Good Morning Adventurers,
Well, this week has been a slow one for me. I didn’t get around to much writing this week mainly due to work getting busy. However, what I did get around to doing was commissioning artwork for the two main characters for Project: Dancing Night. So lets get on to writing today’s update.
Today’s Content:
- Project: Dancing Night
- Commissioning An Artist
- Balancing Work and Writing
Project: Dancing Night
Alright, so it was in my last update that I had mentioned Project: Dancing Night. My goal with this project is to hopefully have it written and ready to publish by this summer, and releasing it in the fall(?). I haven’t really picked out the exact timeline yet, but I am setting one just to help keep myself to a set goal.
Why am I putting so much focus into this new project despite having two other ones that I have been working on for much longer? It’s because I have so much love for those projects that I am intentionally taking more time on them to ensure that I get their story right. However, with this project, my goal is really simple: create a story that is enjoyable and will help get my foot in the door. Essentially, this book is not meant to be traditionally published. So I will not be searching for an agent, nor will I be sending this out to the big publishing houses.
My goal with this project is to help create a catalog for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love these characters that I am developing. I’ll actually post another character update later this week because I am excited to share more about them. However, I also understand that majority of writers don’t make their money on the big deals but rather on the weekly amount of money made on the books that they sell.
So it is my intention to make Project: Dancing Night be the first book to enter that catalog of books that I will publish, and sell on platforms such as Kindle Unlimited and other formats like it. I might also take it and publish it through Barnes & Noble since I know that they have a means for self publishing, but before that, I will need to learn more about publishing rights, copywrites, ISBN numbers, and the other things legalease. So essentially, just as I am putting my love and enjoyment for this story, I am also taking this opportunity to learn more about the writing industry.
Commissioning An Artist
Now I don’t know if anyone who is reading this has ever commissioned an artist before, but if you have then you’d know that it is quite the process. With the increase of A.I. artists out there, you really have to take the time in searching for those that genuinely create their work. Another thing is the cost; an artist should be paid their worth for the skill that I clearly don’t have. However, I have a budget and some of the artists out there are charging hundreds of dollars for sketches or for a bust of a character.
Don’t get me wrong, the artists that are charging that top dollar are clearly worth their salt for the art that they create. However, I don’t have that kind of spare money in order to commission them. So, that means I need to find someone with more reasonable prices or I take a look at the smaller pages of newer artists. Which eventually brings me back to pointing out how I need to really examine if the art that they are creating is A.I. or not.
Thankfully, I have found two that I am really looking forward to working with. With their art styles, I know that they will be able to bring out the character traits that I hope to be revealed. I’m not sure how well I did in presenting the character to them, but I hope that I did better than most when someone commissions a character for them. I really tried my best in doing my research and providing both artists with pose references, weapon designs, armor designs, character descriptions, as well as anything that specifically stands out about them. I think the only thing that I forgot to do was really think about what their faces should look like, well at least for one artist I did. When they had asked me about it, I literally smacked myself on the forehead. Like how could I have forgotten one of the most important details. Thankfully I already had something in mind, but it doesn’t mean that I still don’t kick myself for forgetting such a key detail.
Anyways, now that those characters have been commissioned, I am eagerly looking forward to seeing the end results for each of the characters. One of the artists has already sent me a sketch of one of the characters heads and I am loving it. So I can’t wait to share those once they are complete, because I am really excited to see some of my characters actually drawn.
Balancing Work and Writing
As I have stated in previous posts, most of these updates are usually coffee induced. Let’s be clear, I am a morning person, and with the way that my life works out I tend to be up around Three-Thirty in the morning, ready to take on the world. So it is during this time that I find myself doing majority of my writing. It is also the time when I can write the best/most. As the day progresses, I often struggle with finding the energy to write, especially once work is done.
This lack of energy after work tends to put me in a mood where all I want to do is play games and read. It used to be doom scrolling, but I am working on breaking that habit right now. So the challenge then becomes when and what do I want to write? What is it that I need to focus on when I am sitting on my computer in the mornings, writing. So far, I have been pretty consistent with these Tuesday updates. Which is kinda strange but also nice to know that I am being consistent about one thing in this pursuit of mine. Maybe because it is a cathartic type of writing, who knows. All I know is that it does help me keep my goals ever present in my mind.
One good thing that I do, is that when I am at work I can take simple notes about story and character elements. It’s not that hard to find time to jot down these little tidbits and use them to update my progress later. However, this is just world building and it is not me actually writing out the story itself. I want to write while I work, but sadly it is not a conducive environment for writing and my attention is always required. This leaves me little brain power to work on my story, let alone actually focusing on writing it.
Ok, I have gone past my intended time of wanting to post this. So I will end my letter here. Thank you and blessings to all who take the time to read my coffee induced ramblings. I hope that it all makes sense in what I am saying, whenever I post these. Feel free to tell me what you think and to those who have been liking these updates of mine—I see you and I appreciate you guys.
So until next time, have a blessed day and continue seeking out adventure in everything that you do, Adventurer.
—A.G.F.
A.G. Flowers 
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