State of the Writer, 2021 · 7:49pm Dec 31st, 2021
Time to end things with a bunch of writing and reviewing stats, because I know everyone loves those.
I hate saying it, but 2020 was honestly a better year for me than 2021. Even though no one had a good year after March of '20, myself included, this year has just... I dunno, maybe it's because in 2020, it seemed like there would actually be an end to the world-plague, whereas this year, we know there just will never be, and it's soul-crushing. Anyone else feel like that?
I spent all of this year in a constant state of stress, anxiety and near-panic, it felt like. And of course that was really bad for me doing stuff!
I published three standalone fics this year: Like a G5 Too, which is far and away the most successful of them. Seeing the movie stirred a bit of the old creative juices, and out came... that. <.< It's actually the first story of mine to get over a thousand views, let alone two thousand, since If I Did It back at the end of 2019. People wanna read G5 fics, we're all excited for new pony, and I think that's neat. :)
Next was Sweet Spinner Finds a Place to Crash, which going by pure numbers was an abysmal failure. It doesn't even have 150 views as I write this; it's my least-viewed story ever! People just aren't that interested in OC fics, I guess, and Burnt Oak doesn't have a character tag for reasons, I'm sure. Then again, it's also got two more comments than--
Rarity Makes a Character for a Superhero RPG. Though I honestly consider this one a big success, especially since I didn't think anyone would be interested in reading it. It hasn't gotten a huge response, but that response has been overwhelmingly positive, so I can be nothing but appreciative. :)
I did also get three other things out this year, a chapter of The Princess's Captain and two entries in Past Conditional. I'm sorry I couldn't do more! D: I did start another chapter for TPC, but my focus has been all over the place and I can't work on things if my muse isn't in them I guess.
Speaking of focus! Guess who got diagnosed with ADHD this year! :B Yeah. 'Bout time. Maybe I can get some help for it finally. All you kids who get mental health diagnoses and special classes in school have it fucking easy and I am insanely jealous of each and every one of you. :')
Along with the abortive chapter, I did actually write a first draft for Someone Steals Rainbow Dash's NFTs, something I had threatened doing last month. But the draft is pure junk, so I have put it in the hands of another in hope he'll whip it into shape. c.c Not something I've ever done before!
Of course, the other reason I haven't been able to put out much is Deltarune. >.>; Ever since chapter 2 dropped in September, I've kind of been obsessed with it. I wrote and published four stories, I might publish a fifth one in the near future, and I've got a sixth idea lined up with cover art even! And some of them have even done decently, which is fun, but that's also a blog for another time. :)
Weirdly, for all that I went all gung-ho on SCPs this year, I also kind of... just stopped with them? And it's not even because anything happened, I just haven't felt the urge to go back since some arbitrary point in the past few months, before Deltarune even. I even stopped reading articles. Not sure what's up there. :/
And yeah, I said I was gonna start The Un-Stable Adventures of Puddles the Idiot this year, and that just did not happen. Again, not sure why, but it probably has to do with Deltarune. Oh well!
So that's all reading. How about reviewing? Well, it also took a hit.
I reviewed 634 stories this year, which is my lowest number ever, I'm pretty sure? Certainly, I didn't do as many minific reviews as normal, that always helps inflate the number by a good 100 or so. There were five vs. posts: a 2.5, a 3.5 and two 2's.
Here's the rest of the ratings breakdown:
634 reviews
N/A 1
H 87 (13.7%)
R 217 (34.2%)
C 220 (34.7%)
V 44 (6.9%)
N 59 (9.3%)
I 1
Pascoite tops the list of author with the most reviewed stories at 38, of course because I did an edition dedicated to him. This is also true of Trick Question, at #2 with 16, and RarityEQM, at #4 with 11. FanOfMostEverything fills that gap with 13 reviews, followed by Jade Ring in 5th place with 9. Interesting!
I listened to 230 audiobooks, totalling 36.3% of my reading this year. Sparrow9642 read the most, at 43, followed by Plagen Shiki at 38 and
Snogwritts at 36, all new readers whose channels I dove through for videos. They're followed closely behind by Scribbler at 33, and then waaaay down at 15 readings is Pony & Wolf Productions taking fifth.
And I think that's all the relevant stuff I have to go over! :O I expect things will continue as they have been. I'm working on not on but two regular reading editions, I'll be doing an audiobook catchup starting in January sometime (I've been able to do a lot of listening to various Youtube channels over the past few months, so I'll have to wait till I've finished with one of those), and otherwise, that's all I have planned. :)
I hope everyone has a good New Year's, and that 2022 is kinder to us than the past two years have been.
You posted this twice btw
I think this was the year I finally ran out of fucks. At this point anything is possible and no matter what it is I can just nod in sage acceptance.
Congrats on all you've accomplished this year. That ain't a small number. <3
I have retired from the gigantic multinational medical corporation, but they can't seem to manage to take me off of their email system, so I still get all the bulletins from CDC, WHO, CAP, and other alphabetic medical organizations. It's not just a feeling. Get ready for quarterly boosters for the rest of your life.
5622617
Oh weird. o.O Literally how? It's taken care of now, anyway.
5622642
I also made a big splash on Youtube, at least big for my standards, so that was neat. :)
5622664
haha wow c.c the world is garbage
luv u
Hey, an accomplishment’s still an accomplishment, buddy. 2021 was in some ways a step back for me too (didn’t do a single video this year), and what projects and goals I did work on moved at a glacial enough pace.
But I think I’m starting to learn to not compare myself to anyone else, or even to myself (in the wrong way) and that’s healthier. Same applies for you, what you’ve done ain’t small. Keep on keeping on.