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Your favorite wolf returns
a year ago
General
Hello friends!
I am planning a long-awaited return to the furry porn scene! This post will outline my plans re: coming back to write. Please leave your thoughts in the comments. I appreciate any and all feedback.
For my return, here's what I'm contemplating.
1) Reduced complexity: I tried a lot of things before my hiatus. You might remember ambitious projects like the VN, COS, collabs with artists, CYOA stories, taking long form commissions (5k-10k), or various subscription attempts. These things contributed enormously to my burnout. Especially long form commissions. A story's complexity -- and therefore time commitment -- scales nonlinearly with its length. Writing a 60k word novel is not the same as writing 30 short stories.
So this time around I'm not going to have open comms or artist collabs. Instead, I will put out semi-regular fixed price YCH for people to claim, complete with a synopsis of a story idea and character roles. These YCHes will be classic short stories: single topic of focus, single primary conflict.
YCH stories will be similar to my last-minute kinktober from 2023. Those were a lot of fun: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54166598/
2) Less pricing ambiguity: You already know I hate the wordcount pricing model. Writing to hit a certain wordcount is cruel and unusual punishment (and not the fun kind) for this writer. And it doesn't really make sense either. It's the equivalent of an artist charging per brushstroke or pixel.
So I'm moving permanently away from wordcount pricing (doing only YCHes makes this possible). Each YCH story will be unconstrained in wordcount. I will let the story take me where it wants to go. You might get a 2k story, or a 5k story, or something else entirely. Since it's character role based, I'll adjust the price for the slot based on the involvement of the character. This makes the pricing fair for everyone.
3) No more subscriptions: I also dislike the patreon monthly-patronage model as it keeps the creator to a schedule and forces the customer to spend even if there is no immediate benefit. Paywalls tickle me the wrong way at an aesthetic level (after having tried it, so it's not sour grapes). No more subscriptions from Jimmy.
Instead, I will regularly solicit feedback for possible YCH and other story ideas via FA (or twitter). Free and open participation for all.
4) More personal works: As you saw with the cowboy story, I do enjoy writing for myself. I hope y'all don't mind I post more personal writing here.
5) Wrapping up COS: This relates to my complexity point. I'll wrap up COS as a 2-act novel. That would be the last novel-length work you'll see from me. This is a bit of a mixed bag of feelings because I do enjoy these long projects, but I don't like having it hang over me like a little raincloud. I hate the feeling of having one more thing to finish.
OKAY. Now it's time for your feedback.
Q1: How do you feel about YCHes only? Is it more appealing or less appealing than commissions? Have you ever seen them done with writing?
Q2: How do you feel about pricing by role rather than word count? Does the ambiguity scare you or excite you? Keep in mind my 100% money-back guarantee won't change -- I think providing peace of mind is the duty of the artist.
Q3: Is there something you want to see in my work? Speak up ^.^
Cheers,
Jimmy Belvins (the canine outlaw)
I am planning a long-awaited return to the furry porn scene! This post will outline my plans re: coming back to write. Please leave your thoughts in the comments. I appreciate any and all feedback.
For my return, here's what I'm contemplating.
1) Reduced complexity: I tried a lot of things before my hiatus. You might remember ambitious projects like the VN, COS, collabs with artists, CYOA stories, taking long form commissions (5k-10k), or various subscription attempts. These things contributed enormously to my burnout. Especially long form commissions. A story's complexity -- and therefore time commitment -- scales nonlinearly with its length. Writing a 60k word novel is not the same as writing 30 short stories.
So this time around I'm not going to have open comms or artist collabs. Instead, I will put out semi-regular fixed price YCH for people to claim, complete with a synopsis of a story idea and character roles. These YCHes will be classic short stories: single topic of focus, single primary conflict.
YCH stories will be similar to my last-minute kinktober from 2023. Those were a lot of fun: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54166598/
2) Less pricing ambiguity: You already know I hate the wordcount pricing model. Writing to hit a certain wordcount is cruel and unusual punishment (and not the fun kind) for this writer. And it doesn't really make sense either. It's the equivalent of an artist charging per brushstroke or pixel.
So I'm moving permanently away from wordcount pricing (doing only YCHes makes this possible). Each YCH story will be unconstrained in wordcount. I will let the story take me where it wants to go. You might get a 2k story, or a 5k story, or something else entirely. Since it's character role based, I'll adjust the price for the slot based on the involvement of the character. This makes the pricing fair for everyone.
3) No more subscriptions: I also dislike the patreon monthly-patronage model as it keeps the creator to a schedule and forces the customer to spend even if there is no immediate benefit. Paywalls tickle me the wrong way at an aesthetic level (after having tried it, so it's not sour grapes). No more subscriptions from Jimmy.
Instead, I will regularly solicit feedback for possible YCH and other story ideas via FA (or twitter). Free and open participation for all.
4) More personal works: As you saw with the cowboy story, I do enjoy writing for myself. I hope y'all don't mind I post more personal writing here.
