To Perytonia: More peryton art! Also, future story thoughts. · 2:51pm Sep 27th, 2017
This is a post partially concerned with To Perytonia, an ongoing adventure story updating Tuesdays and Saturdays. There are no spoilers in this post.
First, art. More peryton, as promised. Today, a happy little creature!
This was an early peryton, and looking back at it now, I am not happy with how I did the coloured feather-tips. Single colour accents aren’t the issue—they don’t have to have multiple colours—it just doesn’t look as vibrant as I had envisioned. If memory serves, the real purpose of this one was to challenge myself with movement and the muzzle angle, as a contrast to the static, study-like pose of the first peryton.
We’re not here to talk pictures and colours, though. We’re here to talk words, to talk stories!
If you’re keeping up, we’re ten chapters in now, and we’re barely getting started. Are we less than halfway, you ask? Try less than halfway to halfway.
If you’re not keeping current, well, the story’s still ten chapters along! I’m hoping readership picks up, but I’m grateful for the readers I do have. The issue of reader numbers plays into the question that I’ve asked myself for a while, though: what next?
As those who read these blogs know, To Perytonia is fully written. I'm just staggering its release. It is a completed story, and one that I’m proud of. One that I now understand that I not only loved writing, but love having written, and to possess both of those feelings so soon after completion is rare for me.
However! It has now been nearly two months since last I did anything but the simplest of edits on this story. I’m eager to write again. Y’know, like literally every time I’ve “finished” a story.
Those quotation marks there are important, though. I've finished writing the story, but the story isn't finished. To Perytonia will be a fixture on this page for many months to come, and to plan a story from this position is hard. Why? Well, unless you consider referring to the very description of To Perytonia a spoiler, it's no secret that it's a story about half the mane cast. It's right there on the cover art, but there is another story I could tell. Another story I don't need to tell—To Perytonia exists as a full and complete story, thank you very much—but I still want to tell it. My disappointment with this latest story's reception affects my desire to write, however.
My fear is that if I don't jump on this story now, it will be left forever on the cutting room floor, abandoned. I don't usually weep for the stories I don't write, finish, or publish. The RariLuna political/mystery fic, the FlutterDashFire fic, these were never completed, and that's fine! I have infinite stories I can write, always, and the FlutterDashFire had its core elements incorporated into To Perytonia wonderfully, so it's all good. Usually.
This time, I think it would feel like a loss. If I do not write this other long story, this... companion to To Perytonia now and instead write the shorter, sweet TwiShy that is the alternative, I suspect I won't come back to it, ever. I fear I will regret it when I consider how much I loved writing To Perytonia.
I just don't know if that's a good enough reason to spend another nine months of my life on a project that mixes frustration and disappointment with the fun. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't.
I guess it's a little early for me to be tossing out opinions on whether a companion story should or should not be happening, and obviously that choice impacts you a lot harder than it does me, anyway. *shrug*
Now, a FlutterTwi story... that I am fully comfortable with throwing ALL the support behind. That was the first pony ship I read, back when I was still telling myself I would avoid that unfortunate side of the fandom. I couldn't help seeing shipfics and related art plastered all over EqD, though, and I couldn't help but start to consider which ships might actually work out. I reluctantly developed an interest in seeing the two socially awkward ponies hook up, and had to give Once Bitten, Twice Shy a shot. It was highly enjoyable, everything I'd wanted from the ship, and that was that, I said. No more, I got this garbage out of my system.
And then I read everything else on EqD that I cared about (back when that was still possible, ha!) and saw this novel called Within and Without that looked promising aside from that Shipping tag, but I was bored... now it's six years later, and oh god help me.
Anyway, I've hardly revisited FlutterTwi since, so an opportunity to do so would be welcome. But, y'know, write what you actually want to write, of course.
From a strict "profit" angle getting a few one shots out while To Perytonia is updating would like bring more readers to it.
It sounds like you'd be happy to have written To Perytonia even if you hadn't bothered publishing it. Yes/no?
If the act of writing and completing a story is reward enough, then why not write another one? If you then share it with other people, who like it and make your numbers go up, so much the better.
Also are the feathertips naturally purple, or do they dye them?
I added the story to my "read later" list based on the recommendation of Carabas, but I hadn't gotten around to actually trying it until this week. First, let me say that it's pretty darn wonderfully written... so very rich, with intriguing details and strong voices for the characters! I'm not yet caught up to what's been published, but I soon will be and then be following along with the twice-weekly updates.
