I'm really struggling here, guys · 3:39pm Aug 27th, 2019
I've written a total of 41K words this year, 6500 of them this August. This is pathetic. Three years ago I broke 400K in a year; this year to pull that off I'd have to write 3000 words a day for the rest of the year, which... is obviously not going to happen.
Part of the trouble is writing against inspiration. What I want to be writing is Elements of Opposition, or Earth, or original fiction. What I am writing, right now, is Not the Hero, because it's my most popular fic and people have been waiting a year for the next chapter (admittedly people who are fans of some of my other stuff have been waiting longer than that, but again, most popular fic). But I'm really struggling with it. Those 6500 words comprise the entire current chapter I'm working on, so far, and nothing that is in my outline has happened yet. It's okay to go off outline; I think the idea I had was a cool one and worth being inserted despite my just thinking of it now. But the fact remains, the entire substance of what I'd planned for chapter 26 is still ahead of me.
When I am done with this chapter I will need beta reading. I don't usually go with betas for Not the Hero, because some rambling is ok in first person Discord, but I feel like this one so far has a lot of rambling and a lot of talking heads and maybe not enough scene-setting and body language. Any volunteers?
Sure. I'll take a look over it.
You should write what you're inspired to; NTH may be more popular, but you'll be able to write something you want to work on faster. Anywho, maybe an update will bring less popular fics to the limelight, thus making them more popular.
Please don't feel the need to force yourself into writing what's popular. Remember that what you are doing is a hobby, one you are providing to the community entirely for free and on your own time. If you can't write something, there is no publisher breathing down your neck about deadlines. Write what you want.
Please.
We'll still be here.
I love NTH but I really like all your stories. I'd rather you write a lot of something you like rather than force yourself and not write very much.
I'll just echo what others have said: much as I love Not the Hero, there's no point in beating yourself up if the words aren't coming. Write whatever you feel inspired to write and then, after you've cleansed your metaphorical palette, perhaps your muse will return.
...And that's what you call "struggling"?! I envy people like you.
This is what my writing process looks like:
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Honestly I enjoy all of your stories and any progress is good from my perspective. Don't feel like you have to force yourself to work on any one idea if you aren't feeling it. From what I've seen the best stories are written with the muse of inspiration and trying to work without it leads to killing your motivation. Don't be afraid to take things at your own pace.
Disregard individuals, acquire currency. :B
Your first priority should always be what you want to write, not what you think others want. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience there.
I'll chime in that I think you should switch to writing the story you currently feel like writing. Writing is supposed to be fun for you.
And from my own selfish perspective, I think quite a lot of your fans (like myself) enjoy whatever you write, so we'd love whatever update you put out.
Dude it’s fine to take a break and write what you want.
Write what calls to your Update Sense and stay well!
I can gladly Beta for you when the time comes.
You should write whatever is calling to you. Elements of Opposition and Not the Hero are both excellent pieces of fan fiction that deserve quality over quantity.
This thought process will be the death of you. The moment you put numbers above inspiration is the moment both dwindle to nothing.
i don't really care about any of your other stories, but i do know that if you try to force yourself to write it, it's usually going to come out even later than it would have. forcing yourself to work on something without motivation for it will only make you unhappy, and make you associate that unhappiness with what you were working on, leading to a self perpetuating loop of less and less productivity.
Write what you want and don't care about what anyone else thinks regarding that decision. See how living for others is counterproductive?
I’m going to agree with what others said and I believe I’ve had to tell someone else this. Write what you want. We will understand. Heck my stories sit for long periods of time. 41k words in a year is amazing to me so don’t let what you believe is other’s expectations dictate what you do. Start writing the others and you’ll find inspiration for Not The Hero.
Your stories aren't incredible because of a unique premises (which they are btw) they are incredible because make them that way. The soul of a writer's form is what draws me, and many here, to you. If you cannot put your soul into it then do not. I could not bear the burden of knowing you broke because you loved us too much.
TLDR:
You do you. You=Awesome. ergo: Be you, be Awesome.
as someone who often thinks about what happened to Not the Hero and would love to see it regularly updated;
write what you enjoy!
This post was well worth it because i had no idea about your other stories; who knows maybe i'll end up liking them more.
I have a lot of experience proofreading fiction, and you are one of my favorite authors on the site, I would love to if you'd let me.
