Table of Contents
Welcome Back (0:00)
Event Updates
Project Updates
Main Story
A Disclaimer (3:18)
Seinfeld Broke Us All (04:14)
Like Any Good Canadian (05:53)
The Myth of 'The Outlier' (07:03)
I Technically Cheated This Year (08:22)
I Was Consistently Inconsistent (09:31)
Will I Do It Again Next Year? (10:40)
Release Info & Updates
Upcoming on Substack (12:37)
Upcoming Conventions (12:59)
Pesto Comics Release Calendar (14:19)
Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast (16:05)
Secret Bonus Epilogue (17:07)
Welcome Back
I'm an Elder Millennial. This means that I grew up with a bunch of Gen-Xers who were taught that taking part in anything organized or pre-planned was terribly uncool and should be avoided at all costs.
This point-of-view certainly makes you miss out on some things. The “say yes to everything” crowd does seem to have a lot to share on their Instagram, so I do suffer the occasional FOMO when I sit things out.
But, a lot of times, I find it serves me well. Everyone is trying to sell you something and everyone will make you think it’s perfect for you. (Hell, that’s why this newsletter exists. Thanks for your support, by the way.) Sometimes, it’s okay to sit it out and give where you’re sending your energy a second thought.
If you’re perpetually online, like I am, you’ll notice that every month seems to have some kind new challenge for a subset of people out there. As a writer, there's one big one on the calendar: Nanowrimo.
Although I’ve only threatened to do it every year, this year I actually did. The results were interesting enough in how it’s changed my writing habits, but what I’d like to figure out today is if it was for better or worse?
Much like when I failed Inktober a couple months ago, this one was more of a dipping my toe in than taking it completely seriously. I didn't do “Prep-tober” or any of the stuff that would make you have a true success in Nanowrimo, but I still think it had some benefits.
Let's take a look at how it went together, but first, I have a couple exciting things I want to share…
Event Updates
Christmas Market THIS WEEKEND in Newmarket
My last event of 2024 is upon us. I'll be at Wayside Comics and Cocktails this Saturday with all my wares. And more importantly, a special gift for any newsletter subscribers who happen to stop by.
I’ll have Roberto with me at the table, so getting to hang out with him in person will be a plus. It looks like I’ll be sharing the space with really cool people I haven’t met before, so it should be a lot of fun.
Come join the party this Saturday in Newmarket at Wayside Comics & Cocktails.
Project Updates
Follow Naked Kaiju Woman!
The proper Kickstarter prelaunch page for Naked Kaiju Woman is live! Check out the fancy, new prelaunch page that includes a preview interior page from the book in full colour.
I can’t wait to finally get this series going. I’ve mentioned a few times how important a strong launch is and this is one of the best and easiest ways to make sure we get there. Click the link and give the campaign a follow.
The higher the count, the more likely more people will see it.
Naked Kaiju Woman launches on January 8th.
Another Wrestling Book with Undisputed #1
Yesterday saw the launch of
’s Undisputed.We recently had him on the Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast - those episodes will air in February - and I’m working on something for the old-fashioned dirt sheet that’ll be included with the digital edition of the book.
I’ve actually read the first issue already and can say it’s building to something huge. If you enjoy classic action movies with a guy who retired a long time ago, but keeps getting dragged back in - this is for you.
And now, let's look at how the dreaded Nanowrimo went this past November…
Main Story
A Disclaimer
I’m only partially aware that Nanowrimo has fallen into some controversy this year. Something about the leadership and pretty misguided statement that they put out that led to a lot of folks, including members of their board, not wanting to be associated with the organization. Something similar happened with Inktober as well.
With both of these events, I'm simply using the name as the most colloquial version of what everyone knows the event to be. The organizing bodies behind either one may be doing whatever perceived ill deeds they’re involved in by malice or incompetence. I, frankly, have no interest or involvement either way.
