Good time zone greetings to you all! I hope everyone is doing well.

I've even seen a lot of October themed arts and creations. From growtober, to hypertober, even weretober if you can believe it, you can pick a word and there's a -tober for it. Now I've made no secret to wanting to jump in on this. Had I actually committed to it, I'd have posted two stories - one on the 3rd and one tomorrow. But I had talks with family, I've opened up to friends, and seeing that both helped me I want to open up to all of you too.

I'll be brief. I am 28 years old, nearing 29. I still live with my parents and I've had this merchandising job that's only paid $18K a year since graduating college six years ago. My brother has taken off; Moved out, high paying job, married, even has a kid. My sister shows the alternative life I could continue to live at this rate; A home body, always online, the same ever-dirtier bedroom, without any prospects. While I can't magically hunt for a job five years in the past and fix my life today, I can begin today. So I am going to begin today.

I've found motivation again thanks to my family and friends, who they have all suffered long enough with me on this. A few days ago I took a chance to open up to you all - the found family of friends online. I've always helped everyone. I know this is an escape from life's worries. I'm not used to asking for help. All of this compounded into myself finally opening up about where I really am at and what I need. The support I was shown still leaves me stunned. One of you showed me a resume AI website to upgrade my resume for 2025. Another not only showed me career hunting websites, but even helped me find a job offer in my local area. Some of you have even shared with me jobs that you know, the networks you are apart of, and I am forever grateful for that. Opening up to family both found and by blood has reminded me of what I really need.

I should refocus a lot of my life.

Posting a story every week showed me I had the work ethic, commitment, and consistency to change my life. I'll never regret that I did what I did. What I've come to regret is not the energy, but the direction I put it towards. Imagine if I used the same eight weeks for job hunting. I'd likely have a job by now, two months later, that for six years has eluded me. There's also the 2025 Furality Somna convention on VRC and how life changing that's been. To even show courage and post stories inspired by Somna, stories that don't have the usual bread and butter tags you've all known me for, could have been a writing portfolio for future stories. Perhaps I could have made that community center on Discord after all this time, where multiple people like myself can share writing nights and help each other grow.

Instead I used it to write stories that had the same three key words; Macro, muscle, and growth. I promise you all that I won't stop writing those stories. It's hard to abandon where we've all began. But I invite you to stay and check out other stories I'll write. I'll be forever grateful to those who remain even as I direct my energy to job hunting and growing my life again. I may not post once a week for a while. Perhaps I can but it won't be the stories you've known me for. I could use time to refocus my life to healthier things and allowing me that will help me write even better stuff to come I feel.

So as incredible as all the -tober fun is, perhaps it's better than I focus on a different kind of Growtober; Focusing on my own growth as a person. I'll focus on putting my communications degree to good use. I'm open to commissions for stories - not just the usual big three but anything (within reason mind). It's time I refocused to the future and I invite comments, ideas, and more for this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. For those who scrolled to the bottom; I won't go anywhere. The stories will continue, albeit with a relaxed schedule until life improves. What you love shall remain and grow, only that I ask I am allowed to grow and branch out into much more too. Just so my life isn't this same post, but at 38 turning 39, where my trail of stories is smut-lite and used for toilet reading only. Granted I don't think anyone actually does that last part, but I think the point stands lol. Life doesn't wait. I don't think I can wait any longer either. Thank you all for staying with me and I'll keep you updated as more comes up.

Feel free to ask questions too I'll reply back to them all as best as I can. You're all amazing, always will be, and I'll see you on the next journal post. Love you all!

Hello there everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and having a great time.

I apologize for not posting anything this past Friday. In using the week to generate ideas for the coming fall season, I didn't leave myself enough time to write the story. I have progress on a rough draft but I didn't want to rush sub-quality material just to claim a continued weekly streak. Quality over quantity, even if I make a lot of quantity haha.

There will be a story for this Friday! The missed, last Friday's story will be posed on the 30th. It's a Biceptember post after all which I think a lot of you will love!

I'm also always open to ideas like you want to share anything that you'd want to see! I can't promise anything on those ideas but I will read it and it might even become another Weekly Colossi post. I have to restore that posting streak somehow haha.

I hope you're all doing well out there and I will continue to keep writing. Wishing the best and thank you again for your patience and understanding!

Quick summary: Where I've been, commissions open, life is good, I am ok, and love you all!

Hey everyone! It's good to see you all. I hope you all enjoyed the stories I posted before I sat down to write this quick journal entry. If you're curious you can find them here and here.

But yes, just like the title says, where in the world did I go? When I last made noise, I said I did a ton of work on the 6th and 7th of March and promised that weekend - the 8th and 9th - I would post two stories and show even more work. Then I went silent for a whole month. I feel compelled to explain myself, as to leave for a month unannounced has left some of my friends and the community wondering if I was ok or what was going on. In truth I was decent enough but left to make sure someone that I care about was ok instead.

That weekend my sister opened up to me about something serious from an unlikely place. She was going through something serious, where Group A was abusing her work and her time in a Minecraft server. While in Group A they made her do all the work, were talking crap behind her back, and essentially abused her feelings into working harder for them while down talking her. She eventually left for a much more accepting Group B, but Group A is still actively trying to mess with her. For myself I never played Minecraft for a decade up to that point. The last time I actually played the game was during the 2012 to 2015 years of my childhood and teen years. The game has change a lot, the player base can be a lot younger than I am used to, and I genuinely was worried that I was stepping into this environment like the lone adult at the day care to make sure my sister was ok.

I'm happy to say my fears were wrong! I mean my sister is 24 as I write this, so I suppose it makes sense she wouldn't be around the young young crowd either. This Group B has been welcoming, including some members who are around both of our ages which is nice. Group A still messes with my sister, but now she has my support and others to help out. I've even found a gentle but growing love for the game again. It's felt like Stardew Valley to me, making a bookstore without following any Youtube tutorials, writing stories for the other players, I mean it's a roleplay server so there's even some character creation, D&D mechanics, and more that got me to write more than just furry related stuff. I know I have sinned for not writing purely furry material and I shall pay deeply for it lol!

What I thought would be just a weekend grew into a month. Group A kept messing with her, which meant we all had to help out. I still play that game now and even talk with others there. There's some story ideas brewing from all the interactions with the community - not from Group A mind just from the regular community members mind. I'm happy to talk about it more if people want, but for now it's good to be back.

Writing, commissions, and more to come! Thank you all for waiting on me and can't wait to create more. You're all incredible! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Balans Arkwright
Freelance Writer
Week: March 3-7, 2025

* Publishing by this Weekend (March 8th, 2025)
--- Commissions
--- 1. Articus in Articus Ascent; 3,000 words | Keywords: male, female, Size diff, muscle, Macro, growth
--- 2. Marcus; 500 words | Keywords: Character backstory writing
--- 3. Tanmux in A Muse of Muscle; 3,000 words | Keywords: Wholesome, Romance, College, Slice of Life, Size diff, Feel Good
--- 4. AJ in The Dawn of Duskbreaker; 2,000 words | Keywords: Blacksmith, Demon, King, Sword, Muscle, growth

--- Warmups
--- None as of yet. Stay tuned!

--- Total published words: ~8,500 (estimate)

In addition! There will be three artworks posted over this week to catch up on the backfill of art I got in the past!

* Additional Completed Tasks
--- Backstage
--- Replying back to older messages.

* Ongoing Tasks
--- Writing
--- 1. AJ in The Dawn of Duskbreaker; 2,000 words | Keywords: Blacksmith, Demon, King, Sword, Muscle, growth
--- Currently Open! Contact me and let's tell your story today!

--- Editing
--- 1. Articus in Articus Ascent; 3,000 words | Keywords: male, female, Size diff, muscle, Macro, growth
--- 2. Marcus; 500 words | Keywords: Character backstory writing
--- 3. Tanmux in A Muse of Muscle; 3,000 words | Keywords: Wholesome, Romance, College, Slice of Life, Size diff, Feel Good
--- Currently Open! Show me your writing and we can make it shine!

--- Proofreading
--- Currently Open! Want a detailed, expansive, deep review of your writing? Let's talk!

--- Consultations
--- Currently Open! Book a time and let's build your story today!

--- Backstage
--- 1. Better Habits:
--- 1.1. Use Monday to commission hunt (only if needed!)
--- 1.2: Solidify schedule: Commission hunt monday, Production (Writing, Editing, Thumbnail, Publishing) between Tue and Thur, Weekly Review Friday, Publishing over Weekend. Repeat!
--- 1.2. Schedule publications in advance with Posty Birb. Don't wait until day-of for publication.
--- 1.3. Do daily planning every morning; What's most important?

* Tasks for Upcoming Week
--- Complete & publish all Ongoing Tasks!
--- Use Posty Birb to set up publication beforehand for writing.
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Tune up your Turnaround: Go from commission to completion in one week. If no one commissions, simulate commissions with gift writing for friends. Honestly would be nice to do for them! Goal should be to get comfortable with a tighter turnaround so there's room for more commissions. This week it'll be AJ's commission that is used to practice turn around.
--- Complete at least one warm-up for publication this week, of 2,000 words roughly, if no commissions come forward by Monday evening.

