Going Analog
Disrupting Patterns with Pencil + Paper
Ahoy Mythopoeians!
Would you believe it, another month has passed since I last blogged! Again, where did the time go? The passage of time, along with observing the weather, seem to be the key touchstones in connection we have as humans. It’s something we can reliably fall back on, no matter who we’re talking to.
So, how’s it going with you, dear reader? What are you excited about for the summer? Where will you be and what will you do?
Summer Plans
May marks the beginning of my typical busy season. The summer is always filled with travels, deadlines, and other meaningful milestones. Next week, I’ll be attending Licensing Expo in Las Vegas for the first time. I’m going in as someone new to that world, eager to learn, understand, and connect. Exciting times as I pursue new opportunities!
In June, I’ll be traveling to Europe with an exciting itinerary. First, I’ll be stopping by in Oslo, Norway, to catch one of my favorite bands - one that’s inspired both Glow and Starfall - Wardruna.
Following that, I’ll be headed to Pyrkon 2026, Poland’s largest fan expo, where Vince and I are some of the guests of honor. We’ll have panels focusing on Mythworks, The Wildsea, Worldbuilding, and Comics x Tabletop - with some illustrious co-panelists like Kieron Gillen! Should be exciting times :)
Following that, Vince and I will be hitting the road, doing a tour of the Baltic States while dabbling in some co-writing. We usually meet up for about a month or so each year, alternating between the States and Europe. It’s been two years since I was last on the continent, and I’m excited to explore a new region I’ve never been to.
Not to get too dark with things, but these days I’m trying to embrace the moment and take every opportunity to enjoy / explore life to the fullest extent possible. Who knows? Those opportunities may not exist sometime in the future.
On Writing Lately
On the writing front, things have been going steady and well. Well, mostly - I had to stop my Wednesday Writing sessions about a month ago because my responsibilities at Mythworks became a little too pressing to cordon off the entire day for creative writing. It was just too inconvenient for others for me not to be available for meetings on that day. Alas… it was productive while it lasted. I still try to mostly keep to creative work on Wednesdays, but these past few weeks have seen me taking one or two meetings during the morning before shifting into creative work.
What has been really productive for me recently though, is turning to my analog journal! Instead of writing into my computer, I’ll try to keep things as offline as possible, working stream of consciousness style into the journal, starting wherever I feel like. Usually this means a bit of worldbuilding or mythmaking - I think of it as a structured freewrite.
I’ll set my timer for 10 minutes, and then when that goes up, I’ll set it to 30, and then again at 30. It’s a quick and easy way to knock out 70 minutes of focused time, and if I’m really in the zone, I’ll set the next timer for 60 minutes and go on straight.
That workflow has resulted in a lot of good backstory and storybreaking for Glow! So… I think I finally cracked “the ending” so to speak, which makes hopefully the rest of the series much easier. It’s always better when you know where you’re going, right? And to be clear, I always had an idea of where I wanted to go, but what I mean by breaking the story is having a clear idea of not only what the characters do, but why they do it - their motivation, their themes, etc.
Writing is a funny thing. It’s all a bit circle, right? Like, you come up with an idea, beginning, middle, and end, and then have at it. Somewhere along the line, what made sense to you at first begins to lose coherency. Why are the characters doing this? What about this thing, or that? And then before you know it, you’re stuck somewhere in the middle, trying to figure out everything simultaneously. The external, the internal, the themes - it all swirls in a big mass of suck.
And then, you sit in the suck for a long time. You write around it. Write alternatives. Push through it. It pushes back. Break down. Back up. Again and again. Eventually, after you’ve worked on it for a sufficient amount of time, boom! Story break. Aha! This is why that character is doing this or that. It all makes sense… and yet the way it makes sense, on the surface level, is exactly the same as when you had the idea in the first place! You’ve gone around in a circle, but now you’ve tightened the spiral, and even though it’s almost the same, it’s different because it makes sense to you. And it makes sense to you because it makes sense to the characters.
And so it goes, over and over and over…
I guess I’m at a point now where I realize that there’s no avoiding the suck. You just have to put in the hours. Sit with the idea as it marinates and trust the process. Cause on the outside looking in, it just takes time. Conscious, existential time. Writing! What a fun process.
A Bit of Glow
To wrap today, one of those aforementioned journal entries…
The Archivist
The Archivist believed that crossing the thresh would allow himself to impose his consciousness on the very fabric of reality itself. He was not wrong, but what he did not account for was the consciousness of Aöd - the collective consciousness of all things, all lives, all experiences - pushing back at him, expelling this anomaly, this abomination, out back into the world of stone and flesh. He resisted, of course, and a part of him remains across the thresh.
It is this fragement that has so twisted the world of Aöd into what it is. Even now, the fragment of his mind writhes about, trying to impose itself on the world. The imbalance, the poisoned conscious of the Archivist corrupts the very anima itself.
In the material, the rest of the Archivist gathers his strength, connected to thousands of runic devices designed to sustain his unholy existence. There, the TECHNOLICH sleeps…
Alright friends. Until next time!
Ray