The main thing that kept me waiting this long before diving in was simply the cast... I unabashedly love all of the Mane Six, but when I look to read an epic-length story I usually look for my longtime favorite Twilight and then the more the merrier. With Twilight, Applejack and Rarity being my top favorites from the show, when I read that opening chapter where the Mane Six was split up my longing was to go with the other three... I'd have jumped on a Twilight/AJ/Pinkie story of this quality in a heartbeat. Still would.
So that's a vote for the companion story, although my Twilight bias would have me reading the TwiShy one as well...
Personally, I hadn't realized until reading this blog that "To Peryton" was already fully written... that's well worth advertising, as I know plenty of people on the site that hold off on epic length stories for fear they'll never reach the end. I'd advise adding "A completed story, with chapters releasing Tuesday's and Saturdays" to the description. I know the second part is already there, but some people (myself included) might still take it as a goal rather than a given.
And finally... wow, this story is that long? That's both impressive and intimidating! If you do the companion piece, you'll certainly want to make sure that this one isn't required reading and advertise it as such, I would think.
I just read chapter 10 this morning. I'm very much enjoying peryton society and how alien you've attempted to present it in contrast to pony culture (and how distinct the peryton city-states are from each other as well). I think there has already been some really memorable scenes such as the games with the snickersnouts and such, but I think even just the day to day travel has been cleverly paced. Also, it was great to see the story in the feature box yesterday however briefly.
With the complete story being ~400k words, I'm certain it will continue to pull in readers as people tend to love longer stories - especially those with unique premises. Admittedly, the beginning was a bit difficult for me to get through and I think it's because the narrative so closely follows Dash's perspective, and she's pretty quick to dismiss a lot of the things the reader might want to learn more about. But I do truly love her character here; I really appreciate how subtlety she tries to mask her empathy and that she's just as quick to apologize and accept blame for her aggression as she is to spark confrontation. Now that I've had the chance to read the fic, I'll be sure to recommend it to others, although it is rare that I can find anyone in my circles that are interested in stories. But the FimFic community doesn't seem to have a very strong presence on Twitter at all for that matter (which is where I'm most active).
It's great that you feel inspired to write more, and I hope it's a feeling you're able to sustain and act upon! Whereas I think you are particularly strong when it comes to writing Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie (you genuinely and consistently manage to write the best Pinkie I've read to date), I'd really love to be able to get the companion story. And even though I'm leery of TwiShy as a ship (as I admittedly am with near any Fluttershy ship lol), I do believe you could make it work well enough. Ultimately, I think you should pursue what you're driven to write.
Anyways, keep it up and all the best!
(Oh one more note: in chapter 8 I noticed there were a couple instances in which the Bent Feathers were referred to as the "Broken" Feathers. And I think I saw a couple minor errors - singular/plural misuse or some such - earlier on, but I didn't think to make concrete note of them at the time. I'm unused to commenting and/or being current with a story haha.)
You know me, my friend, ever one for romance fics. The other half to To Perytonia would be about Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie, I'd probably read it if it had a romance tag, TwiPie mainly, but that's my personal interests. A 400k story with no romance is not my personal interest, despite how wonderful of a story I'm sure you'd make it out to be.
But, I'm rambling.
Need to read the latest chapter, but it is a fun story, I have to admit though that I don't understand the interest in completing a story before posting any of it. I suppose you may go back and alter certain things anyways, but I tend to like the reader's interaction as it has helped me improve on future chapters due to thoughts and considerations they may have that I did not. I enjoy that interaction as it sometimes means the readers affect and improve upon the story, where if it is completed I'd rather not change much but simple details.
Regardless, I'd say do what you love, if the plan of another huge story is to your interest. But, if you are looking for new followers and new eyes, a few shorter stories would help them find you and interest them to look over everything else you have done thus far.
I am still struggling with the all-important question:
Read along, or wait and binge later?
4679894 Have no fear, in the end, I will write what I "want", the issue is figuring out what it is that I want. As you say, this choice is a weighty one for me. Conversationally, though, reading your description of what you like about TwiShy (and may I congratulate you on being like... one of the three fans of that ship on this plane of existence?), I like to think you'd enjoy the ideas I have for that one. We'll see what it comes to. I never knew that was your first ship though! Thanks for sharing a very nice story!
