Taking A Break · 7:27pm Aug 1st, 2016
As the title suggests, I've come to the decision to step away from the keyboard for the month of August. I've been thinking about taking some time off for a while now (and even spoke to a few people about it) and here's why:
I'm burnt out.
I've been on this site for two years now and have written a lot of words -- usually with little time off between stories or chapters. When I first got here, I wrote 118k in two months simply because I loved getting material out so fast. Writing for the internet/public was new to me, so it was all rather exciting at the time.
I also had goals.
Getting a hundred followers, getting featured, getting reviewed, getting a youtube video, having readers tell me I made them laugh or cry or become scared. Each new story I released was sort of like playing the lottery: "Maybe this one will do it!" Now I've sort of done all that.
Over the last week, I tried writing more "Bad Dude" (got 2k into it), a drama/tragedy (got 500 words into it), before popping out "Discord Forms A Cult" after two days of very dry and painful writing. When it was finished, I debated deleting it altogether. I didn't like it. I still don't really like it. But, sadly, I submitted it anyways because "Hey! Who cares? It's more material, right?" Writing isn't supposed to be like that.
So the signs seemed clear enough: if writing feels like pulling teeth, then take a break from it and come back later. Recharge the batteries. Jot down some notes. Play some video games. Catch up on reading. Catch up on season 6. Etc.
Before I wrote fanfiction, I wrote two original novels and a bunch of short stories and novellas. I wrote between 1 - 2k a day and after I finished a book, I took three months off. And when I came back to the writing thing later on, I recall wanting to write all day again because it was like starting over. Hopefully this'll have the same type of effect.
I know this blog will have at least a couple of people claiming that "Derp's gone forever now" or "Thanks for all the fish", but hopefully that won't be the case here. I like writing too much to let it go. And the ability to write something and post it for anyone to read is just too tempting to leave just yet. I also get depressed if I'm not making something original, be that stories, music, or films. (Writing's just a whole lot easier.)
Thanks for the support so far. I'll be back in a bit and hopefully with some more energetic/interesting stories. I'm not really logging off the site for a month, mind you. I'll still be reading stories and replying to comments. Just... no new stuff.
Why would he wear his crown to bed?
Same reason I wear my boots to bed sometimes: I'm just too lazy to pull them off at the moment.
Anyways, I can understand needing to take a break. We'll be here when you start submitting again.
Derp's gone forever now
Nice while it lasted.
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/022/360/d0d.jpg
I feel you, brother / sister / insert gender pronoun here.
Go ahead and hit that break man, you certainly deserve it. By the time you come back I'll be sure to have snaked all your fans away :P
But seriously, You're awesome and whatnot. And certainly an inspiration to people who like to cover all kinds of genre's. See ya when you get back.
4126394
That's weird. You're weird. Next you're going to admit to wearing your pants to bed.
I'm pretty sure the author's a cactus. How dare you attempt to place him/her/it/whatever into a specific category, you cis-gendered scum!
4126445
Oh heck no. I always take those off. I mean, really, could you sleep with them still wrapped around your head?
Take your time. I know the feeling, I haven't written in, like, three months.
Hey, take all the time you need. It's good to take these sort of things from time to time. Pretty sure once you're back though, it'll be with something amazing.
You go ahead and take a nice break, you definitely deserve it. Writing should be fun, not a chore.
4126488 The first handful of stories I wrote here were of the "I need to write this!" variety. I'd like to get back to that if I could.
4126486 Netflix and bed sores instead?
4126444 I'd like to get weirder if I could. Someone in university said my final film reminded them of David Lynch. If you want my followers, though, you'd first have to write stories.
Only kidding/not kidding/motivating you.
4126439 What's a Canadian? Type of potato?
4126411
4126398 I knew the moment I wrote that, I'd find these here.
Thanks for the comments. Obviously a better reaction than "So?"
4126561 I'd say poutine.
4126398
Ya forgot "Thanks for all the fish!"
NBD, I can fully understand why you'd be a little burnt out -- you've been cranking out stuff at an insane rate for the last few months, at least. Take some time, recharge the creative goop in the head bone, and come back when you're ready. Might even be entertaining to let it ferment a bit; hold off till you're bouncing off the walls muttering 'Gotta write gotta write gotta write RIGHT NOW!'.
4126561
I hope you know, that means at some point I'm going to expect something and weird as "Rabbits" from you.
4126754 I've had a story in mind called "What's in the box?" featuring Pinkie Pie alone at home with an unopened box. What's in the box is: everything.
Doesn't make sense? Good!
If I had a crown, I'd wear it everywhere, too.
If you do it too much you'll go blind.
What you need is something to take you mind off things so you can recharge...
{Nudge, nudge} free to play up to level 20. X-pac pre-expansion invasion starts in 8 days... just sayin...
4126561 Nah, more like Hulu and my girlfriend: the couch.
4126829 I tried World of Warcraft before... for like ten minutes.
So I really didn't give it much of a chance. Sadly, I'm terrible at video games, so the easier the better. RPG. Most Nintendo crap. The Walking Dead game where all you do is have convos. 
That game was so much better than the TV show.
You're totally going to crash at some guy named Steve's house, sitting on his couch playing video games and watching tv, right?
You deserve a nice and long break for everything you have done for your followers.
Aw man, I had a whole eulogy written.
Because he has superiority complex and issues with papa and penis as he tries to compensate them with his monstrous kingly image.
And to relax try dark souls it is completely casual game and has a friendly and helpful community, on top of all that game is a japanise rpg.
4127690 I've seen enough Let's Plays on youtube to know Dark Souls isn't for me.
4127139 How did it go? "He sure did those things. Yep. 2014 - 2016."
4127086 Would if I could. I just don't want to go on some crazy dark adventure randomly.
4127869 Then stay away from toasters.
4127869 Actually, "naturalbornderpy was ok I guess, he wrote stuff and didn't afraid of anything. RIP in pieces."
4128334 Damn.
Here come the tears. And I promised myself I wouldn't cry at my own funeral.
Well, the fish have been delicious.
You better be true to you word though. And by that, I mean that if you submit any stories during August I'll be downvoting them immediately before reading them. Have a nice break!
4129153 Thanks, Colin Mochrie!
(I seriously love Whose Line and Colin. And Ryan. And Wayne. And Brad. And Chip. And Greg. And... that's about it.)
4130342
Is it because Colin's Canadian?.. I bet it's because he's Canadian.
Honestly, I think it's probably for the best. You've been putting out a massive amount of stuff recently, but while most of it has been pretty successful in terms of getting featured, I honestly thought a lot of it was really pretty forgettable. I'm not sure I even read your last three or four published stories at all. You've been having a bit of a problem with that whole "content for the sake of content" rut I warned you about a while ago. Back in your 700 followers post or thereabouts, maybe? I mentioned that a lot of your recent stuff didn't really give the impression of something that you actually enjoyed writing. Taking a step back, getting some distance and thinking about what you'd actually like to write will do you some good, I think.
4131475 Yep. Nail on the head. It was turning into a second job for a bit. Definitely some mediocre stuff as of late... although "Luna Inherits Canada" still tickles me pink. I wonder why?
I'm slowly turning into Adam Sandler. He's popular, but no one knows why anymore.
I need to do some Punch Drunk Love before it's too late!