State Of Sequential Crush - An Update For The New Year!
If you've followed me for any amount of time, you know that back in 2009, when I started Sequential Crush, I was pumping out those blog posts. I was living that blogger mantra that said quantity was where it was at, and I can tell you that I had a wonderful time doing it. But let's face it. I was freshly out of grad school and in my mid-twenties and had no responsibilities other than to my day job and dog. Now, I have a family, a house, a full-time day job, and a community – all requiring their own investments of time. And with a small child, the time investment is all-encompassing. As someone passionate about researching and writing, I often lament the restrictions on my time, but as the years have gone on and especially lately, I realize that I cannot work at the frenetic pace I once did with the blog.
I like to meet periodically with my husband, Jim, and have a "creative meeting." Unfortunately, they are few and far between these days and are usually done hurriedly over dinner while our three-year-old asks multiple times, "whatcha talking about, mommy and daddy?" When Jim and I last chatted around New Year's, I tried to outline all the things I wanted to do and the schedule I wanted to do them on because, as we "content creators" have been told time and time again, you need to come out on a schedule. You need to be reliable. It would be best if your show came out weekly. Jim stopped me in my tracks and reminded me that I am not in that time in my life right now.
That revelation hit me hard. I don't know how I failed to see that until Jim said something. Still, it took my husband bringing me back down to earth to get it through my skull. Now that I've had a few weeks to really sit with his words, I feel this sort of peace, a calmness, and, paradoxically, the urge to create and write even more.
With this realization, I am choosing to embrace the ethos of slow productivity and working whenever I get the chance. As I draft this, I've just thrown a load of laundry in the dryer, started the dishwasher, and thrown my retainers in for the night (yes, I still wear mine!) Luckily, it is sometimes that constriction that breeds creativity. And I have hope that it won't always be like this. There will be a time when life is a little less busy and dictated by the whims of a very needy (albeit adorable) small child.
Until then, here's my promise to you—I can't be counted on. Weird to say, yes, but I can't be counted on to make a weekly or biweekly show, and probably not even monthly every single month. If things are anything like they have been with recurring daycare-induced sickness on what seems to be an infinite loop sprinkled with sleep regressions galore, then I can't commit to something that regular. But I can commit to producing interesting and high-quality stuff when I do.
I am not a journalist; I am not a "content creator" in the business sense of the phrase. At the root of everything, I am a historian. And history and the exploration of it are sometimes glacially paced. So, without pressure or concrete dates, here are some of the things I'm working on for the upcoming year:
More podcast episodes. I wish I could make them faster because I have SO many ideas! But I have faith that I'll cover all the topics I want to before too long. Next on the docket: A history of comic book conventions!
I want this to be the year I finish my book proposal on my grandfather, his creation of the Green Lantern, and the rest of his career. I also plan to start seeking out an agent.
Nurturing my Patreon. What better way to share early drafts and ideas stemming from my research as I work through the book proposal than through Patreon posts? I will also be returning to my saved documents of things that never made it onto the blog and sharing them with you. Think of Patreon as your behind-the-scenes tour of Sequential Crush. I also have several unpublished interviews with comic book creators that I will share on the Patreon feed. Later this week I’ll be sharing some exciting things about my grandfather’s work that I stumbled upon the other day.
Make some TikToks. I think. Maybe? It is really fun, just time-consuming, but the comics community there is top-notch. Why not share all the knowledge I've accumulated over the years with people who love comic books as much as I do AND learn from other comic scholars and fans?! Find me over there @jacquenodell
Figuring out what the heck I want to do with Twitter. Am I ready to make the leap to Mastodon? Do I want to start a Discord? Yes, yes, I do. I’ll keep you updated on that.
I have hope that someday hopefully soon, I won't need to go as slowly. I hope sooner than later that all my hard work over the past decade and a half will pay off into something financially viable that will allow me to do this full-time, and I'll be able to work more comprehensively on comic book history. Until that day, I'll catch you on that slow creativity wave!
I'd love to hear from you -- how are you thinking about work, creativity, and time in this new year? Are you going full bore, or are you slowing it down some?
If you'd like to help me get closer to that ultimate goal of becoming a full-time creative, please consider joining my Patreon! Your patronage will help cover the coffee that fuels me, childcare to sit down and write, the materials I draw my research from, and the hosting and domain fees - because running a creative empire is not free! In return, I will give you knowledge, entertainment, and things to think about and enrich your life. Thank you in advance for whatever level you can back me at. I sincerely hope you will continue this ride through comic book history with me—we have so much yet to discover!