stories can make us fly

Hot Goals Summer: Update #1

Thank you @theimpossibledemon for not only coming up with Hot Goals Summer, but for also having the sense to do regular check-ins (and for tagging me in them). You are a wonder. (If you're a fan of classic Snowbaz, check out their latest update for some brilliant snarky sentences.)

Also shout out to the fantastic @monbons and @thewholelemon for tagging me in their recent posts 💛💛 You guys are such an inspiration.

Comics, Snowbaz, and rambles under the cut.

Stitches and Sentences

Thanks to @thewholelemon for the early Sunday tag, and to @leithillustration and @theimpossibledemon for tagging me on your "Hot Goals Summer" posts. Since I have only one month left before school starts again, I figured I'd merge both ideas-- so have a traditional update + goals below!

STITCHES I learned the hard way during my first COC that you cannot wait until the prompts are released to start, so I've been plugging away for a while now. This year, I want to have new doll art every.single.day. Yes, that's right. This will not be one set of dolls whose outfits I change, but ACTUAL NEW DOLLS DAILY. This decision is, admittedly, a little insane, and while I have made good progress, I've been very scattered about it.

What have I accomplished so far?

A cohesive plan! I have a theme for my COC countdown, and I've selected 20ish doll concepts so far. Some dolls are destined to fit prompts that repeat every year (WLW, Sideships, AU, etc) and the rest are flexible enough to fit whatever the actual prompts are once they are announced.

A growing tub of dolls. I've made a total of 22 dolls so far, including: 2 Ebbs, 2 Dryads, 1 Fiona, 1 Shep, 1 Agatha, and so many Bazzes. This may sound impressive, but most of them are naked, several are unassembled, and very few of them belong to the same concept/scene.

So what are my Hot Summer Sewing Goals?

Make an obscene number of dolls. There are 30 days of COC. Assuming each day requires at least 2 dolls, I have 38 left to make. I want to get through at least half of those before summer is up. I like to joke about being a doll factory, but I will truly need to become one to finish in time!

Get organized. I've been sewing and gathering supplies at random so progress is hard to see. I need a system. Right now I'm thinking mass produce all the dolls first, then make all the clothes, then gather all the props, etc.

Enjoy my tub of dolls for making it this far. If you are also interested in sentences, thoughts are below.

SENTENCES My one and only goal is to write this damn book, and yet I've made so little progress this year/summer. Rather than focus on the struggles, let's celebrate and set goals!

What have I accomplished so far?

Progress! I have a rough outline and 8k words for my novel. Not as far as I'd like to be, but it's something.

Fic! I thought my SnowBaz days were over, but it was a welcome distraction to dive into something easy and familiar when I felt like I had forgotten how to form sentences. Feel free to drop a kudos on my ridiculous party robot fic, Chosen Love Productions. It's both sweet and hilarious.

What are my Hot Summer Sentence Goals?

Write 15 minutes a day. Any progress is good progress.

Start using brackets and TK when writing. I am a perfectionist---what a surprise! (lol) Seriously though, this trait is a drag when writing. I need to embrace the idea that the first draft just needs to exist, which means if I don't like something, I can put it in brackets and return to it later.

Phew! That was so long. I'm sorry. But, I hope putting all this out there will keep me accountable. As a reward for all the words, have some pictures of my gorgeous new sewing/writing desk. I love her so much.

If you have updates, goals, celebrations, etc, I'd love to hear them and cheer you on!

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

If you want the author to update more, COMMENT, ENGAGE WITH THE FIC, RAVE ABOUT IT ONLINE.

Do anything in support of it or it will disappear. It will be deleted.

Posting a work on AO3 is like shouting in a room. If you don't get a response, it just feels like you're getting awkwardly stared at, as if you've just done something wrong.

I want people to talk to me about the fic, tell me their favorite parts and COMMENT to let me know they had fun reading it.

If I get nothing but silence, it makes me want to delete the work.

"Welcome to hot goals summer, the summer where I've decided the theme is setting a few potentially achievable goals and then actually trying to achieve them.” -theimpossibledemon

Thank you @theimpossibledemon for tagging me in your hot goals summer post! It came at exactly the right time for me. I've been feeling a bit aimless recently, so achievable goals are exactly what I need.

My goals for summer are:

Write for 15 mins everyday  I've managed to keep this up for about a month already, and it's really helped with my writing, so long may it continue!

Make some jester-themed accessories to wear to Ren Fair in September note I'm being restrained and not aiming for a full outfit… though a full outfit would be amazing

Finish a comic strip I am working on some short ones with OCs. I have so many ideas, but they all take 2 seconds to note down and then FOREVER to draw

Get a frickin passport photo taken a thing I have been meaning to do for about 4 years and really need some accountability on

It's tempting to add more, but in the interest of keeping these actually achievable, I'll leave it at this. 10th September is when I'm off to my first ever Ren Fair (obserdly we don't have many in the UK) with the wonderful @dwynartist, so this is my deadline for all of the above.

Soft tagging you all my darlings, incase you're also in need of some accountability. No pressure, and much love ☀️