(Automatic canned advice: Just write whatever inspires you, most of your narratives are closely related in characters, and themes, so I'm fairly certain worming your way through some of the stories you want to put out will give you ideas you feel the need to vent in your other works naturally, without feeling forced. While I'm sure this is less applicable to your original fiction, many of your stories share a similar heart, and common desire to let everyone in on your favorite worlds and characters, so I'm sure ideas thrown out for one can find a home in another.)
Secondary off-topic vent: As someone who stopped regularly visiting the site to actively search for content, and has just settled on reading everything he's subscribed to until they either finish or die, I can personally live without constant updates to some of my favorite stories; I've had to so far, and I can't say I fault the authors or feel owed the privilege of reading their free content. Most of the authors I am still subscribed to burned out or left their stories hanging long ago, and I'd prefer slow updates over anything that would snuff out your passion to complete them.
Don't feel pressured. Since you have multiple projects on the show, write whatever tickles your fancy. I've got one longfic that I've been off and on writing over 3 years. I've usually been able to get back in the groove banging out a few short one-shots.
Not The Hero might be your most popular story, and I was originally hoping for more of an update on it, but I couldn't in good conscience enjoy it if I knew you didn't enjoy writing it. Please, write what you want instead of what you think *we* want this time, I don't want you coming to loathe writing NTH, and when you eventually get around to it, it'll feel all the more special and enjoyable for everyone. We can wait if it means you don't have to slog yourself writing something you don't want to at the moment. You also seem to have a lot of stories, you shouldn't overextend yourself trying to update them all evenly, you should focus on one for a while until you get tired of it, then move onto the next one or take a break, that way you can get them all done sequentially instead of in parallel, which might be a lot easier on you.
If your muse isn't willing to cooperate on NTH, then put it down for a bit and put out a chapter of something else. If your free gift of awesome stories is becoming a slog, change it up a bit. I'm certain whatever you do end up writing, it will be amazing.
Not the Hero is amazing and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want more, but I, personally, love everything you write! Don't feel too pressured! I'll read anything you write VERY happily! Take some time to write what you want to be writing too!
I'm always happy to beta read. I don't know if you still need anyone, but I'd love to do that for you!
Hello, I am a YouTube-based fan who recently discovered Discord and Q and your highly enjoyable fics.
You probably are aware that the quality consistency and quantity regularity of your output exceeds that of most amateur authors, and apparently that of many published. Many if not most of those authors also don't have children and/or a full-time job.
I am inclined to judge myself against university professors and high-achieving journalists, because that's who I've been surrounded by my whole life. From what I know of you, you also came from an intellectual family.
But when I became a patient in my country's mental health system several years ago I realised how easy it can be for the world's mandarins (I tentatively venture to compare us to) to forget about the grey sea of Thoreau's 'quiet desperation' that surrounds and to an extent supports us, not only in our own countries but in the third world. So, for instance, I was once asked by a social worker how much I drink, and I said "maybe a pint a week", and he said "of what?", because many clients say "vodka".
Individually, we're physically, mentally, and morally fragile animals. So, for instance, my best friend, who has bipolar I and has for years followed all professional advice to a T, still ended up having a manic episode and having to drop indefinitely out of their dream postgrad program. I have postgrad qualifications, but currently only work 25 hours a week.
Collectively, also, we're so irrational that we can only bring ourselves to co-operate to prevent pandemics, space rocks, and space storms from killing all of us by siphoning off resources from enterprises designed primarily to figure out new and better ways to kill some of us.
When I was forced by mental health issues to marinate in this and other absurdisms, I stopped caring so much about how my achievements and standing as regards somebody or something measured up. I became somewhat less motivated by the fear of inadequacy. I learned to be more open to the rewards of detaching from and looking dispassionately at my own insecurities ('feeling the fear and doing it anyway', I guess.)
Thanks for reading all this
Write what you want! Very happy to beta though.
Listen. Not the Hero is in my top five fictions. But the Elements of Oppositions...if that's what you want to write, write that. You'll find more inspiration for Not the Hero when you don't have an unfinished macho man of a fic breathing down your neck.
If it's not too late, I'm pretty sure you know me, and you know my work in editing. You can always ask me to help with your work, as it's been a major inspiration to my own, and you are still 100% invited to work on the fan episode project.