take part in the above challenges or chats? Plan to? Have others you take part in? Do comment below.