Just write the damn thing.
This is the first post on my website and serves as a reminder (mostly to myself) to stop faffing around, and go make stuff!
Back To Business
⏱️ TL;DR
Since 2020 I've had some pretty incredible life changing opportunities that positively impacted on who I am as a person today.
A combination of small nudges, big pulls, and wholesome shoves have got me here - sat in front of a brand new website and typing onto a blank page.
It feels good, and I'm excited!
I'm going to grow a library's worth of worldbuilding posts, guides, and resources here, and I'd like to offer you (yes, you) a curated experience.
📉 Things I tried that didn't work out so well
Failing is fun, but you have to know how! These are a few things that may work for others, but didn't work out so well for me:
- I completely bounced from all of my socials as a doomscroll-avoidance tactic. Whilst it did wonders for my mental wellbeing, I became a stranger in the creative spaces I once flourished in and now it feels like starting from step one again.
- Patreon. I had no clear goal in mind with what I wanted to make, or why. Combine that with the pressure and burnout of delivering content on a monthly basis and it's pretty easy to see why it didn't work out for me with that approach!
- Monetizing my passion project. It took me a long time to comfortably accept that I don't need to do anything with Melior, the dark fantasy world that I'm building. I love worldbuilding, and this is my creative outlet.
✨ Things I tried that went crazy good and that I also loved
In contrast, there were many things I learnt that just clicked for me!
- I BLOODY LOVE GOOGLE SHEETS. I'm a big spreadsheets nerd and it has given me deep satisfaction to make useful worldbuilding tools and share them with the world.
- Gumroad. I wanted a place to provide my free resources alongside some paid products too. The wildest part? My free stuff is pay-what-you-want (PWYW) and has outperformed my paid products by over $1,000.
- I like doing lots of different stuff! I love being able to switch up my projects and commissions and it keeps everything fresh and exciting. Sometimes I'm making icons, other days it's sheets, one person wants digital artwork, and another wants a CSS theme. I am thriving admidst this creative chaos.
Goals
👋 Ease myself back into being active in my communities
Haiiii! I'm going to un-lurk re-emerge into worldbuilding spaces and stick around for more than just competitions and challenges. I want to share stuff, help people make incredible worlds, and nerd out with fellow worldbuilders.
👀 Let my friends see my website before it's "finished"
I really really really really really want to have at least THREE posts in every category before showing my website out in the wilds - but doesn't that sound kinda silly to hold those posts back? After all, I'm sharing worldbuilding guides for people. OK also often as a reminder to myself but let's ignore that bit.
One of the hardest things that I'm actively practising/learning is: "finished, not perfect". Which leads me on to my next goal:
📝 Develop a consistent writing habit
I'm not kidding when I say I'm going to grow a library's worth of worldbuilding resources! But writing lists of ideas isn't the same as actually creating things.
Time to live by my own mantra:
Just write the damn thing.
Right, that's it! Publish button go go go!
Oh wait I forgot to say! I'm trying out this whole newsletter thing! Not every post will be an email newsletter, I want to send out a collection of [my posts] + [curated inspiration] from other folks throughout the month! If that sounds interesting to you, click the subscribe button :)
TJ