Going Backward In Order To Go Forward

I'm not burning out...

I'm not taking a break...

I'm...

I'm not sure what to call what I'm doing.


If you've been following and enjoying my blog, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in a while. This is because I'm stupid. Or perhaps, because I'm so hungry to "do all the things" that I haven't been able to do this "one thing". 

I don't want to say that I've bitten off too much, although I'm sure my family would disagree. I pride myself on being able to multi-task at a level that air traffic controllers and parents of octuplets would admire.

I've given myself a massive amount of workload (above my day-job) in the name of growing my channel.

  • Mondays
    • Uploading the next Dungeon Studios podcast episode to YouTube (if it wasn't done on Sunday)
    • 1-2 recording sessions for Dungeon Studios podcasts (The Game & Nerd Newz)
  • Tuesdays
    • Video Editing OR
    • Video Recording for various projects
    • Outreach for podcast interviews and upcoming collabs
    • Social Media Promotion
  • Wednesdays
    • Video Editing OR
    • Video Recording for various projects
    • Outreach for podcast interviews and upcoming collabs
    • Social Media Promotion
  • Thursdays
    • Video Editing
    • Dungeon Studios Voice Actor Meeting
  • Fridays
    • Blog Writing (when I was doing it)
    • Video Editing OR
    • Video Recording for various projects
    • Outreach for podcast interviews and upcoming collabs
  • Saturday
    • Release of video on Perty Nerdy (typically)
    • Video Editing OR
    • Video Recording for various projects
    • Outreach for podcast interviews and upcoming collabs
    • Potential D&D Gaming Session
  • Sundays
    • Uploading the next Dungeon Studios podcast episode to YouTube 
    • Dungeon Studios Voice Actor Meeting
    • Potential D&D Gaming Session
You can see that Video Editing or Video Recording alone takes up a lot of my week. Editing a 15-min video can take up to 2 hours. Does it need to take that long? Probably not, but I've developed a level of taste in my videos that I can't seem to abandon.

If I record an hour-long episode of Nerd Newz or The Game, that then takes me an accumulated 8 hours to edit to my standards. Spread that out throughout the week, it eats up a lot of my extra time. 

Now, add to the equation all the travel I've had recently which takes me away from my "set routine" and "creature comforts". I'm having to find time to edit videos on planes, in airport restaurants, and in my hotel room.

Then, add unexpected opportunities like The Dead Wars. The most recent was a last-minute request to host a tabletop panel at FanimeCon. Making my way into the convention circuits is a priority for my brand. I was notified a week before the con and had very little time to create a presentation and plan on the materials I would bring. Yet, I still had to maintain my video editing timeline to ensure episodes go out on time.

The greatest opportunity, the writing retreat scholarship I was awarded by Writing Excuses, really threw a wrench in my plan. 
Scratch that. 
That sounds awful. 
What I mean to say is that working through the Writing Excuses Retreat Scholarship opportunity has stirred something within me that I can no longer ignore.

One of the requirements for attending the writing retreat is to write and submit a 3,500-6,000 novel excerpt or short story that will then be critiqued and workshopped at the retreat. The last time I wrote anything of that length, it was published in a short story anthology a couple years ago. 

I decided to dabble in RPG-lit and ended up with the first chapter to what I hope will be a completed
series...someday. I enjoyed the process immensely. It breathed new life into me and, as grueling as that week was, I came away exhilarated and refreshed. 

I was reminded of my true goal.

When I started this journey of YouTube, Podcasts, and Blogging, it was all to serve a purpose - make passive income so I can afford to write. The ultimate goal has always been to become a full-time author. 

I enjoy video editing. I love coming up with creative ways to keep the videos witty and engaging. I love blogging - it's tangential to writing. These all tap into the creative inventor inside of me. And...

When I love doing a thing, I obsess over doing the thing.
All the time.

The problem with this is my laser focus starts leaning towards "grow the YouTubes" and "must post or algorithm will burn me".  To some degree, this leads to the ultimate goal of writing. If I grow the YouTubes, I get monetized. If I get monetized enough, I can quit the day-job and write. Realistically, however, this plan wouldn't unfold for at least another two years according to all other monetized YouTubers.

To compensate for the time it takes to grow a channel, I continually come up with other (great and wonderful, in my opinion) ideas to help make passive income that will also continue to grow my brand.

Here is where we come to the fork in the road.

There is little, to no, lee-way in my current schedule to add in new projects and keep up with the pace I've been going at. 

There's just no time for new ideas.
And that's a shame.

I feel like I'm stuck in this vicious loop of creating content, in order to make money, in order to find the time to get to the higher-impact projects.


My thinking has now changed. I think I need to make time for these high-impact projects, in order to make money, in order to grow my channel and gain the freedom to produce more content.

These new ideas, these new projects, will require some real transformation for the Perty Nerdy brand. My hope is the change will finally get me over the hump and I can take another step forward towards the ultimate goal. 

So - What does this mean to you, follower?

Depending on how often you visit my channels or participate in my content, you may not notice a change at all.

Here's what you need to know about these (hopefully temporary) changes:

  • I'm pivoting focus/priority to my new projects in favor of meeting algorithm-needs
  • My posts may be less frequent OR
  • My content will include videos that require less to produce (like the Mood Music Videos w/ Built-In Worldbuilding prompts)
  • I plan to produce a few projects with things I've never seen done in this niche before
  • I plan to build-out a project that has been in ideation for months (code name: Origins)
  • These projects should release in the summer and later half of 2024.

I'm not burning out...

I'm not taking a break...

I guess I'm taking one step backward in the hopes I can take two steps, or even a leap, forward.

I hope you stay along for the journey, nerds.


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