A Shift In Policy · 11:37pm Jan 23rd, 2016
I think taking some time off from Fimfic did me good.
As you may have noticed, for pretty much the entire Winter holiday season I disappeared. This was due to several factors - a irritating and long lasting illness, family holidays with little internet access, and exams to name a few of the major ones - but that's not what this blog post is about (the last one sort of covered that anyway).
No, this is about me and my life.
...
Lets wait a bit for the crowds to clear out. And those one or two of you still left reading - why, you get the whole theatre to yourselves! 
Essentially, I've realised, I spend too much time on fanfiction. I'd like to clarify, this doesn't mean too much time on Fimfic - in fact, as my previous blog stated, I think I've spent too little time with the friends I've made on this site in recent months. But over the last 6 years (and bloody hell that's a scary long time now I actually type it out) I realise I've spent an almost unhealthy amount of time just reading fanfic.
Now, I'm not going to go "cold turkey" as it were. There is a reason I read fanfiction, and that reason is that there is a lot of very, very good examples of it. It's like having the worlds biggest library, dedicated solely to your specific interest, and instantly accessible. But while I did reasonably well in my first term of uni, I'd really like to aim for a top grade this term - and I'm rediscovering a lot of old interests that had fallen by the wayside somewhat. So, I'm going to slow things down a little.
What effect will this have on you? Well, not much actually. I'll still be here, and I'll still be reading a lot more fanfic than most people. But I'm going to stop deluding myself that I can actually read through all my notifications and every blog post, not when I wracked up 3600 of the damn things over a period of one months absence. I'm also going to take a more relaxed attitude to my increasingly absurd Read It Later list and unread New Chapters lists (which sit at 123.2 millions words and 1500 chapters respectively). Finally, the "mini-reviews" that I write for the YMLT group will be going on a temporary hiatus. While I do enjoy writing them, part of that relaxed attitude is to stop treating reading for pleasure as some kind of commitment. For those of you that enjoy them though, don't worry. They'll come back eventually - I found most of my friends here either through that group or the reviews I wrote for it, and I'm not leaving that behind forever.
On the other hand, I think I'll be taking both my editing and writing a little more seriously - and spending more time with friends, both on and offline. So if anything, you'll likely be seeing a little more of me, in terms of conversation and actual story output.
All of this is, of course, hypothetical - and this blog is as much to motivate myself as anything else.
But I'm feeling good about this. The future looks bright, not grey and uncertain, for the first time in longer than I'd like to admit.
I hope you all have a great day. I know I will.
So does this mean I don't have to chain you to the chat anymore? :0
It was writing that undid me many a time. I wrote every single class in a couple of courses. I could get 2-3K in some of them.
Well, good to know that college is something that stimulates you and that you are rediscovering other hobbies. Glad to have you again here anyway, even if with a lower frequency
3708016
No you don't, though somehow I doubt that's going to stop you...
3708113
I've never quite had that passion for writing - in fact I used to hate it. It was always too slow - I probably would still hate it if I hadn't discovered the wonders of typing. Writing for me is more an exercise in storage. Sometimes my brain just has to get ideas out and on to the page (or word document, as is more often the case), and if I'm in the creative mood I might try and turn that mess of ideas into a functioning story.
As for classes - well when I'm in them I'm fine, and I focus. It's more the work I have to do outside of class that occasionally eludes me...
3708198
Thanks Kettle! It's good to be back, especially in a more relaxed format.
3708347 Nah
...
I'll just use changeling slime.
Art can feel like a chore when there's just so dang much of it. You gotta aim for the zen-like acceptance that you can't possibly get to all of it, and that's fine, and whatever you do with your free time is valuable as long as you're enjoying yourself. Enjoy your me-time! And best of luck with your studies + writing. twenty six teeeeeeeeen
3710635
Wise words indeed. Thank you Cherax. As always, you know exactly what to say to cheer me up.