108: The Necessity of Naïve Optimism
4/1/2016
I was up until 4AM this morning, finishing Chapter 44: Menarche. This is the first work I’ve done on the main narrative in four months. I did rewrite the Wings of Providence fable on March 1st, but that’s all I’ve written this year so far. I also did some drawings in my Batu sketchbook but have been mainly reading a lot of fiction and avoiding working on my own at all costs.
I finally broke the ice yesterday, however, and put in about 12 hours’ work to knock out this Menarche chapter. I think it turned out well, and I’m happy with it. Serves its purpose while also fleshing a few other things out. Diallo is now under way on his quest.
Not entirely sure why I abandoned my work for four months. Burned out maybe. Also, not inspired. It was all too clear what I had to create in the Ghost Frog quest, and the lack of surprises to explore left me uninterested. This whole quest sequence is so formulaic – intentionally following Campbell’s hero journey so precisely – that the dozens of chapters left to write with (seemingly) no big surprises left me unmotivated.
There are probably other reasons as well. In the end though, I just started to really feel the desire to get it done. Hopefully by the end of June. That’s my target, which would mean this first book will be finished on the seventh anniversary of its conception.
Next up is the rewriting of The Wild Man fable for the next chapter, which will be short and easy. Fun enough to ensure that I keep the ball rolling at least that far. I’m going to do whatever I can to try and maintain momentum until it’s all done.
Present-Day Reflection
9/10/2026
Once again, I display my naivety by so severely underestimating the true scale of what lies ahead of me. It’s partly intentional though. Sometimes being overly optimistic is the only thing that keeps me going. I still do it today, like setting my book launch for October 1st of this year. I still haven’t even begun any marketing or reaching out to find my audience yet.
There’s just so many details involved in formatting the EPUB, PDF, and Print-On-Demand paperback versions of my book. Not to mention all the administrative headaches of setting things up with online platforms like PayHip, KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), IngramSpark, Amazon Author Central, Mailerlite (for my newsletter), and my website.
Then there’s applying for my business licenses – needing one from the state of Washington and another from the city of Seattle. Also, getting my ISBNs for all four versions of my book (eBook, paperback, hardcover, and Audiobook). Setting up the automated delivery system through BookFunnel and Payhip for when customers purchase my eBook. Registering my book with the Library of Congress to get its LCCN and to certify its copyright. Setting up PayPal and Stripe accounts for handling the financials. Setting up author platforms on social media – Tik Tok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Etsy.
And let’s not forget this Author’s Journal, requiring a minimum of an hour every day with a new posted entry. Which I usually do each morning before going to work my day job at 8:30AM, not getting home until 6PM. Today (the last day of my weekend) I’m reworking my paperback version since KDP and IngramSpark keeps finding formatting errors.
It’s a lot to manage, and my evenings and weekends are not enough time to handle it all. Which is why things like reaching out to my future readers keeps slipping through the cracks. And I only have 21 days left before my launch date to let people know I even exist.
Anyway, this is why my naive optimism feels necessary. It’s the only thing I have to cling to.
