bilanlakshitha-blog

[metanarrates]

one thing yall may not know about me is that i love to analytically read villainess isekai and pick apart its power fantasy elements. im not too familiar with the isekai-adjacent male power fantasy genre, but I've read a handful of them, plus it's close enough to its josei equivalent that there's a bit of overlap in how each genre functions. which makes orv super interesting to read because even a passing familiarity with the isekai power fantasy genre will mean that its plot elements will frequently feel very familiar to a reader.

there's a lot that sets orv apart a bit from its genre, but i think the biggest thing that i'll credit it with is that it's both very aware of its nature as a power fantasy and comments a lot on the nature of power fantasy. it's quite nuanced and intelligent about it, whereas a lot of similar power fantasy functions more or less as a largely mindless self-insert vessel. (to be fair, kim dokja also kind of IS a self insert but in a weird fucking way where you feel a bit too fucking seen by his Complexes.) this intelligence and self-awareness also means that it doesn't punch down on more self-indulgent fantasy. it recognizes those are stories that can be loved too even if it pushes for the reader to be aware of the ways in which escapism can be harmful.

its awareness of its power fantasy elements also means that those elements are EXTREMELY well executed. orv is unafraid of cringe and it knows that giant monsters and diegetic RPG systems and overpowered protagonists are fun! it knows that fuckoff giant swords are fun! and so it tends to wring a lot of effective enjoyment out of them!

i think the best example of this is kdjs overpoweredness. usually, an OP protagonist will be a little too much for some readers to suspend their disbelief, if things are too easy or unrealistic for them. at the same time, though, OP protagonists are appealing because it is SUPER fun to watch a hyper-competent person do cool shit nonstop. orv effectively balances these by doing two critical things:

1. for as overpowered as kdj's knowledge and abilities are, they would be nothing if he could not utilize them effectively. therefore, he's really genuinely clever, and his solutions to problems always feel satisfying to a reader because of how smartly written they are. the competence is shown rather than assumed!

2. kdj is overpowered. however, the shit he's up against is MORE overpowered. sure, he's a guy with cool mystical skills and omniscient knowledge, but he also has a human body and can feasibly get crushed like a bug if a bigger power decides they don't like him. the power scaling always ensures that he's always facing situations where his cleverness and abilities have to be pushed to the limits for him to survive. essentially, the stakes are always well-established, and so it rarely feels like he gets shit handed to him. which is a remarkable maintenance of tension considering how long orv is!

essentially, orv has its cake and eats it too, power-fantasy wise. you get to watch a very competent group of characters narrowly and cleverly squeeze through a ton of impossible situations while exhibiting incredible power that feels earned. it is REALLY hard to pull all of it off and my hat's off to orv for managing it. all while balancing an incredible metanarrative, interesting characters, and fantastic themes too!!

[tokiro07]

Was talking to a customer today about media consumption, specifically about the benefits and risks of binging

I've talked about this concept a number of times lately it feels like, but this particular conversation helped me realize a nice framework to look at it with: while binging is quick and to an extent feels good (i.e. "I finished this series in X amount of time!"), it greatly reduces the amount of anchor points that one can form to become attached to the media in question

For example, when I was reading Dungeon Meshi, I ended up reading all 90+ chapters in the span of three days; Dungeon Meshi is made up of a lot of small arcs, each lasting only a few chapters, and I ended up reading all of them in the same context (sitting on my couch at around the same time of day) with minimal exposure to outside factors (other readers, sharing what I was doing with my family or friends, etc.)

