Follow-Up Life Update

In my previous post, I shared my intention to enroll in a master's program, which would:

• allow me to immediately get a job in the field should I ever want or need to

• use the newfound sense of job security to fully embrace my creative passions and the support you've shown me

The good news is that I've been accepted, and next week will be the first one where game development is the top priority on my to-do list every morning.

I'm really looking forward to this change, even though I'm extremely grateful for the relatively stable freelancing career I've enjoyed for the past 10 years or so. Still, 10 years of doing more or less the same thing—and constantly dealing with tight, unpredictable deadlines with little time off—has kept me on the edge of burnout.

Looking back, I think MindWare started partly as my escape from the daily grind (it definitely was and still is my favorite form of work procrastination). Once it gained some traction and I started feeling obligated to regularly deliver new content, it became very difficult to juggle everything.

To give myself the creative time I need, I've already sent an email to the top 20% of my most draining and least profitable clients. I'll take some time to see how that works out and then continue sending the same email to more clients until I can consistently meet all my game development goals. The master's program itself should be easy, and I expect it to require a significant amount of time only for like two weeks per semester (hope I'm not wrong, haha).

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Speaking of game development, I spent a considerable amount of time last year learning how to make mobile-friendly custom SugarCube UIs. As a byproduct of that effort, I have several UI prototypes that I think someone interested in creating their own Twine/SugarCube game might find useful as a starting point or source of inspiration.

To celebrate today's news, I'll be sharing them gradually throughout this month in a series of supporter-only posts. The posts will initially be accessible only to top-tier supporters on a first-come, first-served basis, so if someone decides to use any of the UI prototypes (or parts of them), they can enjoy that nice feeling of exclusivity. I'll make them available to lower membership tiers (or even public) if nobody expresses interest after some time.

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As far as the next MindWare update goes, you can expect it on Monday. See you then and thank you for everything!