Respectfully Bowing Out

It's a choice I've alluded to be considering before now, but now I'm actually going to go through with it.

I'm bowing out of writing fanfiction, and won't be returning for the foreseeable future.

There are many reasons why. School and life dividing my attention. Overall lack of time. Writing the fanfiction detracting me from working on other, more important, projects. Growing lack of interest. Lackluster success with my most recent fanfic (though I thank everybody who HAS read it and giving it their support anyway!). And more.

And it's finally gotten to the point that I have to ask myself if it's really worth persisting when it'll take so much effort with very little tangible benefit.

I've been writing fanfiction for about seven years now, longer than MLP's even been around. I'm very attached to it, and I credit it most of my present skill as a writer to these seven years of writing fanfiction and getting input back from readers. And I don't regret that. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. But I think I've finally reached the point where fanfiction can't really offer me much more benefit, and my time will be better spent pursuing other projects.

It's a choice I don't really WANT to make, but I've already been putting it off for more than a year now, trying to see if I can avoid making it, but like Twilight recently said this past season, "You know, choosing not to choose isn't really a decision." So I finally took a deep breath and faced that decision, and now I'm making it.

Sorry I won't be writing more fanfics for the foreseeable future. I had plenty more I had wanted to write, not just in the MLP fandom but in several others too, so I'm upset too. But I really think this will be for the best for me.

And note this is for writing fanfics. I don't plan to stop reading the fanfics of my fellow authors anytime soon, so at least you have that much.

But yeah. Needed to get this out there.

Thanks again to everybody who's read, reviewed, and given their support.