* Tasks for Next Week
--- Tune up your Turnaround (repeated from above). If there's no commission, use next Monday to create a gift story outline as if it was a commission. Otherwise use one commission as the turn around practice.
--- Unless filled in by commissions, aim for two warn-ups of at least of 2,000 words roughly. Begin work on them by Monday evening. Have them posted by Saturday evening.

* Distant Tasks
--- Research:
--- Look into Kofi. Is it worth doing?
--- Royal Road: Reading comments and exploring around lead me to this fantasy and sci-fi corner of the internet. Needs more research. From what I understand, authors will share a few chapters of their writing for free on Royal Road before stubbing, or linking to Amazon, the rest of the writing. Like a reader might enjoy chapters 1 through 3 online, then if they wanna read the other 7 or even 27 chapters they can spend $8 for a digital copy or use their kindles. Worth looking into?

--- Newsletters:
---What is the possibility of using newsletters for sharing stories or news in writing. Is it worth it to do that, maybe once a season? What if there was a newsletter that covered everything in a season, shared the three best works of that season, and it's a nice jumping in point for those who are new to who I am and what I do? Newsletters could do with research I think. Apparently people charge for newsletters too in a subscription based thing. Maybe that's worth doing? Speculative for now but worth researching all the same!

--- Writing Contests:
--- Thanks to my friend Aquaas who told me about writing contests! He told me there's two writing contests coming out for short story writing, about 1,000 to 2,500 words for each. One has already passed, but the other one might be worth looking into.
--- 1. The other contest from The Writing Coliseum, hosted quarterly, begins on April 13th with ~$40 entry fee. In this one, participants are given random prompts and have three days to send back a 1,000 story based on the prompts. All entries judge other writing works as well as the goal is to help writers and not just win. Finalists though get their works judged by editors and publishers though! If submitted before March 13th, it'll be 10% off the entrance fee. Seems like this group also hosts contests all the time, so might have to get involved more often!

--- FA Advertising:
--- 2. Look into advertising on Fa; What's needed, how much is it, what kind of ads should be made, etc.
--- 3. Do research on how others advertise. What do their ads look like?
--- 4. Design ads for Fa. Recommend using commission sheet to establish the style and theme.
--- 5. Get ads running!
--- Reason to wait: I want to have a great catalogue to show people I'm dependable and trustworthy first. So that means building up the gallery and getting used to a routine before jumping into R&D for advertising. I want to be worth the advertising time if you will; People deserve that at the minimum.

* Additional Notes

Good [timezone greeting] to you all out there! Hope it's a lovely one whenever you get the chance to read this haha.

I spent a while thinking about where to go next with my writing and being a content writer. I realized that it's probably healthier for me to focus on turnaround for commissions instead of marketing or searching for more commissions. I mean think about it; Would you commission someone if you knew they already had five commissions in a queue, they took months just to finish one commission, and they're like "trust me bro" as they want payment first before starting? Exactly haha. I'm incredibly thankful that I have you all supporting me. Some of you have even given me time to write that's months long. I can't thank you all enough for that. It's time for me to make that turnaround of months into weeks, and from there see how good I can get. I want to get faster at making commissions happen, without lowering the quality. Which means this dergaroo is going to commission boot camp and he's gonna work hard haha.

For this week I want to get 4,000 words out there. Granted I already got 6,500 or so words to post. But they were either written before and not posted, or just they need time to edit. I want to go from a commission to completion in one week, so I'll use one commission I have and one warm up to simulate that. From there it's just practice and working on it.

Finally I do want to look into other things too. As you can see, Newsletters caught my eye along with longer forms of writing. A lot of it is just head scratching for now, but I have a feeling there's something there. Might even find a way to monetize it in a healthy way without charging readers; I hear that's how some people with Amazon kindles do it - they just let readers read for free and Amazon pays out for the readership like it's Youtube but for writing haha. They wanna push the kindle so it's a win-win, least on paper anyway. This is after all Amazon too and I have worked in a third company "fulfillment center" (i.e. A warehouse job) that ran me into the ground too. So we will see! I won't leap into it, rather just dip a toe and scout around.

If you have questions, concerns, comments, and more let me know! As always, thank you for staying with me and in writing and I am eager to write more for you all!

Balans Arkwright
Freelance Writer
Week: February 24-28, 2025

* Publishing by this Weekend
--- Commissions
--- 1. Articus in Articus Ascent; 3,000 words | Keywords: male, female, Size diff, muscle, Macro, growth
--- 2. Marcus; 500 words | Keywords: Character backstory writing
--- 3. Tanmux in A Muse of Muscle; 3,000 words | Keywords: Wholesome, Romance, College, Slice of Life, Size diff, Feel Good

--- Warmups
--- 1-27; A Coach Adorns a Crown; 2,465 words | Keywords: (Will update later today)
--- 2-10; Galivanting Gilgavas; 1,824 words | Keywords: (Will update later today)
--- 2-13; Bana Ait Artisanat; 1,828 words | Keywords: (Will update later today)
--- 2-18; Waiter! They Called; 2,100 words | Keywords: (Will update later today)

--- Total published words: 14,717 (estimate)

In addition! There will be three artworks posted over this week to catch up on the backfill of art I got in the past!

* Additional Completed Tasks
--- Backstage
--- Replying back to older messages.

* Ongoing Tasks
--- Writing
--- 1. AJ in The Dawn of Duskbreaker; 2,000 words | Keywords: Blacksmith, Demon, King, Sword, Muscle, growth
--- Currently Open! Contact me and let's tell your story today!

--- Editing
--- 1. Articus in Articus Ascent; 3,000 words | Keywords: male, female, Size diff, muscle, Macro, growth
--- 2. Marcus; 500 words | Keywords: Character backstory writing
--- 3. Tanmux in A Muse of Muscle; 3,000 words | Keywords: Wholesome, Romance, College, Slice of Life, Size diff, Feel Good
--- Currently Open! Show me your writing and we can make it shine!

--- Proofreading
--- Currently Open! Want a detailed, expansive, deep review of your writing? Let's talk!

--- Consultations
--- Currently Open! Book a time and let's build your story today!

--- Backstage
--- 1. Better Freelance Habits:
--- 1.1. Use Monday to commission hunt (only if needed!)
--- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are to complete commissions
--- 1.2. Schedule publications in advance with Posty Birb. Don't wait until day-of for publication.
--- 1.3. Do daily planning every morning; What's most important?

* Tasks for Upcoming Week
--- Complete all Ongoing Tasks!
--- Daily planner every day! Save time to complete.
--- Rather than post everything on the weekend, post writing and artworks throughout the week. Aim for two artworks on Monday, all warm up posted by Wednesday, last art on Thursday, before leading into completed commissions for Friday and the weekend. Post about two things per day on average.
--- Use Posty Birb to set up publication beforehand for writing.
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Solidify schedule: Mon is commission hunt if needed, then Tue, Wed, and Thur is Production (Writing, Editing, Thumbnail and Pub-Prep respectably), Friday is Weekly Review, Weekend is publication.

* Distant Tasks
--- Research:
--- Look into Kofi. Is it worth doing?

--- Writing Contests:
--- Thanks to my friend Aquaas who told me about writing contests! He told me there's two writing contests coming out for short story writing, about 1,000 to 2,500 words for each.
--- 1. The first contest from Bardsy is 1,500 to 2,500 words with a $20 entry fee. It's due by the 3rd of March which is tight! Seems they just want something for their Anthology and aren't picky about the theme or details. Also includes a publication experience apparently.
--- 2. The other contest from The Writing Coliseum, hosted quarterly, begins on April 13th with ~$40 entry fee. In this one, participants are given random prompts and have three days to send back a 1,000 story based on the prompts. All entries judge other writing works as well as the goal is to help writers and not just win. Finalists though get their works judged by editors and publishers though! If submitted before March 13th, it'll be 10% off the entrance fee. Seems like this group also hosts contests all the time, so might have to get involved more often!

--- Research publications both inside and outside of the furry community to write for:
--- 1. Use windows Notepad for keeping track of discoveries
--- 2. Reserve time in the week to explore on Google; Search up publications accepting submissions or search on Fa for communities that would want publications.
--- 3. Make notes on what exactly they're looking for. Themes? General ideas? Aspirations? Checking "About Us" pages will help.

--- FA Advertising:
--- 2. Look into advertising on Fa; What's needed, how much is it, what kind of ads should be made, etc.
--- 3. Do research on how others advertise. What do their ads look like?
--- 4. Design ads for Fa. Recommend using commission sheet to establish the style and theme.
--- 5. Get ads running!
--- Reason to wait: I want to have a great catalogue to show people I'm dependable and trustworthy first. So that means building up the gallery and getting used to a routine before jumping into R&D for advertising. I want to be worth the advertising time if you will; People deserve that at the minimum.