4679940 Absolutely. If I wanted to bring a maximum amount of eyeballs on To Perytonia and "grow my reader base" I'd write a few "Twilight Eats a Sock" fics, but the day I decide to write something based on marketing/popularity is the day I hang up the quill for good, because I will have abandoned all that which makes me write good stories. I am reliant upon writing what I want to write and read.
I appreciate you're trying to help, though, and I am very thankful for that, and I also apologise if I sound haughty or arrogant. That's not my intent. Others write good stories based on shifting trends, but I myself will never be comfortable with it.
4679955 It's a yes-and-no thing. The joy of writing the story would remain, yes, but there is no motivation to do so without the "goal", even if the goal of publishing and subsequent reactions is almost universally painful for me. As such, writing the next story in this setting only has purpose so long as I know I'm going to publish it, however much I dislike the publishing process, and in the case of these stories, it's less attractive than ever.
I have the best friends any person could ask for, and I have friends who like reading what I write. In that sense things could not be better. It's easy to say and think that as long as I'm writing something that I will enjoy writing, and that friends will enjoy, then that "should" be enough, but I can't extract this other story from the prediction of frustrations with publishing it to an audience that's evem smaller than the one To Perytonia got.
I'm gonna work this out, though. And yes, I know that a second story that is separate from, but related to To Perytonia will grow the latter fic's numbers, too. It's actually a far better situation than a sequel. In addition, numbers will go up when this story shows up in "recent releases" and on EqD twice a week for half a year. Sure.
Ugh. I really don't like thinking numbers and talking about this, though. Yo, I just want to write.
As for feathertips: both!
4679957 Hey, I expect you're not alone in that boat. There's probably a small subset that'll go "Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity? Those are my three favourites!", but the vast majority will be a little put off when it fails to hit them square in the chest. I get that. There are a million filters like these, points where the potential readership for this fic is diminished. It's very niche, and requires a reader who is willing to invest a lot of time in something very specific. I get that. I'm glad you got into it though!
I expect most people who like shipping in general will invariably say "write both!" of course. I'm sorry, it's probably a little mean to say "I am considering writing a story" when it might also be scrapped. It's cruel to TwiShy fans. Hmf.
Even the "Updates Tuesdays and Saturdays" part was added after publishing, which was probably very foolish. I had figured that when it says Tuesdays and Saturdays, it establishes the expectation of consistency. Maybe you're right, though. Doesn't hurt to be extra clear though. I'll edit that in when I add next Saturday's chapter, thanks!
As for the length, I... was actually afraid some might be intimidated by it. Kinda regret mentioning it now. Ah well! I'll definitely be very careful about how I describe the other story though, for sure.
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Go forth, young master, and write!
4680070 It's really fun to see which scenes people latch on to. I did not expect the snickersnouts to stand out to people this much, but you're not the first one to say so. S'lovely to hear!
Mmmoh, no, a fair bit more than that! I'll stay away from spoiling the exact length for obvious reasons.
I think that's a fair point, really, and it's actually a fairly old one, in a sense. In the past, the way I write Dash has been considered a little divisive, I think. I love that pony so much, and if you're not on board with Dash, (or the way I write Dash, more to the point), the story is not gonna work for you. I haven't had negative feedback about the Dash PoV specifically so far, which is nice, but you're right in that there are probably people who bounce off the close PoV. There's no helping that. Thrilled to hear it if you feel this is a story you'd recommend to others though. Thank you!
Appreciate the vote of confidence wrt. characterisation, too! We'll see how the companion fic works out if I write it. I didn't really split the party based on who I like writing/am confident in, so how AJ, Pinkie and Twi's dynamic pans out, well. That's a mystery for now, har.
Your words are very kind, but real talk, this is why I want to write it. It's like Twice as Bright, just not quite as extreme. I have a defiant streak. TwiShy is not a very popular ship, and even I think it's... not a hard sell necessarily so much as it is challenging to do well, and that's why I want to do it. When I now suddenly find myself sitting on a very nice multi-tiered idea, it's all too tempting.
(Finally: I fixed those "broken feathers" errors. I really thought I had fixed them, but now they're corrected for sure. Let me know if you find any other typos that bother you. PM's are nice for that).
4680106 I won't speculate too much because I haven't yet had a proper sit-down with this theoretical other story—it is not really a mystery to me, but there are a lot of big things not yet slotted in, not yet decided. It might actually not be romance! We'll see. In the end it will be decided by what makes sense, how it all pans out, but there are other concerns related to what I want to do with a potential third story.
