2022 Resolutions
Dec. 26th, 2021 09:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingCreative
An Unfound Door
I want to have a complete first draft by the end of the year. I have no idea what I’m doing, so I’m aiming for 40k words. I also downloaded a trial version of Scrivener. Maybe this will help.
Roots of Evil
I’m slowly putting together a collection of botanical horror stories, and I’d like to collect them into a zine. The tentative title is “Roots of Evil,” but I’m open to other ideas. Unlike the flash fiction in my previous zines, the pieces included in this zine are all legitimate short stories (that have been rejected from professional venues). I’m not sure how long the zine is going to be, and I’m not sure what to do about the cover or the illustrations yet. For the time being, it’s probably better to focus on the stories themselves.
Wizard Art Zine
I’m super excited about drawing wizards. I was going to do a “Wiztober” art challenge, but I want to start drawing right now and post my work as I go along. I’ll finish the challenge at my own pace and make a zine when I’m done. I’m envisioning this set of drawings to be set in the (modern) world of The Demon King before the apocalypse, so I might include short passages of worldbuilding text in the zine that probably won’t be on the social media posts.
Cute Plants with Colorful Palettes
I want to draw a series of cute plants with creative and unusual color palettes. This is meant to help me study formal color theory as I work on developing a lineless art style, but also I just really like drawing plants.
Reading
The Lord of the Rings
I read The Hobbit this past year, and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t the first time I read The Hobbit, nor will this be the first time I’ve read The Lord of the Rings, but it’s about five or six years since the last time, I think. I’m especially interested in studying the appendices while reading the main story.
The Woman in White
This novel is a classic of Gothic fiction, and it is a huge fucking gigantic book. Like The Lord of the Rings, it’s actually divided into about half a dozen “books,” so I’ve been doing a lot of stopping and starting. I’ve gotten about a third of the way through the novel, and I’d like to finish it this year.
Ran and the Gray World
This is a seven-volume urban fantasy manga series drawn by one of my favorite artists, Aki Irie. I’m not sure how to describe Ran and the Gray World except to say that the art is absolutely gorgeous and the story is absolutely coocoo bananas. It’s like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure if JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure were drawn and written by an adult bisexual woman for an intended readership of other adult bisexual women. I think the Purity Police would probably label Ran and the Gray World as “problematic” for extremely superficial reasons, but I personally don’t find anything objectionable in the art or story. It’s just really fun! I’ve read the first volume, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
Academic Articles
I didn’t read a single academic article in 2021. Not. A. Single. One. It was lovely, and I regret nothing. I’d like to read at least two a month in 2022, though. For the purposes of this resolution, I’m not allowed to count any articles I don’t finish reading. Articles I can’t bring myself to finish go straight into the trash.
Fic
I’d like to read and leave comments on at least two stories a month on AO3. Now that I’m focusing on writing original fiction, a lot of my anxieties about AO3 have dissipated. Specifically, I no longer feel shitty and competitive about stories that get more positive feedback than my own. My attitude during the past few months has done a complete 180° turn from “what am I doing wrong?1!?” to “it’s free real estate, Jim.” Still, it’s good to challenge myself to leave more comments. I hear people like that.
Games
Hob
I’m given to understand that this game is sort of like Journey meets Legend of Zelda, or like Hyper Light Drifter without the insanely punishing level of difficulty. I like all of those things!
Owlboy
Back when this game originally came out in 2016, I read an interview with the creators about why it took almost ten years to develop. The answer turned out to be that there was no drama or issue with funding, but rather that they wanted to make sure that the pixel art was absolutely perfect. Now that Owlboy is finally available (and almost always on sale) for the Switch, I'd like to see it for myself.
Metroid Dread
People whose taste I trust say that it’s good. I haven’t played anything in this series except for Super Metroid, but there is a Hollow Knight sized hole in my heart that needs attention.
Transistor
I can’t believe it’s been almost four years since I last played this game. I should fix that.
Dream Daddy
I can hear you judging me, and that’s fair, but I’m totally going to buy this game if it goes on sale. I think you can romance a youth pastor who is secretly a serial killer, and I’m intrigued.
