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December 2023
General | Posted 2 years agoHey there any regular readers, here I am with my usual monthly journal update, this month a bit later than usual. Definitely not for lack of free time over the last few days, but I've had some other stuff I was trying to get done. This last month has felt a bit stressful for me personally, but it's almost entirely based around First World Problems, not anything that's actually life threatening or severe, so I know I shouldn't truly complain about them. Especially not here.
So how did it go for me this last month in terms of writing here? A pretty mixed bag, with two stories uploaded, both requested stories, which I did to make up for doing two personal stories in a row before that. I'm going to go out of order and start by talking about the second story I uploaded this month, Darkest Faerie, Reddest Lips. At time of this writing, that story has zero favorites, and like, less than a third the number of views I tend to get on my stories. I feel like, that's at least partially on me, for a couple reasons. One, I didn't promote the story; normally I like to promote my stories on the Discord server for the artist Burgerkiss, in a section where people are allowed to do that sort of thing. However, between it only being a Mature story and not an Adult story, and arguably not a furry story either, I felt like there wasn't much relevance for me posting a link there outside of just, "it's something I wrote and I've linked stuff I wrote here before." Two, on top of that, I feel like I might've phoned it in a bit on that story; between the kink that I just wasn't personally interested in and being asked to write outside of my norm in multiple ways, I wasn't personally feeling it that much while writing it; almost felt more like an obligation or a chore than a hobby project. Though, I am glad that at least the person who requested it liked it. However, for the ways I think it's not entirely on me, is that it's certainly different from my usual content and thus different than what my personal audience expects, and I expect it just doesn't appeal much to a good portion of my usual readers. I mean after all, you come to a person because they make X, and one day they make Y, that doesn't mean you're going to like Y, nor should that be expected of you if it just isn't something you're interested in. Fandom loyalty can only go so far, and that's especially true for small creators who don't have a large reputation behind them, y'know, like myself. All this to say that, while I do feel a little disappointed, I don't hold it against anyone, except maybe myself, and even then, not very much. I'm content with the fact that sometimes what I write turn out to be a dud, and that it's better for me to just move on than get hung up on it. (I know that might seem like the opposite of what's going on after I wrote this large paragraph on it, but I think that's just a side effect of being transparent and honest about the whole thing.)
Anyway, moving on to the first story I wrote this month, Service for a Life. By contrast, this story has done pretty well, with a decent number of views and, at the time of this writing, almost double the number of favorites I tend to get on my stories. This being despite the fact that I was personally a little uncomfortable with the dynamic in play between the characters, but the kinks I was fine with, and I think it shows in the reception.
As always, I really don't worry that much about the numbers of views and favorites. It doesn't upset me if I story I personally liked flops and a story I didn't like working on does great. At the end of the day, I'm doing this as a hobby, for myself first and foremost. Even though I don't worry about it and it doesn't upset me, I still find it interesting and fascinating to compare. So far, though this is mostly speculation on my part, it looks like that when I write a story I personally like the idea of, it does a lot better here, probably for a variety of reasons. I've gotta say, that feels very reassuring, in a way that I find it hard to put into words. It makes me feel excited to get back on track with stories I'm more into. =)
So speaking of, how do I expect this coming month to go in terms of writing? Well being honest, I kind of expect that I'll only get one story finished and uploaded this month. My work schedule is picking back up to my standard pace, and I have been struggling a little when thinking about exactly how I want my next story to go. I know what the story is going to be though: A Christmas themed sequel to my Halloween story, which I will hopefully be able to finish before the holiday in question. Even if I'm not quite done by Christmas day itself though, I think I will have it finished before the end of the month, and hopefully I'll already be started on the next requested story by the first of next year. Unfortunately as I said, I personally don't think that I'll be able to finish both the Christmas story and the requested story, even though I don't know yet what the requested story will be.
Alright, that's my rambling for this month done. If you read through this whole thing, I wish you have a good December, and a happy winter holiday, whichever of them you personally celebrate. Even if you didn't read it, I still wish you have a good December, and happy winter holiday anyway. =)
So how did it go for me this last month in terms of writing here? A pretty mixed bag, with two stories uploaded, both requested stories, which I did to make up for doing two personal stories in a row before that. I'm going to go out of order and start by talking about the second story I uploaded this month, Darkest Faerie, Reddest Lips. At time of this writing, that story has zero favorites, and like, less than a third the number of views I tend to get on my stories. I feel like, that's at least partially on me, for a couple reasons. One, I didn't promote the story; normally I like to promote my stories on the Discord server for the artist Burgerkiss, in a section where people are allowed to do that sort of thing. However, between it only being a Mature story and not an Adult story, and arguably not a furry story either, I felt like there wasn't much relevance for me posting a link there outside of just, "it's something I wrote and I've linked stuff I wrote here before." Two, on top of that, I feel like I might've phoned it in a bit on that story; between the kink that I just wasn't personally interested in and being asked to write outside of my norm in multiple ways, I wasn't personally feeling it that much while writing it; almost felt more like an obligation or a chore than a hobby project. Though, I am glad that at least the person who requested it liked it. However, for the ways I think it's not entirely on me, is that it's certainly different from my usual content and thus different than what my personal audience expects, and I expect it just doesn't appeal much to a good portion of my usual readers. I mean after all, you come to a person because they make X, and one day they make Y, that doesn't mean you're going to like Y, nor should that be expected of you if it just isn't something you're interested in. Fandom loyalty can only go so far, and that's especially true for small creators who don't have a large reputation behind them, y'know, like myself. All this to say that, while I do feel a little disappointed, I don't hold it against anyone, except maybe myself, and even then, not very much. I'm content with the fact that sometimes what I write turn out to be a dud, and that it's better for me to just move on than get hung up on it. (I know that might seem like the opposite of what's going on after I wrote this large paragraph on it, but I think that's just a side effect of being transparent and honest about the whole thing.)
