Chapter Six Part 1 Up! (March 8th) · 6:10am Mar 8th, 2021
And so it begins.
The first part of Chapter Six is now up. Straight into the thick of it. Why post it now? Because I wanted to give you all some extra time to take in the investigation and think about it before we get into the trial proper, since you had more time for every other trial.
There is a lot I would love to say, but I can’t just yet. So instead what I’m going to do here is take just a little bit of time to thank you all. All of you who’ve kept up with the story from the start, whether you’ve been commenting or not, whether you only favorited and read from the shadows, or if you’re a constant active participant. All of you are appreciated by me so much, you have no idea.
I’ve learned a lot, in writing this story. I’ve learned not only how to write better than I used to, but I also gained a greater understanding of what readers will think I’m saying in a story versus what I think they’re going to think I’m saying. I found myself frequently doubting certain things as too obvious, only to find again and again I was wrong. And that’s good! It means I’m learning. Learning is good. And I value it highly.
I’ve also gained a greater appreciation for what the writers of mysteries in general, and games like Danganronpa in specific, must have to go through in order to create the mysteries they do. It is not easy. The sheer number of ideas I’ve discarded along the way… you’ve all heard about some of them, but there are so many more I either didn’t talk about or outright forgot about entirely.
I still have yet to decide if I’m going to do a sequel to this story. Cruise Mode is one possible thing I could choose to do, but as some of you may have seen from my blog entry the other day, there’s another idea itching in my mind ready to go. I’m being pulled in several different directions with what I want to do with writing, and that’s great. It’s great because I know what I can accomplish now.
I’ve mentioned in comments I have mental health issues. Without going into serious detail, one of them makes it very difficult for me to complete projects. While I’ve finished lots of little short tales, like the ones you’ve seen me throw up over the past couple of weeks, up until this story… I had never finished a long work. I’ve tried, again and again, over and over for decades to do so, and never accomplished it.
Till now. I know I’ve probably said this elsewhere before, either individually to some of you or in some comment or some author’s notes and promptly forgot that I did. I know I’m repeating myself. But it’s important for me to state how much I appreciate the fact that I’ve managed to actually finish something. And not just anything either, but a work almost five hundred thousand words long. I started writing this less than three weeks before it started posting. From October 1st, 2020 to February 15th, 2021, I wrote an average of three and a half thousand words per day. Now, in reality not everything was written at such an even pace. There were a few days here and there where I wrote nothing, a couple of others where I literally banged out ten thousand words in a single day, and so on.
Even so, that’s still a ridiculous pace. A lot of authors on FIMFic that try to write things like what I have, they take years to get to what I did in just one hundred and thirty six days. Now, I have a couple of small advantages, in that I have a job that gives me free time to write on my Chromebook, and I work from home, and… have, like, no life at all. So I did spend the vast majority of my free time on this story.
But I loved doing it, even if it was occasionally a bit frustrating. And believe you me, it was. There were times, especially with Chapter Three, where all I wanted to do was tear my hair out over trying to get it to work right. Writing has firmly established itself as a passion. Finding passions in life isn’t easy, especially not in a world that tries to do everything it can to squeeze every last drop of work out of people and toss them in the trash when it’s done.
The artwork that I did for this story was also quite frustrating at times, and yet I loved doing that even more. Sure, it’s not the most amazing or incredible artwork ever… but it’s mine. I did it. I accomplished it. And that means something.
And of course let's not forget the artwork that has been contributed, by Stummm and Rainstorm Riddles. Their hard work was well worth it and is appreciated. 
So thank you. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the wild ride we’ve been on thus far, and I hope you enjoy what’s yet to come.
Seven parts remain.
I need to get reading
Well, give yourself a pat on the back for the growth you've gained through making this story. I think I can speak for all other fans when I say it was 100% worth it!
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Thank you. Your support in particular has been wonderful to hear each and every time.
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