At the start of the decade I was but a callow youth whose university education was already heading into an apathy-fuelled nosedive. I've had jobs, lost jobs, moved out, moved back in, made friends, lost friends, gained family, lost family, racked up debt, paid off debt, done a whole bunch of stuff. At the end of the decade I'm unemployed and living at home, but am a lot more confident now than I was in 2000. I'm going to view it as starting with a blank slate - I don't have huge amounts of money, but equally I don't have huge amounts of debt. Having faced horrible debt in the past I'm thankful for that, at least.

What I do have is a much better idea of what I want to do and how I want to get there, which is pretty awesome. I like that part.

In the more immediate past, 2009 has been a mixed year - suffice to say that it feels like I've prevailed despite the year's events, rather than because of them. There have been ups and downs, but I'm going to concentrate on the ups because that's what I prefer to remember. Most of it's comic-related, as that's kind of been The Exciting Stuff for the year.

Things I've done in 2009:

• Finished chapter 1 of Dark Places (16 pages).
• Got chapter 1 printed.
• Became officially self-employed, with a registered company and bank account and everything.
• Went to the UK Web & Mini Comix Thing as a volunteer, met some really nice people and got all enthused about comics.
• Signed up to attend the Thing in 2010 as an exhibitor.
• Connected with lots of really nice people on Twitter.
• Turned 30.
• Finished chapter 2 of Dark Places (24 pages).
• Created a t-shirt design which you can still find at my Zazzle store.
• Got paid for drawing stuff on several occasions.

Running out of brain now, but honestly I'm pretty pleased with what I've achieved this year - I've spent my time moving forward rather than just sitting on my butt playing videogames and have something to show for it, which is a definite win. With this under my belt I should probably venture further into the world of Getting Paid For Drawing Stuff, as I've been hesitant over making a serious commitment to the freelance illustration thing. I could do it, but it's scary. Actually, let's make a list:

Things to do in 2010:

• !!! Submit my online tax return thing well before January 31st so that HMRC doesn't destroy me utterly. !!!
• Exhibit at the UK Web & Mini Comix Thing with the fine people from Hard Graft and Red Moon Rising.
• Find part-time employment or turn freelance illustration into a viable source of income.
• Get Chapter 2 printed and available for sale.
• Draw more stuff.
• Rock the world's face.

So, all in all I'm feeling pretty optimistic about 2010. It's going to be better than 2009, or I'm going to punch it in the taint.

n_n

Here is an important milestone for The Dawn Chapel: a whole page without a single cute furry animal in it. Is this the beginning of an unsettling trend? Will I go on to alienate the scant few readers I’ve managed to attract in the first place? Is there any point in reading for the next six or seven pages of this story, knowing I’ve given away the ending in the very first panel? What could possibly happen next?

(I’ll tell you what’s going to happen next. After an eight page story without any words at all, you get eight pages of depressing monologue, you lucky kids.)

Originally published at The Dawn Chapel. You can comment here or there.

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