Aside from key moments, like those that were particularly funny ("an exact duplicate...?") or particularly emotionally impactful (the ancient magic, Senshi's youth, post-Dungeon Rabbits, etc.), I feel like I couldn't really relay the events of the story to someone else without missing a lot of the best bits because, again, by binging them I ended up mashing all of the events together in my mind. I didn't even end up reading it at a particularly noteworthy time in my own life, so reading it so quickly meant that it didn't end up connecting to my personal life either

Compare to say, One Piece, which I hadn't actually read in its entirety until Gear 4th was revealed; I realized that the significance of this moment may have been lost on me, so I decided that this would be a good time for me to fill in any of the gaps in my knowledge (i.e. Davy Back, Skypiea, Water 7, etc.) and read the full-color version

At just shy of 800 chapters at the time, this process took me approximately three weeks; some chapters I read lying on my bed, some I read sitting in a chair, some I read during breaks in college. Some I read while listening to Three Days Grace, some while listening to 10 Years, some while listening to Rise Against

Even though I was binging One Piece, the sheer amount of time it took me to actually do so ended up giving me a ton of opportunities to create anchors; I remember different contexts, outside conversations, and most importantly, the impacts that they had on me

Rereading Punk Hazard at the time was definitely the highlight, as it altered not only my reading experience but my involvement in the fandom and just generally how I lived my life. Because I was reminded of Monet, I started looking into the theories surrounding her, which led to me looking into other theories and finding forums like Oro Jackson. Monet herself became the ultimate anchor point for me, as she retroactively became the frame of reference that I have for my entire One Piece experience

Reading One Piece took so long that it ended up being a defining segment of my life in and of itself, whereas the time spent reading Dungeon Meshi was so small that it barely registers as a single event, despite the fact that I think it's extremely high quality and a story I highly recommend

It's like when you're studying for an exam - you can't just cram the night before, you'll wear your brain out and only really remember the first and last things you read particularly clearly; but if you space it out and give yourself time to rest, you'll have multiple beginnings and endings that you'll remember a lot better than you would have otherwise, both because they're each their own isolated incident that you can think back to while also giving yourself enough time to recover

So when you're consuming a new piece of media that you've really wanted to get into but you were too late for the live updates, please consider regulating your experience. Limit yourself to 10 chapters a day, or one arc per day, or whatever's the most conducive to that particular medium. Just resist the temptation of "just one more, it's so good and I've got time for it"

You may have the time for it, but like eating a bag of candy, you're going to end up overdoing it and regretting it because A) you don't feel as good as you would have otherwise and B) now you don't have it when you want it later

[narwhal-writings]

Meet the Writer

I got tagged in so many of these lmao. All answers are under the cut.

Tagged by: @bluewritesbadly  

1. What is your favorite weather to write in?

I don’t have one! As long as it is not melt-your-face-off hot outside, I’m good!

2. Do you draw inspiration from any specific show, movie, or music?

Nothing specific that I can think of, I can draw inspiration from just about anything.

3. Do you have any specific playlists for writing?

Nope.

4. What is your goal as a writer?

To finish a WIP, something I’ve never done. And maybe to be the author of someone’s favorite story one day.

5. How would you describe your current project?

Princesses take matters into their own hands. It’s not as easy as they thought it would be.

6. Do you have a favorite character? If so, describe them?

YES!!! My girl Rosar from Broken Thrones is my fave. She is sweet even though her father is emotionally abusive. She loves being outside, digging her fingers into the soil, and everything about flowers.

7. What is your inspiration for writing?

My mind will drive me insane if I keep all my ideas and storylines in my head, so I write them out and hope someone can get immersed in them the same way I do.

8. Have you had any experiences irl that you have put into your writing?

Not that I can think of.

9. Which of your characters are you most like?

I’m most like Eira when it comes to the way my mind works. Logical not emotional.

10. What is your favorite quote?

“I hope to arrive to my death, late, in love, and a little drunk.” - Atticus

Tagged by: @thepotatowearsprada

1. What inspired you to start writing your current WIP?

I reread one of my fave books and I started getting ideas and I started writing.

2. Is there a chapter/set of chapters that’s your favourite in your WIP? If so, which ones and why?

I am super bad at writing in chapters. I usually just write in a huge chunk of paragraphs and leave separating them into chapters for future me to deal with. But there is a scene from my Dieselpunk WIP that I love. The two MCs are alone together after a traumatizing event and Jax does his best to comfort Amy. It’s adorable.

