Finishing the 8th Draft
Hello. This is Elf Painter
It’s been a while since my last post. I wasn’t lazy, just canned up writing a book. Now that it’s done, I feel refreshed.
50-Day Book Writing Marathon
50 days. A month and a half book writing marathon is over. Woohooo~~ Usually, book writing takes about 3–4 months. But why did I start this risky challenge?
At the End of Writing the 7th Book
It all started when I finished co-authoring my 7th book, AI Graphics.
the AI GRAPHICS: A cutting-edge book on AI, characters, webtoons, fashion, worldbuilding, and digital design. It’s a book filled with content from people more awesome than me. Currently available for pre-order!!!
I wrote enthusiastically about my favorite topic, webtoons, and after seeing how much I wrote in a short time, the publisher suggested we quickly write a book on AI+Art. The volume: 300 pages. The schedule: one month. Wow…. It was less than half my usual timeline, but I wanted to take on this challenge, so I gladly said OK and started writing. Fortunately, with contract reviews and other schedules added, I secured 50 days. This was the beginning of the 50-day marathon.
Writing for 1 Hour Every Morning. It Was Manageable at First.
50 days. 300 pages. I thought lightly, “I just need to write 6 pages a day!” Work time was 1 hour before weekday work. 7 to 8 AM. 2 Pomodoros. At first, it wasn’t difficult. I just had to type what I had conceptualized in my head into Obsidian. I thought, “This should be doable without much trouble.” But I was mistaken.
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As I progressed towards the latter half, I had to verify less concrete, less verified ideas while simultaneously writing them out. The 1-hour limit was ridiculously insufficient. Eventually, even weekend leisure time was mobilized for writing, and fatigue started to accumulate. I had to gradually reduce external activities and focus on the book. Ugh… As both physical and mental strength were being depleted simultaneously, days of being chased by the monster called deadline continued relentlessly. The publisher, concerned, said I could submit after Chuseok, but… you know how it is. The idea of breaking a promise with myself was too unpleasant…
Finally Crossing the Finish Line
Ruthlessly, the deadline tightened its grip day by day. My nerves felt like they were about to snap from tension. But in the end…. I successfully completed the 50-day book writing. It’s about 500 pages in a docx file. It was extremely challenging as it was my first attempt at this difficulty level, but after finishing, I felt truly proud. The satisfaction of breaking my limits was also immense. I think next time, I’ll be better at managing my physical strength and concentration.
Moving Forward
I’m planning to rest a bit. After maintaining intense tension for a month and a half, the warning signals in my head don’t seem to have turned off. There’s still a lingering sense of tension, feeling like I should be doing something.
So, I’m thinking of taking a week off to clear my head. My wife, saying I did a good job, booked accommodation by the sea and train tickets, so I plan to spend some time with the ocean. And then I’ll start something fun again. There’s a lot I want to do.
- Simultaneous posting on Brunch and Medium — A plugin that can post to Medium has been released for Obsidian. I’m thinking of posting on both Brunch and Medium. I’m considering posting in English on Medium.
- Creating video content — As I’m getting more familiar with video tools, I’m testing various VTuber tools. I plan to test them bit by bit. I’d like to try real-time Zettelkasten note management on YouTube.
- Planning the next book — I’m considering writing a book about Krita + ComfyUI. I’m thinking of starting without a publisher. I might serialize it on Brunch.
- Resuming my role as SDK (Stable Diffusion Korea) admin — I couldn’t even access Facebook for a while due to writing the book. Now it’s time to slowly start again.
Challenge is Changing Limits
It was a really tough journey, but I don’t regret this writing process. Rather, I think it was good that I did it. I’m not sure if this book will sell well. But that doesn’t seem important. A challenge is valuable in itself, regardless of success or failure. Through this, the realm of my limits has grown a bit more.
How about you? What challenges are you taking on? What changes have you experienced through your challenges? I support your challenges. I hope we can grow together.