* Tasks for Next Week
--- Solidify schedule: Mon, Tue, and Wed is work time, Thursday is spare tire, Friday is Weekly Review, Weekend is publication.

* Additional Notes

Hello everyone! I know it's been silent here for a fortnight (the actual length of time not the game lol). That's my bad and I am thankful for you all staying around for me. I recovered from the throat cold but then a flu found me, and it hit a lot harder than the throat cold before it. I spent the time recovering from that and having smaller victories. In part, as you can see, a ton of warm up writing and work on commissions that is coming along well!

This week will have a focus on publishing all the backstock and keep February clear for incoming March commissions. You're more than welcome to commission me and contact me too before March kicks off! I'm just making sure all the commissions that I have outstanding right now are handled so I can enter March with a clean slate and happy conscience. Expect to see a lot of art and writing posted on the gallery this coming week. Here's hoping you all enjoy it too, and let me know what you think!

Longer term it's about getting myself back into the routine; Weekly reports on Fridays, checking out progress over the weekend, and preparing for the future. You may have noticed the contest talks as well. I'm honestly eager to look into that. Wanna see if there's something for me but not entirely sure. For now I hope everyone is doing well and please stay healthy too! Don't be me and get the throat cold and then a flu that knocks you out back to back haha. Keep safe, be healthy, wash those hands and watch where the fingers go, and as always I am happy to write for you. Hope you enjoy the parade of posts!

Balans Arkwright
Freelance Writer
Week: February 10-14, 2025

* Publishing this Weekend
--- Commissions
--- None (Don't worry I'll write more soon!)

--- Warmups
--- None (Don't worry I'll write more soon!)

--- Total published words: 0 (I can explain haha)

* Additional Completed Tasks
--- Backstage
--- None

* Ongoing Tasks
--- Writing
--- 1. Articus; 3,000 words | Keywords: male, female, Size diff, muscle, Macro, growth
--- 2. Marcus; 500 words | Keywords: Character backstory writing
--- 3. AJ in The Dawn of Duskbreaker; 2,000 words | Keywords: Blacksmith, Demon, King, Sword, Muscle, growth
--- 4. Tanmux in A Muse of Muscle; 3,000 words | Keywords: Wholesome, Romance, College, Slice of Life, Size diff, Feel Good

--- Editing
--- Currently Open! Show me your writing and we can make it shine!

--- Proofreading
--- Currently Open! Want a detailed, expansive, deep review of your writing? Let's talk!

--- Consultations
--- Currently Open! Book a time and let's build your story today!

--- Backstage
--- 1. Better Freelance Habits:
--- 1.1. Use Monday to commission hunt (only if needed!)
--- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are to complete commissions
--- 1.2. Schedule publications in advance with Posty Birb. Don't wait until day-of for publication.
--- 1.3. Do daily planning every morning; What's most important?

* Tasks for Upcoming Week
--- Complete all Ongoing Tasks!
--- Daily planner every day! Save time to complete.
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Use Posty Birb to set up publication beforehand for writing.
--- Solidify schedule: Mon is commission hunt if needed, then Tue, Wed, and Thur is Production (Writing, Editing, Thumbnail and Pub-Prep respectably), Friday is Weekly Review, Weekend is publication.

* Distant Tasks
--- Research:
--- Look into Kofi. Is it worth doing?
--- Themed ideas for May into August. Anything stick out to write?
--- Research publications both inside and outside of the furry community to write for:
--- 1. Use windows Notepad for keeping track of discoveries
--- 2. Reserve time in the week to explore on Google; Search up publications accepting submissions or search on Fa for communities that would want publications.
--- 3. Make notes on what exactly they're looking for. Themes? General ideas? Aspirations? Checking "About Us" pages will help.

--- FA Advertising:
--- 2. Look into advertising on Fa; What's needed, how much is it, what kind of ads should be made, etc.
--- 3. Do research on how others advertise. What do their ads look like?
--- 4. Design ads for Fa. Recommend using commission sheet to establish the style and theme.
--- 5. Get ads running!
--- Reason to wait: I want to have a great catalogue to show people I'm dependable and trustworthy first. So that means building up the gallery and getting used to a routine before jumping into R&D for advertising. I want to be worth the advertising time if you will; People deserve that at the minimum.

* Tasks for This Week
--- Complete commissions
--- Daily planner every day! Save time to complete.
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Use Posty Birb to set up publication beforehand for writing.
--- Solidify schedule: Mon, Tue, and Wed is work time, Thursday is spare tire, Friday is Weekly Review, Weekend is publication.

* Additional Notes

It was a tale of two weeks with a lesson realized in the middle. The first you all know from my "Update: Illness and Recovery" journal entry; I was suffering from a throat cold and came back this current week. This past week was me recovering in another way; It was my birthday this week and for my sister too. We're actually back to back, separated by four years and one day haha. So while suffering through the worst of times with that throat cold, friends and family wanted me to celebrate the best of times by taking time off. It worked out well too with the need to hunt for commissions on the side mixed with just needed the recharge time.

I spent that time well I think; Hosted a 12 hour long gaming session online with friends in a group discord voice chat, just playing Stardew Valley since someone gifted it to me over my steam. Outside of the public facing stuff, I also spent time to reconnect with myself. I wrote in my diary, got laundry done, cleaned my room a little bit. It was in that time too that I realized these weekly reports, honestly this whole system of accountability and planning ahead, had seriously helped me in more ways than I knew before. When I wanted to write this week, I couldn't jump in at all and it was a sputtering engine again just like the past few years. But now I realized like night and day the difference just having a guide like this makes.

More writing will come this week. With tons of hazardous driving conditions coming in, be it snow, sleet, rain that freezes over, and more, odds are I'll be cooped up and can use the extra time wiser than I did this week haha. You're all amazing and hoping you all have a great and safe time ahead!

Yes you read that right! If you're curious, Click or tap here!

You can also use the journal header to see the commission sheet, and the journal footer to find ways to contact me. I'm also open to all notes on the website, so send me one if you're interested!

This is my first time doing this, so if you have questions feel free to ask them in the comments below. In future commissions opening announcements I can include that in the journal to help future people out!

Here are the basics! Message me through a platform of choice (Here on FA, Telegram, Discord, Bluesky, or Twitter) and let me know what you'd love to see me write about or what topics you want to consult with me on. We'll work out a budget best for you from there, pencil you in, and you're all set! All payments are handled through PayPal.

I think that's all there is to it! I can't wait to work with you all. Now I'm gonna borrow my footer here for this one haha; I hope everyone has an amazing time ahead, let's keep at it, and remember! -->

Hello and it's good to see you again! I hope you're having a great weekend and a happy February to look ahead to. Are those new year's resolutions going well? No worries if not; You're allowed to have off days and to get back in the saddle again.

That's what I've had to do this past week. It's a silly thing; For sure I've not wanted this to happen again. But at least for two years in a row now, the last week of January is when I got sick. From this past Tuesday and still ongoing I’ve been recovering from a throat cold. I'm mostly recovered now. I feel that by this coming Monday, February 3rd, I should be back to writing again. There's a lot of you out there who watched, liked, and showed support to the writing that's started the year. I’m absolutely going to spend time to thank you all for that. Seriously, the attention has blown me away. I'm thankful to you all for that and I'm eager to show that thankfulness by getting more writing out there.

If you've had questions about anything feel free to send them here or in a private note. I'm happy to answer anything for you all if you've been interested in commissions, consultations, or just how I've been or simple ideas you wanted to share. I'll get back to you all on that asap.

Thank you again for everything! I'm eager to get back into my own saddle again and just to share what I can do. Stay safe out there everyone! I'll keep writing on this end for you all.

Balans Arkwright
Freelance Writer
Week: January 20-24, 2025

* Publishing this Weekend
--- Commissions
--- 1. A Swell Sale at 1,598 words - Published! Click here to see it!

--- Warmups - All Publishing on Saturday night at 9pm Est!
--- 1. Calico Role Call at 1,157 words
--- 2. Collect Coin and Carry On at 1,310 words
--- 3. A Scylla Dawn at 2,057* words (*technically 1,680 words as the rest was copy and paste lyrics for a song in the story)

--- Total published words: 6,122* (*5,745)

* Additional Completed Tasks
--- Backstage
--- 1. "Warm-up Writing" Thumbnail Art
--- 2. Posty Birb Template for publications

* Ongoing Tasks
--- Writing
--- 1. Articus; 3,000 words | Keywords: size difference, muscle growth, Macro growth
--- 2. Drekhan; 1,500 words | Keywords: masculine, muscular, Divine, origin, colony, fantasy
--- 3. Slot currently Open! Contact me and let's tell your story today!

--- Editing
--- Currently Open! Show me your writing and we can make it shine!

--- Proofreading
--- Currently Open! Want a detailed, expansive, deep review of your writing? Let's talk!

--- Consultations
--- Currently Open! Book a time and let's build your story today!

