2022 Writing Log 10
Apr. 1st, 2022 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI missed a week of this writing log because I moved into a new house. I know I should be happy, but the truth is that I hate change, even if it’s good. I’ve been super stressed out in a way that isn’t productive, but I’ve been trying to get back on my feet. Here’s what I’ve been up to…
- I returned to the first chapter of The Demon King and hardcore edited and rewrote it. I’m also working on the sixth chapter, which I’m writing from scratch. I wrote the second chapter from scratch as well, and I’m editing and adding more to it. On top of that, I’m editing the outline as I go. This story is starting to shape up into a proper novel, finally.
- I was accepted to the murder mystery zine I applied to. I’m extremely excited about this project. It’s a collaboration in which each writer contributes a short story from the perspective of one character involved in the larger narrative, so I wrote and submitted descriptions of two potential characters.
- My review of the near-future human/AI romance Pixels of You has been posted on Women Write About Comics (here). TLDR: I love everything Yuko Ota creates, but I especially love this. It’s a slowburn rivals-to-girlfriends story that tackles some major questions in a refreshingly intimate and nuanced way.
- I was actually so moved and inspired by Pixels of You that I decided to write an academic essay about it. I was invited to join a panel on queer posthumanism at the 2023 MLA convention, so I wrote an abstract and sent it off to the organizer. It’s a fairly high-profile guaranteed panel, and I can’t even begin to express how honored and grateful I am to be included.
- I also invited myself onto a guaranteed roundtable session about public-facing scholarship and online harassment. There are some very big names on this panel, so I’m going to have to do my research and approach this with care.
- This is my experience of how professional life works: you don’t have to apply for things or face the possibility of rejection if you have connections. Unfortunately, I have no connections in the world of creative fiction, so like… I just got two rejection emails in the past two days lmao. I’m laughing because it hurts.
- I finished the Legend of Zelda fan art that I mentioned in the last entry of this writing log. (Here) it is! This was inspired by an old comic of an artist who goes by Loputyn on Instagram. The comic is about a girl who’s lost in the woods, and the background plant stalks bend towards her in every panel. I always thought that was cool, so I tried to do something similar. I drew everything by hand instead of using plant texture brushes, and I think it turned out okay.
- Because this fan art is in the same “forest” series as the fourth and fifth Wiztober illustrations, I went ahead and posted them too so that they look nice together on social media. Here’s (the fourth one), and here’s (the fifth one).
- I’m working on the sixth Wiztober illustration, as well as a detailed interior illustration filled with plants. I also did the initial sketches for a three-panel comic loosely based on Little Nightmares II.
- And then, because I’ve been extra ADHD during the past week and can’t focus on one thing for more than ten minutes at a time, I did quick sketches for three plant stickers that I want to sell as a set on Etsy, as well as a layout sketch for a postcard that I’ll include with the set. Everything is coming along nicely.
- The “plant room” interior drawing is the big piece I’m working on right now, and I don’t want to start another major illustration until it’s done. Still, I’m excited about my next in-depth project, an illustration of a friend’s original story, and I’ve been gathering references. I’m starting to realize that “gathering references” is an art in and of itself. I’m not sure the extra research will be appreciated by anyone who spends a fraction of a second scrolling past the image on social media, but I think it’s worth it.
I also assembled some Ikea furniture and bought a bunch of home improvement supplies at Lowe’s. I’m not sure if any of this is an accomplishment, but it sure makes me feel like an adult.
- I returned to the first chapter of The Demon King and hardcore edited and rewrote it. I’m also working on the sixth chapter, which I’m writing from scratch. I wrote the second chapter from scratch as well, and I’m editing and adding more to it. On top of that, I’m editing the outline as I go. This story is starting to shape up into a proper novel, finally.
- I was accepted to the murder mystery zine I applied to. I’m extremely excited about this project. It’s a collaboration in which each writer contributes a short story from the perspective of one character involved in the larger narrative, so I wrote and submitted descriptions of two potential characters.
- My review of the near-future human/AI romance Pixels of You has been posted on Women Write About Comics (here). TLDR: I love everything Yuko Ota creates, but I especially love this. It’s a slowburn rivals-to-girlfriends story that tackles some major questions in a refreshingly intimate and nuanced way.
- I was actually so moved and inspired by Pixels of You that I decided to write an academic essay about it. I was invited to join a panel on queer posthumanism at the 2023 MLA convention, so I wrote an abstract and sent it off to the organizer. It’s a fairly high-profile guaranteed panel, and I can’t even begin to express how honored and grateful I am to be included.
- I also invited myself onto a guaranteed roundtable session about public-facing scholarship and online harassment. There are some very big names on this panel, so I’m going to have to do my research and approach this with care.
- This is my experience of how professional life works: you don’t have to apply for things or face the possibility of rejection if you have connections. Unfortunately, I have no connections in the world of creative fiction, so like… I just got two rejection emails in the past two days lmao. I’m laughing because it hurts.
- I finished the Legend of Zelda fan art that I mentioned in the last entry of this writing log. (Here) it is! This was inspired by an old comic of an artist who goes by Loputyn on Instagram. The comic is about a girl who’s lost in the woods, and the background plant stalks bend towards her in every panel. I always thought that was cool, so I tried to do something similar. I drew everything by hand instead of using plant texture brushes, and I think it turned out okay.
- Because this fan art is in the same “forest” series as the fourth and fifth Wiztober illustrations, I went ahead and posted them too so that they look nice together on social media. Here’s (the fourth one), and here’s (the fifth one).
- I’m working on the sixth Wiztober illustration, as well as a detailed interior illustration filled with plants. I also did the initial sketches for a three-panel comic loosely based on Little Nightmares II.
- And then, because I’ve been extra ADHD during the past week and can’t focus on one thing for more than ten minutes at a time, I did quick sketches for three plant stickers that I want to sell as a set on Etsy, as well as a layout sketch for a postcard that I’ll include with the set. Everything is coming along nicely.
- The “plant room” interior drawing is the big piece I’m working on right now, and I don’t want to start another major illustration until it’s done. Still, I’m excited about my next in-depth project, an illustration of a friend’s original story, and I’ve been gathering references. I’m starting to realize that “gathering references” is an art in and of itself. I’m not sure the extra research will be appreciated by anyone who spends a fraction of a second scrolling past the image on social media, but I think it’s worth it.
I also assembled some Ikea furniture and bought a bunch of home improvement supplies at Lowe’s. I’m not sure if any of this is an accomplishment, but it sure makes me feel like an adult.
no subject
Date: 2022-04-01 07:31 pm (UTC)The murder mystery zine sounds really neat!