Updates (Precious Soul of Mine) ((MUST READ)) · 1:49pm Aug 3rd, 2015
This is a very serious blog and as I'm writing it I'm worried it's going to sound like I'm being a whiny bitch. But I'm going to do this regardless. Proceed at your own risk.
I didn't do as good as I hoped to do this semester. I did pass some lessons, but some I scraped the passing grade. I do have to say that sometimes it was so hot I couldn't study in my own house but I do have to admit I wasn't exactly wanting it enough... I wanted the exams to finally end, so I can free myself from them even temporarily. This was a delusion... BUT Let me start at the beginning. As I entered university life I thought things were going to be calmer. I was let loose without restraint and without exercising restraint upon a life of laziness that I wouldn't even attempt to get out of for the next 3 years.
While it isn't as bad as it sounds it's still really bad. I was a lazy prick and I'm not ashamed to admit my mistakes as I do in many cases. Ever since two years ago I've started an extensive attempt to resume my reading habits with the continued support of my parents. Despite their support, financial or otherwise... I do feel that they do their mistakes and contribute upon a situation that's completely demotivational for me. I sometimes feel like I've lost the spark within me, the passion to go on.
I seem to work well under pressure. Or maybe it seems that I've been used to working that way and can't seem to pull myself together voluntarily. It seems my recent origin story of Selune proves that to me. I had the idea all along in my head, but it seems that the pressure of a deadline of a contest motivated/forced me to write things down.
I don't exactly know how to organize myself. Despite that I'm not giving up, and I'm no longer waiting for a break like I did with my previous writings. I'm going to write through the semester if I have to, even through exams if I can do it without neglecting my studies.
I realized that waiting for the right time is bullshit. There's never gonna be a time when I'm going to be totally relaxed, or ready to write, and the more I postpone it the more this demotivation is gonna stay where it is.
There are however some things that I need to consider. My mother has been pushing me to basically write for money. While I'm not the guy that has terrible self esteem I think my mother partly believes that I am good enough ((idea wise? I don't know...)) to make money out of what I enjoy. While I understand that is something to consider and I am certain that I could try this out here's the thing.
I know jack shit in this sector. No I don't mean in writing. I mean I know jack shit in the Patreon sector and generally in the sector of paid writing. I'd like to think I've read a lot of fics but it seems that I need to read even more. It's going to take dedication, determination, and a good pc ((because let's face it the one I have in university is a scrapbox)).
So what do I want from you guys? I want you god-damn honest feedback on the matter of me creating a patreon account and starting to write for money. I promise honest to god that I will keep writing with the same mind I have been writing already which means writing for the sake of having fun together with my audience ((without becoming the audience's bitch)).
I will definitely need an editor since English isn't my mother language and I'm Greek.
Now what does this mean about this fic? I intend to rewrite it a bit. The basic premise is going to remain the same, but regardless I want to make it better, so that one day I may send it to Equestria Daily. I want this to be a great fic, one that opens up the idea for a potential grand sequel which will be a full scale war with the dark forces that besiege the crystal empire and its' rightful emperor.
I want to continue this grand fic and there will be OCs that star in it as we go by the future seasons of MLP together.
You might think this is a relatively short plan compared to others but I don't have much to say that I haven't said before, and writing so many blog posts is sorta tiring. Plus I need to go. So... cya around.
Writing is a great hobby. I thoroughly enjoy it myself. That's great that your mother supports you on pursuing earning money on the subject! If you can feel a calling in that direction, go for it!
I know the feeling all too well to not have a deadline, and perhaps that is something I should really start doing. The sense of having a deadline is a motivational tactic. Without one, we only write when we are absolutely mindset on writing exactly what it is we want to write. However, with a deadline stapled to a project of dedication, that becomes apparent that it is a "must do" task, and you set your mind to pushing forward.
The concept of deadlines also applies when we study for school. And often we wait until the last minute to study for a test, and at that point, our mind is so overwhelmed with guilt for not studying before now, that our mind rushes in a panic, so to speak, and we can not focus on studying any longer, because we have put too little time on too large of a task, which the task drowns out your motivation, because your subconscious is battling what you are trying to do with the state of mind being so incredibly full that you can't focus.
It's like a pop bottle. Let's say you have an exam in 2 weeks. Your mind is at ease, because, "pff, its 2 weeks, that's lots of time, I can study later!"
This may be true... for a little while. But time doesn't think the same way, for it doesn't stop. Two hours past becomes two hours gone. Two days past becomes two days gone. Eventually your mind will start saying "Yeah I know, time is shortening, buuuut I still have time..." and eventually, finally, "Wait that thing is TOMORROW?"
So then you study like crazy, or... you try to. But you can't, because your mind is not thinking about "studying" any more, it is thinking "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow......"
Throughout the week, that pop bottle has slowly filled up. And now, it's full, and it is spraying everywhere. You have soda stains all over your room, so instead of studying "properly", you are running around the room with a cloth cleaning up the mess. Your mind is so focused on now cleaning this soda that it forgot you can stop the spilling by drinking the bottle before it overfills.
The reason a task (be it studying, writing, drawing, chores, or any subject at hand) is so easily postponed/procrastinated is because in your head, you're probably thinking you have other priorities. The greatest motivation is a deadline. Sometimes though, a deadline for a large project is too unbearable to handle coming close to the final days. So to accomplish a large project with a deadline, a good way to do this is to create mini-deadlines up until the final days.
Example, if you're writing, and you have to complete 10,000 words in 1 week, give yourself mini tasks throughout the week. Monday: complete 1500 words! Tuesday: complete 1500 words! Wednesday: complete another 1500 words... and so on. You've disbursed the 10,000 words into 7 consecutive days. 1500 words times 7 days comes to 10500 words. Which it is not a bad thing to overestimate your time frame. 10,000 words can seem like an awful lot for someone to complete if left to the last minute. It can be done, yes, but at that point you would more likely be thinking about the soda stains everywhere rather than writing, and you'd be staring into the screen shaking, worrying, and wondering why it hasn't be done yet, instead of doing it.
So these are just my thoughts. Everyone has a different way to proceed with their projects. I certainly need to try something like this myself, because I, too, fall behind, and have the hardest time producing my work at a steady pace.
Anyway, good luck with your plans and ideas! I wish you the best!
3291401 It's not that I procrastinate exactly. When I see a contest whos idea I have been thinking of writing the idea seems to pop out much more easily in my head. Dunno. As for the motivation you're spot on.