Only I will notice that after many years titling it "writing perspective"... it's now "creative perspective". Seemed appropriate!
Anyway, wow. Wow wow wow.
I came blasting into 2021 from a writing canon and was soaring for quite some time. On the night of December 31st, 2020, I had finished a 19k word/62-page AIW fanfic called Rabbit and the Monkey Cups, and my heart was full. I loved the new directions I was taking these long-loved characters, the new sides I was imagining to them. Also, I was reminded that comedy is my favorite and most natural way of expression.
Following that were a number of other AIW fanfic projects: Meant To Be (a Hatter & Hare origin story), which is something I spent ten years feeling too daunted to attempt and now here it is!; A Royal Affair, a super rando but fun Queenie/Hatter thing just to show what a trainwreck the pairing is; Of Specters and Spectacles, a Halloween themed story to which I wasn't really applying myself tbh; and some continuation of the very incomplete 25 Candles and a Mathematician. None of these was finished but they're off to good starts.
What was finished was a very special fic that I started in 20-fucking-12 called The Passion of the Hot-Tub, which broke all my records for AIW fanfic. At 30k words/104 pages, it's the longest, and to me it's just overall a better story than my previous favorite, Trying Tuesday. Love is given to characters who were being overlooked, shipping takes the back-burner, and despite that I wasn't pressuring myself to turn it into anything in particular so that an audience would like it better, it has a good plot and execution. So yeah, I'm happy! And it gives me hope that, hey, maybe an eBook compilation of AIW stories is possible.
ANYHOO
That was not the only type of writing that was being done this year. Oh, no.
A lot of ground was covered with CRYSTAL PALACE as well. At 65 pages, it's about half done. It's a totally different genre for me, and totally different type of prose, which only came about through experimentation. It feels like something not my own, or not expected from me. I'm excited about it and I do think it could be something published, as long as I stick to it. About halfway into the year, there was too much shit going on with me (the car, my health, my mental health), so not much has gotten done since then, but when I was working on it there was something special going on. My friend and mentor Richard K. was my reader every week, as I had promised him to make updates every week, every Wednesday night. For the most part, that promise was kept, and it was like our secret story. Also, he loved it, and that was really inspiring and motivating for me. Knowing he was invested in everything gave me more to invest in myself.
Plus, all this cool art got made:
( Read more... )
Lastly, about this project, I was able to merge emotionally with the material. I think that's the point you must get to for the story to stand up out of the page and draw investment from its readers: when you have found real experience and emotion to inspire the scenes. At face value, it's a creepy story about an ice palace, about non-human characters, which seems very escapist. The insides, the guts of the story, however, are dripping with extremely familiar feelings: of confinement, abandonment, disillusionment, resentment... stemming from all the things that define your past and future. Richard told me that Akira's red tie reminds him of open veins, or an open wound. At all times, he unknowingly bears his anguish and weakness, his handicap even as this castle's prince. He just wants to find a crack in the walls in which he can ESCAPE, both physical confinement and the confinement of fate. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel that big time.
Moving on!
The Hatter cosplay. Hooooly shit, the Hatter cosplay. I did it. In January, it was a thing in my diary, a dream that could only manifest through tedium and dedication, no possible shortcuts... and by October, it was real. Well, I don't need to say too much about it because it was documented here, and there are posts on tumblr that I'm making about how the pieces were created, but wow was it a testament to the power I have to make things happen. It was good for my self-esteem. I've come to realize I can do it if I break a project into smaller bites and stay focused, long term. I'm a tortoise, not a hare. The finish line has to be way, way out there, because my health will hold me back, and I'm beginning to suspect I have adult ADHD, but damnit I WILL REACH IT!
One of the things I think that helped was making lists. So many of the lists. And also, staying focused only on the step at hand, going one steady foot after the other. For example, back in May, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make Hatter's jacket until I learned 1.) how to put together a lapel and collar, 2.) the best method for me to get the measurement and pattern pieces right, 3.) how to do jacket lining, 4.) how to do coat-tails, etc. So the steps at the time were "learn about these things", and "make a practice garment". So a tiny suit jacket was made. xD Then a life-size garment was made, to check the fit. Having the room to just gradually figure things out and feel motivated by the success of the smaller projects is what got me to the finish line, ultimately.
I will have to find a way to work like this with writing.
One new episode of Chit-Chat Snicky-Snack was made... which is... less than I would have hoped, but the project is overall not popular and not appealing to most AIW fans, and that kinda destroyed my motivation after a while.
