Things Might Get Messy

So the the really daunting project I want to make major progress in this year (since I highly doubt getting every little aspect done this year is realistic or feasible) is in the educational book series and video game(s) idea I have.

As I may have mentioned in some of my other pieces, I'm a math teacher and, let's face it, the vast majority of math is presented as some of the most boring, lifeless stuff out there.

I mean, sure, finding the total surface area of a birdhouse that needs paint is a "real world" problem, but who's really building and painting birdhouses on the regular?

Now, change that to covering a Pyrelion four-winged bat enclosure in a protective layer of garmite crystals, now we're on to something.

It seems silly, I know, but in context of a world that's been created and characters that are invested in, it makes a reader a bit more likely that they'll actually read the question.

Plus, I know when a student has actually read the question when they ask "what the hell is a garmite crystal?"

But the full concept goes beyond just writing strange and more creative word problems.

What I want to do isn't some groundbreaking concept. Educational software and character based learning isn't new, but almost everything I've seen is either too boring or too juvenile. And the games I've seen are mostly unfun or disconnected from a grander, connected world. I think a lot this comes from the focus being on younger students on basic skills, and not on upper level maths and older students, as if they were supposed to have outgrown fun or something.

So phase one for me is to write the book series aspect first, which will be the "easiest" part for me. I already have a world and characters created, so it will be refining those and making it clear, cohesive, and, hopefully, fun to read. It will lean mostly into fantasy and sci-fi, with a little bit of mild horror thrown in for good measure. If it's fun and interesting enough, both the readers and non-readers should be able to enjoy it and get something out of it.

The next step is turning this into a visual/interactive novel type game. Bringing in the visuals and interactivity to better engage learners, and to better meet them where they are.

The long term goal is integrating the upper level math into other genres of games. How that will all work and be a proper balance, I don't know yet, but I'll be working on it. It will more than likely take finding people that already know what they are doing on the programing side of things to truly make this happen, but that's the dream.

Maybe it's a bit too ambitious, I just feel like taking my experience of teaching math, creative writing, and love of video games could be a great blend to actually make learning fun and interesting.

On top of all that, I want to finally complete the novel I've been working on. It's been a work in progress for a little while now, and I get sidetracked with other writing and projects, but I think that's kind of a good thing.

Creating while creating, or something like that.

I want to continue that mindset of always writing and creating. Even if it's a doodle. One line of a protentional poem or song. A scene from something that could become a larger story. Keeping the wheels moving, no matter how tired or busy I am.

Not everything is going to be a banger, but every piece of writing is an opportunity to learn and grow and see what works and what doesn't. And, thanks to the community here, I've had the chance to put a lot out there and I've received a lot of great feedback and encouragement, so thank you all for that.

Something I hadn't thought I'd say a year or so ago, I would like to put my first poetry collection together and published. I used to write a lot of songs for bands I was in, and for solo projects, so I guess it's not that far removed, but there's always that bit of doubt that likes to creep in.

One of the goals I had for last year was to delve more into poetry, and I feel like I made some strides there. So I'm hoping there will be good news to share on that front later this year.

I would like to publish my second short story collection as well. I have a few ideas on how to add some supplementary writing within the collection to give it a bit more spice. Nothing ground breaking, but I just think it's fun to come up with ideas to make things just a little different. We will see how that goes.

In the midst of that, I would like to also complete the "trilogy" and the three series I've been working on.

I have major chunks of all of these written and planned out, just, obviously, currently incomplete.

I more than likely won't get them all done, but I would like to truly finish at least one of those this year.

I certainly don't want any of that to interfere with new ideas either. I don't think I will set a goal for a certain number of stories I want to write, since I like the open ended flow of just writing what comes to mind as it comes to mind and letting whichever project happens to be clicking that day take precedence.

I want to experiment a little with writing as well. See what else is being done or ideas that are floating around out there and see what I can do with them. Might have terrible results, but you never know.

I want to keep growing as an artist. I want to start writing music again. I want to start doing video editing again.

I want to be better at encouraging others to create. Whether it be for them to create things for public consumption, or just as a personal hobby.

And in that vein, I'd like to help reignite a local group of creatives to meet, critique, and encourage each other in our endeavors.

We all have our own voices, but I've found having community, and collaboration, to be so important in keeping the creative juices flowing.

So I might be overloading myself a bit, but if I get even a fraction of this done, plus all the additional stories and poems I'm sure I'll write throughout the year, I'll be happy.

I'm looking forward to 2025 from a creative perspective, and can't wait to see what we all do this year.