Anyway, moving on to the first story I wrote this month, Service for a Life. By contrast, this story has done pretty well, with a decent number of views and, at the time of this writing, almost double the number of favorites I tend to get on my stories. This being despite the fact that I was personally a little uncomfortable with the dynamic in play between the characters, but the kinks I was fine with, and I think it shows in the reception.
As always, I really don't worry that much about the numbers of views and favorites. It doesn't upset me if I story I personally liked flops and a story I didn't like working on does great. At the end of the day, I'm doing this as a hobby, for myself first and foremost. Even though I don't worry about it and it doesn't upset me, I still find it interesting and fascinating to compare. So far, though this is mostly speculation on my part, it looks like that when I write a story I personally like the idea of, it does a lot better here, probably for a variety of reasons. I've gotta say, that feels very reassuring, in a way that I find it hard to put into words. It makes me feel excited to get back on track with stories I'm more into. =)
So speaking of, how do I expect this coming month to go in terms of writing? Well being honest, I kind of expect that I'll only get one story finished and uploaded this month. My work schedule is picking back up to my standard pace, and I have been struggling a little when thinking about exactly how I want my next story to go. I know what the story is going to be though: A Christmas themed sequel to my Halloween story, which I will hopefully be able to finish before the holiday in question. Even if I'm not quite done by Christmas day itself though, I think I will have it finished before the end of the month, and hopefully I'll already be started on the next requested story by the first of next year. Unfortunately as I said, I personally don't think that I'll be able to finish both the Christmas story and the requested story, even though I don't know yet what the requested story will be.
Alright, that's my rambling for this month done. If you read through this whole thing, I wish you have a good December, and a happy winter holiday, whichever of them you personally celebrate. Even if you didn't read it, I still wish you have a good December, and happy winter holiday anyway. =)
November 2023
General | Posted 2 years agoHello again, to whoever reads these. I hope you all had a good Halloween, or at least not a bad one. October was a bit of a strange month for me, with some ups and downs, but ultimately I suppose I really cannot complain about much.
So, how did this last month go for me in writing? Good, though not as good as it could have been, all things considered. While my week from the 9th to the 15th was pretty busy work wise, like I said in my last journal entry, after that... My work schedule has actually been so free that I'm basically getting too few hours. This is not me about to ask for money or fishing for pity though, as my life is in a good enough position that it's just going to squeeze my disposable income budget a bit, and not actually be a problem. So I probably could have diverted more of that time to writing, but mostly I spent a lot of my time in October relaxing.
So, for my story uploads first I had my attempt at writing a CYOA, Simona's special experiment, which has some curious results to it in my opinion. At the time of this writing, it technically it has 18 total favorites, but that's divided between 7 uploads with some people giving multiple parts a favorite, so I wouldn't really count it as 18. To be specific, after checking the favorites on all of the entries, only 5 different people left favorites, so that's the number I would consider to be the real one. 5 is the average amount of favorites I usually get on my uploads, so it pretty much did perfectly average. That has the potential at least to be promising I think; since if I could reach my average amount of popularity on it with my first attempt, then hypothetically if I get better at it, later entries could draw in more attention... On the other hand, that story took pretty much twice the effort to write as my other stories usually do; while that doesn't mean I expected it to draw twice the amount of attention, it does mean that it makes me feel a little hesitant about writing more in the future, since I know very well that it was a very small CYOA, and most readers looking for a CYOA are probably expecting more than just four endings. Thus I would expect that in order for me to write the kind of CYOA that would really draw in more attention, I would have to spend even more time and effort on it, which at least at this time, is not something I feel like doing.
Second I had my little cheat story, Fun times with(out) an old friend, which I had already finished writing months ago. As what I'm pretty sure is my shortest story I've uploaded onto the site, it was curious to me to see how it would be received, too. Would it being more bite sized draw in more people looking for a quick read to fap to, or would it alienate my normal audience? Well it looks like it did more of the latter, as it has performed below average with only 3 favorites at the time of this writing. It's alright though; as usual, a smaller number of favorites doesn't really bother me. In fact, it kind of has a reassurance to it, that the longer length I'm more naturally inclined to also resonates more with my audience. Though, I found it a little nice as a change of pace, having been easier to write than my other stories I've written through the past few months, so I wouldn't say I'll never write a story that short again.