3. Which of your characters would you take with you into a haunted house?

Amy from my Dieselpunk WIP. She’d be fun.

4. What character would you take with you to supervise a first date from afar?

Rosar from Broken Thrones. She’d be able to monitor the situation without seeming suspicious.

5. Was there a specific book that led you to writing? If so, which one?

I...am not sure. I used to read all the time and any of those could’ve pushed me towards it. I’ll go with any of the Robin McKinley books I’ve read. I love the way I’m able to immerse myself in the worlds she creates and I want to mimic that.

6.  What music do you like to listen to while you write?

It varies depending on my mood or what kind of scene I want to write.

7. Where do you like to do most of your writing?

The living room at my house, That’s where the laptop is, and I prefer to use the laptop to type.

8. What book are you reading right now, and what do you think of it?

I am not reading a book right now, sadly. I have several on my list, though.

9. If you had to compare your favourite character to another literary character, who would it be, and why?

I will compare Rosar to....agh....I...don’t know...I’m bad at this...sorry.

10. What font do you like to use when typing up stories?

I use Arial.

Tagged by: @hilunawrites

1. What’s the first thing you ever remember writing?

Oh god. I used to write Warriors fanfic when I was in elementary/middle school.

2. What book or series has affected you the most?

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. It is my all time favorite book and I fell in love with it and the MC Harry. 

3. Do you prefer writing dialogue or description?

I like writing description, even though I’m not very good at it. 

4. Where do you write?

I can write anywhere, but mainly at my house on the laptop.

5. What is your number one goal as a writer right now?

To finish at least one of my WIPs.

6. What was the last book you read?

Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray. I really enjoyed it!

7. Do you have a writing schedule?

No, but I should make one.

8. What’s an irritating mistake you often make when writing?

I like to use way too many commas.

9. Do you prefer writing the first draft or editing?

Lmao considering I’ve never completed a draft to edit, I’ll go with writing the first draft.

10. What’s your number one tip for newbie writers?

Don’t give up just because you feel like your writing isn’t good. The more you practice, the better you’ll get.

Tagged by: @lillithannemadison

1.How often do you get writers’ block/What do you do to get over it?

I get writers’ block a lot. I usually get over it when I walk the dog. That’s when I put my earbuds in and let my mind wander. That or when I’m a passenger in the car.

2. Do you prefer to write more in the early mornings, late nights, or somewhere in between?

I’m more productive in the evenings and nighttime.

3. If you had the chance, would you hire a publicist right now for all of your finished WIPs, or keep them until you are 1000000000% sure they are perfect?

Seeing as I can be a perfectionist, I’ll keep them until I am sure they are perfect.

4. For those of you who go to school or have a time-consuming job, do you write in your free time at school/work? Or do you only write in the comfort of your own home?

Uh, I will jot down my ideas and think up new storylines at school, but I prefer to write at home. 

5. What is the most progress you’ve made on one WIP? (in chapters)

Like I said in an earlier set of q’s, I don’t write chapters very often. However, in my Dieselpunk WIP I have about 56k words, and that’s not nearly finished.

6. If you listen to music while you write, do you listen to instrumental music or music with lyrics as well?

I listen to any type of music when writing.

7. Do you use any types of digital art, art apps, or simply a pencil and paper to visualize your characters?

I try. I am bad at trying to draw my OCs when I try. Sometimes I use apps/games to create my characters, or I pick a faceclaim.

8. If given the chance, would you allow your favorite author to read your WIP, or would you be too nervous about the feedback?

That...is a good question. I’m weird about my writing. I’m sharing bits and pieces here and I’m okay with it, I send them to my friend and I’m okay, but I’d never let my family read it. So I’m not sure. I might let them read it.

9. Which author/poet/etc. influenced your writing the most?

I wish I knew. I’m bad at identifying what influences the way I write.

10. If you had found out someone was plagiarizing your WIP after posting it on Tumblr, Wattpad, etc., how would you react?

Uhhh....report whoever did it, tell my followers what happened? Idk for sure.

