Heidi Fisk's Blog, page 13

Me and Drawing

Drawing has been a weird thing for me, since unlike a lot of other artist and writers I never actually seriously tried to draw.

The last time I even made an attempt to draw a character was in the forth grade and after that it has been stickmen or writing.

What is really weird, is that it's not like I dislike art or drawing. I actually even feel a bit envy of those who can do both.

However, not only do I not really have the time to practice, it's also sort of late for me to do so. (I'm going to be in my mid twenties soon)

Maybe if I do blow up as an author and I get a bit of extra time I may start.

Social Media and its Trappings

Social Media, twitter specifically, horrifies me. While it is a great tool to get into contact with your creators etc it is also a very tempting sink-hole of trouble that can spiral.

So many people tend to post personal thoughts or ideas that may be better kept to themselves or are worded rather poorly and things turn really bad.

It allows us to speak our mind to thousands of people. Sometimes shouting to the void and other times letting a wave crash down on us.

I think the big issue is that people can no longer think and create in a vacuum. While having opinions and thoughts on your actions or work could be helpful, it removes what makes certain pieces of art special.

It's unsettling and every time I see another great controversy that sometimes it is okay to keep yourself at arms length on social media.

Be mindful of what you post and even if you are there to have fun and be goofy never make things too personal.

While it sounds like a very robotic way to interact with followers and the world I do think it is something that can benefit everyone.

It is part of the reason I swore to myself never to talk about politics. No matter what my opinion on a given situation is, I keep my mouth shut or just talk about it with close friends.

Bad Habits.

I have a ton of bad habits that I probably really need to break. One of them is worrying about things that I don't have direct control over at any given moment.

This is bad because it stresses me out over small stuff and completely halts my work flow.

It's even worse when there really isn't anything to worry about. Writing makes up a bit of my income for sure, and a bad month can set me back. However a lot of it is simply on the whims of the consumer.

This month has been really good to me, but I can't help but think about certain things.

"Will I keep the momentum up next month?"

"Will I stagnate at this level?"

These are silly thoughts, but I still have them.

I finally realize that no matter how successful I am, I will always have that nagging voice in the back of my head saying I could do more.

I've been Rereading Fate/Stay Night recently

So, like the title suggest. I've been rereading Fate/Stay Night, the original Visual Novel, not the manga or anything like that.

If anyone has been keeping up with me, you should know that Kinoko Nasu was a huge inspiration for my writing

Kinoko Nasu

Not only did I try to replicate his writing style when I first started, but the plot skeleton of Lord of Dusk actually was based on some of his works.

Lord of Dusk Compilation: Books 1-3

Despite this, I have trouble...getting through some of this Visual Novel. Perhaps I am getting older or maybe it's more that it's just hard to come back to.

For those who don't know, Fate/Stay Night actually in the top five word counts in of any visual novel. 750000 being the end word count.

To put that in perspective, Saya Song is only around 100K. And even considering that it's technically closer to three novels instead that is quite a bit.

This really shows in the pacing, and I've started to notice small nitpicks that didn't irritate me at the time, but makes it really hard to go back to.

It's a really complicated feeling. I don't hate it, but I can't really lift it up as an amazing story any longer.

I do wonder if anyone else tend to suffer from this from something they used to love, only to go back to it and it's not as amazing as you remembered?

My Writing Style and how I could Evolve

Thinking about it, I have quite a few weaknesses as a writer. Mostly in terms of the technical aspects as well as details.

I often feel I should take some time to see if I can expand my writing in certain ways since I'm starting to feel I am hitting a wall.

Not in terms of storytelling, but in prose and other aspects.

I might take a month after the next novella to do corrections and think about some things. That way I can at the very least save some money on cover work and focus on improving.

I mean I think I have gotten far better compared to where I was three years ago. However it's still not where I should be compared to everyone else.

Free Titles on Amazon and How I use Them.

Lord of Dusk: Book 1: The Crimson Onlooker


Currently Lord of Dusk: Book 1 is free on Amazon for anyone interested.

I didn't know if I should have attached this to my post earlier today or just create a new one. So I decided just to create a new one right quick.

As you noticed, I rarely ever do a free promotion for anything past book 1 of a series I do. Even then it's only when I have a compilation out.

Mostly, because I don't see the use of having, say Book 3 free since most people wouldn't know what or where the story is at.

With that said, I don't even know if I'm going to do a compilation for say, Monster Girl Carnival. Since it's pretty popular and it wouldn't feel fair to those who bought the first 3 novella's seperatly.

I might do it far down the road. Like when I end that series. (But since that series is designed to go on for awhile don't expect it anytime soon.)

The Idea of a Blog.

Since I've been feeling somewhat down lately I decided to talk about the idea of blogging, or rather how my blog seems kind basic.

I don't really have large post, and most of them are talking about progress or how I was feeling. Originally it was supposed to be daily, but I flat out ran out of things to talk about every day.