Lastly, pre-written in the middle of the month and released right before the end of the month, I had A witch's Halloween trick, which has performed very nicely with an above average 8 favorites at the time of this writing. I know it probably drew in some more attention than usual with the holiday theming, which alone could account for the extra favorites. I find that nice and promising then, as I've been thinking for a good while that I would like to pre-write stories centered around certain events, then upload them at those times. Stories themed for Halloween, Christmas, No Nut November, (or rather, anti No Nut November, =P) and joke stories for April Fools are all things I've been wanting to make a try at, and I might even consider more holidays if there's any that people would like to suggest. Though, there's only so many that I could realistically fit in a year, so the list would probably stay fairly limited in the end regardless.
Well then, a decent October, so how do I expect November to go for me? Well, the last few days I have been stalled on writing because of a bit of a crisis of faith on my part. By which I mean actual religious faith, not as a metaphor for my passion to write or something like that. I'd rather not get into the details of it more than that, but I hope that by tomorrow I can get my motivation and dedication back and resume my writing momentum on my current project in progress. That being another requested story for my long standing repeat requester, destiny667. Because I delayed it to write a second personal story in a row, (which destiny667 was alright with after I discussed it with them in private,) my intention is to do another requested story next after that, then resume back to my usual back and forth schedule. If I can indeed get my writing momentum back up, then I feel reasonably confident that I should get those two requested stories uploaded during November, as it's looking like my work schedule will continue to be very light for the time being. After that for my next personal story I was planning to pre-write the Christmas themed sequel to A witch's Halloween trick, aiming to upload that probably a couple days before Christmas. Of course, that's just the hope, and we'll just have to see if that all pans out.
Alright, that's my rambling for this month done. If you read through this whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a nice day and a good November. Even if you didn't read through it, I hope you have a nice day and a good November anyway. =)
So, how did this last month go for me in writing? Good, though not as good as it could have been, all things considered. While my week from the 9th to the 15th was pretty busy work wise, like I said in my last journal entry, after that... My work schedule has actually been so free that I'm basically getting too few hours. This is not me about to ask for money or fishing for pity though, as my life is in a good enough position that it's just going to squeeze my disposable income budget a bit, and not actually be a problem. So I probably could have diverted more of that time to writing, but mostly I spent a lot of my time in October relaxing.
So, for my story uploads first I had my attempt at writing a CYOA, Simona's special experiment, which has some curious results to it in my opinion. At the time of this writing, it technically it has 18 total favorites, but that's divided between 7 uploads with some people giving multiple parts a favorite, so I wouldn't really count it as 18. To be specific, after checking the favorites on all of the entries, only 5 different people left favorites, so that's the number I would consider to be the real one. 5 is the average amount of favorites I usually get on my uploads, so it pretty much did perfectly average. That has the potential at least to be promising I think; since if I could reach my average amount of popularity on it with my first attempt, then hypothetically if I get better at it, later entries could draw in more attention... On the other hand, that story took pretty much twice the effort to write as my other stories usually do; while that doesn't mean I expected it to draw twice the amount of attention, it does mean that it makes me feel a little hesitant about writing more in the future, since I know very well that it was a very small CYOA, and most readers looking for a CYOA are probably expecting more than just four endings. Thus I would expect that in order for me to write the kind of CYOA that would really draw in more attention, I would have to spend even more time and effort on it, which at least at this time, is not something I feel like doing.
Second I had my little cheat story, Fun times with(out) an old friend, which I had already finished writing months ago. As what I'm pretty sure is my shortest story I've uploaded onto the site, it was curious to me to see how it would be received, too. Would it being more bite sized draw in more people looking for a quick read to fap to, or would it alienate my normal audience? Well it looks like it did more of the latter, as it has performed below average with only 3 favorites at the time of this writing. It's alright though; as usual, a smaller number of favorites doesn't really bother me. In fact, it kind of has a reassurance to it, that the longer length I'm more naturally inclined to also resonates more with my audience. Though, I found it a little nice as a change of pace, having been easier to write than my other stories I've written through the past few months, so I wouldn't say I'll never write a story that short again.
Lastly, pre-written in the middle of the month and released right before the end of the month, I had A witch's Halloween trick, which has performed very nicely with an above average 8 favorites at the time of this writing. I know it probably drew in some more attention than usual with the holiday theming, which alone could account for the extra favorites. I find that nice and promising then, as I've been thinking for a good while that I would like to pre-write stories centered around certain events, then upload them at those times. Stories themed for Halloween, Christmas, No Nut November, (or rather, anti No Nut November, =P) and joke stories for April Fools are all things I've been wanting to make a try at, and I might even consider more holidays if there's any that people would like to suggest. Though, there's only so many that I could realistically fit in a year, so the list would probably stay fairly limited in the end regardless.
