Hello and welcome to Pesto Comics. My name’s Adriano, and I’m a writer, publisher, all kinds of things for Pesto Comics.
We just had the FOC for the last issue of From Parts Unknown happen on Monday. (This was actually put together on Monday, so I don’t know how it went.)
But I can tell you, it’s a nice moment to have a series come to its conclusion, and now we have another series coming out right behind it.
The way that the FOCs are working is we have the FOC for From Parts Unknown #5 happen on August 10th. And then we have the FOC for the early release variant of SNIP #1.
I had a special cover made by Riccardo Faccini. It looks really cool, and this is going to be a limited run. So we’re just going to do basically what is ordered, and that’s it.
There’ll be a handful extra that are printed, but this will be a one-time thing.
We’re doing this cover this one time for Local Comic Shop Day on September 26th, but you need to pre-order to make sure that your comic shop has it for you on September 26th.
So, all that salesy stuff out of the way.
Writing is Paramount
The reason I bring all of this up is because I’ve been very focused on the business side of things -- very focused on trying to make sure that FOCs are hit, and printers are doing their thing, and the production designer, Travis, has everything he needs to do his job.
And campaigns like Naked Kaiju Woman have everything they need, and all the artists are paid and have everything that they require in order to do their job.
The one thing that I’ve been lacking is getting writing done.
The writing is probably the most important thing of everything I do here.
I can push the business, I could go to all the events I want. But if the scripts aren’t at the level that they need to be, if they’re not as good as I can possibly make them, there’s not much that we can do to save them from that point.
I really do like to put a lot of attention and a lot of focus into writing, and I haven’t had as much time to do that lately with all of the business side of everything I’m doing really taking over.
So what I want to talk about today is exactly that: Making time.
Finding time to do the things that are important. The things that I do to try to block out time when I write, the things that I try to do to make sure that the writing is paramount above everything else -- even though everything else is really what’s taking up most of my time lately.
So let’s get into it.
Working in Seasons
There are all kinds of techniques that you can use to try and focus yourself and make sure that the writing is getting the time that it truly deserves.
But for me personally -- and I’ve talked about it in the past -- I like to do things in seasons.
I like to make sure that right now I’m focused on the business, and the business gets my full attention, my full energy, and even when I’m not doing the thing, I’m thinking about it.
So if I’m thinking about FOCs and production and getting books together and printed and all that, that is what I’m thinking about even when I’m not doing it.
I like to have the same exercise with writing. When I’m in a phase of writing scripts and writing outlines and doing all of that, I don’t want to be thinking about the production of things while I’m trying to dream up new worlds and trying to think of outlines and characters and all of this business.
I find they don’t mesh very well. It’s two totally separate sides of my brain. So I like to work in seasons.
Now, is this a perfect separation? Absolutely not. As I mentioned, I’m recording this as the FOC is happening today, while I’m trying to break out these scripts and these outlines and get all of these artists working on the next things that are coming in 2027 and 2028.
So it’ll never be a perfect split. But in terms of where am I keeping my mind, where am I focusing most of my energy right now, it’s on writing.
I have lots of different methods to outline and lots of different methods to get the scripts done, and I’ve shared all of these in the past. I’m happy to share them again as they develop and evolve, because they’ve changed quite a bit over time, especially now that we’re working on different projects.
One thing I will definitely share is the process for a much larger project that I’ve been working on -- that has forced me to think of a new way of doing things.
But the main thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that I need to focus. When it’s time to write, it’s time to write, and that means that I block out time.
Blocking Time & Writing Space
So does this mean that I don’t do anything else? Does this mean that if the house is on fire, I still keep writing? Not necessarily.
I do like to say from 10:00 PM to midnight, because I’m a night owl myself, this is my writing time.
I’m going to do nothing else but write. I’m going to do my best not to check emails. I’m going to do my best not to look at the FOC numbers. I’m going to do everything I can to just focus on writing and nothing else.
