Wow, that's a pretty long story.
Out of curiosity, how long does it take you to write that much?

Well I started it about a month ago, but I put it down for at least a couple weeks since I was busy and lost some inspiration. I'm only writing for my own enjoyment so If I feel excited about it then I'll sit down and crack away at it for a couple hours after work each day. So I guess the short answer is about a month when combined with everyday life.

It's funny though, when I first started this story I knocked out the first four or five-thousand words in two days. After that it was slow going trying to envision how it should all play out. I didn't intend to make it more than like five-thousand words, but by the time I got there I had barely started lol.

My other story Bloody revenge happened a similar way but I put it down for like months before I finally felt inspired to get past where I was stuck with it. I think my secret with this one was making these journal entries. They kind of give me a deadline to stick to. Can't let the people down! XD

And that's the long answer. XD I feel like I naturally work slow on creative writing. It gives me time to re-read and refine ideas. I often get stuck and put it down for a while then have an epiphany moment and get past the block. I come out the gate swinging then tucker myself out and have to regroup lol. Really I think it just boils down to lack of experience in creative writing. I've done plenty of scientific writing, but that's a different world altogether.

Five thousand words in two days is pretty fast. I don't think I could manage that reliably. Though I find the longer I wait to finish something, the harder it becomes.

I was wondering about bloody revenge, in fact. Did you at one point consider a different ending, but then decided to add the 'happy' ending bit afterwards?

Creative stuff you do for fun just takes as long as it takes, can't rush it, really, unless you do it a lot and that might take the fun out of it unless you find it's really your thing. Scientific writing eh? For graduation or are you doing actual science?

Lol yeah it was fast at the start. I was really enjoying it. I still am. the ideas just slowed down after that.

So, it's funny you ask about the ending of bloody revenge specifically. I did originally have a different ending planned. I had a different personality altogether planned for Levy. She was originally going to become kinda evil. I was going to have her force him to take her to a blood bank and she was going to have the ability to control blood and force movement by moving blood. I wasn't going to end it with her just outgrowing the apartment, I was going to have her run rampant in the city and feed on everyone. There was going to be a river of blood and she was going to be huge eventually. I decided against it in the end because I was enjoying her good side and I really wanted to be done with the story after a while.

Yeah pretty much all of my scientific writing was for my marine science degree. I do however work in a marine science lab but I am more of a field technician. I assist with field and lab experiments, run boats, scuba dive and a plethora of other things all in the name of science. My lab does a lot of water quality monitoring for the lakes and bays of Long Island NY. We do shellfish restoration projects, Kelp aquaculture, and sometimes we do offshore work where we are at sea for a couple days. It's fun until it's 3am and you know you're hardly going to get to sleep for another day lol. It's definitely a unique type of career.

I see. Hmmm. Can't say I wouldn't have enjoyed that ending. ;) (I love the story arc of 'creating a monster'.) But this is fine too. I was actually kind of expecting the 'original' ending to be just where she just leaves him, presumably to continue her feeding elsewhere.

That sounds like a pretty nice and important job! And not too far off from what you studied for. (And pretty close to what I wanted to do when I was younger.) I did get a degree myself decades ago but could never find any kind of work even remotely related to it. It's alright though, since I found my real passion much later in life anyway.

Yes, I am happy I went with the good ending. It seemed to flow naturally. And yeah I wanted it to seem like she was just leaving him behind so it would be a little more rewarding when she returned transformed for him.

And thank you. I appreciate that. It is important to find something you are passionate about. And if you can make a living doing it, that's even better. I never envisioned myself involved in harmful algal bloom research since my degree was in marine vertebrates haha. I should have majored in marine invertebrates because I always wanted to hunt for the giant squid when I was kid lol. The Japs beat me to it! XD

I am looking forward to reading this story.

I'm happy to hear that! I am having a little trouble writing out the end. I know basically how I want it to go but I am a little bit unmotivated at the moment. I want to be feeling it when I'm writing it you know? I'll get there. I'd like to have it done this weekend if I have time. We'll see. Sorry for the wait. I appreciate your interest! It adds a little motivation. :)

I also had trouble with the ending of my story, and I ended up deleting five thousand words from the last chapter to end with a nice closing. But my favourite kind of ending is what Greviste did.

I don't know what he did but I am assuming based on the tags of your story it's planet eating lol.

What Greviste did in their story. https://www.furaffinity.net/view/46454379/

Thanks for the recommendation!

Why did you take down that story, I thought it was good.

someone recommended I take it down because it seemed to feature underage technically since the dragon was small at the start and they said their stuff had been taken down for having small dragons that looked that way even though it was not the intention. There was some kind of indiscriminate crackdown going on they informed me so I just took it down.