I guess it's personal. Some people like to write their stories with reader interaction and influence, and I don't! I think Within and Without, for instance, has a special quality to it because it was written and published in a frenzy as a continuous whole. I also think I appreciate getting to edit properly a heck of a lot more. I dread to think what To Perytonia would look like if I had published the first draft, or even the second versions of all the chapters that ended up being revised the most. The story would be a lot weaker.
I don't hold it against anyone who wants reader interaction, though. Heck no! Fan fiction is magical for allowing for that, for being a platform that lets you write a shared story and let other people partake in the creation process! It's just not for me. I spent a month drafting, five or six months writing with continuous edits, and two months in pure editing, proofreading, feedback looping back into more edits, and I really think it paid off for me. There are parts about Rarity's arcs that are so much better now, and holy butts, if only you knew how much has been gainfully added to chapters 7-8! If I had published as I wrote, I would not be half as proud and happy as I am right now.
Maybe in the future I'll do more spontaneous stories, but my writing process is not a democracy. I do lean very heavily on being able to talk to my closest friends about ideas, though, and don't believe for a second that writing is a solitary process. I just give the input from friends, acquaintances and others different weight.
Part of the reply to this is in what I said to Posted in the previous comment here. I'm not writing to get followers, not picking a story concept based on trends and what will be liked. That's never gonna work for me, and I'm sorry if the obvious tension between that statement and my whining about not getting enough attention is frustrating. I whine, and I acknowledge that. In the end, I'll do exactly what you say: I'll do what I love, I'll write what I want. I just struggle to find out what that is.
4680113 It's a good question! I am sympathetic to those who want a 20-hour binge read at some point, but the reason I stagger the release is because I thought maybe reading it over a long period of time might fit the odyssey-like journey of the story. Since chapter releases are 100% consistent, you could always do a hybrid. If you read two chapters every Saturday, that's ~20k words, good for an hour to an hour and a half of reading every weekend. S'up to how your mind works though! Some people lose focus when they have to wait.
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Ha.
Haaaa.
No okay, that's what it always comes down to. Any whine—ask my closest friends—ends with a long pause, a sigh, and "...I just want to write." I'm an addict, and yeah, I will write. It's a certainty. It's a given. I just whine a lot when I'm stuck in the starting pit like now. A day, week or month from now when I've set off running down the road at a gallop, you won't hear any whining from me. I'll just show up in half a year or a year with another 500k word story or something.
TwiShy or The Other Story though, this stuff's the kind of headache that keeps me up all night, and I don't think there's a soul that can help me. I don't even think I wanna tell people (in public) what I decide on, for fear that if I pick The Other Story, they'll think that it's a sequel, and then suddenly you're gonna tell me you're gonna wait for that one to finish before you read To Perytonia, and I really don't wanna fly down to your house and shove these one thousand printed pages down your mouth so I can hear what you think, 'cause I don't like hornets.
You have hornets, right?
4680242
I wouldn't. But that's mainly because I'm a new adherent of the Church of Not Telling Your Reading Public What You're Writing Until It's Done Because Doing So Triggers the Same Pleasure Response in Your Brain as Actually Writing It Does and Then Nothing Actually Gets Written.*
Also, it's none of anyone's business, screw 'em.
Haha, well, I'm not that neurotic -- I just want to be able to sit down and read a completed story. Because, like Best Pony, I'm extraordinarily impatient and extraordinarily fast.** As long as you're not pulling some BS like GaPJaxie did with Siren Song, where at the end of almost 200,000 words it's "oh turns out your satisfying resolution is in another castle that I'm not actually gonna write what's that no of course I'm not still bitter" then we're good. I will happily read the first story, and when the second story completes, I will happily read that.
I mean, not like... on me?
*Working title.
**At reading. Not flying. I mean, I can fly at about 9.8m/s2... straight down. Look, this comparison really got out of hand, okay?
4680260
I am the exact opposite. If I say, in public, I'm writing a story about X, then I will look at what I have for X, and imagine how much better X would be in a universe where all of the ideas and connections and thoughts of X could be dumped into a reader's brain perfectly. Then I remember what universe I live in, how much less good it'll be than absolutely perfect in every way, and then I just slouch off and forget words exists for a year or five.
<.<
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4680239
My reading speed is my curse. I can chew through 20K words in 30-40 minutes, easy, and that's taking my time.
