As is befitting for the first update of 2025, prepare for the summary of the past year and the plans for this one. This will be, as you can imagine, a longer post, so hang in there with me!
The targets I hit in 2024
Every year I make a list of things and metrics that I use to measure what I am up to. These Excels (or Sheets, as they are called in Google) give me so much valuable data that I wonder why I didn’t do it earlier. In 2024, I hit 3/16 Marks.
I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like much, but only one of them is truly a negative thing. You see, most of my list (11 items) is made of things to learn and study, such as Udemy courses and Language in DuoLingo or elsewhere. Of those courses, I finished one (a C# game-making course) and nearly finished another (a Pixel Art Course). The latter is still ongoing in my horrendous Forest Pond and other study pieces.
The other two successes were my Translation dollars goal, and the number of days written. I’m happy to inform you that I did indeed do some writing on more than 300 days last year! But here comes the failure. I only got to the halfway point, 120/240K words written for my own works.
As you can see, most of the work I’ve done with words is with my translations, or Fiverr. Misc, on the other hand, relates to all the miscellaneous things such as journaling, writing these articles, and study notes. And the occasional letter or other type of thing for the officials here in Finland.
And then there is the less than 10%
For someone who keeps talking about how she wishes to write books and other kinds of stories, less than a tenth of the amount worked on creative writing?! Come again, if it was someone else, I’d say they are not taking their aspirations seriously.
And that’s just it, isn’t it? I haven’t been taking myself seriously. It becomes even worse if we look at my blessed situation. After all, not everyone has the freedom and time in their hands that I do. And I don’t mean to be harsh on myself, but sometimes brutality can heal. And in my husband’s words: I truly am lazy.
So where am I headed this year?
I suppose 2025 will be focused on breaking out of laziness and the mentality of dismissing things as not important. I have a nasty habit of going where the fence is the lowest, and not doing things unless it becomes a necessity. I’m sure some of you can relate to this condition.
As for my metrics, I’ve gone from words (which I still track for curiosity’s sake) to hours spent on my various WIPs. These WIPs include Art, Writing, Game Development, Learning, and Translations/Fiverr. Art and Writing have more hours designated to them than Learning and Game Development, but I have a feeling all four will be quite high come the end of the year.
The weight loss goal is tweaked to 105, as I managed to go from 116 to 111 this past year. It is insane thinking that 5 years ago I was at my heaviest, a whopping mortal 130 kilos. And if I calculated that right, that means I’ve lost about 15% of my total body weight since I began this journey. And oh boy, let me tell you, my joints praise the day I met my husband and the food faucet closed. Friends, stop eating yourselves into an early grave!
Time vs Quantity
I feel that the move towards time spent on the WIPs will be a more helpful way of monitoring my progress. I have a serious problem with spending too much time consuming instead of creating, and so, this way I will have the reality all up on my face all the time. While that may seem like a terribly stressful thing, on the flip side, I also get to admire all the effort I’ve put into my creations.
So far, I have spent 24 hours on my projects. Most of it has gone to translations, as is tradition in the month of January. But right up there is Art, and after that, learning. Writing and Game Development have taken a bit of a backseat for the first week, but they will come around.
I can say this with such confidence because I am no longer measuring my efforts in plain words. Now I look at the time I spend making cover art, promo materials, and other such things for the books and other things. Which became easier now that VanaVerse has gained another asset by investing in a drawing tablet!
Our Story
As you may know, I have written and held on to my first actual book, a novella, by the name of ‘Our Story’. It is the story of me and my husband, from when he landed in Finland all the way up to our wedding. It is a very personal piece, and I am excited to have it as the first thing to properly publish – it is a meaningful, vulnerable story of origins. And a real-life romance fantasy come true, in a way!
Currently, I am in the process of giving it the final touches, as well as making the cover. Mind you, the image above is not the final piece, though it gives you a solid idea of the sort of mood I’m going for.
After that, I will make the promo materials (including 3 short stories to publish come launch week!). Then it will be in the hands of VanaVerse to see when we are ready to come out with it. But out with it we shall come!
Project Rialar
This one doesn’t have a proper title yet, and I doubt it will keep being about Rialar, as there are more things going on than his grace. Unfortunately, this WIP had to take a back seat due to all the craziness of the holiday season leading up to the New Year. You know how it is, all the sales must be done within this one month! I was so busy with translations that I barely got to work on anything else.
Of course, I have since realized that this is merely a convenient excuse for a lazy lady, so I am determined to fix this nonsense approach and pull my sleeves up. Rialar has the final fight left to write before the first draft is done! C’mon, Mrs. V, it doesn’t get much more exciting than that!
But first, I will finish up with Our Story and its related materials, so that I have it all good to do. Then, I will do the same to Rialar. And the next story, and the next. We shall see how this all goes, but I feel as though I’ve stumbled upon a working method of doing things. One step at a time. In the end, I will have walked 100 miles, so to speak – however much time it will take.
Art Projects
I may have been procrastinating on Forest Pond, but worry not, that is coming soon.
In the meantime, look at that gorgeous whale! As I mentioned before, VanaVerse invested in a drawing tablet, which has opened up a whole new avenue of art for me! I love drawing and making art of all kinds, but as of late, I’ve just been a little deterred by the amount of paper it would require. Digital art solves this problem, and now I can draw as much as I want!
The tablet will also help me get better with my Pixel Art, despite what some may say. For me, the tablet and being able to hold a pen instead of the mouse is a God-sent. So, look forward to more art of different kinds, as well as all the cool covers I will make for my books and short stories!
You can read more about my first-ever use of a drawing tablet from the January ArtLog!
Exciting times for Development!
Well, that may be overselling it a bit, but either way, I’m back in business after a rather long hiatus! I have gotten back into the thick of it, and continued on my way through the course by Code Monkey.
I am very close to the end of the RPG section, after which there is only an FPS (first-person shooter) left. I am excited to move on to speak about Game Design and Psychology, as those are the next things I will be researching. Maybe we’ll even get to some crazy concept talks while I’m at it!
When it comes to Game Development, I am learning the technical parts of it because it is extremely beneficial for me to know about. This way I will be able to create proof-of-concept games for my husband to either approve or reject. Later on, when things get into gear, I will be more on the Design and Art side of it all. Ah, it is all very exciting!
You can read more about my progress with my Game Development studies from the January DevLog!
That’s about it for now, I think.
Feel free to check out the Art and Dev Logs for some extra on those topics. And look forward to browsing an art portfolio/gallery on the site in the future, as I start accumulating more works!
Oh, and of course, let us not forget – There is a new page on this site: VanaVerse Mods! Go check it out if you’re inclined toward gaming! Mr. V has put together some brilliant mods for RimWorld and Dragon’s Dogma 2. Who knows what he will sink his teeth into next?
Thank you for the past year, it was an amazing experience, and not just because of the release of Rocco!
Thank you also for reading this far, I know it can get a bit much for our short attention spans these days.
May you have an amazing year, 2025, and may your creative juices flow, and your actions stay true to your aspirations and aims!