Reflecting on Week 19 of 2025
The future you are going to live is the one you are creating right now at this very moment.
– The 12 Week Year, page 136
Week 19 wasn’t the week I wanted it to be.
I didn’t achieve everything that I wanted to achieve for Week 19 so that sucks. But all was not lost. I still managed to get a few things done.
- I worked on my next short story for Alternate Tales of the Futures short story collection.
- I created Design #112 and Design #113.
- I wrote 5 Essential Skills to Develop as an Artist, an essay on what I learned about art on my journey to become an illustrator.
Writing
The premise of the short story I’m currently working on is as follows:
Cecilia runs into a childhood friend and her first crush while on vacation. Determined to understand why Luna left without saying a word, she can hardly believe the truth.
I’m still tweaking things here and there, and want to publish this story on Sunday (05/18/2025) if all goes according to plan.
I’ve also been reading The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass, and it’s been eye-opening.
I eventually want to write my thoughts on the book and the lessons a writer can learn (stay tuned for that), but so far, the biggest takeaway I’ve gotten from the book is that emotional impact is as fundamental to fiction as plot.
And I couldn’t agree more.
Going forward, I will make more of an effort to get readers to go through an emotional journey when they (you, perhaps) read my stories.
My writing goal for Week 20 is to complete a short story with emotional impact.
Design
I realized that I need to slow down when it comes to pumping out my designs.
I created Design #112 and Design #113 for Week 19, but I really want to put more effort into my designs. I aim to expand my skills as a graphic designer — and designer in general.
I should get serious and try my hand at book cover designs.
My design goal for Week 20 is to design a book cover.
Illustration
I wrote 5 Essential Skills to Develop as an Artist as a response to what I learned about illustration.
Though my drawing skills aren’t nearly to the level I want them to be, now I have the knowledge to continue to develop my drawing skills.
Learning theory is great, so long as you practice that theory.
Currently, I’m still working on my observational skills. My mark-making skills aren’t bad but, again, there is still work that needs to be done.
My illustration goal for Week 20 is to sketch every day and continue to develop my observational skills.
Inspiration
Though Week 19 wasn’t what I hoped it to be, there were some bright spots.
I watched this excellent video from the creator Cocobeans, and it summed up my feelings about creativity as I entered my 30s.
I come from a working-class family. My mother always encouraged my creativity since I could pick up a crayon. But she also instilled in me a sense of practicality.
This was both good and bad.
Since I was the first in my family to go to college, I struggled. My creativity, abundant in my youth, fell away to the wayside in favor of developing skills that would get me a job after college.
At the age of 27, I rediscovered that creative spark as a result of having to stay home because of COVID-19.
I started consuming books about productivity and time-management so I could make time for work AND pleasure. But I still didn’t have the courage to practice in public until I turned 30.
I say all of this because this is the sign to start now.
No matter how old you are, start creating now. Put your work out there, no matter how bad or how awful you think it might be.
When you are on your deathbed, you don’t want to regret a single second of your life.
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