--- Backstage
--- 1. Better Freelance Habits:
--- 1.1. Use Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to complete commissions
--- 1.2. Schedule publications in advance with Posty Birb. Don't wait until day-of for publication.
--- 1.3. Do daily planning every morning; What's most important?

* Tasks for Upcoming Week
--- Complete all Ongoing Tasks!
--- Daily planner every day! Save time to complete.
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Use Posty Birb to set up publication beforehand for writing.
--- Solidify schedule: Mon, Tue, and Wed is work time, Thursday is spare tire, Friday is Weekly Review, Weekend is publication.

* Distant Tasks
--- Research:
--- Look into Kofi. Is it worth doing?
--- Themed ideas for May into August. Anything stick out to write?
--- Research publications both inside and outside of the furry community to write for:
--- 1. Use windows Notepad for keeping track of discoveries
--- 2. Reserve time in the week to explore on Google; Search up publications accepting submissions or search on Fa for communities that would want publications.
--- 3. Make notes on what exactly they're looking for. Themes? General ideas? Aspirations? Checking "About Us" pages will help.

--- FA Advertising:
--- 1. Begin this no earlier than Feb 1st
--- 2. Look into advertising on Fa; What's needed, how much is it, what kind of ads should be made, etc.
--- 3. Do research on how others advertise. What do their ads look like?
--- 4. Design ads for Fa. Recommend using commission sheet to establish the style and theme.
--- 5. Get ads running!
--- Reason to wait: I want to have a great catalogue to show people I'm dependable and trustworthy first. So that means building up the gallery and getting used to a routine before jumping into R&D for advertising. I want to be worth the advertising time if you will; People deserve that at the minimum.

* Tasks for This Week
--- Complete commissions
--- Daily planner every day! Save time to complete.
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Use Posty Birb to set up publication beforehand for writing.
--- Solidify schedule: Mon, Tue, and Wed is work time, Thursday is spare tire, Friday is Weekly Review, Weekend is publication.

* Additional Notes

Ever since I began to keep track of everything I do commission wise, I've felt comfort. In the past I always stressed out; I always felt like I wasn't doing enough. Time blindness is a thing, especially so for those like myself who show ADHD symptoms. By keeping track of what I've accomplished through daily Work Logs and weekly Reports, it's helped me anchor my mind on time. The amount of work I did has been great, but I know more must be done. But at least I don't feel like it's all work and nothing good is occurring. It's all in the books. The records don't lie. For example I didn't realize that I wrote roughly six thousand words in one week. This time one year ago I'd only have 2,200 words posted in a month. Thanks to good record keeping I can even confirm that too; I keep diaries of my life in the background and refer back to those as well.

I'm also grateful for more in life too. People are showing interest in the writing. More people have watched me and followed me, putting faith in me that I can produce. I smile more when I see my friends, for I too can bring something to the table. "I did this today," I can say. "I hope you all enjoy this new thing in the community." I realize that's my American showing; This idea that one's worth must be based on accomplishment and achievement compared to as import things like mental health, a sense of self, purpose, and where you want to go. I think it's just the record keeping reminds me to really look at what I have: The accomplishments have always been there, I just never noticed them or felt they weren't accomplishments before. The people who show support are worth just as much, I'm just not clouded by self doubts as much as I used to be. In essence life feels great because I'm keeping records that remind me that I'm doing my best, that people are putting their faith in me, and that this could honestly work.

I suppose the short and long of it is? Keep records. Double check your records. Be your own Santa and check your own Naughty and Nice lists if you will. You might be surprised at how Nice you really are. The Naughty still needs work of course! But just by having good records and record habits, you don't forget the Nice that you bring into the world too. Stay safe out there all and looking forward to future weeks!

Balans Arkwright
Freelance Writer
Week: January 20-24, 2025

Completed
* Commissions
--- Writing
--- 1. Luucus the Baladin, commissioned by Aquaas (click/tap tile to see story)!
--- 2. In Oriel's Care, gift writing for Zessique! (Posting this later tonight. Will update report with link by posting time)!
--- Total published words: 5,253

* Backstage
--- Freelance Order Templates
--- 1. Now when someone commissions me, I'll make a brief write up about the commission. This one page receipt for my records collects everything I need for the commission and references for writing into one place.

Ongoing Tasks
* Commissions
--- Writing
--- 1. Articus; 3,000 words | Keywords: size difference, muscle growth, Macro growth
--- 2. Drekhan; 1,500 words | Keywords: masculine, muscular, Divine, origin, colony, fantasy
--- 3. Marcus: 1,200 words | Keywords: Muscle growth, business, contract, horse, demon

* Better Freelance Habits
--- Post daily, short work logs to Twitter and Bluesky.
--- Use Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to complete commissions
--- Post completed work by weekend; Friday evening into Sunday evening best time?
--- Start each day with a short meeting; What's most important?

Distant Tasks
* Writing Warm-ups
--- 1. Remake the "Free Writing Week Story" thumbnail art into "Warm Up Writing" thumbnail art.
--- 2. Any warm up writing done in the week can get posted under this one bundle and thumbnail. Nothing too exciting! Just warm up writing bits that helped me get into writing for the week.
--- 3. Any creative material that inspired the warm up writing, such as art, music, other's writing, all of that can be linked back to the creators to give them credit.
--- 4. Let them know that you did warm-up writing based on their creation! They may want it taken down or not published so make sure to respect that.

* Research
--- Look into Kofi. Is it worth doing?
--- Research publications both inside and outside of the furry community to write for:
--- * Use windows Notepad for keeping track of discoveries
--- * Reserve time in the week to explore on Google; Search up publications accepting submissions or search on Fa for communities that would want publications.
--- * Make notes on what exactly they're looking for. Themes? General ideas? Aspirations? Checking "About Us" pages will help.
--- Themed ideas for May into August. Anything stick out to write?

Tasks for This Week
--- Complete current commissions for aforementioned
--- Move future Tome Colossi Weekly Reports (TCWR) to Friday
--- Each day start with short meeting. Save time to complete meeting.
--- Build on good habits in freelance work; Posting logs, keeping stakeholders informed.
--- Set up the Writing Warm-up system
--- Fulfill something on the research list, at least one thing
--- Bonus task: Write something outside of the norm (don't worry won't be wild or insane, just something different).

Additional Notes
* On moving TCWR's to Friday: I like the idea of readers seeing the reports and reading what's coming up for the weekend. Under Completed Tasks, it can say when they're being published so they even know when to tune in. As for me it opens up Monday mornings with a ready made action plan; Instead of questions in the morning ("What to write? What to research?") it's periods and exclamation points ("Let's write that. Let's spend time on this!").

* Saving this for a later weekly review: Why not find creative ways to tell people's memories if they want them commissioned as short stories? So instead of a diary entry or just a vague "Oh yeah I remember this" kind of preservation, they can enjoy the ride through memory lane with their own written material? "So the trip down memory lane is a lot more enjoyable than a cobblestone road of bullet points." --- A tag line even my brain blurted out while imagining this idea.

Balans Arkwright
Freelance Writer
Week: January 12-18, 2025

Completed Tasks
* Commissions
--- Consultations
--- 1. James Frost; 2h
--- 2. Joe Bro; 2h 45min and 26sec

* Backstage
--- Sales Ledger
--- 1. Updated to 2025
--- 2. Added 2025 commissions
--- 3. Created built-in Interest List for those curious about future commissions

Ongoing Tasks
* Commissions
--- Writing
--- 1. Articus; 3,000 words | Keywords: Size difference, muscle growth, macro growth
--- 2. Drekhan; 1,500 words | Keywords: Masculine, Muscular, Origin story, divinity

--- Editing
--- 1. Aquaas; 1,000 words | Keywords: Massive, Muscular, Paladin, Fantasy, Battlefield

* Research
--- Look into Kofi. Is it worth doing?
--- Themed ideas for May into August. Anything stick out to write?

* Better Freelance Habits
--- Post daily, short work logs to Twitter and Bluesky.
--- Use Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to complete commissions
--- Post completed work by weekend; Friday evening into Sunday evening best time?
--- Start each day with a short meeting; What's most important?

Tasks for This Week
--- Complete current commissions, both writing and editing, for aforementioned
--- Each day start with short meeting. Save time to complete meeting.
--- Build on good habits in freelance work; Posting logs, keeping stakeholders informed.
--- Bonus task: Write something outside of the norm (don't worry won't be wild or insane, just something different).

Additional Notes

Hey there everyone! This might all look a little odd, but I promise it's a good thing. I've been meaning to get better at communicating what I want to do, what's going to be published next, and what to expect from me. With commissions open I want to establish trust, work hard for that trust, and just keep people in the loop on what's coming up next. Turns out there's a thing in the business world called weekly reports so figured why not? Let's use that to begin on that process. That and if some better way comes to show it then sweet we can do that!

