Status report. · 11:27pm Jun 13th, 2016
So, hey.
I know I haven't written anything in a while, I know it's been a long time since the last update. I'm still working on it, I swear. It's been rough for a bit, and I want to talk it out with you guys. If you don't care to hear what could appear as either an explanation or self-pitying whining, just know that the next chapter will be out in a few days, okay? I think it's going to be good, but then I'm biased.
Okay, where to start with this? I guess we start with the recent stuff, and then we work our way back. So, first and foremost, I'm going on deployment in roughly a month. Can't tell you guys where or exactly when until I'm there already, but know that it's going to be someplace sandy and hot. It's safe, I'm not going to be dropping into Syria or anything, but it's going to be rougher than I'm used to. I'll have internet, and I'll still write as frequently as I can, but the next few months are probably going to be a bit...busy, I guess? I'm going to try to finish the story before I go, I'll probably split it again (I know, this thing keeps growing), but it might not get finished in time. Those of you who are caught up can probably guess when the ending is. It'll be close.
Now for some of the heavier stuff. I've noticed since I arrived here at Andrews, that my writing has dipped noticeably in frequency. In tech school, I wrote Lines and Webs in the span of a few months. Granted, that might show a bit more than I like, but longtime readers will remember getting a chapter a day, or sometimes two.
I started Lines the day after I dropped out of my first tech school for linguistics. The classes had been hard, I hadn't kept up, and I just wanted some way to vent stress. Guardian Gryphon, whom I still count as a friend, was the one who read the prologue to Lines and recommended I publish. I took a dive, and here we sit some time later. It was FUN, writing like that. It let me work through some things on my own, vent my feelings on the show I had come to thoroughly enjoy, and I loved every minute of it.
When I arrived at my second (and final, if I flunked I was discharged) tech school, writing became not only a fun project, but something of a routine. I went to class, worked out, ate, wrote, and went to bed. A bit repetitive, but I've found of late that I rather enjoy a routine. I started Dusk's Dangerous Game there, and wrote most of it in between classes in a little grey notebook that I still have, and still provides the basis for my worldbuilding. Though it wasn't my chosen field, I managed to scrape through tech school, though I've never been great with technology, and I arrived at Andrews.
Here's where I think I ran into some problems.
Firstly, much of what I learned in tech school was generalized knowledge. When you arrive at your first duty station (first base), you learn the ropes of your particular job as well as additional testing, which lasts about a year. Complicating matters was the fact that my facility ran twenty-four hours a day, necessitating three shifts. Since it's not fair to have people on permanent shifts, preventing them from seeing their families or the light of the sun, we'd rotate periodically. This made it difficult to establish the schedule to which I had become accustomed. My writing slowed down almost immediately upon arrival.
Part of this is because Comcast is the devil, and I could never get them out to hook up internet in my dorm room. Our common areas have wireless internet, but they are common areas, and not conducive to quiet thought. And while I was quite comfortable discussing my love of MLP with members of my tech school class, here things were a bit more reserved. If not for the outreach of a few folks who invited me to play some tabletop RPGs, I likely would have become a sort of recluse. So my writing slowed again, since I was always wary of eyes looking over my shoulder.
You never really think of boredom as stressful. My job is long periods of boredom, punctuated by the occasional panicked call about broken equipment, followed by tedious troubleshooting and then more boredom. When I returned home from my shift, to an empty dorm room and a waiting laptop with no internet, I had little desire to write. My job is not conventionally stressful, but it is tiring. So my writing slowed a bit more.
I have been at Andrews for three years, going on four. In that time, little has changed, and too much has refused to stay the same. I know my writing has suffered because of it, most of all for one reason.
I cannot stand my job. Don't get me wrong, I love the Air Force. I've given serious thought to staying in as a career. I like serving my country, I love the camaraderie I've found here and the responsibility I've been given. But if I had taken my current job as a civilian, I probably would have quit more than a year ago. The quiet monotony and fact that I am still only barely competent, not for lack of opportunity to improve, but through my own unwillingness to better myself at my work, has combined into a sort of life that I think is probably slowly killing me.
But this deployment offers a change. The work I do where I'm going is much different than the work I do here in DC, and though the schedule isn't great for free time, I hope that I'll still find the time and inspiration to write while I'm over there. It'll be a few months of change, which is exactly what I think I need. And that's not all.
I'll be eligible for retraining when I get back to the States. First term airmen are able to change their jobs much more easily than veteran airmen, and hopefully finding a job that I can thrive in, combined with a more scheduled lifestyle and if not less stress, at least a more pleasant kind, will help me write again.
I might move when I retrain, I might not. There's a lot that could change, though. I just hope it'll be the right change, because I can feel these stories inside of me, buried deep under layers of stillness and stagnancy. I want to get them out, I want you all to see what I have to offer, because I think it's really cool, and I think you will too.
I hope this didn't come off as whiny, or preachy. All told, I've got a much better life than most people my age can hope for, and I do love my Air Force. I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. And again, I'm hoping to get this story finished before I leave for Sandland.
As I've said before, thank you all so much for your continued indulgence of my less-than-stellar update schedule. Thank you for your support and readership, and I want you all to know that although you've probably heard it before, I'll not be taking half-measures again. See you in a few days.
Oh, and for those few interested in the newest story, "In Glorious Scarlet Clad", don't worry! I'm working on the next chapter for that, too!
Thank you for your stories sir! and good luck on your deployment.
Take it easy, Air.
If it means anything, I'll be sticking around till the end.
Even after you're done with the Sunfall stories, I'll still be here buddy.
Take your time mate.
1st Priority: You
2nd Priority: What makes you money and keeps us safe
3rd Priority: Stories about cartoon horses
Good luck with your deployment by the way!
*brohoof*
I love your stories too much to just abandon you because you rarely update. I'll be patiently waiting.
I will always be here waiting for the next chapter but take your time! Good luck on your deployment!
Do what you need to do, Air. We'll be here when you're ready.
1st priority is you, mate. Don't worry about us readers, we'll be patient, I promise.