4680303 We miss youuu ;_;
4680372 Finally someone who understands!
4680393
Another problem I have:
"Oh, this looks interesting."
"Oh, that looks interesting."
"Oh, and this one too."
"I'm also going to read this story."
And that's why I have 480 unread chapters on my "tracking" shelf.
4680239
You know, most writers I talk to think my process is too much, and here you go making it look like not enough.
I don't tend to write anything over 100k, if I think it'll go there, I just plan on a sequel later on. But, I am a bit mixed. I like a story more people are willing to read and I often consider a story over 100k is going to just get a niche audience. Plus I have worked with several writer's who burn out on extremely long stories and never complete them. You are definitely not one of those, but it is a rare breed.
Rambling a bit.
My own writing process is not quite as big as yours, but I find I like the results. I spend about a week writing up the storyboard for it and going over it with others. Then, I write the first chapter or two, proofread and edit it twice, send it to my proofreader for issues and more edits, then do a final edit before posting it up. After it's up I peruse the comments and see if anything suggested sparks for me and if it does, I re-look over the storyboard and see if it is worth adding in and how it will affect the rest of the story. Repeat as needed.
Most writer's I have interacted with here do not even make storyboard's, so I've felt my system to be a decent one so far, it may not be as good for stories over 100k admittedly, but it has served me well up to this point.
Trying to make a story with bare bones planning just to train myself to be better with being spontaneous, but it's not me. I am always amazed at the people who get up at 2AM and write out a 4k story that is just amazing before going back to bed. I am definitely not one of those people.
heh, I do that with my friends all the time. It's cathartic to whine about something but not really care to do something about it.
My story Apartment Complex received alot of attention and I was happy for it, but also irked that none of my Trixie stories garnered that much interest. Trixie is clearly less popular than SunShy is atm, but ya know what? All my current stories are Trixie related, and will be for the foreseeable future *unless I try another contest anyhoo* because I enjoy using her character in different ways, popularity be damned. Basically that's a roundabout way of saying I understand writing what you want over what others want. I only tend to keep in mind a word maximum before just making a sequel for the sake of reader's who would feel better about bite-sized parts of a story over one that looks intimidatingly novel length.
Allright, wrote way more than I should have probably. Good luck, and I loved the latest chapter! Rainbow's head is abuzz with unresolved issues, though I am curious on why she keeps going back to Rarity's words on pushing Shy too much. It just seems to have been bothering her for quite a few chapters now despite her constantly deciding that Rarity is wrong. I wonder if it is more of needing to reassure herself. I like her pov in this story alot, though I am hoping to possibly see some of this from Rarity or Shy's side eventually.
I don't know, I think the picture came out fairly well. It's possible to be too colorful.
4680303 4680260 The transfer, gain or depletion of energy from announcements and discussions of what one is writing is a very personal thing, of course. I can imagine that there exist even individuals who announce their plans to force themselves into action, people who enjoy the public as a motivator. Heck, it works like for for me, in a way, I just don't want that pressure when I have all the energy I need as-is.
But I think there's a simple truth to what you say, RBD. The announcement is a delight, it's supping from the benefits before you do the words, and I don't like going into debt on that front.
4680372 I usually use a very conservative estimate of 300wpm since not everyone here has English as their first language, but I don't think most people time themselves anyway. My point stands, you control your consumption of the fic! If you read really fast and have a lot of spare time, saving up a buffer won't help no matter how long you wait. If you wait until we're 300k words in, you'll finish that in an evening if you really want to, anyway, and then you're stuck waiting.
4680813
Idunno, you list as many, if not more editing passes as I, and it's not a contest! What matters is how happy you are with the end result. I guess the really big point here is that writing, editing, and the concept of mid-writing feedback is a bit different for something this long. Other fics, I've written in basically one sitting, with no chance for feedback, like the second story I wrote. If cutting a story off at a certain length and then taking a pause to digest/get feedback while planning a sequel works fine for you, that's not just a "I'm glad it works for you, happy to hear it"—that's interesting because it's different from how I do it!
In my... in my offence, I suppose it would be, despite finishing my stories, I did disappear for three years. Granted, that was a little unrelated to a burnout, but eh.
