Another month, and this time as well, another year gone by! First I'll talk about the usual monthly stuff, then after a larger line break I'll talk about the year as a whole.

This last month has felt hectic for me, like I've been constantly having to juggle at least two things at once. I then ended up coming down with a flu (not Covid, I checked,) on Christmas day itself, and couldn't really fully enjoy the time off I had taken to spend with family because of that. Still, I am cognizant of the fact that my issues are still pretty first world issues, and I have almost fully recovered from that illness as of now.

So how did this last month go for me in writing? Just as I expected, I only uploaded one story, and that story also took me a bit longer to write than I would have liked. As for the story itself, A witch's Christmas treat, I am happy with it, and it's doing about average as of the time of this writing in terms of views and favorites. I find it a little curious that it's not doing as well as its Halloween counterpart, but I think maybe that Halloween is generally a little more popular in this community, and also I know that sequels that rely on knowledge from a previous story just kind of automatically not do as well.

How do I expect this coming month to go? I can just about guarantee at this point that only one story will be uploaded, which will be a requested story for my long time returning requester, destiny667. The reason for this isn't that I think it'll take too long for me to both finish it and write another; in fact it would be really nice if I could manage that. It's because for my next personal story after this request, I want to pre-write the next entry for the witch holiday series, Valentine's Day, to release just before that holiday in February. So even if I have that story finished before the end of January, I won't be uploading it yet. Therefore to actually upload two stories this month, I would basically have to finish three stories, which I don't think I'll be capable of doing.



Alright, now let's talk 2023 as a whole for a bit here. In total, I've uploaded 17 regular stories, and 1 CYOA. The CYOA ended up being way behind schedule from where I expected it to be this same time last year. My estimate was it being done in May or June, but instead it was not finished and uploaded until all the way to October. Partially I ended up a bit behind on the big story project I wanted to finish before the CYOA, and partially I had a few turbulent months in the middle of this year that were just plain not good for me in terms of getting writing work done.

For some other numbers for this year, I have gone from 125 comments to 177, (52 more) 321 favorites to 557, (236 more) and 49 watchers to 76. (27 more)

I feel especially thankful at this time in light of everything that this writing is just a hobby for me. I think if I had the pressure of needing this writing to also be a source of income, on top of everything else that happened this year, then I would be a lot more stressed about the state of it. The idea that this year was worse than last year would be more disheartening, whereas instead for me it just feels kind of interesting and curious. Am I disappointed in myself for not doing as well? Well yeah, kind of, but I went into this last year with a different priority for myself than I did the year before. I've been wanting to have more time for myself and other things I want to do than just writing, to keep the writing as something I continue to enjoy doing, instead of burning myself out on it.

The only thing I currently feel more disappointed about is my current request list, or rather, lack thereof. However I am tempering that disappointment because, well, I can't control other people, and I most certainly can't force them to care about my online furry writing. I also know that the worst case scenario is I end up having to write more of my own personal story ideas instead and like, 'wow what a horrible prospect,' the writer said with complete sarcasm in his tone. In seriousness though, it is (usually) nice to write up stories for other people. It makes me get exposed to ideas that I probably never would've thought of on my own, and when the requesters are kind and pleasant to work with, it's a real treat to see them be excited for and enjoy the finished product.

As I said once long ago, yes of course it would be kind of nice if I could make enough money from doing this to have it be my job. However, I know that if it was, I would have to treat it differently than I currently do, take it a lot more seriously, and I would probably start enjoying it less. So in a way, it's also nice that it isn't my job. Here's to a new year, and more fun and enticing furry stories, which I still do not plan on stopping any time soon.

If you read through this whole ramble of mine, then thank you, and I hope you have a good January and a good 2024. If you didn't read through it, then that's okay, I still hope you have a good January and a good 2024. =)