So today marks the half way point of the year. Or close to it. Time to have a checkpoint where I see how far I've gone with those goals since the beginning of the year...
Goal #1: Update my blogs once a week, and The Dark Writers blog once a month. I've failed so far in that endeavor. Some weeks were actually full of updates. Some weeks were dry. My blogs lost the carefully planned structure in the first week and became out of control wild cards.
Re-Goal: Try to catch up, but mostly focus on having weekly or bi-weekly updates to the blogs, with the exception of my idol blog (small posts can potentially be made daily) and my deviantART journal (once a month is probably all it needs as long as I'm maintaining the other blogs.)
Goal #2: Get at least one graphic novel published this year. With part of a Hellhoney panel currently drawn and some more blocked in, I'm going to have to dedicate more energy to that one comic.
Re-Goal: I still plan to work some on the other comics, but only if I meet weekly goals for Hellhoney. I need to get that comic finished soon if I want it self-published by the end of the year. Unless by some miracle it gets picked up by a publisher.
Goal #3: Finish Minervellas. I've only touched it art-wise this year.
Re-Goal: Finish writing it. Get as much editing done as possible, but if it still needs work in 2013, so be it. I want to participate in NaNo 2012! (But with a new story.)
Goal #4: Make reasonable money off my art. Oops, nope. Still making the equivalent of 50 cents to a $1.50 an hour for my work and only one person has wanted to commission me this entire year (and I'm grateful they've been commissioning me often, though I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep that up. I'll get to that in a moment.) I actually need to be able to sell prints and copies of my comics to make any kind of decent "wage" from my art. Commissions just aren't cutting it right now (with the current prices, being commissioned for just lineart might be more fair? Since I can actually do those in an hour or so?)
Re-Goal: Consider stopping commissions until my services are actually worth minimum wage or more and focus on illustrations and promotion of my own personal brands. But I'll need something else if I do that...
Goal #5: Get a real job. I wouldn't have time for both commissions and my art anyway if I got a real job, so the freelance work would have to be put on hold while I power up and spend my free time with projects I hope to develop more. But jobs are scarce.
Re-Goal: Seriously, I need to get a job. I want to prove I can make it on my art, because that's what I got a degree in and it makes me sad that loved ones don't have faith in me anymore when it comes to working in the art field (art seems to have become a tense topic now.) But I also need enough money to help pay bills instead of being a poster (adult-)child for Generation Failure. I need a balance of paying to live and enjoy making art, and "real job" plus "working with my own projects" would be the best balance until I can actually work in the industry (my dream!) Besides, I need to afford a new computer because I hate being unreliable in my commissions. I never know when my laptop will go completely kaput.
Goal #6: Clean up my room. I was doing that, but entropy took effect when I laid out all I need to get done. So back to the stacks of books, notebooks, papers, and sketchbooks.
Re-Goal: Get stuff on my to-do list done, eating through the stacks one by one until my room is clean. Seems to be working so far.
Goal #7: Learn Japanese. I've gotten better at reading some characters thanks to reading Japanese Twitter feeds.
Re-Goal: Continue with more intensity. I'm still not at the level I want, but that's because I have't been reading the books and dictionaries as I had planned. I need to show more initiative than just listening to music and reading Twitter.
Goal #8: Catch up on media. Ahaha, nope. I haven't watched shows on the Internet since February, unless you count Nerdist YouTube shows and other random videos. But no Crunchyroll or hulu. Pretty much anything I watch these days are DVR'd cartoons from Saturday mornings or YouTube videos during breaks. The last time I actually sat down and played video games was January, then I turned on my DS last month to make sure it still worked. Music has also just been listening to music videos while working (unless I like the group, then I watch the video.)
Re-Goal: Forget the Internet shows for now, and focus on art and typing. Any computer day could be my last. Just watch Pokemon on Cartoon Network every weekend and wait for the new seasons of cartoons in the Fall (and Doctor Who.) Start playing video games again, but as a way to unwind before bed, to de-stress and encourage me with my projects. Probably won't finish any this year, since I play more than I finish. Keep doing what I'm doing with stalking official YouTube channels for stuff to listen to. Eventually I'll have a list of stuff to buy when I actually have disposable income.
Goal #9: Get in shape. I stay same. It's what my body is good at, I guess. Stubborn just like my mind. But this is a good thing since I'm healthy and not losing health.
Re-Goal: Just keep working out, like I have been. Keep taking breaks to stand when sitting down for awhile (I've been watching YouTube videos and reading magazines and books while standing.) Getting the "perfect" figure would probably mean starving myself anyway (because I have unrealistic expectations. Look at idols and you'll see what I mean.)
Goal #10: Get happier. On the contrary, there have been a lot of times I've felt like crap this year. Again, my happiness hinges on success of my other goals.
Re-Goal: Get the other goals done, and happiness will follow.
It's only the half-way mark of the year, so I still have time to make my goals pan out... I'll just have to work harder from here on out!