Am I perfect at it? Absolutely not. When I go through a real stint of writer’s block, as I have been over the past couple weeks as I try to get back into this season, I do find that I will meander, and I’ll do something else.
But I don’t give myself the gratification of saying, “You know what? You can go do that other thing. Go watch YouTube for an hour, and that’ll get you into the phase of writing.”
I know if I do that, that’s it -- I’m not writing.
So I try to just sit there and focus. This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to write.
Maybe I don’t get much writing done, maybe I don’t get as much as I want on the page. But just sitting there and saying, “This is what I’m going to do today,” it really does make a little bit of a difference when I try to put that focus in and put that time in to just do the thing.
There’s the Pomodoro Technique, where you’ll give yourself a certain amount of time and a break. I find that does work sometimes.
Making Space for Writing
But really, the main thing is having a space that I go to.
I don’t do it here. I don’t write in my recording space or my YouTube space or any of that. I have a separate place in the house where I’ll sit, and I’ll do writing.
I use a laptop with a keyboard that I like to type away on, unless I’m doing some index cards, or sometimes I’ll do it on a notepad. I really try to have a separate space where my writing is.
And if I’m having a hard time even writing there, I’ll move to a third space. I’ll go to a cafe with a notepad, and I’ll just do some brainstorming and some outlining there.
I don’t really do scripting as much in the cafes, because I do get a little bit nervous imagining people over my shoulder and criticizing me and all that -- and that’s probably something to talk to a therapist about.
But I do enjoy doing the outlining and the more free-thinking stuff out in public.
When it comes to actually scripting and doing that, by then, hopefully, I have a really strong outline, and it’s just a matter of discipline. Of sitting down and hitting those keys and getting those word counts in.
Current Writing Workload
And I have an ungodly amount of writing to do.
I have Backlot Babylon, which is three novellas that are pretty firmly outlined, but I keep reworking that and trying to make it better and trying to do as much as I can to make it as best as possible.
I also have Switch/Restart, which will be launching on September 10th on BackerKit, and that I’m doing some extra work on to get it up to my standards as well.
And this is while I have multiple scripts to hand to multiple artists. So, a lot of writing to be done -- and this is why I like to work in seasons.
Again, I’ve talked about this in the past, that I like to have a time, a period, where I’m focused on one kind of thing.
Sometimes I’m focused just on marketing. Sometimes I’m focused just on the business end of things. And now I’m really focused, at least for the next couple weeks, on just writing as much as possible.
Getting as much of these first drafts and these edits and all these things I need done and ready, so that when I have to get back to talking about FOCs and when I have to get back to marketing and all that, I can do it with a little bit of a clear mind -- not having this ax floating over my head and waiting to fall down upon me.
In Summary
So I might sound like I’m kind of all over the place, but my point is focus is what’s key.
Trying to pick a time to focus on the one type of work, the one exercise, the one skill that you really want to hone in on, I think is the best way to really get things done.
And again, it’s never going to be perfect. You’re always going to have multiple responsibilities.
But saying that one is the primary while all the others are secondary, I think really does make a difference in you being able to tackle everything.
It really helps if you have, you know, an ADHD-rattled brain where you want to do 20 things at once. Being able to say, “I’m still going to try to do 20 things at once, but I’m going to focus on one more than all the others,” I think really does help quite a bit.
So again, something to talk to a therapist about. But I do think it’s a very useful task, and it’s a useful exercise, to really try to hone in and pick one thing that’s going to be the focus for the month.
Right now, writing is the focus.
I’m not doing so many conventions now. I’m not doing so much marketing. That’s going to ramp up as SNIP #1 starts hitting shelves. Again, the FOC is coming very soon.
But in October, the regular release of SNIP #1 hits, so I have until September before I have to start getting into marketing brain and start getting that new series off the ground.
With all that, I want to thank you for being here. I’m going to get back to writing. We’ll talk again next week.
Have a good one.