In other words, using these event names aren’t intended to do any extra work in getting these organization's name out there or provide any kind of support to them. My goal is just to complete the challenge and use a familiar name to do so.
With that out of the way…
Seinfeld Broke Us All
Not his sitcom or his so-so stand-up pointing out that regular things are…regular. It’s his productivity tool that he’s popularized.
It’s a hustle culture favourite called the “Don't Break the Chain” methodology. The whole idea is that you’d get a calendar and make a plan to do something every single day. In his case, it would be writing a new joke. In yours, it could be writing or drawing a page of your comic. If you did it today, you write an “X” on the day you do it. The goal is to never break the chain of X’s connecting to one another from box to box through your month.
It's not the healthiest way to live, to be honest.
That said, it doesn't stop me from doing it with almost everything. As of this post, I have a 1528 day streak in Duolingo. Every day, regardless of illness, vacation or just not feeling like it: I get that mostly useless lesson in.
Ad esempio, non so ancora parlare italiano.
I also write daily in my Penzu journal, whether it's a long post trying to sort out my latest thoughts on a new story, or just trying to get my fingers moving so that I could get to the “real” writing I want to do.
If writing is a muscle, I'm certainly getting my reps in - and technically in multiple languages if Duolingo counts for anything. (It doesn’t.)
Showing up is hard. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the time. Sometimes you have all the time in the world and you still find that you don't actually sit down to write.
Arguably, as long as you don't try, you can't fail. But the fallacy of that is you've already failed by not trying. Sometimes you just gotta get on the bike and fall over once or twice before you get the hang of it.
Like Any Good Canadian
When I was 30 years old, I decided I'm finally going to learn to play hockey. I've always regretted not being able to do so as a young kid. My aunts and uncles, all with kids of their own in hockey, implored my mother to avoid it at all costs - given both the high time and financial commitments required even for the lowest level. Instead, I was put in soccer which I didn’t really want to do. I lasted a couple years doing that.
Once I was old enough and could afford to get equipment myself, I ran out of excuses not to do it. Fortunately, my brother was all in as well, and at a ripe, old age of 30 years old, I decided to hit the ice.
And hit it I did. Over and over. Sometimes landing on the back of my head, fortunately wearing a pretty sturdy helmet. I’ve since replaced that one. It’s easier to fall when you’re wearing body armour, but even with it - falling still hurt a hell of a lot. Not just my body but my pride. It didn't stop me from getting up and trying again.
I've still got a long way to go, but after playing every week for almost a decade now, sometimes twice a week, I can certainly see the improvement from that “young” rookie that could barely get himself on the ice.
It’s all about putting the time in, but not just any kind of time.
The Myth of The Outlier
If I were Malcolm Gladwell, I'd be so tired of having to explain myself.
I’ve seen him do it in almost every appearance he’s had. People really grabbed on to the “10,000 hour rule” without fully understanding the point of the 10,000 hours. Clearly, not very many people actually read the book.
The actual goal is that you're improving with every hour that you're putting in with deliberate practice. That means learning what you have to improve on and making a focused effort to get better at that particular thing. It’s usually something you can’t do on your own. You need to work with your peers or a coach so you can get to that next level.
This is easily applied to writing. I could just free form write in my journal every day and not really learn anything from it. Or I could start learning more about plot, developing characters, scene structure, sentence structure, or any other tools available. Working with an editor once I’ve refined my drafts has proven to be invaluable.
It's really about trying to mind your weaknesses and improve on them. If you do that for 10,000 hours then you can call yourself an expert. Maybe.
As far as writing goes, although I've been doing this for about 20 years now, I don't know that I've put in those proper 10,000 hours. That's why challenges like Nanowrimo are a huge deal as you’re accountable for your productivity and getting words on the page.
That's said...
I Technically Cheated This Year
The whole point of Nanowrimo is to have one project to focus on. Hopefully, by the end, you have a novella that you could expand into a novel or have something to publish on its own. Maybe it never gets published or sees the light of day, but the point is that you have worked on a singular project of 50,000 words.