The goal of weekly reports is to hold myself accountable to you and show you I'm still working hard. If you're curious for example when your commission will be done, it's gonna get posted here. Honestly anything I'm commissioned for will be posted here so every stake holder is aware of what's coming up. I'm open to suggestions too on how to do this and I'm happy for feedback! This is partly a first step forward for this and feedback is genuinely helpful.

With that said let's make 2025 into one of the best years ever. Comment below if you like - anything is welcome from questions to just silliness haha! I hope to write for you as well and thank you for taking the time to read this.

Dear AD 2312,

I hope you can forgive me for leaving a cold call message. They’ll be entire generations beyond this that won’t need to read it; although they are welcome too. I estimate this will be a message 288 years in the making. It should be anywhere from eight to ten generations from now. I hope it’s received as warmly as the forge fires that this year keeps close by. For you are like me and there will not be another year like either of us until you come around friend.

With that, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Balans Arkwright. Now my human name will be kept safe from this public message. But as you can guess the premise of a 10’ 3“ (3.12m) tall, just as wide, ever bubbly and excitable kangaroo and dragon hybrid (what I call a Dergaroo) is quite hard to hide. I doubt I could hide the clamor of my hammer on the anvil, or the size of the forge that I work in here in AD 2024. With luck there’ll be offerings with this time capsule as well - creations of mine, trinkets, the like - which you’re all welcome to use. Each one will be chronicled and defined you have my word. I hope I leave a positive impact on you as you will on future people and as I will in my life.

I’m not sure if this will continue almost three hundred years into the future, but I’d like to think it does. During my time there’s a thing called Macro March - which is just a themed holiday a month long around all things giants. Imagine characters, but giant sized. Imagine weapons, but giant sized. Imagine dragons (if you recognize that song three hundred years into the future that is impressive, but anyway), but giant sized. The definition of giant can vary by the person who celebrates it. For some giant could just mean as big as a house, or maybe they’re able to grow out of a room. For others, giant could mean mountain sized, or even playing with a moon like they’re a cat with a ball of yarn. I personally celebrate it because I love every size. Giant to me has meant sizes larger than houses, cities, mountains, continental landmasses, and onwards and upwards. Sometimes we’re talking sizes beyond Earth, Jupiter, perhaps even the Sun. In rare instances we’re talking sizes even larger than the solar system, or a cluster of them, occasionally even whole galaxies. Larger and larger the sizes go, sizes that I’m pleased to say I have explored and seen before.

There was a time, years ago, when I wasn’t aware of any of this either. It was twelve years ago, 2012, that I first found it. On that year of the dragon, the last year of the dragon, I found a different dragon named DNAPalmhead (Pronounced De-Napalm-Head, not DNA-Palm-Head). There’s actually a website that describes him as, quoting the website: “His online persona (or fursona) was a scalie- a 444-foot tall, size-changing hybrid dragon, mixing the features of rabbits, wolves, lizards, and kangaroos into one.” As you can guess from his description, his art and his content is what got me interested in this world right from the start. As I write this letter, I still haven’t spoken to him. Never meet your heroes you know? But maybe one day I can get the courage to say hi, write him something, let him know how much he’s meant to me and the community at large.

I can afford to indulge into the sizes I’ve hit before. I’m 10’ 3“ as I write this. There was a time a few years ago where I was triple that height as standard; around 30 feet tall. Before that I was 50 feet tall, and that was the height I thought I would have enjoyed back then but I know better - I’ll explain at the end. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been to so many sizes that it’s hard to visualize, but I will try to visualize it for you in brief. Try to imagine how many atoms it takes to form the home you live in. How many particles does it take? Imagine each of those particles as a universe onto itself. Then imagine how huge a giant would look to you if it stood as big as Earth, yet each atom that makes up all on Earth was made up of universe clusters. That’s one of the sizes I have been to before, let alone not thee biggest but very close to it.

As you can guess, Macro March holds a special place in my heart even if I can’t always create for it. It’s the month that involves all the things I love, with the people I love, and showcases the creativity people have with just one topic. Imagine my surprise then when I did number crunching. It was the year of the dragon when I joined, and now it’s the year of the dragon again. It’s a leap year this year - that’s to say February has a 29th day. To complete that, Easter falls on the final day of Macro March; March 31st. So today, March 31st, 2024, is Easter, the final day of Macro March, the year of the dragon, and a leap year. A holiday about the resurrection of Christ, coinciding on the final day about growth and ever larger heights, framed by the power of dragons on the Chinese zodiac, and finally with a leap year’s extra day as a cherry on top. A combination of dates so meaningful to me that I had to do the math on when such a year will come again. That year won’t come again until you, AD 2312, occur. It’ll be 288 years before such events align again. Even there, with a total solar eclipse occurring on April 8th this year over the USA, there’ll be an annular solar eclipse on April 7th on your year, 2312. There’s even a total solar eclipse later in your year, on October 8th, 2312.

So why do I babble about all of this? Well, I wanted to speak to you in the future. I have no idea what will happen to my future, so I’ll just share the wisest knowledge I know. My community is always been obsessed with size, growth, and gains. I myself had jumped into this with my largest of sizes, but there’s a truth to all of this. It doesn’t matter. The size we pretend to be doesn’t really mean as much as the size of our impacts. This is why I keep a forge theme with my stories. It’s also why I love to write other people growing too, making them as huge of a deal as I see them as. Finally, there’s a much deeper growth that isn’t just bulging muscles or ever higher heights; it’s a growth of character, of personality, and just trying your best.

To the future then I transport my entire impact to you. I’ll work hard to forge the items that make giants out of good hearted people. The tools I forge, be they blade or wheelbarrow, anchor or arrow, and more, I’ll ensure they do their best to help you too. Each one will have the Iromtawa Stamp proudly shine on their make, with runes to channel magics, and well wishes to those who use them to channel greatness into the world. For the truth is the size we are doesn’t matter save for our own personal desires. Size is subjective after all. What does matter is the size of the impact we make in the lives of others. To be huge in the minds of others is infinitely larger than any one mind can conceive. The footprints left by helping others at any size shall always dig deeper than any made by a giant any size larger but just in one person’s mind. I make the tools to turn anyone into a giant of their field, a titan of their industry if you will, or a colossus of the battlefield. But at the end of the day, of every day between here and beyond, it’s up to you.

So with these well wishes and these capsuled gifts, go make 2312 as incredible as 2024 has been for me. I hope their power ups, buffs, and abilities help you make the best of the future for your future generations. Take what is here and study it, learn from it, and envision a brighter future too. For at the end of the day, it’s not the biggest size that matters. What matters - that real biggest size - is this: Become the biggest impact you can be; Be that impact in other people’s lives, in your communities, and from vast cities to villages compact. Take those first steps and forge your future as I hope to forge mine.

Strike while the iron is hot. Strike while this message fires you up instead of being a cold call. I’m rooting for you AD 2312. Make this gigantic, dergaroo forge titan proud; I know you got what it takes to be even larger than I ever could be.

Signed,

AD 2024 - Balans Arkwright, Blacksmith Master and Owner of the Iromtawa Foundry & Forge

P.S. - I also love to write and can share one final piece of advice. You don’t need to be as strong as me or giants to make universes as you wish. You just need a writing utensil, a thing to write into or onto, and just to begin. Daydream, wander, amuse yourself, and always record it. Begin stringing together things you have found in the past; allow your brain to mash them like atoms together into new compounds. Before long you’ll be making your own universes, stories, and entertainment for centuries to come. That’s how I began. That’s how I encourage you all to begin. Wander and learn, cherish and love, make sure to laugh at either yourself in a healthy manner or something amusing but not mean, and always ensure you live every day to the fullest. I’ll be adding keepsakes and artifacts to this time capsule until my last breath, but from there the story goes to you. Become the biggest impact that you can be. You got this. You only need to grow into it one step at a time.

Hello,

I hope you've been well. It's been a week since the loss of my cat Nikki and I admit a month since I really wrote anything. First thank you for comforting me through this tough time. I've had an outpouring of support from Telegram, Twitter, and here on FA too. Some replies I didn't even expect to see and they were there, which only helped me to smile that bit more in a week of silence and reflection. If you didn't take the time to check on me, know that it's ok. I know you're busy, life happens or rather it must go on, and it's ok to check in now and then. I appreciate you all the same. If anything, what you're doing now is what I need to begin doing again.

I'm lucky at this point in my freelance writing journey. It's gotten the attention of other professional freelance writers. I leave a special shout out to Helix for this; thank you for taking the time and energy to look over my odd writing. In addition you've provided me resources to become a better writer, connections to other writers I can talk to, and just took the time to check in on me. It may be happening more often I admit; I imagine Uncle Helixstvan will be a regular of mine. But that's just the learning process I will have to make. At least there's some biscuits and drink in the fridge for guests, be it you or Helixstvan. I am already relearning how to write - I won't become a poor host in the process haha!