Tagged by: @leicawri

1. What do you consider the most special about your setting that sets it apart from other settings?

The way it’s set up, I suppose. I guess in Broken Thrones it’s a bit odd because of how near the forest and desert is without touching. The Stone and the Sea is different because the places/people from them are identified by what they are good at making. Stuff like that, I guess.

2. Do you need to be alone in a room to write or do you need noise around you?

I need noise, but it doesn’t need to be people noise, a TV in the background or music is good. I can write, people or no people.

3. If one character in your story didn’t exist, how would it change the way the story goes? Would it affect the other characters in their development? Would it change the ending?

I like to think that all (named) characters that I make have an impact on the story and is needed in the story. I would say taking a character out would change the story, character growth of others, and the ending.

4. What’s the strangest way you solved a plothole?

I haven’t come across a whole lot of plotholes simply because I haven’t gone back and read everything together. So I’m sure in the future I’ll have an answer for this, but not today.

5. What is your method if you realise that your character acted out of character in the last few scenes?

I leave it for future me to deal with lmao. In all reality, I’m kinda bad at realizing if a character is acting correctly or not, so I’ll leave that work and come back to it later and try to fix it.

6. In your worldbuilding, do you only build as much history as needed or do you create a whole history with little stories that are irrelevant to the plot and no one will ever know them but you and the people that asked about it?

I make just a little more history than needed. Or I don’t make enough and have to make it up as I go.

7. Do you have a time that you dedicate to writing or do you just write whenever inspiration hits you?

I write whenever I want to. Or I stare blankly at the document until I force the words out. No specific time

8. Do you write your story in order, from chapter 1 to chapter 10? Or do you just write first chapter 8, then chapter 3, them chapter 5 and so on?

I try to write chronologically as best I can. However, if I have writers’ block, I’ll skip ahead and work out how to work in that segment.

9. How do you name characters? Spontaneously? Or do you spenf a long time researching definitions and where those names come from? What about placeholder names?

I don’t usually use placeholder names. I usually go looking for a specific type of nae with a specific meaning. Like with Broken Thrones, the three sisters have names relating to nature because their country is very nature-oriented. However, the men from Issera I used a name generator and made a few adjustments. It depends on what I’m looking for.

10. What role does music play in your story? Are there festivals for it? Or is it just there?

Interesting question. I haven’t thought about this too much. Maybe I’ll include more music oriented things in my WIPs...

Tagged by: @quill-and-ink-writer

1. What’s your favorite book?

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley! I love it so much it pains me every time I finish rereading it.

2. Man vs. Society, Man vs. Self, or Man vs. Man?

It depends on the type of plot I have in mind. Of course, all three can happen at the same time. 

3. Antiheroes or loveable villains?

I have to choose? Fine. Loveable villains.

4. What’s the worst thing a character of yours has done?

Hmm...I’d have to say that that an upcoming event in Broken Thrones will be pretty bad. I don’t want to post spoilers, though. 

5. Favorite trope?

Hmm...villains/antag becoming begrudging friends or weird uncle figures to the hero/protag

6. Are you a pantser of plotter?

I usually have a main plot in mind and just make it up as I go between main plot points in mind. I’ve been trying to get better at plotting.

7. Moodboards or playlists?

Moodboards.

8. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what genre?

I listen to lots of different things when I write, from Mumford & Sons to MCR and a lot in between.

9. Which of your WIPs have you been working on the longest?

My Deiselpunk WIP! I’ve been working on it for about...two years, with several hiatuses in there.

10. How long have you been writing?

Casually since elementary school, more seriously the past couple years.

Okay, I hope that’s everyone! My questions are:

Do you have a character you tend to inflict more angst on than others?

How do you get back on track with writing after getting distracted?

Do you create your whole world and characters before you start to write it down or do you write it down as you go?

Do you have a certain story/poem/etc that has stuck with you for years?

Favorite and least favorite trope?

Are any of your characters artists/Do any of them enjoy art?

How do you go about getting past writers’ block?

