Update Time #WritingTIPs

Hello Internet,

How are you guys doing? Happy February the 13th! One of the best days of the month. Defiantly not the day after today. Anyways, this will be a chill post. Let's just talk.

Good news! This #wip is finished. It's of my villain, the crimson, masked incubus. #Newart #anime art #mangaart #parasite pic.twitter.com/48wF685nRj

— Roxioxx (@RoxioxxStudios) February 11, 2019

It's good to be basically done with my short stories (that's the Chase Series).  Man, about a year ago, I thought the hardest thing about writing, was writing enough words for it to be a story. Now, I think the hardest part of writing is having a proper character arc. Making characters sympathetic enough so that the readers will be interested. How you do that is all dependent on your ability to communicate. Which words you use. How you execute those lines. Even, knowing when to not explain. Just let the feelings come through. Here's a tricky thing: sometimes what your characters feel is designed to make your readers feel something else. So, for Lavender Chase, in one scene Alexander is upset, but what I wanted the readers to feel is curiosity. Why is he upset? That piece the heightens the book's ending at the end that ties all the clues from before into one package. At the end of the story, it just feels so satisfying instead of being lack luster.

And hopefully, my blogs are a bit better written. Writing is like drawing. It's a skill. Some people are born with the gift, and others, like myself, have to practice like heck to get better.

It also helps to read books that are about the context of your story. I've been reading "Worthy Fights" by Leon Panetta who was a US Secretary of Defense, CIA Director, and Congressman. Since the Chase series focuses so much on government and how the Department of Defense works, his insight was indispensable. For Azure Chase, I had a scene about a mission briefing. The first version was vague and generic, and even my editor hated me for it. After taking his information (combined with Phillip Mudd's book "The HEAD Game") this scene was utterly transformed. It was filled with context and detail. Instead of saying "The Guardian Knight sat with authority," I was able to convey those feelings instead.

Visit Chase Series

Anyways, I've got to get to work on those two secret projects and Butterfly Kisses.

Those two secret projects are taking FOREVER with the amount of artwork I have to do for them. It's making me question if I should keep doing 100% of my time into finishing it all, or if I should do 50% instead and get to work with Butterfly Kisses. Honestly, it's been too long since I've updated that series. Although, with the exercises that the Chase Series put me through, it was probably for the better. The scripts I've written up for the manga series were refined and they are a lot more entertaining.

Then, on twitter, I was something that really jazzed me. There was a Muslim author who was interviewed in an article with 3 other authors, but her photo was cut out. It took me back to the 90's and 00's when this would happen all the time. It made me pretty mad, so I thought I would make doodle some extra Muslim Character designs. From my doodling, I actually found some cool ideas. Like, they are going to take my series to the next level.

Yeah, choosing not to work right now to invest my time in this series is a bit worrisome. I'm on a time limit but at the same time, it's helping my long term goals. I'm just getting a little tired of drawing for 8 to 12 hours a day. I should really give myself one day off a week.

All right, that's all. Have a good one guys and gals,

~Rox