Side quests

I feel like I've been gaining some traction with my projects recently. Last week, I finished colouring 4 comic pages which is a current personal best, a rate I plan to maintain for the next few weeks until the last 11 pages are coloured. Alongside that, I've been writing more, sketching more and dabbling with bookbinding.

Working on my comic remains my main focus but the reality of life means I can't work on it every spare minute of the day. In the past, when I've not been working on the comic, it's weighed heavy on my mind and a large part of that is because I feel I'm wasting time by not really doing anything creative. At the same time, I felt like turning my attention to something other than my comic would make me lose focus. It hasn't been a particularly good mindset to have as it's rooted in negativity.

The thing that can't be escaped is that when creating a comic by yourself, it takes a lot of time and effort. By definition, it sometimes feels like a very long slog and it's hard to see the wins when you know you've still got a lot of work ahead of you. I've been working hard to try see the small wins add up to much larger wins and that mentality has bled into these other pursuits.

Writing a journal entry. Adding to my illustrated journal. Making a stack of hand-stitched sketchbooks. These are all small, bite-sized projects with definitive endpoints.

Getting these smaller dopamine hits have taken pressure off the feeling of not accomplishing much with the comic and in a fun twist, has topped me up with creative energy which I've then been able to take to my desk and keep working on the comic.