There are important lessons in past and present tense writing that I need to nail down. To do that I needed other lessons on the self. You're probably wondering why my last Free Writing Week post was over a month ago now. Where's the other writing gone? Well, it just went up and gone. I became afraid of writing knowing that I wasn't getting this past/present tense fixed. I could see it in my writing more and it discouraged me for a time. There was a time I fell back into my old habits of procrastination via perfectionism and lack of drive. Though there was always something going for me; an unnatural canny luck for stumbling into the right things that I need. Thanks to a friend of mine, Zessique (Yatasal), I got some of those lessons again. You can read them if you want. Especially you out there - the one I hope will find this journal post when he needs it most again. Even if you scroll past all this to speed read, remember these things:

- You don't think like others. They don't think like you. They are goal driven; the act of completing a task makes them happy. You are curiosity driven; the act of discovery makes you happy. You're not broken for thinking this way, you just need to think your way instead of how the world thinks. Not to say revolution - no put that pitchfork down! It's to say you need to ask different questions and give yourself different goals when completing the boring tasks and having self-doubt. Zessique taught you about sand castles. Remember that knowledge! But now I'm going to add to that.

- If it's your first time doing something, ask yourself: What would it feel like to accomplish this task?

- If you're doing this again or returning to it, ask yourself: Do you remember how good it felt to do this?

- If you feel a foggy mind - unsure of where to go or what to do, ask yourself: Where did I want to end before I began? Does this get me to that goal?

- Most importantly, should you fear about not being ready, remind yourself: It's ok to fail. You have permission to fail. Absolve yourself of guilt in failing if it was to do better next time.

That last one will hit the hardest. You can see it in my writing that I hold myself to high standards. Even my rough drafts must feel like final drafts. You're going to fail that's ok. It's what you do about it that matters. In this case get back up, dust yourself off, try again! At this moment that's exactly what I decided to do.

As soon as I post this journal entry, I'm going to go right back to writing. Write whatever comes to mind. Just begin. You're absolved of your past mistakes, you're forgiven, and you will be again and again so long as you're trying to get to that mountain peak you want to get to.

Now that I've talked to that person, I turn back to you the reader. Thank you for supporting me, for giving me a watch, a comment, a favorite, a follow. I am baffled that I am still getting more of those even with the month of silence I've put myself through. It's that final bullet point that I can add to this journal promising healing, moving forwards, and absolution from guilt:

- Stop holding yourself to higher standards than you hold for your friends. This doesn't mean don't hold yourself to a high standard, just not higher than your friends. If you wouldn't say it to a friend, don't say it to yourself.

I promise to write and earn the watchers, followers, likes, and more that you've all given me. Be it that you've been here for years or just joining me now, thank you. My cat Nikki never liked staying in one spot for long. I'm getting tired of the same mentally. It's about time I honored her and her 15 years right by getting a move on now. Even if it's a blunder, just moving counts. Let's get to writing once again.

Signed,
Balans

Hello everyone,

This will be short. In the background of my life, I've cared for a cat. Her name was Nikki and she's been with my family since she was two weeks old. I've had more than a decade of fun with her, good memories, great laughter, cuddles, and comfort during hard times. She's made it well past 15 years old, and she's lived a full life.

Her life passed peacefully last night. I will need time to process this loss so if I am silent forgive me. You are welcome to message me if you wish, but if I'm late to reply I wanted to let you all know. She was loved. I didn't know it yesterday but I spent that whole day beside her. I helped her sleep in the sun one last time and she purred for hours for me. We watched YouTube together, I told her I'll always love her, and helped her move as much as she wanted. She had a fairy tale ending and it helps the healing process.

I love you all. I always will. I won't give up writing anytime soon. Moments like this need time in silence to process the news and I'm thankful to you all for this. Perhaps I'll write but mainly for myself as I grieve the loss.

I am always there for you all too. There will be good news soon, but for now I rest and take stock of it all. I'll write when it's right.

Balans

Good morning everyone!

I hope everyone's had a great Mother's Day celebration and another good week ahead of them. I know I am feeling better too after it. That and after getting at least seven hours of sleep again. 😅

To keep it short and sweet, I met someone. I joined a friend's server and I've been in voice chats with them three days in a row now. Each day I was up until 2am, and only got four hours of sleep. I still say it's worth it. Even if I needed to rest yesterday due to a harsh headache caused by my poor choices I still say it's worth it. They're honestly really special I think. 💛

Now with good rest in me, it's time to get back to it. I have my day job right now, but later today I intend to get back into it. I know that either today or tomorrow I'll get to Drekhan's commission (I haven't forgotten buddy I promise 💛) and for now it's just getting back into the writing groove.

I admit too that I'll be more observant of my time. From 4pm to 8pm EST I'll be locking myself away to write. You're all amazing but if I spend all day every day socializing then I won't get anything done. It's just that I love you all, and I wanna keep in touch with you all. I'm just a poor judge of time, organization, and management in general. We'll get there I promise. 😅

So to that note I'll drive for my day job of packing out shelves. When I come back and before 4pm I'll see if I can reply to any messages. After 8pm I'll do the same, but by then have something written for you all.

Love you all so much; I'm glad that if I have any problem in my life, it's because I spend so much time with you all and seeing you all succeed at what you do. I'll do the same too, and make you all proud. See you again soon!

Hello all, been a while huh? 😅

I'm thankful to you all for your patience with me. The past two weeks have picked up in work, in more ways than one. It's a challenge to summarize it in brief, but I will do my best. In these past two weeks, my day job has picked up, and I got a commission to write a story from a close friend of mine; Drekhan. I've struggled on that story however. I didn't know how to portray his character and what he wanted. Some days went buy with no work, and so I decided to swap to worldbuilding to calm the nerves. I have been writing for about a month more or less so maybe it was a burn out setting in.

In that time I've made a new species. They're like kobolds for Balans in his forge, though not the kind of kobolds you'd expect from mainstream media. I have a written description of them here that you might enjoy:

The Kobonshee are small, slim spirits shaped like foxes standing on their toes. They walk like humans with digitigrade legs, with a fennec fox body and lion-like tail as long as their height. They have a pair of thick antennae on top of their heads shaped like small machetes, coming to a broad, angled tip at the end like a chisel. Underneath them are fennec ears the size of their head, which shift to show emotions. Their antennae and enormous eyes match the color of the metal they’re born from, like iron, copper, or gold. Finally, a small gemstone sits just below the collarbone like a necklace.

I've also worldbuilt a tiny bit. Not much to say of these new realms for now. They're like silhouettes of distant islands. I may have to write more about them, but when feeling ok for it. In that time I did more research on writing Drekhan's commission, and feel ready to come back to writing.

But! You all have waited for me! I don't want that to go to waste. Another artist I am honored to meet, Ronan, completed a commission of me that I think the majority here would enjoy. The link to that is below here. It's the first ever muscle growth sequence that I've commissioned in art form. There will be a final page to it! The artist is taking his time as he has earned it and has other commissions in the works.

So. Yeah! That it is it for now. You can expect another Free Writing Week post either this weekend or the next and I'm happy to attempt this writing show once again. Thank you all so much for sticking around for me. Here's to many more awesome forge creations to come!

Check it out here! 💛

Good morning everyone!

I hope you're all doing well with this weekend so far. I know I've been meaning to post a new Free Writing Week update yesterday. Forgive me for the delay; for I think you all can know why. For my own part it's been a busy one; Spring cleaning is here.

Two days ago I mowed the yard for two hours. My nose is a sniffling stuffy mess from it - allergies - and then the next day I had to do more too. Yesterday I spent six hours cleaning up my room. Most of it is old clothing that can't be worn anymore just left around because I was lazy. It came to a huge box of cardboard, five bags of trash bag sizes junk, three more plastic shopping bad sized junk bags, and three old pillows well past their prime.

Yet there wasn't a single ant, which is what started that whole cleaning and vacuuming operation. In my bedroom there is a beautiful older cat named Nikki. Since a stroke seven months ago, she's been unable to walk on her own. At 15 years old, nearing 16, we don't imagine she will ever be able to walk again. Yet she's still purring, eating food, drinking water, and is alert to her surroundings, so she's happy! The problem is, the ants also figured out that I kept dry cat food in my bedroom. I killed 11 of them yesterday night and went on a hunt for more. Thankfully none more showed up, so we suspect they weren't coming from our room.

All of this to say, in addition to the regular work schedule, that I've been busy. Not to worry though! Free Writing Week Vol 1 Iss5 will be coming out. I'll be posting that today instead around 8pm EST. It's got some stuff in there that I don't normally write about, so you all can judge me and see how well I did!

For now just wanted to let you all know the delay. I love you all, and wish you the best! Here's to another great week ahead! :D

Good evening all! I know there's been silence for a week, and I apologize for that. All is well here, no serious news to break, just filling in details.

Last week was a slow week for writing. I am ashamed to admit I only wrote for 1 of the 4 days the previous week. I tried a last ditch effort to write more, but my timing didn't align with my day job. Retail, a holiday (Easter) day weekend, and soaring sales numbers meant longer shifts that ate away at energy and time. I know I can do better and this isn't an excuse to not having the content ready on time. Rather to say I know you all deserve better and I decided to hold off on posting a Free Writing Week collection for this coming Saturday to jump right back into it. I'll include the one story written with it, but won't count it to the writing total to be fair to this week.

