Sunday, March 20, 2011

Looking to the future...and the past

Every time I've been asked, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" I just stare at the asker, sort of stumped. It's not that I'm a forward thinker, but I'm content with where I am. With what I'm doing. Thinking so far ahead makes me feel like I'm unhappy with where I am, which in turn normally makes me unhappy. I have long-term goals, but nothing concrete. They'll come when I am ready for them to come.

Well, I'm ready, I guess :)

I have a two-year plan that by the time I'm 30 I'll have at least one book published (not self published). Maybe not a big deal since I already have some books done, but then I read blogs from authors and I figure giving some flex might be nice. It's going along with the overall plan of writing more.

Unrelated:

This weekend was an anime convention, which was fun, but had been sucking up all my time getting a costume ready for it. Today I rested, finished reading The Cat in the Cradle by Jay Bell, and slept a lot, plus worked hard to get stuff done around my apartment that had been pushed to the back burner. Breathing was nice.

I look forward to returning to the writing regime now that cosplay stuff is done. It also got me thinking about convention stuff and putting my money into it and everything. I don't think I can actually stop going, because it'd be kind of antisocial of me, but I'm rethinking cosplay. It's costly, stresses me out, and distracts me from other things I could be doing. Like writing.

It's just hard, because I can talk to my friends about cosplay progression, but often talking about writing, when it happens, doesn't provoke much discussion. While my friends support me, they aren't really interested in it. Sometimes I feel my group of friends (myself included) are very self-focused people. We talk and have fun, but we never really listen to what the others are saying. It's not bad and rude or anything, but sometimes it's tiring. And it's hard having different interests than them sometimes. I'm not a big talker to begin with. Thankfully my brother is a surprisingly awesome listener!

Have I mentioned that I have a tumblr account that posts creative jumping off points?

4 comments:

  1. As someone who's often been into a really different stuff than his friends, trying to get people to give a shit about certain things often takes a lot of effort. But don't be afraid to ask or push a bit. And remind, because your friends forget about things, and it's not personal.

    Also, when it comes to creative endeavors, I tend to butt out of it until people ask me to get involved. Work can be really personal, and there's a difference between giving polite feedback versus serious criticism and advice. The latter is often more difficult with friends, hence why I tend to leave it alone by default.

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  2. I definitely don't think it's personal or anything, I'm just not a naturally sharing type, so it's hard for me to share when no one instigates a sharing environment. So I guess it's really my fault in the end.

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  3. The whole "five-year plan" v. "content where I am" debate presents a very thin line. It's always a good idea to appeciate what you have and where you are; but its also very important to have a plan and know where you are going. That's the point of the five-year plan. It doesn't mean that you aren't happy with where you are, only that you want better things or are growing. After all, no matter how much you like the "now," things can certainly be better. Not to mention: in life, you are either growing or dying. No matter how nice things are now, you are either getting better or worse. Absent planning, its hard to get better.

    Besides, it sounds like whether you recognize it or not, you do have a plan: get published. Rather than stare like an asylum patient, why not mention that?

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  4. That was kind of my point, that I now sorta have a 5-year plan, even though it's a 2-year plan. And it's not that I'm staying still, I just don't put dates on my plans for the most part. And if I do I don't want them to be 5 years away, which still seems so far away!

    I also need to remember that I have family and friends of the same name. Hah!

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