Shifting Focus

When I wrote Level I, I was working 40 hours a week with a mandatory 1 hour lunch break each day. I actually wrote the majority of the book during those mandatory lunches, using my nights and weekends to polish the content. About a year ago now, I started my new job. And, while I am soooo much happier with the new company and the work that I get to do, I work 55 hours a week with a 1 hour commute each way and a 15-30 minute lunch break. I'm not trying to impress anyone with my work ethic, or make anyone sorry for my plight. I'm just trying to set the framework for my decision-making.

It all comes down to time. What do I WANT to do and what do I actually have TIME to do. So, I've been working on writing out my goals and matching those up with the time I have available to accomplish these goals. Some of the goals that I examined had to do with my hobbies. Tak is, of course, among those hobbies. And, with the lessened free time that I have, I've realized that I need to make some adjustments.

I've only been making minor progress in the last 6 months on Level II. Part of this extreme slowdown is the limited quiet time that I have to write. But a large contributing factor is the difficulty of representing the more complicated parts of the game (larger boards/larger stacks/longer branches) in 2D format. So, I've decided to shift my focus regarding Tak, starting with my book projects.

I am no longer planning on publishing levels II and III. That's not to say that I won't be writing about Tak. My writing will just shift from my personal book projects to broader community projects, such as writing for the USTA Capstone Quarterly, my blog, or content for YouTube videos.

Instead of putting Level II in a box on the shelf, I would like to make what I have of this book available to those in the community who are interested. Specifically, those people who would like to present the ideas contained within to the community in a digestible format (YouTube videos and blogs). I feel that these mediums would reach more people, be more readily absorbed by today's (and tomorrow's) players, and more easily represent advanced gameplay.

So, I'm viewing this not as giving up on my books, but as transitioning them to a more collaborative and modernized format.

I'm hoping that my shift away from writing these books will free up time to participate in more human vs human games and help grow the community via the USTA. This way, I can more actively contribute to Tak instead of passively writing bits of books.

As far as my other Tak activities are concerned, I still plan on seeking out interesting board states to make puzzles from and will do my best to keep to my weekly schedule of posts to Reddit. I also still plan on participating in whichever tournaments that I am able to.

I hope all of you understand where I'm coming from. Please contact me if you're interested in using the content from Level II or if you have any questions/concerns/grievances.

u/rabbitboy84 on Reddit and Discord, bill.leighton1@gmail.com

Thanks!