Also, I finished several Crazy Ex-Girlfriend sticker designs! And if I can just make a few more, there will be enough for a set to sell on Etsy or something. Unlike the AIW fandom, CXG fans seem to give a shit, so I think the stickers will be well received. It also helps that Vincent Rodriguez III (Josh Chan's actor) saw the one of him and fanboyed about it! It was so sweet; we had a whole moment together on instagram.
~ ~ ~
Overall, a productive, ground-breaking year for me. I also fulfilled a lot of my personal goals, like to stay more hydrated, treat my skin better, seek out creative jobs (even though I didn't land any), connect with other writers, don't take no mess, and keep it funky.
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
✥ I really truly, absolutely want to do more Chit-Chat Snicky-Snack, especially with all those ideas about salad theory that came up a few months ago. lol I wanna do it, I don't care if nobody else cares, I want to do more, and I want to do it in costume. hahahah
✥ CRYSTAL PALACE has to be finished, or I'm jumping out a window. Hold me to it. Actually, not just the story: I want to build a website, too. Something all atmospheric and spooky.
✥ I want to finish both Masquerade Jareth (with his coat) and Count Orlok (the whole thing!)
✥ A real project centered around the Wonderland AU would be... personally fulfilling for me. I want to do something with these stories. Organize a timeline and plan what the other stories will be, and write them. Doesn't need to be finished by the end of the year. (I actually already started the how did this all start?! chapter.)
✥ Fanfic-wise, I would also really love to make leeway with A Royal Affair and Meant To Be. They're both off to such great starts. If possible, it'd also be cool to branch out to fanfic for shows I haven't written for before, like What We Do in the Shadows, OR Crazy-Ex-Girlfriend???
✥ Gotta finish that CXG sticker-set. Just gotta.
✥ Just in general do some more art? It feels like this year was lacking in much art. What would be really miraculous is if I could find myself financially comfortable enough to buy a quality drawing tablet, but whether I have one or not it would still be very beneficial for me to step up my game as far as the presentation of my art, graphics, anything that's being used to represent my projects.
✥ Oh right, HT. Uhhh... uhhh... *shuts off light* NOBODY'S HOME.
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
So there we have it. If anything else comes up, I'll edit the post.
-J
Anyway, wow. Wow wow wow.
I came blasting into 2021 from a writing canon and was soaring for quite some time. On the night of December 31st, 2020, I had finished a 19k word/62-page AIW fanfic called Rabbit and the Monkey Cups, and my heart was full. I loved the new directions I was taking these long-loved characters, the new sides I was imagining to them. Also, I was reminded that comedy is my favorite and most natural way of expression.
Following that were a number of other AIW fanfic projects: Meant To Be (a Hatter & Hare origin story), which is something I spent ten years feeling too daunted to attempt and now here it is!; A Royal Affair, a super rando but fun Queenie/Hatter thing just to show what a trainwreck the pairing is; Of Specters and Spectacles, a Halloween themed story to which I wasn't really applying myself tbh; and some continuation of the very incomplete 25 Candles and a Mathematician. None of these was finished but they're off to good starts.
What was finished was a very special fic that I started in 20-fucking-12 called The Passion of the Hot-Tub, which broke all my records for AIW fanfic. At 30k words/104 pages, it's the longest, and to me it's just overall a better story than my previous favorite, Trying Tuesday. Love is given to characters who were being overlooked, shipping takes the back-burner, and despite that I wasn't pressuring myself to turn it into anything in particular so that an audience would like it better, it has a good plot and execution. So yeah, I'm happy! And it gives me hope that, hey, maybe an eBook compilation of AIW stories is possible.
ANYHOO
That was not the only type of writing that was being done this year. Oh, no.
A lot of ground was covered with CRYSTAL PALACE as well. At 65 pages, it's about half done. It's a totally different genre for me, and totally different type of prose, which only came about through experimentation. It feels like something not my own, or not expected from me. I'm excited about it and I do think it could be something published, as long as I stick to it. About halfway into the year, there was too much shit going on with me (the car, my health, my mental health), so not much has gotten done since then, but when I was working on it there was something special going on. My friend and mentor Richard K. was my reader every week, as I had promised him to make updates every week, every Wednesday night. For the most part, that promise was kept, and it was like our secret story. Also, he loved it, and that was really inspiring and motivating for me. Knowing he was invested in everything gave me more to invest in myself.
