Spring is Coming

I’m back!

I didn’t mean to take quite as much time as I did, but that’s not to say I was idle. I suppose I took some time away from writing in order to get my streamer legs well and truly under me, which I feel they now are. I’m building the habit of promoting my writing during the stream—or at least just talking about it. I believe my passion and enthusiasm will shine through and generate excitement, which will become new traffic.

One issue I’m running into is having time for everything I want to do. I’ve never felt before like there weren’t enough hours in the day (partially because for most of my life, sleep wasn’t accomplishing anything), but suddenly I have a great deal set before me every week. We’ve gotten the car back from the mechanic, which is progress, and we’re through the dreadfully short (but no less expensive) month of February, so as I say: Spring is coming.

Taking a moment to step away from my fiction turned out to be a hugely good choice, as the beginning of the breakthrough I’ve been after happened on Monday. I realized I needed to just write out what I was trying to do and work through it, and suddenly the path forward was obvious. It should be that by next week I’ll have another bit of my “Initiate” short story to show you, and hopefully, I’ll get enough done that it won’t have to be patrons only.

Speaking of patrons, I’ve learned that the only way to update my reward tiers on Patreon is to completely delete the old ones if anyone’s attached to them. So, as soon as I iron out what exactly my reward tiers—relating specifically to my fiction—will be, that process will be set in motion.

In any event, we’re moving forward. I have more content to move over to the Aryest website, more streaming sessions to migrate over to YouTube (then touch up), fiction editing to do, writing to do, restaurant work, and (if time allows) downtime both with my wife and alone. In the past, I’ve often wished my creation would be just a little more substantial. Pen (or indeed printer) ink on paper doesn’t have the same presence as oil on canvas, the same tangibility as a wrought iron sculpture, but that’s starting to change. My Dark Souls Randomizer finale was four hours long, and that video will be on YouTube forevermore. Despite existing only digitally, that feels good. Frustratingly, writing is something most people feel like they could do if they wanted (if you’ve ever felt like that, try it), but contrarily, livestreaming seems not to have that reputation to the same extent. Sure, everyone who plays video games has had the thought, but try keeping two hours of running commentary going while you solve problems in real time onscreen. Then, see how you feel afterwards and tell me whether it’s work or not. I will say, I was surprised by how tired I was after my first couple of streaming sessions.

As with all things, though, the more I do it, the easier it becomes. I mentioned earlier that I feel I have my feet under me as a streamer now, so my ability to produce written content should return within the coming weeks. Thank you for bearing with me, friends; we’re absolutely moving forward.