However, since I put very little time into planning for this year’s Nanowrimo, I put those word counts to work on a number of projects. I keep threatening that 2025 is going to be huge year and having multiple projects on the go is exactly how that's going to happen.
I found myself a bit scattered this year. I would love to focus on one thing for an entire month, but in order to get all these projects off the ground, I've got to put my time in with each and keep all the plates spinning at once.
I'm happy to do it. It really keeps me interested, so I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing - but it's not the intent of the exercise. My focus, more than anything, was just about hitting the number on whatever projects that I felt were valid for counting towards my word goal. I normally hit about 20,000 words a month, so hitting 50,000 across all my projects would be a huge boost in productivity - even if it’s scattershot.
I Was Consistently Inconsistent
…but at the end of the month, I managed to hit my goal.
I just barely surpassed 50,000 words with hours left to spare in the month. Early on, when I had that first epic day of nearly 7000 words, I thought I would crush this goal and maybe even double it by the time we got to the 30th. Instead, I found myself scrambling. Trying to find time to get the words down before the end of the month.
It happened though. That's the whole point of this exercise. If I didn’t feel pressured to hit these word counts, I likely would have just called it a day and spent two to three hours on my phone in bed scrolling mindlessly. Instead, I used that time to actually create something.
There is value in these challenges. Being accountable to something outside of yourself, even if no one else is paying attention, can keep you going when you just don’t feel up to it.
Most importantly, I feel like I've built a muscle there. I'll be able to keep this kind of pace up for a while going forward.
However, burnout is a real thing. I felt it in my corporate job before and have no interest in returning to that state of mind, but now I know I can push myself a lot further than I have been.
There's a large chasm between burnout and being too comfortable.
Will I Do It Again Next Year?
Technically speaking, yes I will.
This whole exercise was actually pretty easy for me because I already meticulously track my words. I already know that I’ve spent the equivalent of 5 days, 11 hours and 13 minutes writing so far this year. It’s not enough. I want to do more and you can increase what you can measure.
My goal now is to hit these heights every month. I have a bit of an ebb and flow in terms of how I write, yet almost every day, I showed up. I put some words on the page and I had something to show for my time. I’m planning on making this a lifestyle change and not just something I’ve done for a challenge.
And if you're asking yourself, how are you going to hit these word counts if you're just writing comics all the time? That's kind of the point. I'm expanding beyond just comics. As much as I love the medium, there's so much time in-between when you write the script and when the artist delivers pages. (Understandably so.)
I have so many more stories to tell and only so much time to tell them. I’d have to live to be 400 to empty the tank - and I’d probably still have a new story or two to put out there when I’m that age.
Not that I plan on going anywhere anytime soon, but there's definitely more stories in my head than I'll ever be able to get out. And not everything actually works as a comic.
I’ll be returning to my roots a bit and expanding what I put out there, whether it’s novels, short stories, novellas or otherwise. Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 was a way for me to test the Kickstarter publishing waters in that sense.
I didn't have the content to put out a book, but I wanted to see for myself how Kickstarter operates in that category, so I put that anthology together. In fact, it's something I'm going to do every year now because it went so well. I'll share more details in the first post of the new year about all the projects that I have planned for 2025 so far. But there's still a bit of year to go yet.
I’ll try to hit my goal of 50,000 words again in December - and I’ll continue my cheating ways this month. Maybe for 2025, I’ll start having projects to focus on that by November, 50,000 words will seem like a breeze.
Editing, on the other hand, is a whole different problem.
Until next time...
Release Info & Updates
Upcoming on Substack
December 11
An Ode to My Cat, Oliver
He's the most handsome
December 18
Post-Mortem: Big Smoke Pulp
Reviewing the first non-comic project by Pesto Comics
December 25
A Year in Review
A Merry Christmas and a look at the year that was…
Upcoming Appearances
Pesto Comics Release Calendar
Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast
Share this post