We’re a bit over half way through the year, which means it must surely be time for another check-in.
The first three months of the year were busy. While I successfully hit all my writing goals during the first month, I knew that the cadence of LARP weekend, rest weekend, repeat from the beginning of February through to late March would slow that side of things down.
With that said, it was a very successful series of LARPS. Each for a different campaign, and one closing out the campaign I had previously been helping with for the last few years.
Likewise, I finished the pretty box I was making for another LARP, which am very happy with.
In other exciting news, I have a craft stall in August, where I will be selling soap, candles, small paintings, pins, and prints. I don’t expect to make a profit from it at all, considering how much I have spent on craft supplies as enrichment, but it should be good fun!
The prints pictured here were draft copies and a little more washed out than the finals.
They are a scan of a painting I did in Christmas 2023 – one of my favourite paintings to date.
The small paintings are newer originals. I had a lot of fun playing around with backgrounds and trying different ideas on a scale that was both quick and didn’t matter a whole lot if I made a mistake.
I have a small handful more, painted since taking this picture, all of which I am very much looking forward to selling at my first stall.
Of course, my biggest goal has been my writing.
I have been focusing on the novel, still with the misguided belief that I might be able to finish the first draft by the end of the year.
Progress through the chapter plans has been going well, although it was never truly feasible to get through the full plan by the end of the year, given my cadence seems to be roughly one chapter a month – and I had more than twelve chapters left to write.
For the past six months, I have been attempting to improve my descriptive skills, although each chapter is still relatively bare bones compared to where it needs to be in future sweeps. I think I have improved in that area, and I am now turning my attention towards dialogue and characterisation.
Alongside the novel writing, I have also made some more short story and poetry submissions. I have a short story lined up to come out in mid-August, which I am very excited about. It is the same short story I mentioned in my last post as having potential.
I also have a handful of haiku earmarked for later in the year. It’s just a matter of patience with those until the publication date is set.
I have another short story submitted for consideration, and a handful of other poems submitted elsewhere.
I should know the results for those by the end of the month, which I’m trying not to think about too hard until we get there. It is out of my hands, and many other people submitted pieces that I’m sure are good.
Going forwards into the next few months, I am aiming to clean up and submit one of my longer poems.
There is also a short story rattling around in my brain, inspired by the idea that gold is created when neutron stars collide. Depending on whether I need to creatively re-juice away from the novel, I may also begin writing that piece.
Until next time.
Creative Adventures 