An Unfound Door
I want to have a complete first draft by the end of the year. I have no idea what I’m doing, so I’m aiming for 40k words. I also downloaded a trial version of Scrivener. Maybe this will help.
Roots of Evil
I’m slowly putting together a collection of botanical horror stories, and I’d like to collect them into a zine. The tentative title is “Roots of Evil,” but I’m open to other ideas. Unlike the flash fiction in my previous zines, the pieces included in this zine are all legitimate short stories (that have been rejected from professional venues). I’m not sure how long the zine is going to be, and I’m not sure what to do about the cover or the illustrations yet. For the time being, it’s probably better to focus on the stories themselves.
Wizard Art Zine
I’m super excited about drawing wizards. I was going to do a “Wiztober” art challenge, but I want to start drawing right now and post my work as I go along. I’ll finish the challenge at my own pace and make a zine when I’m done. I’m envisioning this set of drawings to be set in the (modern) world of The Demon King before the apocalypse, so I might include short passages of worldbuilding text in the zine that probably won’t be on the social media posts.
Cute Plants with Colorful Palettes
I want to draw a series of cute plants with creative and unusual color palettes. This is meant to help me study formal color theory as I work on developing a lineless art style, but also I just really like drawing plants.
Reading
The Lord of the Rings
I read The Hobbit this past year, and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t the first time I read The Hobbit, nor will this be the first time I’ve read The Lord of the Rings, but it’s about five or six years since the last time, I think. I’m especially interested in studying the appendices while reading the main story.
The Woman in White
This novel is a classic of Gothic fiction, and it is a huge fucking gigantic book. Like The Lord of the Rings, it’s actually divided into about half a dozen “books,” so I’ve been doing a lot of stopping and starting. I’ve gotten about a third of the way through the novel, and I’d like to finish it this year.
Ran and the Gray World
This is a seven-volume urban fantasy manga series drawn by one of my favorite artists, Aki Irie. I’m not sure how to describe Ran and the Gray World except to say that the art is absolutely gorgeous and the story is absolutely coocoo bananas. It’s like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure if JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure were drawn and written by an adult bisexual woman for an intended readership of other adult bisexual women. I think the Purity Police would probably label Ran and the Gray World as “problematic” for extremely superficial reasons, but I personally don’t find anything objectionable in the art or story. It’s just really fun! I’ve read the first volume, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
Academic Articles
I didn’t read a single academic article in 2021. Not. A. Single. One. It was lovely, and I regret nothing. I’d like to read at least two a month in 2022, though. For the purposes of this resolution, I’m not allowed to count any articles I don’t finish reading. Articles I can’t bring myself to finish go straight into the trash.
Fic
I’d like to read and leave comments on at least two stories a month on AO3. Now that I’m focusing on writing original fiction, a lot of my anxieties about AO3 have dissipated. Specifically, I no longer feel shitty and competitive about stories that get more positive feedback than my own. My attitude during the past few months has done a complete 180° turn from “what am I doing wrong?1!?” to “it’s free real estate, Jim.” Still, it’s good to challenge myself to leave more comments. I hear people like that.
Games
Hob
I’m given to understand that this game is sort of like Journey meets Legend of Zelda, or like Hyper Light Drifter without the insanely punishing level of difficulty. I like all of those things!
Owlboy
Back when this game originally came out in 2016, I read an interview with the creators about why it took almost ten years to develop. The answer turned out to be that there was no drama or issue with funding, but rather that they wanted to make sure that the pixel art was absolutely perfect. Now that Owlboy is finally available (and almost always on sale) for the Switch, I'd like to see it for myself.
Metroid Dread
People whose taste I trust say that it’s good. I haven’t played anything in this series except for Super Metroid, but there is a Hollow Knight sized hole in my heart that needs attention.
Transistor
I can’t believe it’s been almost four years since I last played this game. I should fix that.
Dream Daddy
I can hear you judging me, and that’s fair, but I’m totally going to buy this game if it goes on sale. I think you can romance a youth pastor who is secretly a serial killer, and I’m intrigued.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 09:00 pm (UTC)