A year of Challenges

[rovingjack]

No, not 2020, but 2021. And this time the good kind of challenges. I'm planning to do all of these. Anybody interested in joining me for one of more of them? Or even just spectating?

I find myself planning ahead to make my 2021 a year of creative challenges for myself akin to Nanowrimo and inktober (if you've never heard of them, I encourage you to check them out).

Jan- Janimation. 5 minute animated short in a month
Feb- Alphabet project? theme, medium, technique, object, letter prompt list.
Mar- march to your own tune. 7 songs, minimum 31minutes.
Apr- Script frenzy 100 page script
May- may-king a photobook. 150 photos book.
Jun- solo by solstice game jam. solo creator, possibly solo play, board or comp game by solstice
Jul- Indie film month. film in 30 days.
Aug- (Harvest Fare). try a new recipe each day
Sept- paintember. 1 painting a day
Oct- Inktober. 1 drawing a day
Nov- Nanowrimo. 50000 in november
Dec- Vlogsmas. Vlog a day

I’ll probably use some of Vlogmas 2020 (daily vlogging in December) to expand on these ideas, and I’m hoping to encourage people to participate in one or so of these and cheer each other on even if they don’t do certain ones.

[J. Wilhelm]

I've only heard of Nanowrimo on this forum and Inktober at DeviantArt. Doing all of that sounds crazy though.

[Horatio Valentine]

I agree with Wilhelm, that does sound like a lot.

Godspeed, my friend. Godspeed.

[MWBailey]

I want to see how you animate your shorts!

*ducks*

[rovingjack]

I want to see how you animate your shorts!

*ducks*

no ducks involved.

the easy way to animate ones shorts would be a nice mild 5 bean chili, but that's not what I'm doing.

[rovingjack]

right so somebody complained that Inktober was copyrighted and the creator was lawyer happy about it, while also having issues with his book publishing and release after somebody says he copied from them. Following that was discussion of use of anything created by somebody else in the challenges.

Fine.

Script Frenzy in april, Inktober in october, Nanowrimo in November and Vlogsmas in december can all be swapped out. Here are the alternative I came up with in about 20 minutes after the whole conversation.

April can be April foolin' around- joke writing, standup comedy, magic tricks, and optical illusions.

October can be Skitober- record a skit a day for video (kind of like a vlog, but also a bit of script writing involved.

November can be the Pen-Ultimate challenge- penmanship, drafting, comics etc just use a pen.

December The Invent Calendar- inventions challenge. some serious, some like as seen on TV ads, and some complete absurdities.

so There 12 months of completely my creation challenges to partake of, no worries of copyright hassels.

[Hurricane Annie]

 I'm restraining myself from several animated short unlady like responses 

[Banfili]

That's a big programme you have set yourself, rovingjack! I look forward to seeing the results!

[Cora Courcelle]

Will you just stop each theme at the end of the allotted month, regardless of where you are in the project, or do you intend to finish them while starting the next months challenge at the same time?

[rovingjack]

well the goal is not not fall short.

Basically I have 30 days to do a 5 minute animation video of some sort. If I can't pull that off I will likely feel great embarassment, but depending on how close I got I could just set it aside, or finish it. Either way I'd share what I achieved at deadline.

February is a daily project. I might not make it some days. but I'd hope that I could finish them off by the end of the month for the recap of the projects.

March just needs to create 7 songs in 31 days. that's a song every 4.4 days roughly. This one is a little bit harder to make real. I chose 7 songs and total elapse time of 31 minutes because I read somewhere that this is the cut off point for an album. I suppose if it really came down to it I could release what I make or finish out the album with some cover songs.

April is another daily thing, with no real cumulative score keeping. I might fail on a day here or there, but might double up on a few other days. I'm hoping that by the end I make it through easily enough.

May, There will be 150 photos taken and a book made from them. Even if I take all 150 on one binge day of photography project.

August, is just trying a new recipe for each day. That's doable.
September, october, and November are all daily challenges without cumulative goals so achievable like the others I mentioned.

(Edit: had to reboot computer)

The three hardest to do are likely to be:
Jun solo by solstice game jam. solo creator, possibly solo play, board or comp game by solstice
Jul Indie-pendant film month. feature length (45min or longer/ or a film per week for a month = 40 min total run time max) film in 30 days.
Dec Invent calander

and for the game, I will likely aim for the minimum playable game I can. most game jams are about 2-4 days long. I'm giving myself about 3 weeks and I will likely make a print and play board game as well as a simple computer game using something like RPG maker. If it looks like I will not get them both done I will set aside the harder of the two and finish up the other. I will probably finish off the other a bit at a time over the rest of the summer here in the US (likely in august when it's just trying a new recipe each day).

The Indie film project. I will do my absolute damndest to see if I can treat it like one of those long weekend film projects, but give myself the whole month to do it. This is also the most likely to be a complete fail, and not get completed in the following time, simply because getting the time, resources and scheduling an indie flm are super hard and if you need to redo or add stuff it can be months before you can get back to it again. But that being said I'd still release what I finished to show what I did in the time, and if there are folks who want it finished I'd bet I could make it happen eventually.

The Invent Calander in december will also be a bit tricky I think, just because it's prototyping inventions for 25 days. But some of the can be simple silly fun things.