Plus, all this cool art got made:
( Read more... )
Lastly, about this project, I was able to merge emotionally with the material. I think that's the point you must get to for the story to stand up out of the page and draw investment from its readers: when you have found real experience and emotion to inspire the scenes. At face value, it's a creepy story about an ice palace, about non-human characters, which seems very escapist. The insides, the guts of the story, however, are dripping with extremely familiar feelings: of confinement, abandonment, disillusionment, resentment... stemming from all the things that define your past and future. Richard told me that Akira's red tie reminds him of open veins, or an open wound. At all times, he unknowingly bears his anguish and weakness, his handicap even as this castle's prince. He just wants to find a crack in the walls in which he can ESCAPE, both physical confinement and the confinement of fate. I don't know about anyone else, but I feel that big time.
Moving on!
The Hatter cosplay. Hooooly shit, the Hatter cosplay. I did it. In January, it was a thing in my diary, a dream that could only manifest through tedium and dedication, no possible shortcuts... and by October, it was real. Well, I don't need to say too much about it because it was documented here, and there are posts on tumblr that I'm making about how the pieces were created, but wow was it a testament to the power I have to make things happen. It was good for my self-esteem. I've come to realize I can do it if I break a project into smaller bites and stay focused, long term. I'm a tortoise, not a hare. The finish line has to be way, way out there, because my health will hold me back, and I'm beginning to suspect I have adult ADHD, but damnit I WILL REACH IT!
One of the things I think that helped was making lists. So many of the lists. And also, staying focused only on the step at hand, going one steady foot after the other. For example, back in May, I knew that I wouldn't be able to make Hatter's jacket until I learned 1.) how to put together a lapel and collar, 2.) the best method for me to get the measurement and pattern pieces right, 3.) how to do jacket lining, 4.) how to do coat-tails, etc. So the steps at the time were "learn about these things", and "make a practice garment". So a tiny suit jacket was made. xD Then a life-size garment was made, to check the fit. Having the room to just gradually figure things out and feel motivated by the success of the smaller projects is what got me to the finish line, ultimately.
I will have to find a way to work like this with writing.
One new episode of Chit-Chat Snicky-Snack was made... which is... less than I would have hoped, but the project is overall not popular and not appealing to most AIW fans, and that kinda destroyed my motivation after a while.
Also, I finished several Crazy Ex-Girlfriend sticker designs! And if I can just make a few more, there will be enough for a set to sell on Etsy or something. Unlike the AIW fandom, CXG fans seem to give a shit, so I think the stickers will be well received. It also helps that Vincent Rodriguez III (Josh Chan's actor) saw the one of him and fanboyed about it! It was so sweet; we had a whole moment together on instagram.
~ ~ ~
Overall, a productive, ground-breaking year for me. I also fulfilled a lot of my personal goals, like to stay more hydrated, treat my skin better, seek out creative jobs (even though I didn't land any), connect with other writers, don't take no mess, and keep it funky.
Now, onward, to 2022!
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
✥ I really truly, absolutely want to do more Chit-Chat Snicky-Snack, especially with all those ideas about salad theory that came up a few months ago. lol I wanna do it, I don't care if nobody else cares, I want to do more, and I want to do it in costume. hahahah
✥ I want to finish both Masquerade Jareth (with his coat) and Count Orlok (the whole thing!)
✥ A real project centered around the Wonderland AU would be... personally fulfilling for me. I want to do something with these stories. Organize a timeline and plan what the other stories will be, and write them. Doesn't need to be finished by the end of the year. (I actually already started the how did this all start?! chapter.)
✥ Fanfic-wise, I would also really love to make leeway with A Royal Affair and Meant To Be. They're both off to such great starts. If possible, it'd also be cool to branch out to fanfic for shows I haven't written for before, like What We Do in the Shadows, OR Crazy-Ex-Girlfriend???
✥ Gotta finish that CXG sticker-set. Just gotta.
✥ Just in general do some more art? It feels like this year was lacking in much art. What would be really miraculous is if I could find myself financially comfortable enough to buy a quality drawing tablet, but whether I have one or not it would still be very beneficial for me to step up my game as far as the presentation of my art, graphics, anything that's being used to represent my projects.
✥ Oh right, HT. Uhhh... uhhh... *shuts off light* NOBODY'S HOME.
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
So there we have it. If anything else comes up, I'll edit the post.
-J
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