If you would like to see last months Update, click here! If you would like to keep track of all my monthly updates, then here is a link to the tag I use for them!
State of Gibberish
Happy new year! Compared to November, December was a quiet month. Honestly, taking the break from weekly exercises was refreshing. The pressure was off, it felt good. I’m also looking forward to getting back to writing weekly.
This month was a month for charging up, and I am really excited for 2024 so I’m really pleased that you’re here and joining me on this journey.
Did you know—Today marks the unofficial one year anniversary of publishing Fiction at Gibberish? We’ve come a long way in just a year—and I’m proud to have shared this journey with all of you. Prior to starting Gibberish, I had never published a single piece of fiction—mostly kept my ideas to myself, always a “some day, maybe” thing. It has been so, so gratifying to let these ideas out of my brain and have them spill onto your screens. One day I will work my way up to a novel sized project—but for now, I’m just having so much dang fun.
What I’m Reading
On Substack I’ve been doing a lot of reading!
- ’s Essay Club at has become one of my favorite things. He’s done 3 at least—probably 4 by the time this publishes. Each one has been educational and insightful. These essays have been wonderful examples of quality, intelligent writing and argumentation. It has been inspirational.
- ’s serial, Remembrance has kept trucking at . This one is a long-runner, set to end around March if I remember right. It’s been a blast, and it’s very approachable. If you’re new to Substack Serials, this is a good one to start from Episode 1 and catch up on!
- started a new serial, Freelance and Fishmaids, at ! This one has just gotten off the ground so it’s easy to catch up on!
Honorable mention to
and whose essays and stories (respectively) always interest, intrigue, delight, and/or amuse.
I’m struggling to read more widely—there’s so much I want to read, and so little I am actually reading, so I’m thinking about how to amend my habits for 2024. TBH I think when Duel is done, I will have more mental space for reading since I won’t have so much writing weighing on me.
The Books I am reading are few but fair! Maintaining casual reading time has been good for my soul.
Per the recommendation of
, The Story of a Soul By Therese of Lisieux was bumped up the list! This has been a spiritual experience I cannot describe. I feel as if St. Therese has spotted me and insisted on praying for me, despite my protests contrary. The Saints can choose us, as much as we can choose them.100% Complete
Dark Forest by Cixin Liu. The second installment, after his “Three Body Problem” which I finished in October!
6.17% Complete
The Two Towers by JRR Tolkein. Just establishing the reading list—with Fellowship complete, this is next!
0% Complete
Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. Putting this “back” on the list—I had started it a long time ago but never finished it. As I write this, I am thinking I want something “light” because my mind feels heavy, especially after the deceptively rich meal that is Story of a Soul. I am quickly running out of “Comfort Reads”, and will have to tackle some of the great recommendations I have received!
66.81% Complete (I was farther along than I realized!)
The Return of the King by JRR Tolkein. Taking a break between each story in the series has been a good decision. This will be the end of the LOTR Saga!
0% Complete
What I’m Working On
Weekly Exercises - Weekly Writing Exercises resume tomorrow so keep an eye out for that! I have some different ‘muscles’ I am trying to work this year so expect some new, different, and/or interesting exercises!
Serial - DUEL continued throughout December somehow! If you missed it, you can begin with Episode 1 HERE. If you would like to catch up, you can check out the Index HERE! Episode 10 of 12 drops at 5pm on January 5th, this Friday! We are in the endgame here, and it’s almost done.
A surprise serial, which I wrote entirely in one or two weekends in December, is launching January 13th— The Selected Letters of Armin R. Tolor. This is what I have been hyping on notes as Pride and Prejudice in space. It is a low-energy serial, it will release every three weeks, and the whole thing has already been written so it will run until November 2nd. Each episode will be a letter written by Armin to friends or family, so it will be easy to ignore and come back to and catch up on. It also features excellent artwork produced by
!Flash Fiction - I republished a Corporate Drama called The Hero’s Journey. This is a satirical take on an actual situation I encountered in my workplace, around 2018/2019. Things have gotten better at work since then.
I also published an entry for
’s Blackwater Files, with my story Like A Fish In Black Water.And a little ditty about Droids to give them some canonical depth! Check out The Personal Journal of Juror No. 6
Voice Acting - I hanged1 my shingle as a voice actor in December! To see my services and some examples and testimonials, see this link here. To see my first published example of work, see The Good Guys by
. More coming in this field!Drafts - often aspirational, but this keeps them on my radar
Writing about writing—looking at applying business strategies to our newsletters, is still in the “ideation” phase of writing.
- prodded me for more on Worldbuilding, so a post on that is coming soon.
Projects In Progress
For a complete list of 2024 special projects, check out the December update! For now, I will give you an update on just what I have made progress on!
The Gibberish Anthology
I have commissioned
to produce cover art for this, whenever it becomes available! What I have seen so far looks amazing and I cannot wait to share it with you all!I’ve assembled the stories of the anthology into a word document, and I am working on sorting them into their desired order.
I struggled to learn Affinity but I quickly realized it is not “Microsoft Word for Typesetting” but rather “Adobe Photoshop for Books”. It’s a different skill set, so I am not going to rush myself in learning2, and rather will produce it the way I produced Sandbox Earth. It might be rudimentary but it will be completed timely, and that is the key!
All my stories remain free until the Anthology becomes available, then I will start locking down old works!
Thank you for sticking with me my friends! I hope this update gives you a good sense of what’s inbound to your inbox!
Happy writing, happy new year, and God bless!
- Scoot
hung?
I will practice Affinity with a shorter project, probably Duel if I manage to package and publish that as a stand-alone!
The 6th marks my official anniversary here. I definitely have a post about it because I'm fairly certain it's mandatory and in the terms and conditions. ;)
Anyways, congrats on all you've done here. I'm glad we connected and I enjoy reading you.
I’m looking forward to reading g your works in 2024! I can totally relate to being overwhelmed by the amount of works I want to read. I think my goal for this year is to choose about six people to follow very carefully, read all their work, and build community with them. Perhaps after some practice with a small group, I’ll be able to expand my circle.