Hey, if all you meant by reader feedback and such was that you look at comments before you write on, your method isn't that alien to me, honest. I'm not above that sort of stuff myself usually. I'm sure WYHI and WTAJ have elements that surfaced in discussing stuff with others. The borders between friends and acquaintances, acquaintances and "people" are very thin, and no one thinks it's weird if you change your stories based on friends' feedback, so in this case, I understand you perfectly. It just didn't pan out this way with this particular story. The other side of this coin is that despite firmly believing that I have no authority over my own story's interpretation, I also have a strong need to "own" it, so I will (contrary to what I just said) also be resistant to suggestions.
My head's a little foggy on this. Makes sense to me. Also, impressed that you actually have a storyboard. Do you use some software for that, or do you just mean a planning document?
You're in good company in that respect, but fact is, for the vast majority of us, the weird little thing that sparks the flame in our heart the best will not be others' jam. It's obvious that I've written something very unpopular/unfit for the general public (not a complaint this time, just acknowledging how niche it is), and I suppose Trixie isn't on top of the charts any longer either. If you were big on Trixie during S1, you would have gotten a lot of attention. S'easy for me to say "you should clearly keep writing Trixie though!" when I'm whining about the results of me doing something similar though, so hey. It's a tradeoff!
Oh jeez. Wow.
Like, on one hoof, I respect that, as it's probably clever, but
U wot.
More words! More words!
Okay, okay, I jest. Glad you're keeping up with, and enjoying the story! As for why RD thinks about what she does, well, maybe you actually nailed part of it while thinking out loud there. Who knoooows.
4681499 I appreciate it, thanks! It's not that I didn't like it, or thought it ended up loking bad, it just didn't look the way I wanted it to. The very conservative approach to colour variations on the coat clashes a bit with the desire to make the coloured feathers stand out. Looking at pictures of birds with coloured feather tips, I see that it can be done better, I just don't understand exactly how to achieve the effect.
4681738
I really thought this was how it would work for me.
I was wrong!
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There's research that shows visualizing yourself completing your goals too often hampers those goals. Google fails me but I remember reading about it a while back.
And yeah, I've tried the "force myself by promising," It has never worked :<
4681738
True, but you left with all of your stories finished! Unfortunately, that seems to be a Rarity.
If most people left the fandom without abandoned stories, at least there is a sense of closure their, you wrote your story, you told what you wanted to tell, and you moved on. It irritates me when people write a chapter or two, garner attention, and then abandon the whole project.
I can understand that, I have gotten feedback that I can't work with what so ever before. Differing opinions or desires for the story, if it sounds good and I like it, I try to work it in. Many times for me it comes in Trixie 'redemption' suggestions, when I really prefer to avoid that angle since I don't feel people should try for redemption just for being themselves.
Planning document, I tend to just use Word and write out a two-three paragraph description for each chapter of the story before actually writing any of the story. Along with adding in friend suggestion, comment suggestions I liked if its a sequel, and other notes. I'm sure you're used to it, but I always find it funny to have a few thousand words done up just in preparation for writing.
Yeah, I hear ya, but I won't pretend that I don't get alot of joy out of comments and seeing how well liked a story of mine is. My word limit tends to be 100k, and then sequel, which I think is fair. It is enough words for me to get to a resolution or important moment in the story to end on, lets the reader see something that doesn't feel overwhelming and they just skip *I will never read MLP:Fallout due to this, no matter how good it may be, 500,000+ words, not a romance, and from the cliff notes I've seen depressing as hell? No thank you!*, and gives me a little break and sense of accomplishment.
Now, if I was passionate enough on a story that I wanted to go over that 100k mark in a story, I'd do it. Nothing wrong with it as it's your story and you do what you like with it, I just personally like doing a story with sequels instead of one large story.
Indeed my friend, you write what you like and that's that. I've thought of joining other contests for the fun of it but have not found another one I am interested in yet due to my own interests. Why write if you aren't going to enjoy it?
4687772 Not too much to add at this point except to say that I appreciate your thoughts! The idea of separating stories based on length is still a little strange to me, but that's highly personal—but I can certainly see the point about not wanting to commit to a monstrously long story that doesn't carry tags you are passionate about. Goodness knows I'm never going to touch FOE, but I guess that's more a case of it carrying tags I dislike.
Anyway, if my the next story is 500k+ and non-romance (and it may well be), I understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but that's basically what we've already concluded at this point. You brew your own favourite tea, and share it with those who want it! The interesting part is seeing how the next thing I write takes shape, because unlike how you describe your process, mine isn't really consistent. Every story takes shape differently. It's actually making starting this next story daunting, because I have so many potential approaches to planning, and I don't know which is best.