That's not to say last week was entirely unproductive! I have spent the time getting some worldbuilding in order. For the longest time my other OCs, some on my FA and others unannounced, haven't really gotten a spotlight. Ninki the goddess got a story for a contest submission, and Orøkia got an artwork commission. But for the vast majority of them all, not much has been done. I hope to change that and make the adopts and ideas feel like they have a home with me. To that end I've been doing some worldbuilding with them all. Nothing too serious, but setting the stage for stories to come. I'm excited to announce them, specially for Hakluyt; poor captain's not had a story or commission for a year since I brought him aboard. About time I did something about that! So keep an eye open for that.

Finally, commissions! I have one slot taken by this point; a 2,000 word story I will eagerly write for you all, focusing on some of my more favorite things. Keep an eye out for that! As for next week there isn't a commission claimed for that spot yet. Now my rule is I'll only take one commission at a time, as if there's any delays I only wish to keep up to one person waiting at a time. I also don't touch paid commission money until the commission is complete so if a refund is needed I can provide. That said! If I get this commission done this week and you have a commission you'd like me to do, let me know. Next week's spot is open and having an idea in mind so I can hit the ground running is always welcome.

That should be the most of it for this post. Lateness in writing, ideas for more OCs, and commissions to come. I love you all and I hope to continue doing good by you all. You make writing worth it and I'm eager to please. If you have questions, comments, or just wanna hang out sometime let me know! Until then I'll keep on working. Stay safe out there and see you next time!

P.S. - Want more updates in quicker time? Check out my Telegram channel here!

Hello everyone! Tiny update!

With a thunderstorm around my home, the power has been flickering on and off. It's not like entirely off, we still have power! I just don't want to work in this storm with high winds and power fluctuations that could damage my laptop. So the Free Writing Week collection for this week and a completed commission shall wait one day. Just one day I promise 😃

Do you want updates by the day instead of by the month? I have a telegram channel where I post writing updates! You can see updates, commission, and more by joining up. You can join here:

https://t.me/BalansTomeColossi

I hope everyone's staying safe out there! Love you all!

Hello everyone! Man five weeks go by in a hurry huh? I hope everyone's doing ok out there! Random reminder too for some water, some food, and sleep if you need it. The journal won't go anywhere I promise.

So yeah hello there everyone! I hope you got to see the newest post I've made to my gallery, Free Writing Week (Vol1 Iss1). I want to show people and myself that I'm writing. That there's a lot more to my writing than just trying to make one big story. Or just to reassure people that I am writing and doing my best. So I figured just to share what I have once a week, and let it be an open book for everyone. Free Writing Week is just that - random scraps of story, content, or just my ramblings for the week. I'll aim to get four days worth of writing done, with each day having around 1,500 words of writing at least. It could be more though!

Outside of that, expect to see commissions soon! I'm almost done one commission, and have another one lined up. If you want quick updates to when commissions open or when stories are posted, you can follow my Telegram channel. I'll still post here too, just the difference is a daily notice on my Telegram or a monthly-ish update here on FA's journal system. I hope you all enjoy the commissions, and I am eager to get back into writing for you all.

Take care out there friends! I'm rooting for all of you. For now, enjoy the reading and I'll see you again soon(ish)!

Hello all! It's been a little while. I hope everyone's doing well! A lot has progressed in the two months since I've begun making freelance writing into a career idea. It felt right to give updates on that.

To start, I have a telegram channel! The Time Colossi is my channel to show new stories, new art, and life updates that come fast and loose. It's allowed me to use this journal for larger updates, while smaller, consistent updates can go on telegram. Come join! Share the link! I'd love to share this journey with you:

https://t.me/BalansTomeColossi

Even now there's stories there, links to artworks, and more to come. You don't have to join if you don't want to! I only hope you don't miss out on this journey with me, and I'll do my best to keep you all informed here as I grow into this too.

Now for the larger update; constructing a freelance career. I've worked out when I can work on this job, and it's got an interesting schedule. I want to put ~20 hours per week into this job, with ~5 hours of work per week on Monday, then Tuesday, then Thursday, finally Friday. The weekend, Saturday and Sunday, are my busiest days to work for my day job. With the holidays coming, retail won't get any easier. So after working the day job on those days I'll rest, do house chores, and prep for the next week. Wednesday is just a nice day to rest in the middle of the week; easy work for the day job and lets me do errands around town. With this dedicated time I can post about stories, update my FA, and catch up on any messages I've received but need to reply to.

The best part about a defined schedule though is I can bring consistency to my work. I promised I'd post more 1h writing commissions in the past. While I have done so - I've written more this year than any other - it's still not enough. I feel immense guilt when I take a $25 commission that's advertised as being done in one hour, only for it to take weeks to finish. The first took me two months. The second took me a month. This third one has surpassed three weeks. That's not good enough. I want to post at least two stories per week onto FA. Their length can vary as can their topics, but so long as there is consistency for commissioners and myself I'll be thrilled.

This brings me to the commissions themselves. They're going to change. After doing the sample commissions and completing actual commissions, I've learned the details of what I offer as a service. Currently, it's priced $25 per commission, which I write for 1h, then post as is. Behind the scenes I have worked out every minute like this: 10 minutes to brainstorm ideas, 40 minutes to write, 10 minutes to edit. From there I post to social medias and done! But I see issues; I promise to write for an hour, not 40 min. Why would I need time to brainstorm a story in that moment when the commissioner has already told me what they want? Why too am I putting editing time into the charged price, let alone the time it takes to make the story cover for FA?

I feel those who commission me deserve better, so I'm tweaking my commissions going forward for this. First there will be a slight price increase, from $25 per 1h commission to $30 per 1h commission. For each commission I'll brainstorm with the client first, then set to work rather than doing that on writing time. Instead of 40 minutes to rough draft, I'll do a whole hour. Instead of just 10 minutes to edit, I'll do 20 minutes. So instead of 50 minutes of writing time for $25, it's now 80 minutes of writing time for $30. Finally, commissioners will see the rough draft before editing begins so they can give feedback in the process. Before I'd just post and run, but in this case the feedback I think is far more worth it. If I don't get feedback after a set time I'll edit then post to FA. Finally, the brainstorming time with the client and the media time I spend to post and share news of stories won't be covered by the price tag anymore. I'll do those on my own time instead, so the commissioner gets that solid block of time and exactly what they paid for.

It's been an incredible time writing for you all so far. There's been days, weeks even, where I've felt terrible about this. Worrying if I can't do this eats at me. Guilt for lengthy production times burns my confidence. Doubt that this can work always lingers like cold winds biting my cheeks. But I remain steadfast and motivated through this, and I'm honored to write for you all. I'm looking forward to writing new stories, expressing new ideas, and growing as a writer. If you've read this far in the journal, thank you. I'll continue to do my best. I want this to work, I want to write for you and myself. With 4 months of the 6 I've allowed myself to try this freelance world out to come, I'm eager to see what they hold.

If you haven't checked out the telegram channel, please do so now! Link is at the end of this for convenience - like I'd make you scroll all the way to the top haha. I love you guys. Stay safe, warm, and happy out there! Enjoy the spooky month, feast on the turkey, and survive the Mariah Carry onslaught in snow lol! I'll update as I go!

- Balans

https://t.me/BalansTomeColossi

Good morning everyone! It's a lovely, bright Saturday morning here for the golden dergaroo. 8:35am as I write this, before I head off for my day job. I wanted to state publicly that I have an ambition.

Last night family events occurred. It's a mixed bag of good news and terrible potential outcomes. I realize for me it's time to treat writing as a job. Not just a "if I feel good" thing, or a "it'll be better tomorrow" sweetened statement. My current job cannot sustain my future - it is a high school, part time, grunt work job. It is a lovely job I won't deny that! But soon I'll need something better to support myself and my family.

I am giving myself six months. From this post on and for the next six months, I am going to turn writing into my job. By the end, I want to be a freelance writer making part-time income at least. I choose to make my passion into a career, and to do this in six months, because if I don't I may never get the chance at all.

There are no classes for this. I'll have to learn as I go. But I am eager, I will be ready, and I will do it. This is my open letter promise to you all. I love you all. I will be proud to write for you all.

Let's do this. 💛

- Balans

P.S. - I have made a public telegram channel to share new stories and updates on my life! If you'd like to join me on this journey, you may follow me with this link:

https://t.me/BalansTomeColossi

Good evening all! Wanted to share a quick post before bed.

I've been working in the background to get ready for commissions. Just today I finally made another checking account for my PayPal. I even came up with a penname for myself; Collosaro. It's small steps, but they are meaningful steps! At the least it helps to quiet my ADHD mind a little bit; some stuff off the to-do list even on a day off helps the mind.