Do you write chronologically or do you write little snippets and tie them together? Or do you have a different process?

Writing or editing?

Strange ways you come up with ideas to write?

I will tag: @realashergray @writerofscribbles @plsfeedthewriter @constantlyincosmicconfusion and anyone else who wants to do it! Tag me if you do!

[sg2tiger]

The EP7 Manga Yasu

Eyyy long time no post!! I’m actually gearing up for my upcoming EP8 read (October sure crept up fast...) so I thought I’d finally go through and finish the EP7 manga, which I was reading alongside my EP7 reread last year...but if you’ve followed my liveblogs thus far you’ll know I find EP7 rather boring, so reading through all those flashbacks again kinda killed my interest and I dropped the manga somewhere around 1983.

ANYWAYS here’s a prelude to my upcoming return to seacats liveblogging. Spoilers under the cut.

So as I’m making my way through catching up on that I noticed something interesting. You may remember this post I made previously about how well I believe the manga handled the transition in POV from ‘Yasu’ to ‘Shannon’. 

Now, I know a lot of people give the EP7 manga grief for the whole ‘blonde Yasu’ thing (I’m not a huge fan myself), since we know that’s not how she really looked. But consider the fact that this is the adaptation of a visual novel, wherein most of these flashbacks were shown from a first-person POV...and a big part of the whole mystery that Ryukishi didn’t want to just spoonfeed readers would have been ruined if Yasu was depicted here as she’d have realistically looked. Instead, the manga opted for a similar sort of ‘veil’ over the character (who HAD to be depicted due to the visual nature of manga) as Clair - remember, Bern gives Yasu the appearance and name of Clair specifically as a last sort of safeguard for the culprit’s true identity. On the meta (meta-meta?) level, Clair was Ryukishi’s means of depicting the culprit without DEPICTING the culprit. The blonde Yasu of the EP7 manga is essentially the same thing...yet you never hear people complain about Clair in the same way. I feel like this nuance is lost on a lot of people, who take the EP7 manga’s portrayal of Yasu in these flashbacks far too literally, when we should be seeing it simply as an equivalent to the fact that you ALSO don’t actually see Yasu in those parts of the VN.

Anyways, this technique was used to interesting effect when Yasu ‘modified the world’ in order to become Beatrice, separating that identity from that of Shannon (as seen in the above-mentioned post). Well later on, when Yasu is working on solving the epitaph, I noticed that the same sort of technique was used again.

So first it’s important to note how ‘Beatrice’ behaves during the majority of the epitaph solving segments. Essentially, she behaves like Beatrice - boisterous, mocking, confident, sneering at all the lowly humans as she’ll surely solve the epitaph before them and achieve her true resurrection.

It’s the usual shit we expect from when Yasu is absorbed in her Beatrice identity. This is just another game, another means to assert her existence over the humans of Rokkenjima. Of course at this point Yasu has no idea what’s in store for her, so this is really just a fun diversion she can escape into, away from all those cool cool insecurities that would have been piling up around this time. Unlike the siblings (WHO ALL NEEDED A LOT OF MONEY RIGHT NOW), for whom this was a huge deal and a very real chance for them to get out of their various debts, Yasu’s goal wasn’t the gold - just solving the epitaph in itself, and awakening as a true witch, was what she sought.

So despite the various frustrations upon realizing the epitaph was tougher than she thought, Yasu basically behaves as her Beatrice persona throughout, indulging in the whole ‘local witch participates in own resurrection ceremony’ thing. And once she gets over the tougher hurdles, she seems to be thoroughly enjoying the challenge.

In fact, right up until the point she actually enters the gold room, Yasu is riding high on the feeling of actually being able to solve this seemingly impossible riddle. 

That all changes as soon as the reality sinks in that she’s standing in front of a real 10 ton pile of gold...and that’s when things get interesting (and when I get on with my original point, apparently).

She’s quickly brought back to reality as Yasu/Shannon, a servant of the family that owns this mansion, and not an ancient and powerful witch that rules the night. But the most interesting part to me is the fact that this page will be the last one where you see Beatrice’s facial features for the duration of this scene.