In all of this, the real trick is to think about it all in terms of: If I turn the TV off, and stay off the internet, there are a couple hours each day I can devote to being creative. And as long as I maintain a playful enthusiasm for the things I'm trying and exploring it should be time well spent and get me reasonably close to the goals.

most everything on here is achievable with regular hour or two of work in far less than a month. (very simple 5 minute animations can be done in 2-12 hours total depending on the work and the experience).

I will say that proper planning and choosing or designing your projects before the start day to be simple enough to make use of the things you already have and what you know how to do can make a huge difference too.

[Sorontar]

> May, There will be 150 photos taken and a book made from them. Even if I take all 150 on one binge day of photography project.

My wife effectively did this today. Played Red Dead Redemption 2 with a friend who posed on their horse in scenic locations. Took 194 photos. Trimed it down to 40 of the best. Now has to trim it down to what goes on instagram, so that is their "book".

So if you have a plan, I can this being very achievable. Pick some gardens, or buildings or animals or objects and go for it, come May. Maybe they could be May Day 2021 photos (or a photo of every Day in May around your town - people, weather, whatever).

Sorontar

[Cora Courcelle]

I do like the idea of monthly themes for challenges, and you have inspired me to make my own list rovingjack, although I'm going to have to think about my own choices - I still have a couple of days  .
Thanks for the idea.

[Synistor 303]

I too have decided to take up the monthly challenge - although I doubt I could come even slightly near the quantity of the challenges on your list... I might have to have a think on one project each month. I'll get back to you. (But I would like to have a complete Steampunk outfit by the end of the year - never been a 'dresser-upper', but would like to change that.)

[Deimos]

I'm exhausted just reading what RovingJack plans to do....and you all  jumping in with both feet further exhausts me.
Come the morning of 1 January 2021, I think I will just stay in bed....until 2022.    

[Banfili]

Having finished with Uni, I am going to pick amp my painting, photography and craft activities, but am not going to set myself any deadlines - I've had my fill of those!

[Cora Courcelle]

January is going to be 'Music, Maestro - a piece of classical music every day'.
(Not really a challenge, more of an excuse  ).

[Banfili]

Music, yes! I forgot to mention music! I am going to practice for at least an hour a day, and transcribe many more songs for my Strumbly and other strumstiks!
I may even build another one to add to my collection!

[Synistor 303]

Well, I have ordered a hat and some bits to assist in the making of brass goggles. I know it is just a hat, but it is a start!

[J. Wilhelm]

I'm still working on the COVID mask, but I'm planning to return to the boombox project very soon. I've discovered a range of commercial audio products that will help me finish my project, and perhaps start a new one. Short of getting a second job, I may have to push myself to making a job for myself selling things again, and this is the most practical way to go forward (the audio products).

I'm choosing to be optimistic and say that the Covid-19 crisis will be over, for North America at least, at some point this mid-late year. There was not enough time to kill the economy, nor change people's minds on *any* subject, just enough time to kill a bunch of people who didn't deserve to die. So I expect the economy to roar back into shape by the end 2021, or if not early 2022. This means that any "COVID products" will lose a market, largely. The pump behind my project, however, is a universal product.

I've learned so much in my two projects that it's the most likely path forward. So in spite issues I'm having developing it, I think I can market the pump by itself in the near future. At some point, as well, there will be a market for interesting audio products. The pandemic brought people back into their domestic zone, so a lot of DIY businesses like hardware and garden shops didn't even slow down. There may be a place for home electronics, as opposed to "everything portable" where Steampunk gadgets found themselves in the 2010 — 2019 period..

Here's to an inventive 2021

[Cora Courcelle]

Well, I have ordered a hat and some bits to assist in the making of brass goggles. I know it is just a hat, but it is a start!

It is never 'just a hat'; it is a hat which will eventually have an amazing hatband ... or some fantastic goggles ... or a stunning cockade of feathers ... or ... well, you get the idea.
And then it will have an equally beautiful outfit to go with it.

And then you'll want another one.  (Trust me on this  ).

[RJBowman]

It is never 'just a hat'; it is a hat which will eventually have an amazing hatband ... or some fantastic goggles ... or a stunning cockade of feathers ... or ... well, you get the idea.

[rovingjack]

It is never 'just a hat'; it is a hat which will eventually have an amazing hatband ... or some fantastic goggles ... or a stunning cockade of feathers ... or ... well, you get the idea.

Is that a challenge? Daring us to make such a thing steampunk?

[J. Wilhelm]

It is never 'just a hat'; it is a hat which will eventually have an amazing hatband ... or some fantastic goggles ... or a stunning cockade of feathers ... or ... well, you get the idea.

It's never "just a hat"

For the black cap replace Duff Beer cans with Perrier and wear to US open or Wimbledon

[J. Wilhelm]

It is never 'just a hat'; it is a hat which will eventually have an amazing hatband ... or some fantastic goggles ... or a stunning cockade of feathers ... or ... well, you get the idea.

Is that a challenge? Daring us to make such a thing steampunk?

Top hat with beer mugs? Trachtenhat with steins?

[Synistor 303]

Well, I have ordered a hat and some bits to assist in the making of brass goggles. I know it is just a hat, but it is a start!

It is never 'just a hat'; it is a hat which will eventually have an amazing hatband ... or some fantastic goggles ... or a stunning cockade of feathers ... or ... well, you get the idea.
And then it will have an equally beautiful outfit to go with it.

And then you'll want another one.  (Trust me on this  ).

Oh dear, I am now concerned I might have 'started something'... I suppose I could start to clear out the wardrobe in the spare room to accommodate potential new clothing? And there is a shelf there for hats!