Not dead, just thinking. (Important) · 7:48pm Oct 23rd, 2020
Hey guys. Today's post is going to be heavy as I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do with my stories moving forward. I want to be completely honest with you, as I'm sure many of you are wondering what I've been up to this entire time. Well, I’ve been writing but have also found myself falling into a rabbit hole that is game creation. It’s been fun but the world has started to cope with the virus and as such, I’ve pretty much returned to work.
This has brought to light an undeniable issue. It takes too long to produce HML chapters. The amount of time investment for one chapter is baffling. Writing, rewriting, editing, consistency checks, it’s a never-ending process that constantly rinses and repeats. To post one chapter with the amount of polish that my story is known for, factoring my current responsibilities, it would take six months or longer.
I just don’t have the time I used to have and perhaps I’m too prideful to post anything less than what I’ve been putting out. So, I’ve been stuck at a crossroads of sorts. Do I just bite the bullet and keep writing at this sluggish pace or do I end the series with a breakdown? I’ve been talking to a few friends and thinking things over but I thought why not ask you guys?
To be honest, I already know the answer but it’s nice to just keep you guys in the loop. As for my other story, ITAV, I’ll most likely keep writing for it, as it doesn’t even take one hundredth the effort that HML does. So I’ll still be around, hence why I’m not making this into a big “I’m leaving” thing.
Anyway, let me know what you think down below.
In my opinion, I say that you put it on hiatus. Because you definitely need to focus on your own life outside of this. But I also think that you shouldn't abandon all of the time and effort you've put into HML. I think that you should leave it for now and return to it whenever you have time and feel like writing. I'm cool with it as long as you update us every once in a while how you're doing. I thought you was mia for awhile there.
For the sake of the quality of the story, just put it on hold, hiatus it or even list it as cancelled over a rushed ending if that's what you mean by ending the series with a breakdown. If you do still want to write the story but don't have the time, we who appreciate it are patient and quality is worth the wait.
I have seen it cancelled once and it nearly broke my heart. Write at your own pace, we can wait. Don't feel guilty for taking too long, we can understand life happens.
I've enjoyed the entire series and I'm willing to wait. Don't feel rushed. Come back to it as time allows.
Taking care of yourself and your more urgent issues are more important, I’d say. Don’t stress yourself trying to push out something amidst all the business that life piles on. I myself can wait, gives me time to read some of your stories I haven’t gotten around to yet! I’d rather it be on hiatus and know you’re still gonna update it eventually than have it be dropped altogether.
Take your time with it i would love to see more of the story, But we can wait. In the end what we think is not the point, just do what is best for you.
I'm willing to wait for chapters, I mean I was sad at first when you decided to end
it but ecstatic that it came back
. Good things come to those who wait and all that so.... however you need to do what you need to do. 
If you already know what you're going to do just do it instead of keeping everyone in suspense. If you don't have the time you don't have the time, there's no point beating around the bush.
List the story as cancelled and be done with it.
In all reality this decision is down to you. I'm sure many others agree with me when I say that I'm willing to wait for for the new chapters, after all we were already doing that. Just remember that your life should come first. I would say just update the story when you have the time and when possible send updates, but, like I said, this is all down to what you want to do with your time, we will be sad to see the story cancelled again but we will accept your decision.
5384299
A "breakdown" would be the general timeline of the entire story. It wouldn't be made into a chapter but a blog post and would tie everything together, albeit not in a satisfying way. Just like "This is A, this is C and there is no B."
5384293 5384319 5384319 5384321 5384335 5384339 5384752 5384815
Thank you for the kind words. I know many of you are understanding but I also get that waiting can be difficult, hence why I wanted to bring up this topic and give you a say in the matter. Obviously, the final choice does fall on me, but it's reassuring to know that despite the complicated circumstances, you guys are open to waiting.
I want to be clear, in case some of you are worrying about it. I do still want to write and I want nothing more than to close the HML story in as satisfying way as the two before it. Hopefully I'll get more free time in the future to produce chapters faster but for the time being things will be sluggish. If worse comes to worst, I'll consider the breakdown, as stated above, so at least there's some closure. Though, if you are willing to wait, I'm willing to write.
I'd love to see it move forward, but I know what a burnout is. When you say 'editing, consistency checks' does it mean it would be possible to find pre-readers to keep that in check?
Obviously, I wouldn't want it to end, since as Crusty said, it broke my heart when it got cancelled last time, but I at least would like to know how it was to end if you so decided. Still, there would be a few people who'd like to help
5384858
I thought that might be the case and it wouldn't do justice to such a wonderful story, as everyone here has already said, we love your work and we are willing to wait for as long as you need.
5384858
All good things come to those who wait. So I'll be here the rest of the way
Its always tragic when a story just falls off the face of the earth. So long as we get periodic check ins, like this, i'm fine with waiting months, or even years, for proper updates.
5384904
It's a wee bit more complicated. What an editor/prereader gets is basically the final product and as such all of the leg work has been done. The only thing they generally have to worry about is puncuation and stuff like that. I can't trust others with the really important stuff, because in the end they're not me and they have their own unique ideas for what the story could be. So while an editor would be nice, it would amount to less than five percent of the total workload.
This is on me. I'm a perfectionist and because of that I get really bothered by the idea of anyone helping with the actual story elements. Certainly not a smart thing considering my situation but this is a story I've put a lot of time into and I'd rather finish it myself.
I'm okay with waiting as long as I get the occasional confirmation that you're well.
Take your time, good stories are worth the wait.
Im sure people are happy to wait as long as it takes,
if i have to wait a year inbetween chapters so be it, that hasn't stopped stories like article II from the infinite expanse of my favorites list, and neither will the same happening to the stuff you produce,
Just. Try not to pull a "last updated 7 years ago" on us, ;P