lynn d. jung

Welcome to a new segment of this blog! In Monthly Updates, I chat about my works-in-progress, goals, and sources of inspiration for the month while also sharing writing advice and the like. (Never let it be said that I do not contribute to the collective.) Think a newsletter, but made by someone who does not know how to make newsletters and, at this point, is too afraid to ask.

This month, we’ll be talking about how I make concept art and visual guides for my projects, as well as some of my favourite things from the month of February and some goals as we go into spring.

how making concept art for books can help your creative process

I paint as a hobby, and something I like to do on the side is make concept art for my projects. Outside of being pure fun, drawing out my ideas is actually a great tool for developing worlds, characters, and so on and so forth. This is kind of a Niche Topic (TM) but I wanted to go into a bit of how I go about making concept art and why.

Basically, I designate a sketchbook to a project and fill it with visuals—character designs + outfits, landscapes, objects, and fake screencaps, for the most part. I keep it as loose as I can, and use lots of different references to try to get the feel of the story. Film/TV screencaps are a particular favorite, I just sort of repaint them with details that fit the project. It’s like advanced Pinterest. Pinterest for people who don’t value their own time.

That’s a lot of words to basically say the point is to fill up each page with ideas. Some might work, some might not. It’s drafting for visual thinkers.

Here’s some of the stuff I’ve done for my demon-summoning desert road trip book as an example! As you can see I’m working very loosely, and the lighting in my room is also spectacularly awful.

Working on pieces like this has helped me figure out tons of worldbuilding details for different projects, as well as characterization! Nothing quite helps you nail down a character’s personality like figuring out exactly how to draw them. Seriously—I can’t recommend this exercise enough. I know most artistically-inclined writers draw their characters pretty much constantly, but I think it would be cool if people who aren’t as drawn to art tried it, too!

march goals

Last month I met 2 out of my 3 goals, and also met a quieter personal goal, which was to read at least 3 books this month. The one goal I wasn’t able to meet was hitting 70k words in my current draft of ATTCTD. I hit 40k, so close but no dice. This month, I plan to…

1. Finish up this draft of ATTCTD. No more excuses! I have an entire week long break this month from both work and school, and while I’ll be traveling for some of that time, I have absolutely nothing else to do other than sit my ass down and write.
2. Read more classics. I didn’t read a single assigned book throughout al four years of high school, so I have to pay my dues. On my list are Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Anna Karenina. Wish me luck.
3. Spend less time on social media. Every time I open Twitter, I lose a bit more faith in the world. I’ve managed to slowly cut out all of my other social media vices—I’m five months clean off substances and Instagram/Snapchat—but Twitter has been a hard one to kick. I still kind of need to keep up a presence, but I’m going to try to only check it twice a day and only tweet when I need to, or have a particularly funny joke.

february media

this month, i read

UPROOTED by Naomi Novik
⭑⭑⭑½
Honestly, I was expecting to like this a lot more than I did. I think the slower pacing and the writing style just don’t suit my personal tastes, which is fine! I did truly enjoy the worldbuilding—it’s very immersive, and the Wood in particular breathed off the page.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon
⭑⭑⭑
I appreciate this book for being well-paced and a quick read, but the rep seemed questionable? (Although I’m by no means an expert.) Apparently, the author did little to no research on the topic before writing the book, and although it was published in 2003, the fact that it’s still such a prominent example of autism rep in fiction to this day is pretty whack. This review covers the topic well.

this month, i watched

Birds of Prey dir. by Cathy Yan
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
I mean, come on. This movie is so viscerally fun that I’m pretty sure you’d have to be a monster to not enjoy it at least a little. I smiled the whole time, especially during the fight scenes, and I’ll say it again—positive spotted hyena rep is something I’m always on board for. (They’re my favorite animal.)

Every Toy Story dir. by John Lasseter/Lee Unkrich/Josh Cooley
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
I’d actually never seen most of these before. I had the first one on DVD as a kid and thought it was fine/scary, and honestly wasn’t expecting much as an adult. I was wrong. I bawled at 3. Also, these movies all have spectacular worldbuilding, and each subsequent installment’s innovative take on the whole ‘toys are sentient’ thing never failed to surprise me.

Snowpiercer dir. by Bong Joon-ho
⭑⭑⭑⭑
I hate this movie? But it’s also really good? It’s bleak and unforgiving and left me feeling like somebody had scooped out my guts with a melon baller, but it’s also chilling in the best possible way. It’s a masterclass on tension, and I love Mr. Bong “learn to read, dummies” Joon-ho.

Parasite dir. by Bong Joon-ho
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
Literally every shot in this movie has clear intent behind it—not a single second was wasted. Again with the pitch-perfect pacing and tension. The midpoint twist made me LEAP out of my seat and scream in despair. I’ve never felt so stressed out in my life. Capitalism is a nightmare.

That’s all for this month! I’ll be back on here sometime in the next few weeks with another post about writing. Until then, adieu. (And wish me luck on finals, because I will definitely need it.)

xx

twitter: @sweater_giraffe