When I was hunting for planner supplies to get before my first trip to Japan, Midori came up as one of the few brands to look out for. Though I eventually settled for the Hobonichi Cousin, I decided to use Midori’s A5, grid notebook as a travel journal. I’m not a huge artist or a sketcher, but this MIdori has served pretty well in helping me jot my travel memories. The three aspects that got my buy-in were the general feel, the grid paper, and the paper itself. Note: My journal is a perfect-bound, A5, grid design pages, so what I like about the Midori notebooks will be based on my experience with this .
Firstly, the paper. The cream shade, smooth texture, and solid feel of each page makes writing in it a joy, regardless of the pen you’re using. Generally, Midori’s notebooks use Tomoe River paper, so it’s perfect for fountain pens and markers - quick dry, minimal seepage. Secondly, the grid format within. If you’d prefer something more open, Midori has blank paper notebooks as well. However, I personally fell in love with grid notebooks and journals since I started proper planner maintenance because they were easy to organize and incredibly flexible for design needs. Whether or not you like boxes to keep your notes in check (I do) or just want to do everything from scratch, the grid format allows for a spectrum of uses. Finally, the general feel of the journal. A5 and A6 are common sizes and so, easy to fit into commonly-available covers. That aside, the Midori journal is light enough to carry around, a great balance for my “cannot-really-write-on-tiny-journals” self. That being said, I would recommend Midori’s journal or planner if you are looking for:
Apart from the MD Notebooks, Midori also produces various stationery, and is affiliated with the Traveler’s Notebook, which is a favourite of the Tiger. For more information about Midori, click here
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Last week, we looked into getting the concept of your story or art down on paper. This week, we tackle the ‘sit-down-and-finish’ aspect of the process. # STAGE TWO: DISCIPLINE You want to know the truth about my discipline? I get work done, but it’s not in the way teachers will be proud of. TL; DR - I suck. But while I’m not going to pull out that 99% perspiration phrase, but in all honesty, no amount of inspiration will save you if you take no action. That being said, I’ve discovered a more nuanced way of getting into things other than just, “Shut up, suck it up, and just work hard without any complaints.” On that front, I have found that discipline can be a huge challenge due to these four aspects. But here’s how I cope: How do you work? It’s simple enough. Yet, so many of us don’t really know our optimum working levels, or give statements like - “I’m always last-minute, I need the rush to finish everything well.” or “I’ll do things when I feel like it. My readers need to know that good things take time.” Knowing how we work as creators, administrators, managers, the lot, can help with scheduling and the discipline to tackle your projects as they come. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine your optimal work routine: Personal Assessment - How you create when you get to create.
Circumstantial Assessment - What do you have to work with.
From there, you can find and hopefully plug the gaps between your current situation and your most comfortable work environment. (Note: Realistically, you won’t have your ideal work environment all the time - but this can help alleviate matters, especially when you know where the biggest gaps are.) Overwhelm and Distraction I’m the kind of person who cannot relax until everything and everything is well and truly done. Also, Murphy’s Law is a good friend - imagine how many times you’ve found yourself in a situation where you face long periods of silence from your stakeholders, only to have all of them descend upon you with urgent matters on your busiest day. I recognize that this is a problem, but as I took steps to curb this issue, I’ve learnt that overcoming overwhelm can lead to distraction. Instead, here are some steps I took / am taking now to help with my discipline: Too Tired? Most importantly, please give yourself permission to rest. We are all humans, so there should not be this pressure to always appear as if you’re always working and never resting. Also, a little goes a long way. When I’m too tired but feel like working on a project, I find myself gravitating to tasks which are time-consuming, but not difficult (e.g. panelling and inking, in the case of comic artists). That way, work still gets done, but you’re not over-exerting yourself. Too Distracted? For me, the solution was simple - turn off your WiFi, or go analog. I’m a huge RPG gamer and love my Netflix and Geek & Sundry, so I’d know that internet is going to be my best friend and my worst enemy, depending on the time of the day. That being said, another way I do like to keep focussed is to allocate time for the tasks you want completed. A popular way is the Pomodoro Method -
I tend to pull a double Pomodoro and turn it into a Power Hour, with a 25-min session, 10-min break, and another 25-min session to finish it off. During these sessions, set some rules for yourself. Mine are usually - No WiFi, no music or anything from the earphones, and no answering messages (unless they’re urgent). And when you have your focus and rules in place - stick to them. The urgency and the time constraint can help you achieve more than if you were to just scold yourself into squeezing it into your schedule. Too Busy? Schedule time - regardless of how little you can. Most of us have day jobs, so dedicating huge amounts of time to your creative work may not be on the table. However, here are some pointers to what some of us do:
Bonus Point: When you’re working with others BONUS - After going through some tips on how to get yourself disciplined and productive, here are also some bonus points for times when you have to play the role of team mate to others:
# So there you have it! Some of my tips on maintaining discipline with your creative work. Here are (some of my favourite) other publications or blog posts that can help you with your motivation:
Thank you for your support and I hope you’ve managed to benefit from some of the information presented above. Stay tuned for the next stage of creation - we go into the Peaks and Troughs of Creation! While I’m currently having a blast with my new layout and the 2018 Cousin, I wanted to give some credit to the Hobonichi Cover makers. As pricey as the covers can be, there are some aspects which have proved to be incredibly useful for me. Take a look: When I got my first Hobonichi Cousin cover, I was sceptical - I already had another journal cover with pockets and such, why would I need another one?