Well then, a decent October, so how do I expect November to go for me? Well, the last few days I have been stalled on writing because of a bit of a crisis of faith on my part. By which I mean actual religious faith, not as a metaphor for my passion to write or something like that. I'd rather not get into the details of it more than that, but I hope that by tomorrow I can get my motivation and dedication back and resume my writing momentum on my current project in progress. That being another requested story for my long standing repeat requester, destiny667. Because I delayed it to write a second personal story in a row, (which destiny667 was alright with after I discussed it with them in private,) my intention is to do another requested story next after that, then resume back to my usual back and forth schedule. If I can indeed get my writing momentum back up, then I feel reasonably confident that I should get those two requested stories uploaded during November, as it's looking like my work schedule will continue to be very light for the time being. After that for my next personal story I was planning to pre-write the Christmas themed sequel to A witch's Halloween trick, aiming to upload that probably a couple days before Christmas. Of course, that's just the hope, and we'll just have to see if that all pans out.
Alright, that's my rambling for this month done. If you read through this whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a nice day and a good November. Even if you didn't read through it, I hope you have a nice day and a good November anyway. =)
October 2023
General | Posted 2 years agoIt's that spooky time of year again, and we're here after another month. I've personally had a good month on the IRL side of things, but not so much on the writing department. So, let's get started here.
Obviously, I didn't get anything uploaded this last month. I uh... Actually kind of forgot that my last upload was at the end of August and not the start of September; if I had remembered that, I probably would have gone ahead and uploaded that small, technically finished story. In fact, I actually had some intentions to do so this last week, but I ended up getting busy with things. As for the CYOA, well if you see my current status on it on my profile description, it's actually just about done and ready to upload, and took me basically all month to do. Now yes, it being a CYOA and harder than a normal story did contribute to that, but honestly it's only a small part of it; even as big as it was and the extra work on it, I probably could have still done it in two weeks at most under more favorable circumstances. Work only had me busy a few times this last month, ruining maybe 5 days total that could have been spent working on it, so it wasn't that much either. No, the biggest factors that kept me away from working on the CYOA as much was getting to replay a game from my childhood that I thought I would never get to play again, and getting to spend more time than usual this last month hanging out with my IRL friends. Hence why I said it was actually a pretty good month for me on the IRL side of things.
And how do I expect this coming month to go? Well, fairly good, though in part because I'll get to cheat a bit. The CYOA should be uploaded relatively soon, hopefully just after the weekend, and I'll see about uploading that other finished story as well. So even if disaster strikes in terms of my writing after that, I should have two stories uploaded for sure, with one of them being a CYOA. Next up for actual writing, though I'll be waiting a few days before getting started, will be another requested story. If I can get that done in a reasonable time this month, then I was thinking for my next personal story, I might try writing something fitting for the Halloween time. (Or perhaps the requester will want something fitting for Halloween.) Oh, and as for how I expect things to be in terms of me being able to write, hopefully well. I'm actually in the middle of a vacation time that's started for me, though I'm uncertain how much more of that time will be spent with IRL friends and such, and I know I'll be busy two days this coming week, I am otherwise on free time until at least the 9th. Unfortunately after that though I think I may get busier with work, as that seemed to be the way it was heading before I started my vacation.
Anyway, here's to another month, with some things actually uploaded this time! If you read through this whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good October and a happy Halloween. Even if you didn't read through it, I hope you have a good October and a happy Halloween anyway. =)
Obviously, I didn't get anything uploaded this last month. I uh... Actually kind of forgot that my last upload was at the end of August and not the start of September; if I had remembered that, I probably would have gone ahead and uploaded that small, technically finished story. In fact, I actually had some intentions to do so this last week, but I ended up getting busy with things. As for the CYOA, well if you see my current status on it on my profile description, it's actually just about done and ready to upload, and took me basically all month to do. Now yes, it being a CYOA and harder than a normal story did contribute to that, but honestly it's only a small part of it; even as big as it was and the extra work on it, I probably could have still done it in two weeks at most under more favorable circumstances. Work only had me busy a few times this last month, ruining maybe 5 days total that could have been spent working on it, so it wasn't that much either. No, the biggest factors that kept me away from working on the CYOA as much was getting to replay a game from my childhood that I thought I would never get to play again, and getting to spend more time than usual this last month hanging out with my IRL friends. Hence why I said it was actually a pretty good month for me on the IRL side of things.
And how do I expect this coming month to go? Well, fairly good, though in part because I'll get to cheat a bit. The CYOA should be uploaded relatively soon, hopefully just after the weekend, and I'll see about uploading that other finished story as well. So even if disaster strikes in terms of my writing after that, I should have two stories uploaded for sure, with one of them being a CYOA. Next up for actual writing, though I'll be waiting a few days before getting started, will be another requested story. If I can get that done in a reasonable time this month, then I was thinking for my next personal story, I might try writing something fitting for the Halloween time. (Or perhaps the requester will want something fitting for Halloween.) Oh, and as for how I expect things to be in terms of me being able to write, hopefully well. I'm actually in the middle of a vacation time that's started for me, though I'm uncertain how much more of that time will be spent with IRL friends and such, and I know I'll be busy two days this coming week, I am otherwise on free time until at least the 9th. Unfortunately after that though I think I may get busier with work, as that seemed to be the way it was heading before I started my vacation.