I do a lot of other things, like play games and read. Not only that, but I do have thoughts about certain aspects of storytelling game design and even paneling.

However a part of me wonders if that is the kind of content people would be interested in as a supplement. (Despite me writing a post about posts right now...)

If I feel like it, I might right some thoughts tomorrow about how I tell stories and it might be a fun topic to dive into.

Progress and Melancholy Feelings

Right now I'm currently writing the Finale of Those Who Love Monster Girls.

It is...a strange feeling, even though Monster Girl Carnival was supposed to be its replacement me ending it is also weird.

I introduced a lot of characters etc, and part of the reason I decided to end it was that the cast got bloated and I really couldn't write a story or plot around it.

That being said, I feel the ending is going to capture that feeling somewhat. It will be longer than most other Those Who love Monster Girls novellas as a result.

It should be done sometime next month.

It does feel like I'm parting with a old friend. Despite all the flaws it was really fun to write. I'm also excited for the series I have plan after I conclude this.

Talent vs Hard Work and How they Cross.

Talent and Hard work are interesting conversation pieces now more than anything. There are a few people who honestly think that Talent doesn't exist and a few think that Hard work is worthless and people are destined for greatness.

I don't... agree with either.

There are a few people that see the world in a certain way that can't be replicated. There are some people which their strengths can't be replicated, and no amount of hard work will allow you to match them in that aspect of their work.

Those people worked hard as well, but to ignore that they may have a particular something that can't be replicated is selling them short.

Kentaro Miura, the author of Berserk, made his first manga Miuranger when he was 10. This wasn't a simple manga either, the quality and detail of it would make even some adult artist blush.

Kentaro Miura

To say this was normal would be undercutting his talent in the field.

On a similar note. People need to work hard to get to where they are. Honestly, there are plenty of writers I see and realize.

"I will never be as good as them. They know or understand something about the craft I can't replicate no matter how hard I try."

They either have the talent or the sheer volume of work ethic. (Which I'd argue is a talent in itself) that my mind just can't comprehend.

They have something that I lack.

However...that's okay.

It doesn't mean I stop working hard to improve my work and make it the best version that I can. It certainly doesn't mean I end my writing.

Even then, they may be better at one aspect of the craft, and I may be better at another.

Like in my previous post. I stated that there were people I think are better at writing than me from a technical standpoint.

However, I may be better at them concerning work ethic and completing task and novellas.

That is only because I am savvier to deadlines; it's not something I necessarily trained for. My brain is naturally wired that way.

As a result, I work hard on my flaws and use my talents or what I'm naturally good at to push further.

It's a combination of both hard work and talent that gives someone individualism.

We shouldn't dismiss hard work as talent, but we also shouldn't ignore the fact that some people have a natural knack for certain things that may not be easily surpassed if at all.

It's part of the reason why. "Never give up, keep trying, etc..." Is nice, but somewhat hollow advice.

It promotes people banging their head against a wall at a task, rather than stepping back and looking at it a different way and optimizing where they can use their talents and what areas to work on.

I mostly created this because of an interesting discussion thread on Twitter. I feel that some people thought I came across as someone who didn't value hard work or the years that people put into their craft.

I've been writing for Amazon for three years. Nine years I've been writing casually. I know how hard it is to even be passable at your craft.

But I don't think we should let that undermine people who are truly gifted in a certain area.

Sorry this was one of the longer blog post. It's an interesting topic and I really didn't have anything else to talk about.

How my Scheduling works and Goals

Usually after I finish writing a novella, I take a 3-5 day break mostly just writing for fun before I start on the next Novella. That usually gives me about 20 days to start writing before moving on to editing.

It probably isn't the best way to set things up, but I have gotten into a pattern with it. Since it's not like I can release more than 1 novella at a time due to my scheduling and artist.

This also isn't accounting for things like designs, me talking to people and general work flow.

I actually might meet my sales goal this month, and if I do then my next goal is to reach it consistently hopefully finally breaking into the top 100 erotica authors on amazon.

This probably isn't the largest goal for a lot of authors, but II need to get more reach. While changing up my keywords have helped quite a bit I'm not done yet.

I want to continue to improve my craft.

One of my oldest goals was to show my previous writing group how far I could make it. Recently I had talked to some of them and...

They hadn't moved from their current spot. None of them had finished a project or even was working on one.

Truth is, no matter how embarrassing it is to admit it now. A big reason why I started self-publishing was to show them there are different ways to go about writing and reaching your goal and no one way should be frowned upon.

However...I don't think I even say I told you so. I wasn't happy, I was just more sad that people who I think are better writers than me don't really do anything.

I guess to actually get back on topic, my goal is no longer to prove them wrong. Rather to completely better myself and maybe one day to at least make a basic living off of my work.

I want to get better and improve, and make the next series I write even better than the last!