But when I got to the shelves at LoFT, it didn't take that long to convince me. Firstly, the covers have a nice feel, fitting plastic cover, and are rather hardy against water (especially accidental water damage) and scratches. Secondly, most Hobonichi Covers feature the following:
And last, but certainly not least - Hobonichi knows how to engage artists and craftspeople to make things pretty. You can see the other covers for yourself here. Moving forward, I’ll be looking and reviewing other journals we use regularly in bullet journalling, organization, or just plain diary entries. Covering other planners, I’ll also be featuring other brands used by some of my friends. So if you’re as crazy about planners as I am, stay tuned for more journals to come! Last year, I did a few posts under this section called “How-I-Dos”, which talked about getting organized and gave readers a glimpse into what is expected of us as creators, especially independent creators, in the industry, the community, and at events. The more I delved into this topic of Arts Management, however, the more I realized there’s a lot to cover. Therefore, I’ve decided to combine a few good pointers I’ve gathered over the past half a decade or so in the industry and interview a few fellow storytellers in a series I would call, “The Stages of Creation”. This series will cover tips and advice from the concept to the delivery of your story and its medium, taking us all one step at a time. I won’t be presumptuous to say that I know everything, but I’ll do my best to give all of you a different perspective when it comes to creating and managing what we create, as well as ourselves. # STAGE ONE: CONCEPT I decided to start with the concept instead of diving straight into “Getting Started” because this is, perhaps, one of the biggest stumbling blocks many storytellers face. “But I want to say so many things! The more I write, the more I tell, the more I realize I need this and this and this!” Sound familiar? So here are some pointers I gathered - tips I used to get myself moving: Your Intentions Firstly, have some idea of what you want to do. Are you:
Secondly, ask yourself why. It doesn’t have to be some lofty idea or some “save-the-world” mission. Why are you creating or telling this story?:
And thirdly, remember - the most important aspect of the story, is the story. Like a birthday cake, embellishments won’t save a badly-baked, dry sponge cake. So know the story you want to tell, or at least, be okay with going where your story wants to go, at least for now. *Quick Tip: If you continue to be plagued by ideas, with no opportunity to plant your feet and anchor, maybe you can ask yourself these three questions with regards to your story: 1) What does your character want? 2) Why can't they have it? and 3) Why should we care? Before I leave you to the next section, though, know that half the time, authorial intent doesn’t really matter. Unless people read your work with the intention of extracting a message or with a critical mind, set on dissecting and analyzing your work, it’s safe to say that most read, watch, or listen for a good story. Committing to Paper Now that you’re done with your plans, it’s time to commit your story to paper. Personally, I use events like the 24-Hour Comics Day, National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo), and Camp Nanowrimo to get myself started on my first draft, but here are other techniques some of us use to get started. Blank Paper Method True to its name, it’s just setting a timer and on a blank piece of paper, writing down every idea, character, and their relationships with each other. After which, you look at what you have and try to put the pieces together - pretty straightforward. Remember, a messy canvas is easier to edit than an empty one. Research One of the lessons I’ve learnt with researching for your story - it’s usually not what you think it is. As fun as research is, you run the risk of having confirmation bias when you’re not careful. While research allows you to read about or even experience the fun settings and adventures your characters go through, having it reach its full potential requires acute observation, deliberate listening, and then deduction after that. So do be careful if you like to do your “research” thoroughly first before starting on anything. Rewriting & Reading To paraphrase Stephen King, if you’re not reading, you’re not writing. I wouldn’t say “read more” is my one and only advice for writing better, but reading for fun is an important aspect of storytelling. And one of the advantages of “rewriting” or fan fiction, is that there’s no pressure to create something entirely new. You want a trigger or practice right? Why not try getting into an existing story and seeing how you can create your own take on it? All of that being said, the most important thing to do when you want to create, is to create. So instead of talking about writing, drawing, or storytelling, know that your work will only exist after you put your pen to paper and start creating. P/S - We’ll talk about creating the best work you can in the later posts. For now, just put pen to paper. # I don’t deny that I still stumble and find myself at a huge roadblock when it comes to creating something, especially a brand new project. However, I would say that the above steps have helped rather well. You can also check out how other storytellers get started on their projects with these other posts:
