Some Changes Are Coming to This Site

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Almost a year has passed since I decided to take my author project more seriously. So far, my approach hasn’t worked. I’ve already written about how I’m now using Grok to guide me in a better direction — hopefully.

As part of that shift, I’ll be making a few changes to this website:

  • I’ll either switch the comment system to Disqus or disable comments entirely. The amount of spam has become overwhelming.
  • Monthly updates will move to X so I can test the new Articles feature.
  • The yearly update posts will continue to be published here on the site.
  • Daily blogging will continue as well, but it will focus exclusively on the Grok project.
  • Other articles (such as show reviews, etc.) will be paused for now — hardly anyone was reading them anyway.

Over the next few days, I’ll upload the last seven days of conversations with Grok in batches to catch up. After that, the blog will be fully synchronized with my X profile.

More focus. Fewer distractions. Let’s see where it leads.

See Everything as a Work in Progress

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I learn something new about writing almost every day. Two days ago, I edited a short story I had written nearly ten years ago. Compared to what I write today, my style back then was a mess. I had to polish almost every single sentence just to create a decent flow.

On my YouTube channel, I recently decided to start an Adobe Illustrator playlist titled “Learn Illustrator in 365 Days.” In it, I cover the fundamentals beginners need to know. More than seven years ago, I created a few similar videos. At the time, my English was weak, my pronunciation poor, the audio quality subpar, and my delivery below average. Compared to the videos I can produce now, it almost feels as if someone else made them.

Whenever I discover a new author I like, I usually read through their entire bibliography. Even the big names follow the same pattern. Robert Heinlein is still one of my favorites, but some of his early works feel slow and uneven. Stephen King is similar. Yes, he had an immediate hit with Carrie, but many of his early stories aren’t my cup of tea. Even Lee Child’s early Reacher novels had their ups and downs.

Very few writers hit the mark right away and maintain a consistently high level.

Many start with strong ideas but only decent execution. Great authors learn from that. They develop their style, refine their craft, and generate even better ideas as their skills improve over time.

It seems that the main difference between those who succeed and those who fail is persistence — not giving up and learning from mistakes.

That’s why it makes sense to adopt a “work in progress” mindset for every project we take on.

Right now, I’m experimenting with AI comics again. My first attempt using ChatGPT is almost finished — I should be able to publish it by the end of February. It’s not great. I’d say I achieved maybe 15% of what I originally envisioned. But after this first attempt, I’ll start a second project with everything I learned from my mistakes. And that version will be significantly better.

It’s all a work in progress. And as long as progress leads to improvement, we’re on the right track.

Work on the Idea You’re Most Passionate About First

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When you work for yourself, the work never truly ends. There is always something else to do — or you can simply double down on what you’re already doing.

I’ve noticed the same pattern with writing stories.

My swipe file has grown to hundreds of story ideas, and whenever I start working on one, five more pop up. There simply isn’t enough time to turn every idea into a book — not even into short story collections.

In general, days only have 24 hours. Nobody can go beyond that.

Once I realized this, I decided to focus on the idea I feel most passionate about right now to work on. If I’m excited about it, chances are the free market might be too.

At the beginning of the year, I had ambitious plans: write 12 books, produce more YouTube videos, finish my short story project, blog daily, read a book a week, and review a movie every month.

It’s impossible.

I have a full-time job, family responsibilities, and I try to fit in workouts every day. For a while, it felt like my days would need 48 hours to get everything done. It became overwhelming.

So I decided to slow down.

My YouTube channel is a passion project I’ve been building for seven years. I’m not going to abandon it anytime soon — I still want to reach 100,000 subscribers one day.

Beyond that, I focus on writing the story I’m most excited about at the moment.

By the end of the year, I will not have 12 new novels finished. But I will have added some good stories to my body of work — and that’s already something to be proud of.

A Marketing Lesson from the UFC

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I’m watching the UFC as I write these lines. Before my health went downhill, I was a martial arts student myself. I would never compare myself to real fighters like those in the octagon, but I shared the same passion for the sport—a passion that hasn’t faded, even with declining health.

Yesterday, there was a major MMA event in Germany called FNC (Fighting National Championship). It was heavily promoted across sports networks and looked very professional. The rules are the same as in the UFC, and I’m fairly sure the fighters are on a comparable level.

Still, I didn’t stick around to watch the full FNC event, mainly because I didn’t recognize a single fighter by name.

Now, as I’m watching the UFC today, I realize that I don’t know many of the fighters either—aside from the headliner, Bautista vs. Oliveira.

So why am I watching the UFC but not FNC?

The answer is simple: the UFC brand has value in and of itself, while FNC doesn’t—at least not for me.

UFC events are something I automatically check out. They’re part of my regular sports entertainment routine. FNC, on the other hand, is something I had never really encountered before.

The product itself may be comparable in many ways. Yet here I am, indifferent to FNC while treating UFC events as a must-watch whenever I get the chance.

Dana White has simply succeeded in getting into my head—so much so that I consume his product even when I barely know the fighters involved.

Do Teenagers Still Think About College?

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I watched a few episodes of Smallville over the last couple of days. I remember watching it as a young adult when it first aired on TV about 25 years ago.

The stories and characters are very simple: there’s the good guy, Clark Kent; the monster of the week; and the always-ambivalent Lex Luthor, who wants to be good but is constantly pulled back to the dark side by the world, his family, and his inner demons.

It’s easy to turn you brain off and just relax with a show like this for 40 minutes.

Nowadays, TV shows are very different.

But it’s not just the change in character construction or story development that stood out to me. What struck me the most was how every young person in the show talks about college: They want to go to UCLA, Harvard, MIT, and so on.

It made me wonder: Do today’s 18-year-olds still think this much about going to college?

Social media has exposed countless bubbles in the Western world. Politics, finances, migration… during the pandemic, even healthcare was revealed as one. Colleges are surely another bubble ready to burst.

If I were 18 again, I wouldn’t go to college at all. I’d attend trade school and build an online business in my spare time. As soon as trade school was over, I’d set myself up to start my own electrician, carpenter, or mechanic business in the real world—while my online business generated additional side income.

Right now, that seems like a much better plan than aiming for UCLA to study computer science, going to law school in Princeton, or trying to become a doctor in Harvard.

AI is coming for many jobs that are primarily computer-based. Western governments are running out of money. And constant socio-political upheaval makes many career paths a risky bet. So why go into six-figure debt for a degree that may not make you more employable in the future?

That’s a question that comes to mind when I try to see things from the perspective of today’s youth. And it’s also a question I never asked myself 25 years ago, when I chose college over trade school. Because back then, college was the end all be all. My parents told me it’s all, high schools told me so, culture did it too, and even TV-shows like Smallville told me that college should be the main thing to think about for an 18-year-old.

Times have changed. TV shows have changed. Massively.

Thanks to social media, young people can see these changes much earlier than my generation ever could. I hope they use that advantage to their benefit and make the right decision.