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  • Writer's pictureLauren Etkins

Trajectories

Updated: Dec 18, 2021

I've never been very good at predicting anything. Whenever someone asks me to think about more than ten minutes into the future I get nervous. Why? Too many variables. I can imagine ALL of them.


But I couldn't imagine the last two years or so.


Everyone has their own feelings about the recent past and current state of things and I won't bore you with all the gory details of mine, however, I will focus on the positives. After a five year lull, I began to create again. If you'll indulge me, I'd love to tell you all about it.


It began innocently enough. A friend asked if I would like to help him develop an IP into an RPG game. A sci-fi. I agreed, perhaps instantly. Both science fiction and games were both firmly wedged into the category of 'Things I Love Possibly Too Much.' The conversations began simply: talk of genetic splices and cybernetics. But what would they look like? I had to know. That meant I would have to draw them.


Let's quickly flashback to my high school and college days as an art student. I thought it would be my career out of college. It didn't work out that way and that's okay. I did many other fun, rewarding things. But since I didn't pursue it, drawing and writing fell by the wayside. It had probably been ten or more years since I had drawn anything. The first sketches were... bad. But they were something. Drawing is like a muscle, you need to keep using it or else it will atrophy. The good news is, it's also like riding a bike: it's nearly impossible to forget how to completely. I had a project so comfortably in my wheel house there was no way I would let it slip out of my sweaty little hands.


Two years later we have a playable, beta version of an RPG, a complete novel with two more on its heels, and a pilot script for a TV series. And that's just for the sci-fi property. There's also a complete fantasy novel/series, and outlines for a eldritch horror novel/series.


Oh, and there's hundreds of sketches and illustrations to accompany these written projects. I don't remember the last time I was this prolific creatively. And the kicker is: I love these projects with all my heart! It's not work! I want to do it way more than my day job! And I'm working toward making that a reality.


So that's basically what this blog will be about. My personal journey with the creative process and probably some other life stuff sprinkled in here and there. I hope that certain topics will be helpful to those on a similar path because artists really do need to help each other.

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