Update on Things (as of 9/2023) · 11:16pm Sep 20th, 2023

Been meaning to do another one of these, so enough prevaricating about the bush!

First and foremost, the novel-length fic I've mentioned I've been working on the past couple of blog posts is nearing completion! At the time of writing this, I estimate I have a little more than a chapter and a half left to write still, altogether forming a twenty-ish chapter fanfic, the longest fic I've written in a good while. I don't want to nail down any specific dates as to when to expect it going live just yet, seeing I'm notoriously bad at missing deadlines I set for myself on things like this, but my current goal is to aim to have it ready to start posting before the end of the year.

Though admittedly, probably the only reason I haven't already finished writing it before now is because I kept getting side-tracked with writing other fics during it all--"For Crimes Not Committed," "Echoes of Harmony," "The Changeling at Fly Leaf's"...

That...actually leads me to another very important point I need to announce--once I do finish this novel-length fic and begin posting it...I'm planning to take an indefinite hiatus from fanfic writing so to focus on other projects.

A large part of this is because I have so many other non-fanfic projects I've been setting aside to focus more on "later" that I've...actually built up quite a backlog, and it's clear to me that something in the pattern needs to change. So since fanfics are clearly the biggest thing that are keeping me from those projects...then it sounds like it's time I set them aside for a bit so to get caught up on them again.

But there's also this growing sense of...needing to move on to other things anyway? Maybe? I'm not totally sure how to put it. I've always known I couldn't write fanfics forever, not if I wanted to accomplish all of these other things I've envisioned doing, and this isn't the first time I've thought about committing to it. It's never stuck in the past, but this time feels different...like I'm more mentally ready to move on to other projects now, if that makes sense?

Of course, knowing myself, I'll probably still come back and spontaneously write some new fanfic anyway, as I've always have in the past, which is why I'm referring to this as just a "hiatus" and not a "retirement" from fanfic writing--I know myself too well for that. Besides, as I've also commented on in past blog posts, I have other fanfic ideas I'd love to still write, like more Smollus fics (still stuck on that darn third one, by the way, but now I have ideas for a fourth and fifth fics too, so...I don't know if that's a good thing or if I'm just digging myself even deeper into that rabbit hole at this point ), some kind of G5 fic (I seriously do have a fun idea for that which I think would be perfect for G5), another try at a "Weekend With The Dragon Lord" sequel (but it's not quite there yet), and a handful of other ideas I've toyed with, including a few ideas I might hold in reserve for future May Paring contests, since I seem to have a soft spot for those. And thinking ahead to that, I've already jotted down a lot of notes or even whole working outlines for all of those with precisely this expectation in mind...just in case.

But at the same time, I must forewarn you all--once I start that planned hiatus, I make no guarantees that I will actually come back to fanfic writing. I just might choose to use that chance to move on to new horizons finally. But at the same time, I don't know if that'll actually happen either yet. It can really go either way. But I want you all to be aware of this now, so you can be aware of what's forthcoming and what implications that might come with, and brace for either eventuality, whichever it may end up being. And I may entirely just be blowing this out of proportion...or I may not.

We shall see.

But for now...know that y'all still have a novel-length fanfic that's coming, hopefully soon, and I'm personally rather excited about it, so let's get past that goalpost first before we go any further down that rabbit hole, eh?