This faceless figure with the long blonde hair sure looks familiar, doesn’t she? While the ol’ ‘face obscured for dramatic value’ thing is common in manga, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the artist explicitly chose to draw Beatrice faceless for the remainder of this scene (up until she puts on the dress and wig and meets with Kinzo). That’s because this isn’t ‘Beatrice’ anymore. Ironically, the very moment she’s being told that she is, in fact, the true Beatrice...she couldn’t be feeling less like her Beatrice character. She’s been fully yanked back into the reality that is Yasu - at first terrified that she’ll be scolded for entering this secret room (not exactly something a thousand year old witch would fear), and then feeling overwhelmed and, ultimately, undeserving of the prize she just won. This was just a game she’d made with herself to solve the epitaph...she never imagined it would honestly lead to all this gold, the headship, and a whole bunch of revelations she never asked for. She’s timid and nervous and almost definitely dropped the Beatrice-style of speech the second Genji entered the room (I don’t care enough to double-check with the voice patch).

Yeah, she’s still being drawn as ‘Beatrice’ the same way she had been for this entire epitaph solving extravaganza...but merely by obscuring her face behind her bangs like that, it takes you immediately back to the way she was portrayed in the flashbacks as a child. To the fragile, vulnerable, Yasu.

Even the chapter’s title page invokes this image.

So I’m pretty sure this was 100% deliberate. And I thought it was quite a nice throwback to the previous depiction of Yasu, while further emphasizing her shift in personality as soon as the reality of solving the epitaph actually hits her.

So yeah - blonde Yasu was never meant to be taken literally. Of course she doesn’t really look like that. We know Li’l Yasu was just Li’l Shannon. But the manga’s depiction wasn’t out of ignorance - it was simply an effective means of portraying a character who purposefully had no graphic in the visual novel, whose existence is meant to be veiled in illusion.

[farylslair]

WHOOOOOAAAAAA, What a Week!, Part 2 + Holding Myself Accountable - January/February 2017

Holy guacamole, a SUPER DUPER DOUBLE UPDATE!

It just so happens that the thrilling conclusion of the Week of Awesome(tm), which took place roughly from February 10-17, times out really well with not only the end of the month, but the end of the first Holding Myself Accountable segment. And that’s really neat because ... well, let’s say my priorities aren’t what I thought they would be at the beginning of January.

First and foremost, there are a couple things that I neglected to mention in the first “WHOA WHAT A WEEK” post, not because I didn’t feel like they were important enough to be included (that is certainly not the case), but at the time of writing the last post, I either didn’t have enough information to make it worth posting about or couldn’t say anything because it wasn’t set in stone yet. But lo and behold, here they are:

I got the opportunity to talk about questionMark and its inspiration in an interview on Kelsey Stone’s writing and book blog. The interview also includes some of my personal inspirations, as well as some history of questionMark and some little hints about Projects C and A. The post technically went up last Thursday, but I was too busy to say anything on here about it (you’ll see why in a minute), and part of me wanted to wait until I had more to talk about. You can read the full interview here.

This next one is a little more personal than writing-related, but it definitely affects my writing career in more ways than one. Probably the most earth-shattering thing that happened that week was the fact that I got a really, really good summer internship opportunity, not just in the IT area that I’m extremely passionate about, but also at one of the best companies in the area. I didn’t want to say anything about it unless I got accepted, but I just got the call Tuesday morning saying I got in, and unless I hear otherwise, it’s a go. 

I’ve been very fortunate and humbled by the opportunity, not only because I get to learn more about a field I really like, but long story short, I’ve been struggling financially lately, and it’s nice to see that things are finally starting to turn around. Although with the way the Week of Awesome(tm) has been, it all turned around at exactly the same time, which was more than a little inconvenient.

So, yeah ... keep in mind that this has been sort of the surprise subplot of my life for the past few weeks--because now we’re delving back into ...

HOLDING MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

Whoo, boy. Let’s see how I did.

