2023, A Year in Review. · 10:06pm January 2nd
Well, another year has passed, and another trip around the sun, completed. Lets take a look back at 2023, shall we?
The Big Three Stories, and Their Future.
This marked the year that I stopped updating the big three monthly. (First Law, Born In Light, Infestation.) I did so only reluctantly as my schedule was getting too cramped, and with the threat of homelessness looming, I made the difficult decision to cut their updates so I could focus more on commissions. That wasn't the only reason I stopped updating them, however, as they had all well... gotten away from me.
I had been updating them regularly for about 5 years at that point and I had so much on my plate that I never had the chance to just sit down and plan out the rest of the story. As such, they started to blur together, and I started making big errors as I had forgotten parts of the lore, or had forgotten about a character. This dragged out updates even longer, as I had to go back and fix them, plus review and reread vast swathes of story each month.
I learned a lot about writing though, as now I keep a description of every major character in an extra doc, along with their history. I have every bit of lore in a doc, and I meticulously write out the breakdown of every single chapter well in advance. That doesn't help these stories though. So, that leads me to the future...
Eagle-eyed viewers amongst you may have noticed that Born In Light has been slowly getting re-edited. These chapters are marked with an (R) and you'll notice there is a Story So Far blog in case you need a refresher. Once these edits are complete, that story will be getting new updates again, and probably a lot of them really quickly. I plan to finish that story in short order once edits are done, and then move on to doing the same edit/finishing with another story until they are all done.
A warning though, this is going to take a while unless someone like, commissions me to get it done faster or something.
Personal Section.
Now that ya'll know my main plans for the 'ol Jest account, ya'll should also know what else I've been up to, and those things are two fold.
One, I've started a side Patreon for original fiction, my homebrew world (Warning, both are still under construction), and future adventures/dungeons and dragons content that I hope to pen. Before you start to worry, know that this is a side project where all the work is basically already done. I've been working on this world, and adventures in it for like, a decade and a half (Ever since I was a wee babe) at this point but I never thought to put it online or do anything with it. So I'm slowly digitizing it all with the intention of writing adventures/stories/novels in that world.
Secondly, I'm working on 2 different books (Potentially 3 but I'm holding off on that one for now). I know I've said I was working on a novel before but I ended up scrapping the whole thing after much frustration. Since then I've already made more headway on these 2 in only a month than I did in the last one over the course of a year. I have much higher hopes for these ones, though again, don't worry they aren't the focus. Right now I'm just working on outlines and planning. Even when I'm done with all that I plan on only working on those during my days off not my work days (Which are dedicated to you fine people).
With that out of the way, how has my year been on a non-work level? Well, it's complicated but good thankfully. As most of you know I've had my struggles with mental health, flirting with homelessness, and a bunch of other issues that seem to crop up every few months. Thankfully I've dealt with them all, moved on, and have made real headway.
The accomplishments I am most proud of are the fact I quit drinking, smoking weed, and the like. I was never an alcoholic or an addict/whatever, but I noticed that I was slipping for lack of a better word. When I got sad I drank, and that only made things worse (alcohol is a depressant kiddos, don't forget that). That and I realized that the only time I socialized irl I did so through the context of getting high or going to the bar, two things I never actually enjoyed, to begin with, but did so out of social pressure. So when I was told that none of those things interacted well with the new prescription for my chronic pain condition I decided to give them all up cold turkey. I also cut a ton of shit friends from my life and started focusing more on myself rather than trying to be the people pleaser I used to be.
Since then I've been able to save money, start rebuilding my finances (I have a lot of debt), and have not needed to take extra jobs, or reno work on the side. I've also been more productive in the last two months than... all year. My chronic pain condition was finally figured out, I got meds, and I've got an appointment to get something for my anxiety, and with a bit of help, I think I'll finally feel normal for the first time in... years.
It really does feel like I turned a corner and that things are finally getting better after years of on-and-off depression/anxiety + food insecurity and looming homelessness. I've also given up streaming, even though it was something I only ever rarely did, it was still getting in the way of my work, and distracting me from what I truly felt was important, writing. It was only ever meant to be a weekend thing but I kept getting pulled into drama that drained my energy and wasted my time.
This year's Checklist:
Below are my goals, both the more conservative ones and (the ones I hope to do, but are under no illusions I'll actually have the time for.)
1. Write a Book (or 2!)
2. Commit my d and d world to digital paper. (And begin publishing adventures/supplements!)
3. Complete Born In Light. (And hopefully either First Law or Infestation)
4. Complete a few other minor stories like the 5 X series. (And maybe 0 AP or Mother of All)
On a personal note.
1. Replace the furniture I own that is either rotting or falling apart.
2. Replace the broken parts of my computer that I haven't had the money to fix.
3. Get a new bed. (This one's fucking ancient and falling apart.)
4. Make some better fucking friends. :P
So, with all that out of the way, I want to thank you all for sticking with me all this time. Ya'll mean the world to me, and I can't express how much I appreciate your support over the years.
Here's to an amazing 2024!
Well sounds like great things all around. I would comment on more individual things, but honestly it just sounds like a bunch of W's for you everywhere, cutting toxic elements from your life, reorganizing yourself, making your stories even better, just great.
I wish you good fortune and I look forward to your work.
Good on you for being able to get your shit together, a lot of people struggle hard with that. Happy new year!
I wish you the best with your goals, especially the better friend’s goal
Well, I hope everything goes well for you in your life, and we will see more new stories from you.
Good luck!