I wanted to wait and get this bank account set up first before doing commissions, just out an extra precaution. I didn't want people to hack into my PayPal one day and make off with the dragons hoard of money. Instead, this is like a financial bulwark in a ship; where even if I take on water from a collision - someone hacks in and gets money - it won't sink me and take it all away. Just some of it not all of it. If I make money from commissions, it can sit in PayPal like money left on the front porch. When I'm ready to transfer it, I can take it off the front porch into a more secure savings account not accessible by PayPal or other sources. The vault if you will. So if someone hacks into PayPal and gets my info; they can steal the credit card and anything left on the front porch. But everything in the vault would be safe. That and it's a credit card, so I'd only be liable for some hundreds of dollars or so instead of thousands. So that's why I've waited a bit on commissions this week. This coming week I should be able to get some commissions written at last.

As for the pen name? Collosaro? Well on one hand it's a mash of Italian words meaning "I'll be giant". Fitting I thought for someone who loves to write about massive things like giants and custom worlds. But on a deeper level, if I want to write beyond the furry community I can use that name. Not to say I'll leave! You kidding me? Could never leave you guys! It's the realization that those who like hyper muscles, macros, giants, and the like don't always like furry or vice versa. So having a wider net to write for will let me expand out. Course you know me; I'm not giving this community up haha! I'll proudly write for one here as one outside of here too any day. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll actually be giant. A distant dream sure, but maybe!

Anyway just wanted to give those quick updates! I appreciate everyone and their patience with me as I set myself up here. I'm eager to work with you all, and I hope you all have a great weekend to come! Can't wait to see what I can do for you all!

Merry greetings to you all! I hope the weekend is going well so far!

I admit I tried twice to use an audio recorder while working my day job to write this journal. While the transcript feature was pretty good, I ended up rambling like 30 minutes when a punctual journal would have sufficed. I could try it one day! Just need to stop myself from rambling so much haha!

So why a journal entry today? It's about commissions and lessons learned from them. I'll start by thanking so many of you. I didn't think my commission idea would catch on like it did; but now I have commissions from 3 of you out there, and even more lined up. Gift stories are also in the works! I can't thank you enough for entrusting me to write what you would love to see, and I am eager to get to those stories.

I could have gotten to them far sooner I admit. I wasn't careful with my ADHD self, and allowed distractions into my life. Some were important of course; family affairs, chores, doing paper work for work. But others just wasted time when I could have been writing those stories. Future advice; don't have telegram, discord, YouTube, and a friend's Picarto steam up all at once when you want to write. Multitasking is a myth!

You all deserve better. I want to ask more of myself. I want to do this as a potentially part-time or even a full-time job. So this week I'm going to treat it that way! I'm going to set aside time for writing; 1pm to 6pm EST every day that I can get it. My social media like telegram and discord can show the same in the profile bio too. A friend suggested I could even set aside a space like an at home office. I may try that, but for now just having the time will help.

I hope this week to have as much writing as I can get done. At least the commissions people have requested, and then I can try working on the gift art.

Thank you all for your patience, your understanding, and for supporting me too. I still say I don't deserve any of it, let alone the additional kindness you all show me. Be safe, stay cool during the summer, and I'll see you all next time!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone has a great existence so far, no matter your respective time zones!

I come back from the blacksmith workshop to test my writing. Granted I probably could have spent a lot less than 12 days on this, but life is life. I still did make four prototype commissions that I'd love for you to see and give feedback on. Their links are down below, and your comments will greatly help me in figuring out if this is the way to go. If not that's totally ok too; you can blast them for poor writing or say they can be better too that's entirely ok! I eagerly await your feedback - send it anyway you wish. The rest of this is just me talking about ambitions and financial stuff, you know the things we all collectively leave behind for this amazing furry world. But stuff I feel need mentioning since I wanna be honest with you all. So. Yeah! Links down below, existential void flavored by capitalism and innocent freelance writer dreams just below that.

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47898699/ - Growing from Ruins
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https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47898805/ - A Walk in the Park
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https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47898948/ - A Golden Picnic
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https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47899144/ - Balans's Ideal Afternoon

Right, now that the idea radiation warnings are there and we're all still here so I assume it's ok; Let's do some math! Ok no wait, don't click away I promise this matters!

I would love to write for this community. I've been on this website for 4 years now -- and the community as a whole for over 10 years now. I've always wanted to contribute more to it, but you know the usual challenges of finances and, of course, putting bread on a table so I don't speedrun any% life by mistake. So I have an idea! This is what I could offer as a commission for everyone;

$25. One, simple prompt of your choice. One hour. There ya go!

I understand that writers usually charge per word; $0.05 cents is the average starting rate for a beginning freelance writer in the larger industry for example. But from a customers side of the countertop it leaves a lot of questions. Can one accurately proclaim how many words it would take to write their idea? Can they budget for a story or idea where they don't know how many words it would have? Is it really worth it to pay for a writer you don't know $0.05 a word? (Which can add up to an average of $25 per Microsoft Word page one writes.) Is this writer truly the correct choice for the written idea I would like to see? Can they write the adventure, or horror, or romance, or comedy that I would like to see in my text?

All of the above, and doubtless more questions I haven't listed, are all valid! Allow me then to field test your idea, with a cheap price tag, and you can decide from there if I am worthy of your inspirations. With a simple prompt and $25, I'll write as much as I can with the given prompt. Then when either that hour is done or the day - never more than a 24 hour wait - I'll hand you what I create. From there you can judge if I am worthy of your time. I hope I am and that I treat you with the respect you deserve! But if not that's entirely ok too - my written tone and voice may not be what you want. But even there you only lose $25 to field test a writer you've never met. No need to slam hundreds of dollars down and clench your seat in anxiety over a commission.

Just $25 dollars, one prompt you want me to write, and one hour. Simple as that!

And if you like what I do and want more? I could talk prices in the future then! Admittedly I still need to prototype how longer commissions will go. But for the moment I like this! I can even show you what you can expect with the 4 stories posted above. Here's the math if you wish to see it;

( P )rototype ( C )ommission 1 - Growing from Ruins:
$25, 1h 7m 36sec, for 1,324 words. If charged $0.05 per word? $66.20

PC 2 - A Walk in the Park
$25, 58m, 20sec, for 1,084 words. If charged $0.05 per word? $54.20

PC 3 - A Golden Picnic
$25, within 1h, for 1,649 words. If charged $0.05 per word? $82.45

PC 4 - Balans's Ideal Afternoon
$25, within 1h, for 1,371 words. If charged $0.05 per word? $68.55

Per word commissions can get expensive fast. They're meant to be with tons of love, passion, and care for the client and writer. A story or series of stories with multiple chapters can go beyond hundreds of dollars easily. If someone did commission me for something of this caliber I would be honored beyond words. Thanks to this however, now anyone who is curious can field test me to see if I am the writer for them. Or heck, even if you have a silly idea and want me to entertain it for an hour that can be done too! It saves the commissioner a lot of thinking and I hope just as much anxiety over a large purchase.

What about the writer on the other end of the store's countertop though? Wouldn't be unfair to sell stories for so cheap comparatively to industry standards? Would that writer be given a respectable wage for their work? (Not to low that they starve, not too high that it's bleeding the commissioner dry?)

Well, to that I'll leave this journal off with a great website which number crunches for me. Assuming I can fill 40 commissions a week (so 1h commissions, 8 a day, 5 days a week like a normal job) and fill all 52 weeks in a year, then the world can expect this:

If by $25 a story an hour:
Per day: $200
Per week: $1,000
Per month: $4,333.33
Average annual salary: $52,000
Compared to average US median salary: 96.4%

If by $0.05 a word:
Per hour average of writing: 1,357 words / $67.85
Per day: $542.80
Per week: $2,714
Per month: $11,760.67
Average annual salary: $141,128
Compared to average US median salary: 261.7%

I show this to say - Don't worry about me. Now it's not likely I'll make $140k a year on this. At least from when I write this, I can't fathom myself reaching that coveted position. But also if it's just $25 an hour writing, it's likewise not going to break the bank either. Most likely I will end up somewhere in that whacky wide range of 52K or 141K a year. After all not everyone is going to commission 2,080, 1 hour stories in a year (the amount needed to make $52K a year). There will be days where no one buys. There will be days where someone walks in with a couple hundred dollars and a dream. And that's ok!

This is all just to say, at the end, that this is possible. I can write for a community I love. They can commission written material on a budget. It's entirely possible that, per chance one day, this could be an actual job. Just like artists and programmers who make this amazing community their full time jobs and get to make what everyone loves, I hope to do the same with writing. I imagine too that I can write all sorts of everything -- within reason of course. Writing non-furry material is just as valid as writing furry material. Just don't expect to go so far as to write something that probably should have stayed on E621. That I still need to figure out too haha!

But for now, thank you all for reading this to the end! Please let me know what you think! These are just prototypes and calculations based on the above after all. Things can change and your feedback helps me to better see what I can or should be doing. Thank you all for checking this out until the end, and as always I am eager to see you again soon! I hope you have a great day, week, and existence ahead!