Hey Guys,
I’ve mentioned it on discord, but last week I got a stomach flu and struggled to write for 3-4 days. I’ve managed to get back on coarse, but I know I’m a bunch of chapters behind. I’ve only just started to get things back together. I rarely just say… welp, I guess I won’t do those chapters, and then drop them… This probably doesn’t do me any favors… because I try to write in order. To me, I’m catching up… to you, I’m missing every release because I’m busy writing last Wednesday’s chapter instead of current Friday.
I’m actually a bit curious on your thoughts on that. I’ll put a poll on discord. If I miss a day, would you rather I focus on the current day, or focus on the days I missed. My thoughts have always been that the stuff that has been delayed the longest to concentrate on first, and its only when it ends up a week late that I start to consider dropping it. I don’t know… I can see why someone would get upset that I miss EVERY release… but that’s usually not it. I miss 1-2 releases, and then the releases are staggered while I try to catch up. With a few seconds of thought, I think most people can realize that. This also sometimes means I focus on the smaller and easier ones to finish (STD, MDL, Apocalypse) while the longer chapters with the more complicated stories (Enslaved, LDP) get delayed the most.
Anyway, as always, I’ll do my best to catch up, and if I can’t, December 1-7th when I have off, I’ll do them.
My survey went out, and I’ve been getting some responses on late chapters. I think most people understand and are respectful, although there is a small subset that seem to want to hold me personally accountable on every release like they are a school teacher and I’m in their class. I think most of you understand that writing is a creative process, and for me to nonstop write 100,000+ words a month for 3+ years is something I uniquely do, and something you wouldn’t find from just about any other author.
Some want me to explain every time I don’t put out a chapter at 9 pm sharp. I’d point to the “I’m not a printer” argument again, but that’s mostly ignored by the people who actually act so indignantly. I think it all comes down to one thing… perception. The fact I release my chapters as soon as I finish them is not appreciated. Since I set a schedule that I try to adhere to, people have decided to set their expectations to that schedule… no matter how many times I explain early releases, grace periods, or simply not having a good idea for how to continue.
Since its an issue, the solution is to set my writing schedule apart from the schedule I give you. Basically, to create a release tier above premium with chapters you won’t be able to read. An act… essentially… since I won’t be writing chapters any faster, but I will be preventing you from seeing when I “slip up”. I will aim to use my week off to build such a tier… usually, I’ve struggled in the past to adhere to such a goal, as I eventually slip, but it seems to be my only choice.
Sadly… I feel once I’m on such a schedule… then your expectations will become that, and if I do actually have a problem and I do fall behind, rather than being satisfied I’ve done such a good job for months, I’ll be condemned instead. I’m also not sure how this will work… because the existence of sponsor chapters and premium chapters could throw a wrench into whatever release order I had in advance. I’ll just try to make do.
Anyway, any one who wants to discuss it more, the survey has one more week, and then I’ll be stopping it. We’ll do a livestream like before, and we’ll go through the survey and I’ll mention my interpretation of the results and how that will change my future direction. Thank you for your continued support.
Whatsawhizzer