Anyway, here's to another month, with some things actually uploaded this time! If you read through this whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good October and a happy Halloween. Even if you didn't read through it, I hope you have a good October and a happy Halloween anyway. =)
September 2023, and a question on CYOA upload
General | Posted 2 years agoAnd here I am with my usual monthly journal entry, a little late this month; right at the start of the month I had a stretch of work and then plans with friends, so I was a bit too busy and distracted to focus on this. Here I am now though, to update people on how I think I did this last month, and how I expect this coming month to go.
So how did this last month go for me? Well, not great. I did technically upload two things, but one of them was just a character sheet project, which was just a single day thing. So the only project of any real significance was the requested story, My cat became a busty horny catgirl waitress!? As of the time of this writing, it has a bit over half the average views that my stories usually get, and less than half of the favorites. I think it's to be expected a bit; it's a story that has enough adult content in it that I felt the need to still give it an adult rating, but is not an outright erotica, so the usual audience that would read adult rated content wouldn't be as interested in it. It doesn't bother me that it's doing not as well as my other uploads though. The request itself was a surprise to me; I didn't think anyone on this website would make a request that I write something that wasn't erotica.
And how do I expect this coming month to go? On my real life side of things it so far looks like it will be better, with me not being as busy with work as I was last month. (Hopefully I am not jinxing it by saying that.) For the writing though, it's a harder guess for me to make. My next story plan, as some of you may know, is to make my first attempt at a (simple) CYOA. I know it will probably take more work than one of my usual stories would, but how much more, I can't be certain at this time. The point is, I would not be surprised if it takes me enough time this month to write that I don't have the time to finish a second story on top of that. Of course, I could finally upload that really short requested story that is finished, but I haven't uploaded yet because I'm waiting on the requester; I am about at the point where I'm ready to go ahead and upload it and stop waiting.
Now, as mentioned in the journal title, I have a question for anyone who actually reads this. That is, how do you think I should go about actually uploading the CYOA? My initial plan was that the starting point, and each branch/ending from the choices would all be their own uploads, with links in the descriptions to get to the chosen branch. However, a friend of mine actually had a different idea because he wasn't sure how I would do it, and that was to make it all in one big upload, with a, 'for this choice, ctrl+f this unique code' method that would take the reader to the top of the segment they chose. That was something I hadn't even considered as a possibility, but now that I have it, I have to wonder which option would be the better choice for a reading experience.
Anyway, whether or not you have an opinion on the question I asked, if you took the time to read this whole thing, then thank you, and I wish you have a good September. Even if you didn't read it, I wish you have a good September anyway. =)
So how did this last month go for me? Well, not great. I did technically upload two things, but one of them was just a character sheet project, which was just a single day thing. So the only project of any real significance was the requested story, My cat became a busty horny catgirl waitress!? As of the time of this writing, it has a bit over half the average views that my stories usually get, and less than half of the favorites. I think it's to be expected a bit; it's a story that has enough adult content in it that I felt the need to still give it an adult rating, but is not an outright erotica, so the usual audience that would read adult rated content wouldn't be as interested in it. It doesn't bother me that it's doing not as well as my other uploads though. The request itself was a surprise to me; I didn't think anyone on this website would make a request that I write something that wasn't erotica.
And how do I expect this coming month to go? On my real life side of things it so far looks like it will be better, with me not being as busy with work as I was last month. (Hopefully I am not jinxing it by saying that.) For the writing though, it's a harder guess for me to make. My next story plan, as some of you may know, is to make my first attempt at a (simple) CYOA. I know it will probably take more work than one of my usual stories would, but how much more, I can't be certain at this time. The point is, I would not be surprised if it takes me enough time this month to write that I don't have the time to finish a second story on top of that. Of course, I could finally upload that really short requested story that is finished, but I haven't uploaded yet because I'm waiting on the requester; I am about at the point where I'm ready to go ahead and upload it and stop waiting.
Now, as mentioned in the journal title, I have a question for anyone who actually reads this. That is, how do you think I should go about actually uploading the CYOA? My initial plan was that the starting point, and each branch/ending from the choices would all be their own uploads, with links in the descriptions to get to the chosen branch. However, a friend of mine actually had a different idea because he wasn't sure how I would do it, and that was to make it all in one big upload, with a, 'for this choice, ctrl+f this unique code' method that would take the reader to the top of the segment they chose. That was something I hadn't even considered as a possibility, but now that I have it, I have to wonder which option would be the better choice for a reading experience.
Anyway, whether or not you have an opinion on the question I asked, if you took the time to read this whole thing, then thank you, and I wish you have a good September. Even if you didn't read it, I wish you have a good September anyway. =)
August 2023
General | Posted 2 years agoWell, another month has gone by, and I figure I should go ahead and make my usual update journal for my regular followers. I meant to try to get this done yesterday, but I was dealing with some other stuff, including a rather annoying issue going on with online transactions not working properly. However, it's nothing that I can't survive without, so I will live.