1. Finish This Draft of Project C

This was probably the first one I finished. I went into a little more detail on this one in a previous post, so I won’t say much about it now. I will say, though, that this is technically the first novel that I’ve ever completed. I say technically because, well, it’s complicated. And I would say more if I could. But I can’t. Anyway, consider this one done.

2.  questionMark Sales Goal 

This is one of those things that, back at the beginning of January, I thought I would have more time to push for, especially with the audiobook so close to completion. However, the Week of Awesome happened and threw everything off (just warning you now: This makes up the majority of my excuses). So, unfortunately, I didn’t meet my sales goal. Hopefully, though, that’ll change as I spend more time preparing for the Author Fair that’s at the Stark County District Library Downtown Branch in Canton, Ohio on March 25th from 9am to 4pm that’s absolutely free and open to the public--but we’ll see.

3.  Rewrite One of My Old Novelettes 

Good news: I started this one, after putting it off for the past two years. This is another one that’s going to overlap into March-April, mainly because looking back at this story, it has a lot of potential. Like I said before, this piece was one of the many that were cut from questionMark, and I really hope that I can make it good enough to submit it somewhere, or at least bring it up to the caliber of the pieces that did make it in.

4.  Submit Three or More Short Stories 

To my credit, I did go out of my way to do this one, and I did have a plan. Two of them were rejected, and I haven’t heard back about the third one, but it’s a start. 

5.  questionMark Review Goal 

Like I said in #2, I thought I would have more time to push this than I did. Don’t get me wrong--the reviews that have come in so far have been amazing, and I am so, so grateful that you guys took the time to talk about my book. I was just a doofus and didn’t have the time to push it as aggressively as I wanted to. But, again, thank you guys so much.

6.  Make Substantial Progress on “Project A” 

Like #3, I started this, and while I didn’t expect to finish it before the end of February, I’m still shocked at how far I got. Although I didn’t reach my goal, I still got about halfway there over the course of a few weeks. I spent maybe six or seven hours after I got home from school one night working on a whole chapter (which clocked in at just over 4,000 words) just because I was so excited to get back into the swing of writing it. That’s definitely a good sign, and I hope I can make even more progress in the second half of the semester.

7.  Write At Least Three New Short Stories 

And--surprise, surprise--I didn’t have time to do this one, either. However, after some thinking, I don’t think this is one that’s going to carry over into March-April. I have a lot on my plate right now, and this past set of goals has taught me that I need to be a little more realistic about my current priorities. Especially with Project C hovering over my shoulder, among certain other things mentioned above, I need to shift my focus a little bit so that I’m better able to tackle the more pressing matters in my writing career. Therefore, I’m probably going to shelve this one for a while, at least until my schedule’s a little clearer.

8.  Plot Out Timeline for Project C 

Fortunately, I did manage to do this one after admittedly pestering my coauthor about it for ages. We got almost everything worked out, and I know that there’ll be many more problems popping up in the next few drafts, but at least we got most of the major inconsistencies out of the way.

9.  Read At Least Five New Books 

I completed this one ... but at what cost?

I admit I got a little overzealous here, and this was one of the major time-consumers of the list, if not the time-consumer. I was fortunate enough to have books assigned for class that were eligible for this list, since if I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have gotten past three. I know this is going to be one of the major changes for March-April (and for pretty much every segment after that), just to make these next two a little more manageable. 

The final list was:

- The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

- Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

- Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant by Darren Shan

- Prey by Michael Crichton

10.  Reread At Least Three Nostalgic Books 

Same as above, although this one was a little more forgiving since there was more room for shorter books. 

The final list was:

- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

- The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

- Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan

So I got 5/10, which was just short of my goal. However, considering everything else that’s been going on, I’d say that’s a win in my book. Even though it’s not. Just let me have this, please.

What will I put myself through next month? Can I force myself to be productive even in the thick of the semester? Will I ever learn from my hotheaded mistakes? Find out in HOLDING MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE: MARCH-APRIL 2017! Coming soon!