I look forward to seeing your creations. Last year was pretty fun for me, planner-wise. The Hobonichi Cousin was a great canvas to paint on, and I got to experiment with a good variety of planner pages and uses. At the same time, #hobonichi365 gave me a few insights to what I should keep, throw out, and develop. And all of these lessons, I’ve taken with me and included them into my Hobonichi Cousin 2018: To sum everything up, my planner pages for this year will be pretty solid, including the following features:
And that’s it, really! I’ll be covering other journals and planners that my friends and I use here and there, so stay tuned for another year of organization and amazing planners! Coming from someone who has huge difficulty maintaining personal Social Media projects and what not, I'm glad to say that #hobonichi365 has finally come to a close. And before I head into the new year, I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from the entire year. As much as I was expecting a good number of these pages to appear in my #2017bestnine, I'm kinda glad they didn't so that I could share them with all of you.
Thank you for 2017, now onwards to 2018! After four months of categorizing my to-do lists on my daily pages, I figured it was something that was getting a little too restrictive for comfort. I found myself resorting to using rough paper to sort out steps before I wrote them in my daily planner (which was pretty much not the point). Thus, I dove into a more minimalist approach with this current layout: And so far, this has been working out fantastically - I can list things (which is just the way I like it), and keep track of the important details easily. The Journal / Notes section works pretty well too, as a space to scribble, note things, and engage in other activities. Like my first attempt into drawing for InkTober (Here are my 5 favourites - incidentally, also my favourite breakfasts. Hehe.): Hope you’ve enjoyed this post. Here’s to one more post before we go on to Hobonichi Cousin 2018!
I’m incredibly excited because the Hobonichi Series for 2018 will be out in less than a week! Apart from Weeks Mega (a thicker version of their Weeks series), they have a new series of covers. (Note: I’ve been telling myself that I’ll need a plastic cover for my 2018 Hobonichi Cousin, but after finding out about this, I’m really conflicted. LOL.) These couple of months don’t see any changes with my planner layout, but I attempted a 30-day journaling activity by Boho Berry – it was pretty fun, though I decided that I wanted a simpler layout to just get things done. Regardless, here are some fun shots from the #BohoBerryChallenge I did in July. As much as I like this current layout, I’ll be changing my daily layouts to something more streamlined and simple for the rest of the year. Stay tuned to have a look!
Convention season is upon us! If you have a list of events you’re raring to go to, good for you. If you’re going to be behind a booth during one of the coming conventions, here’s something I’ve put together: Some of us use iPads linked to Excel forms or sheets. However, for those who don’t want to lug tech around, this simple printable helps as an offline method to check stock (without having to go through extra formatting on top of all the other tasks you have to settle before heading to the convention hall).
I hope this helps anyone who’s looking at a more streamlined way to track their products during events. To download this printable, click here. I wanted to prepare something like this for a while now, seeing how I’m hoping to organize my life a little better. This was initially supposed to be an RPG case, since I was intending to go into more RPGs, but being involved in the gaming group I’m in means the need for something just as diverse The bag is a carrying case for A4 notebooks and stationery. I got it at LoFT in Shibuya, Tokyo. However, any case you have or are comfortable with is good enough. I play a good amount of contained role-playing games, games which require point calculation at the end of the session, and games which require a lot of dice rolling. Taking those into consideration, I came up with a list of items to place into my mobile gaming case:
While it’s incredibly convenient to carry this case to my gaming sessions, it serves as a reminder that I’m long overdue for a gaming session. So if you could just excuse me… I’ll see all of you around. |
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November 2018
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