So, how did this last month go for me? The weeks where I did have work turned out a little more hectic than I was anticipating, but I did get two stories finished... Yet only one uploaded so far. If you've kept up with my other journal entries you may recall I had, well, not really a problem per se, but a thing going on where one of the requesters in line was having trouble thinking up a story idea. Well, they finally had a story idea, and though the outline was simple and relatively short, they liked it a lot, so I went ahead and wrote the story. I was wanting to give them a chance to read the draft and say if they wanted it to be longer... And they unfortunately have not had the chance to actually read it yet. They've been rather busy, apparently. I'm not impatient though, so I have kept it ready in the background and went ahead and started on my own personal story.
Thus, my only actual upload for this last month, The Old Wager Finale, which has done a little bit below average compared to most of my uploads, but dang I am really happy with it regardless. It feels pretty good to have a series complete and finished.
What do I expect from this coming month? Well, I will be getting back to work, and I kind of expect it to be hard. Up next will be a fairly quick project of the character sheet for the Old Wager series characters. I might have already done it by now if it wasn't for the online transaction stuff stressing me out... Anyway, after that will be a requested story, and while it's hard for me to guess how long it will take me exactly, I doubt it will take the entire month. If I'll have the time after that to finish a second proper story before the end of the month though, only time will tell.
I hope you all have a good August, whether you read this journal entry or not! Stay safe in the heat out there! =)
So, how did this last month go for me? The weeks where I did have work turned out a little more hectic than I was anticipating, but I did get two stories finished... Yet only one uploaded so far. If you've kept up with my other journal entries you may recall I had, well, not really a problem per se, but a thing going on where one of the requesters in line was having trouble thinking up a story idea. Well, they finally had a story idea, and though the outline was simple and relatively short, they liked it a lot, so I went ahead and wrote the story. I was wanting to give them a chance to read the draft and say if they wanted it to be longer... And they unfortunately have not had the chance to actually read it yet. They've been rather busy, apparently. I'm not impatient though, so I have kept it ready in the background and went ahead and started on my own personal story.
Thus, my only actual upload for this last month, The Old Wager Finale, which has done a little bit below average compared to most of my uploads, but dang I am really happy with it regardless. It feels pretty good to have a series complete and finished.
What do I expect from this coming month? Well, I will be getting back to work, and I kind of expect it to be hard. Up next will be a fairly quick project of the character sheet for the Old Wager series characters. I might have already done it by now if it wasn't for the online transaction stuff stressing me out... Anyway, after that will be a requested story, and while it's hard for me to guess how long it will take me exactly, I doubt it will take the entire month. If I'll have the time after that to finish a second proper story before the end of the month though, only time will tell.
I hope you all have a good August, whether you read this journal entry or not! Stay safe in the heat out there! =)
July 2023
General | Posted 2 years agoAnd here we are after another month, with things in the world feeling like they're actually maybe getting better, though it's hard to be sure if it's really the case, or just a mirage of hope that will clear way to harsh reality in time. As usual though, for myself in my personal life, things are fine. In fact, the harshness of my work schedule has finally cleared up, and I'm getting a lot more free time lately. There's plenty of drama going on at work with members of management being at odds with each other, but since I'm not feeling so overworked currently, it still feels like an improvement.
So, how'd this last month go for me? Finally, after months of saying it and being wrong, I actually got two stories uploaded, though only just. Both of them, 'To the Victor Goes the Spoils' and 'The Eighth Old Wager' have performed a little below average compared to the stories I've uploaded before, but I'm still happy with them. As mentioned in the description of The Eighth Old Wager, I've found a new balance as of late between my writing and other hobbies in my life; the result has meant a slower progress on them than I've had in the past, but I've been able to do more things that I've also been wanting to do with my time. I've been able to do more playing games, watching the occasional movie, revisiting an old series from my childhood. I've been feeling better recently, even as world news continues to seem grim.
How do I expect this coming month to go? It's hard for me to say, on the story front. The good news is that it looks like my work load is going to remain light, and I'm supposed to have the last week of the month off completely from work, so I can dogsit for my parents. So I should have plenty of free time, and though I can't guarantee that will definitely mean more time spent on writing, it will at least mean that I'll have more opportunity to. The bad, or rather 'bad' news is, like with last month, the nature of the upcoming stories themselves. First up will be a rather simple requested story, which should be fairly short to work on. After that, the finale to the Old Wager series, which I expect to be very long. Definitely longer than the Eighth Old Wager, maybe the longest entry in the entire series. (Then its character sheet which will probably be done in like a single day, maybe two tops.)