5) Wrapping up COS: This relates to my complexity point. I'll wrap up COS as a 2-act novel. That would be the last novel-length work you'll see from me. This is a bit of a mixed bag of feelings because I do enjoy these long projects, but I don't like having it hang over me like a little raincloud. I hate the feeling of having one more thing to finish.
OKAY. Now it's time for your feedback.
Q1: How do you feel about YCHes only? Is it more appealing or less appealing than commissions? Have you ever seen them done with writing?
Q2: How do you feel about pricing by role rather than word count? Does the ambiguity scare you or excite you? Keep in mind my 100% money-back guarantee won't change -- I think providing peace of mind is the duty of the artist.
Q3: Is there something you want to see in my work? Speak up ^.^
Cheers,
Jimmy Belvins (the canine outlaw)
Q1. Its semi-appealing, but some people prefer to have "some" input. Doesn't have to be much, but the difference in a necklace or a collar makes a difference to some people ^^.
Q2. I love the new pricing! Its less stress-inducing for the writer and the buyer.
Q3. Not really, the usual topics are fine (or surprise us with more) ^^
3. If you get enough people bothering you about wanting to send money your way, I think there are pay on output models.
4. I think the best artwork comes from personal projects. I look forward to it.
5. I personally like the big multipart stuff, especially with the way you write, but understand where you're coming from. If you ever do feel like doing it again, maybe don't say anything about it until its complete and then release it all at once, or drip it out over a couple weeks. If no one knows it exists, there is no obligation to complete, unless you would feel an obligation to yourself, then disregard everything in this point.
Are you still going to keep your site going? It is a much better reading experience?
Q1: personally, I prefer standard commissions over them. They offer more flexibility as both a client and writer/artist if you ask me, and I still adore the ones you’ve done for me. I’d love to get another done by you some day, but YCHs are also very fun and I’d imagine you can do much more with them compared to illustration. A good mix of both that won’t burn you out is how I’d personally tackle it, but I’d rather have you roll with whatever you’re the most chill with :)
I’m very much a fan of all the settings you’ve come up with, so YCHs could be a great way to have our OCs get a taste of them ;3
Q2: it honestly sounds like a fairer system to me, since word count pricing can get pretty expensive and doesn’t necessarily reflect the amount of time and effort put into the story.
Q3: More micro and meta fiction could be fun! I’d also love to see you’d share some more world building about how the “trades” in your stories tend to operate nyehehe
It’s great to have you back on here! I can’t wait to see what peak you’ll write up next :3
As both a Commissioner and a Writer who has sold stories to other FA members for comm money (both short form 1k - 2k and a whopping 15k), I think I admire this choice. It seems to be far easier on the writer and any future commissioners who might not know what they want for a story. It also prevents the artist from drowning in details and having to keep track of all of them while writing. Overall it's a great idea. Hell, I might adapt the model myself after seeing it in action!
I can't say I've seen your version done, but I've seen similar where writers offer a five keyword limit at a fixed price. I think your version is far more reliable and upfront in terms of what the commissioner receives.
Q2: How do you feel about pricing by role rather than word count?
I'm 50/50 if only because while I completely agree that charging per word is odd, it's also the most reliable way to track effort and progress. Artists charge based on finished effort and I think that's the best way to go, but since writing primarily relies on the reader's comprehension skills as much as it does the writer's own ability to depict scenes and emotions properly, it's much harder to put a set price on it. On top of this, admittedly it's hard to tell what charging based on character involvement would even look like. If nothing else, it might be even more unreliable than word count. Perhaps having set prices for specific word ranges would be better? That's just my two cents.
I'm eager to see how you make this work because after seeing it in action I might quickly change my mind. A majority of my hesitancy is purely due to lack of exposure to it.
Q3: Is there something you want to see in my work?
Honestly I'd enjoy seeing more personal work from you, but you mentioned you planned on doing so already so I await with eager eyes!
(These not being in any particular order)
Q1. YCH only
Personally I’m just happy to read more of your work although a little sad that I won’t be able to commission you in the future since in my case fighting over slots in YCHes spooks me a little bit. While I feel that a mix of both YCH and commissions could work, with your focus mainly being on YCHes and the occasional commission. With commissions being more or less at your discretion when or whether you choose to take them or not.
4. Personal works
This is perfectly fine, since in my case I’m reading for what you bring to you work, not necessarily the characters, of course the characters involved also do help, but I don’t think anyone is opposed to you writing for yourself.
Again, welcome back, no need to feel pressured, take your time, don’t burn yourself out doing things you don’t or would rather not do, just enjoy your writing and the time doing it.
Q2: YES, YES, YES, that's a pain I relate to so much, it's advantageous for both sides: the commissioner gets the right amount of words without getting a sensation that the writer "stretched" or "curled up" the scenes (for instance, I've always felt my endings are a bit underwhelming due to the word count limit), while the writer can unleash their fantasy in their style, especially since every writer operates best with different word counters and every scene works best with a variable number of words (detailed landscape descriptions vs high speed action scenes)
Q3: Nothing new at all, it's perfect as it is~