Life & Writing Update 3/31/2023
Originally, I was going to make a website specifically for lifestyle blogging, where I could post updates on what’s happening in my life as well as the status of projects I’m working on.
So, I paid money for WordPress, I paid money for Elementor, and after hours and hours of agonizing over why this or that wasn’t working, I thought, Why not Medium?
So here I am.
Writing Updates
God of Embers
Yesterday, I uploaded Chapter 13 to my serial novel God of Embers on Royal Road. I’ve officially hit over 25k words posted, and it feels really good to watch the word count slowly grow.
This chapter is about “The God of Rot” and the duality of his eerie appearance versus his rather soft demeanor. I originally wrote this character as a creepy, villainous henchman, but something clicked while rewriting this chapter for Royal Road.
I’ve also been looking out for premade book covers. Enjoy anime Maruble while you can. He’ll be making an exit soon!
April Writeathon
Royal Road does a bi-annual challenge (similar to NaNoWriMo) called a Writeathon. It lasts for five weeks, and writers set goals for themselves and try to achieve them during this month.
This month, I’m challenging myself to complete God of Embers. It’s a heavy task, but seeing as I’m halfway through the story and currently posting a chapter every day or so, it doesn’t seem like it would be too much. Only a bit more effort than I’ve been putting in this past week.
The Basement
The Basement is the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2022. It’s a complete first draft and was originally the first novel I wanted to get traditionally published.
Needless to say, I struggled with the second draft. I would get halfway through editing, doubt myself, and start over editing from the beginning. It was a vicious cycle.
It reminds me of when I was a teenager making YouTube videos. It would take me a long time to get YouTube videos out because I would try and edit them to perfection. When I started streaming, there was no perfection. There was just you, your community, and whatever antic you had going on that day.
I think that’s why I’m leaning into platforms like Medium and Royal Road. Being able to share an article or a chapter instantaneously for others to see keeps me from overanalyzing.
The Future
For now, I’ve decided to focus solely on completing God of Embers on Royal Road. That said, I can’t help but look to the future and what lies ahead.
Part of me enjoys writing on Royal Road and is tempted to start rewriting and posting my Time Haze series there. The other part is worried that the genre isn’t fitting for RR, where the most popular stories end up being LitRPGs and Isekai-adjacent novels.
We’ll see. I’m going to complete the April Writeathon and then proceed from there. Regardless, in these past couple of months, I think I’ve learned a lot about editing, writing, and the importance of consistency over perfectionism. That lesson alone is worth it—regardless of whether I keep serial writing or not.
Life Updates
Zoey
Zoey got her teeth cleaned for the first time the other day. When she got home, she was a little loopy from the anesthesia, but now she’s feeling much better.
They did say that a few of her teeth have curved roots and will likely have to be removed in the future — which I don’t look forward to. I know these things scare her, and since coming home, she hasn’t left my side at all.
Twitch
I’ve missed streaming on Twitch lately. Next week, I’ll probably do a couple of streams, either of sim games, a story game, or RP. We’ll see!
I’ve also considered streaming the April Writeathon. It would be fun to share what I’m working on and the writing process, but sometimes, I get really embarrassed about showing work that isn’t complete.
Me when streaming writing:
Hey guys, this is a loose outline of a story I’m writing! Look! Haha. Did I mention it’s a loose draft? Like, I was barely paying attention when I wrote it. Seriously, I’m not that bad of a writer. God, do you hate me? Am I a failure?
Hair
After trying to grow my bangs for a month and a half, I’m happy to say that I finally cut them. I’ve decided that I wasn’t made for the bangless lifestyle.
Thanks for reading!
These updates feel like the best way to keep up with transparency about what I’m working on and the progress being made. If you enjoyed this, please Clap for this story or leave a comment, and I’ll keep doing these in the future.
Until next time!