I've no particular story to share this time, but I wish all of you well. I know that things are still hard in some places in the world, with violent conflicts, nasty weather conditions, and more. I also know that my simple words on the internet can't do anything to offer you genuine assistance, but I can at least hope that they make your mood a little better, and your days a little more bearable. If you read through this whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good July. Even if you didn't read through it all, I hope you have a good July anyway. =)
So, how'd this last month go for me? Finally, after months of saying it and being wrong, I actually got two stories uploaded, though only just. Both of them, 'To the Victor Goes the Spoils' and 'The Eighth Old Wager' have performed a little below average compared to the stories I've uploaded before, but I'm still happy with them. As mentioned in the description of The Eighth Old Wager, I've found a new balance as of late between my writing and other hobbies in my life; the result has meant a slower progress on them than I've had in the past, but I've been able to do more things that I've also been wanting to do with my time. I've been able to do more playing games, watching the occasional movie, revisiting an old series from my childhood. I've been feeling better recently, even as world news continues to seem grim.
How do I expect this coming month to go? It's hard for me to say, on the story front. The good news is that it looks like my work load is going to remain light, and I'm supposed to have the last week of the month off completely from work, so I can dogsit for my parents. So I should have plenty of free time, and though I can't guarantee that will definitely mean more time spent on writing, it will at least mean that I'll have more opportunity to. The bad, or rather 'bad' news is, like with last month, the nature of the upcoming stories themselves. First up will be a rather simple requested story, which should be fairly short to work on. After that, the finale to the Old Wager series, which I expect to be very long. Definitely longer than the Eighth Old Wager, maybe the longest entry in the entire series. (Then its character sheet which will probably be done in like a single day, maybe two tops.)
I've no particular story to share this time, but I wish all of you well. I know that things are still hard in some places in the world, with violent conflicts, nasty weather conditions, and more. I also know that my simple words on the internet can't do anything to offer you genuine assistance, but I can at least hope that they make your mood a little better, and your days a little more bearable. If you read through this whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good July. Even if you didn't read through it all, I hope you have a good July anyway. =)
June 2023
General | Posted 2 years agoAnother month gone, and what a turmoil of a month it has been- well, for me personally, anyway. Not in any significantly bad way, just in a, 'where did all my time go' kind of way. Remember how I mentioned in my last journal that I would have a week off in the middle of the month? Well, I spent the majority of that time off recovering from a minor medical procedure and figuring out what I would be writing next, rather than actually doing any of said writing, so I basically didn't get any story writing done during that week at all, instead of the extra writing I was hoping to get done during it. Then when I started back into work, my work hours were feeling more pressing, leaving me with so little time on the nights between my work shifts for anything, including writing.
Now I'm not going to act like I'm completely blameless here though; certainly at least in part it is my own fault, spending a lot of time on YouTube mainly. (I could probably stand to shave off a subscription or two there of those I'm not really that into anymore though, but I'll have to think about which ones I care least about.) EDIT: Something I'm going to try is slightly changing the order I normally do things during the day, at least on days off, to put more of a priority on getting some writing done, which I think should help.
So, how'd this last month go for me? Unfortunately it turned into another one upload month, with that upload being the seventh entry in the Old Wager series. It's done about average for my uploads, and the series still seems strong with my most regular commenters. So, of course I'm still happy with it personally, even if it's not doing exceptionally or anything.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Alright, for real this time, and hopefully I'm not jinxing this by saying it once again, but I think it should go better, with probably two uploads. For starters, it's looking a bit like my work load might be getting easier on me, at least for the next week; I can't guarantee it will stay that way for the rest of the month, though. The next thing is that as of the time of this writing, I'm already a good chunk of the way done on the next story; it's got 3 of its 6 segments done, and I'm very close to finishing the 4th. (I probably will in just an hour or two after uploading this journal entry, in fact.) Plus, the segments have always been a approximate measurement, based on the segments I separated the outline story beats into; for this particular story, I expect the 5th and 6th segments to probably be shorter than the other segments, so they should go by pretty quickly. After that I'll be getting into the Eighth entry of the Old Wager series; as I mentioned last month, I do expect it to be a large entry, but I have the important parts of it pretty thought out already, plus I'm personally excited to write it, both of which I'm hoping will be factors leading to it being written faster than I've been doing with other stories lately.
As for after that, I don't know how close I'll be to the end of the month by then, but I do have my doubts that I'll fit those in plus another requested story, even if it's a short one. I guess we'll see though! Mainly I just hope that this coming month isn't as rough for me as this last month was.
Anyway, as always I wish you all a good June, and happy pride month, whether you read this whole thing or not. =)
Now I'm not going to act like I'm completely blameless here though; certainly at least in part it is my own fault, spending a lot of time on YouTube mainly. (I could probably stand to shave off a subscription or two there of those I'm not really that into anymore though, but I'll have to think about which ones I care least about.) EDIT: Something I'm going to try is slightly changing the order I normally do things during the day, at least on days off, to put more of a priority on getting some writing done, which I think should help.
