2021 -THUS FAR (Patreon)

Greetings everyone!

So here are some updates from me on the writing/professional front in regards to the 1st 7 days of 2021!

I've been a bit sad internally about the temporary hiatus announcement. Mostly because I enjoy releasing content, letting you all in on what I'm working on and driving towards something in doing so but I know in my heart that the decision I made was the best decision. I will work hard behind the scenes even though you all won't see the finished work for a bit and I'll have to accept the hardships of not showing new things and creating new content for you weekly. It'll be worth it.

A friend (also a lovely Patron, thank you!) suggested I get a job as an editor. I didn't hate the idea lol... So today, I joined some networking sites for getting into that. I have also saved the websites to get certified in the future if my professional career heads in that direction. I will be viewing some online seminars in the next day or two to learn more about the profession and how to get into it and be potentially successful in it. I'm so bad with transitional phases in my life; I procrastinate, I agonize, I overthink, I just take like forever to get through them haha but with this one I'm hoping that it'll be less of all of that.

As previously announced, I've switched my Patreon to my local currency of Canadian. I'm hoping this will mean a smoother transition when I relaunch my new Patreon tiers later this year considering the majority of my Patrons at the moment are Canadian and therefore I expect my Patron base will likely grow with similar ratios as I go along my journey.

I want to take two or more nights a week to truly do nothing else but take Neil Gaiman's Masterclass on writing and work through his classwork. I'm going to make this a reality. And I'm going to remind myself that this is a priority that cannot be sidelined.

I've felt a pull to read a hell of a lot more this year. And, as if the universe is giving me a push, another author I follow has also made a couple of posts and videos about the same thing for her. Now I'm secretly (not so secretly now) taking on a challenge to see if I can read as much as her. She's already 3 books (perhaps more) in and I'm still not yet at one ahaha but I'll be motivated I just know it. Reading will help me write better; this I know.

Ok this next point is long because it's filled with backstory and me just writing out my thoughts and feelings on the matter to clarify them to myself... I'm still struggling with a decision about RPing online with people this year who aren't friends. To make a long story short, I began RPing with someone at the start of the summer since a person I know mentioned to me that an acquaintance of theirs was looking for a partner that night. I was very upfront with that individual who had been searching for a partner that I was not an RP blog and this was just going to be for fun. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into as I soon learned that their RP and writing style is drastically different to mine (which makes it harder for me to write with sometimes) and due to their personal situation which I will not disclose here, they: have a hard time making friends (which they now considered me one), they use RPing as a positive stress relief and coping mechanism and lastly they find it easier to switch their RP to different fandoms frequently. Furthermore I am always pigeon-holed into taking on male characters typically as per the request of my partner who is uncomfortable to take them on themselves. All of the above has made it difficult for me to assert a boundary to stop RPing with them so often (some weeks I get requests to write almost every day) and it's difficult since I can empathize and sympathize to their situation and I do not want to break off writing with them cold turkey. However as my priorities have shifted a lot in the last few months and specifically going into 2021 wanting to spend more time writing professionally, I am starting to feel that tug to end things and/or go on hiatus with them too because of the time and energy it takes for me whilst simultaneously I know it is helpful for my RP partner to have me to talk to and write with. I have had a short conversation with them already in the summer, in the autumn again and a small one last month in December asserting some boundaries of mine and my priorities and so I've made progress in that aspect but ultimately I know that I want to end our RP writing for a couple of months and I don't know how to communicate that because I do have that empathy towards their feelings and I know that RPing and writing has done wonders for me in being a very positive force in my life and helping me get that escapism I often need from the 'real world'. So I know how that person feels when it comes to writing as an escape and as something fun and enjoyable. My problem is that I don't want to announce to everyone and say NO to all RPing for 2021 because I have on-going ones with friends that fulfill me and add value to my life and are an enjoyable pastime. But this particular partner and I's RP threads honestly right now are more of an outlet for me to support this person rather than also being enjoyable to me. I think I know in my heart what I have to do but it's hard because I do care for how this decision will affect another person. I'll do it, I guess it will possibly just need to be gradual weaning off of RPing with them after the conversation I need to have with my RP partner about my life priorities right now. Thank you for reading this point, Reader, as I worked through my internal struggles on the matter by writing them out.

I'm currently on a 421 day streak on Duolingo studying French and Dutch! 2 days were missed in all that time but because I had a bonus 'streak repair' option I didn't lose all the days before that. So technically I started all this 423 days ago however I've only used the app/taken lessons for 421 days. The 2 missed days were total accidents; me thinking I'd already gone and done lessons but hadn't then been gutted the next day to see a missed day! I'm proud of my language studying progress because whoa that's a lot of days to work on it (mostly) in a row and also as a language based learner (I learn best with written word and visual opposed to things like working with my hands (kinesthetic learning) or auditory, for examples. If you want to know about learning styles just look em up lol) anyway as a language based learner I'm in my element when I connect words and linguistics and so forth and it really flexes the writer part of my brain too in making those connections. I'm hoping to continue more language learning in 2021

So those are the updates and the thoughts I have after 7 days of going through 2021! I'll update you guys a bit more maybe every 2 weeks to a month with posts like these whilst the hiatus is still on to give you the tea about me lol

-Britt xoxo