2024-W30 EOW Report

Highlights This Week

• Dragonlance & X-Men. I am literally regressing to prepubescence. I just need to get a hit of TMNT, He-Man, and Final Fantasy and it will all be complete. I’ve been eyeing Marvel Unlimited since I got back into comics. The deal is insanely good. I can finally read all the issues I didn’t back when you had to hunt down and be able to afford the physical issues.
• Finally put the layout design training I got from JB into use. It is surprisingly fun. It’s a lot of nitpicky finegrained detail meddling, moving elements from one pixel to another. But yes. My kind of fun.
• Compiled notes on K.M. Weiland and all of the last twelve months of theory for storytelling into a singular article called “Building Story Kernels”. And reaching that finality, and placing that last tool into my toolbox gave me a sense of quiet relief, reenergized momentum, and a clear path forward. But also put me in a place where I needed a bit of rest this past week.

Project Status Dashboard

The following are ongoing fiction writing projects broken down to what stage they’re in. Legend in footnote¹.

EOW Time Tracking

I’ve been thinking a lot about the 3S1M project a lot now that I’ve done it for 28 days straight. I talked about it a bit on the podcast as well. On one hand, there is progress. It’s bare and minimal and because something was done, it feels like a salve that shouldn’t satisfy me (and it doesn’t), but energetically, it does on a daily basis… and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Because really, I do need at least 30 minutes to plot out and plan stuff. Three sentences is a “on the whim” microfiction if I don’t have a plan and direction. It keeps my mind somewhat focused, but it’s also just a taste and it doesn’t really feel like a meal.

I know I shouldn’t beat myself up. I think I’ve grown organically because I’m still putting energy into it every single day even if it’s bare and minimum. But the dull anger that I could be doing more persists. That I can and I should be doing this.

So I’m going to break these streaks I’m tracking into two. One for the 3-sentence-1st-thing-in-the-morning. Even if it never helps build out a story, capturing a moment could be a collection of dramatic bits. But the 30-minute-per-day needs to be pushed again. I think I need the pressure. Without the pressure, I’m not pushing myself.

Three Sentences First Thing Streak

• CURRENT STREAK: 28 Days
• BEST STREAK: 28 Days (July 28, 2024)

Thirty MInutes A Day Streak

• CURRENT STREAK: 0 Days
• LAST STREAK: 5 Days (June 14, 2024)
• BEST STREAK: 18 Days (May 10, 2024)

Four Thousand Weeks

A lot of house admin and logistics this week. What I thought was going to be tough week where I wouldn’t see my two eldest as they had Jazz camp, wherein I left dinner plans for the whole week, and I felt agitated that I would leave in the morning when they were still asleep, and then be in bed before they came home… all fell apart when they realized the class was beneath their level in every way. Then it became a back-and-forth with the school to get us out and get a refund. And then there were the driving lessons for the eldest where we technically owed this school money for lessons, but we never took them, and because we didn’t and I hired someone else who was way more available, we’re just going to go with him instead. Then there was the banking situation where I’ve literally just given up. I just don’t care anymore. You win, Kafka. You and your bureacratic nightmare. Fuck you.

As for work – It feels like I’ve reached a good balance where I’m comfortable with what I’m doing. Full-time contract doesn’t feel dicey anymore. Lawyer-client was effusive with praise. Mental health facility is 100% in-network and we’re driving in a positive forward momentum now. This has been a really solid week on all fronts emotionally.

Book Reading

• Still avoiding Atonement(2001), still reading Time of the Twins (1986), started Emma (1815) on the phone, but also started Let’s Talk About Hard Things (2021) because Simon & Schuster were giving it away during the pandemic during political divisiveness or something.
• I am putting up with a lot in Time of the Twins that I wouldn’t in any other fantasy novel right now. The names are stupid. I’m basically calling the leader of the red robes J-Dawg because I can’t remember if it’s Justinian, Justorian, Justarian, Justoffer. I just don’t care. There are weird anachronisms that show up. There are scenes and action sequences that are obviously from the campaign they played and don’t push the plot forward. And most of all, I am annoyed with the “characters on the page will talk about stuff and not state specifics and keep the reader in suspense as to what they’re really talk about”. BUT. Regardless of all that, I am enjoying it. I look forward to reading it. It is silly fantasy from when I was a child and it is imprinted on me.
• NYX has got to be the most woke X-Men comic of all the X-Men related comics. The intro literally says “Mutant Pride”. Kamala Khan is still in the closet about being a mutant with her family and outed Sophie Cuckoo becomes her BFF while also making fun of her. And then there’s mutant gatekeeping with The Krakoan saying Kamala isn’t mutant enough. Then we have Prodigy having dinner with his very patient boyfriend interrupted by Kamala, and him lecturing about how mutants protect their oppressors. And New York has “Truthseekers” (I mean, c’mon. Like you didn’t even TRY to hide that one. Seekers and Social are barely separate words in this context), who are outing mutants and blaming them for everything. NYX might as well be called Woke-Men. Snowflake-Men. SJW-Men. And of course, naturally, I ended up re-reading it three times over and enjoyed every panel. Which goes to show, I will love my social commentary even if it’s blatantly outward and obvious when it comes to comics. Which is odd, because I wouldn’t put up with this virtue-signalling in novels, films and TV. When I see it, even if I agree with it politically, I get turned off because it feels forced. (e.g. Ben Affleck self-inserting outrage against racism in Live By Night (2012).) That’s an interesting self-observation actually. Why am I OK with this in X-Men/Comics when I’m not OK with it in other media? Granted, NYX #1 didn’t feel forced. I mean, thematically, X-Men has been woke from the first issue in 1963. It’s about a different species that are prejudiced against FFS. And maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s NOT because it’s comics, but because it’s when virtue signalling is forced into a plot/arc that doesn’t make sense. It’s when characters say SJW stuff and it doesn’t make sense nor is it in character. But if your entire story mechanism is “we are different and people hate us for it”… it works.

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