So, how'd this last month go for me? Unfortunately it turned into another one upload month, with that upload being the seventh entry in the Old Wager series. It's done about average for my uploads, and the series still seems strong with my most regular commenters. So, of course I'm still happy with it personally, even if it's not doing exceptionally or anything.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Alright, for real this time, and hopefully I'm not jinxing this by saying it once again, but I think it should go better, with probably two uploads. For starters, it's looking a bit like my work load might be getting easier on me, at least for the next week; I can't guarantee it will stay that way for the rest of the month, though. The next thing is that as of the time of this writing, I'm already a good chunk of the way done on the next story; it's got 3 of its 6 segments done, and I'm very close to finishing the 4th. (I probably will in just an hour or two after uploading this journal entry, in fact.) Plus, the segments have always been a approximate measurement, based on the segments I separated the outline story beats into; for this particular story, I expect the 5th and 6th segments to probably be shorter than the other segments, so they should go by pretty quickly. After that I'll be getting into the Eighth entry of the Old Wager series; as I mentioned last month, I do expect it to be a large entry, but I have the important parts of it pretty thought out already, plus I'm personally excited to write it, both of which I'm hoping will be factors leading to it being written faster than I've been doing with other stories lately.
As for after that, I don't know how close I'll be to the end of the month by then, but I do have my doubts that I'll fit those in plus another requested story, even if it's a short one. I guess we'll see though! Mainly I just hope that this coming month isn't as rough for me as this last month was.
Anyway, as always I wish you all a good June, and happy pride month, whether you read this whole thing or not. =)
May 2023, changing my shout policy, and writing advice
General | Posted 2 years agoAnd here we are, another month has gone by, and this time I'm officially a year older. After I do my usual stuff for this journal entry, I wanted to give a bit of practical writing advice, so if you want to skip to that or not read it at all, it will be after the, '...' but before that I wanted to mention a little change to my own personal policy of interaction here on FA. I actually decided on the change in March, and meant to mention it in my April journal... But forgot to, whoops.
Anyway, the change is to when I leave shouts on people's pages to thank them for stuff. You may have noticed that before I liked to do it for each and every favorite and such, to show my appreciation. While I still appreciate each and every favorite, I really do, out of a feeling of... Well, for lack of a better term, 'cringe', I've decided that I will not leave a shout to thank someone for a favorite if there is already another shout from me still on their profile page. Back when I started here it didn't bother me, but over time it started feeling kind of awkward. (You can see on the page of my main regular reader, destiny667, the shout feed is still almost entirely me. >_>) Point is, I just wanted everyone to know that's why I'm not always leaving shouts anymore, like I was before. (I still intend to leave shouts for someone adding me to their watch list even if there's a previous shout from me still there, though. I feel those are a little more important, so.)
Alright, so how did this last month go for me? Well, not great, writing wise. I only got one story uploaded, 'Of betrayal and love', which has an around average amount of views and favorites. So why only one upload? Not only did it take me longer after the story before it to really get started, the story itself ended up a bit long, and real life was making it difficult for me to really spend a lot of time on it, with some days where I couldn't get any progress in on it at all. (Besides Saturdays, which I don't write on regardless.) It also doesn't really help that I had almost a week between uploading it and really being able to get started on the next story, for which I don't even have the outline finished for yet. (I probably will get it finished later tonight though.)
Well then, how do I expect this coming month to go? As always, I hope for better, and this time I do have some reason to think it should actually be better. Right now, as I'm typing this, I'm still on some time off for my birthday, and I don't have to go back to work until the 4th. In addition to that, I'm actually going to have the 15th through the 21st also off. While I don't intend to dedicate all of that time to writing, as I have other things I'd also like to do with that free time, I do think that I should be able to get more writing done during that time off than I would between work days. Will it be enough for me to maybe even upload three stories this coming month? I feel like... Probably not. First up will be the Seventh Old Wager, and while I don't think it will necessarily be a really long one, I don't think it will be especially short either. After that of course will be a requested story, for which I can't currently make a guess at how long it might take. The real problem is the story after that though, the Eighth Old Wager, which I know will be a long one, so I highly doubt that I'll be able to finish it after two other stories this month, even if both of the other stories don't take long. I do hope that I'll at least have it already started though, so I hope to have two stories uploaded this month.
...
So, I thought I'd add a little bit of practical writing advice here on this journal entry. Specifically, some things I've found for that one problem that I'm sure everyone who has tried to write before has run into. You're sitting there, writing app of choice open. You know the story you want to write; you've been brainstorming it for the past week, if not longer... And you're just staring at the blank page, your mind stuck on what to start writing.
Yes, in other words, how do I deal with the dreaded Writer's Block? I have found in my experience that there are three key things to do to combat Writer's Block. Having an outline, having the right mood, and having momentum, which I'll go through one at a time here.
First, having an outline. Now I know what you may be thinking, "I have the whole thing in my head, why would I need an outline? It's just like writing the thing twice; it's a waste of my time." I know because I used to think like that too, and dismissed the idea of using outlines, until I saw someone else's advice about using one. I thought about it, and decided I'd go ahead and try it out, at least once, to see if it really made a difference. (You can see that first instance of me using an outline here on Fur Affinity; my first story, 'Becoming more than friends', is the first time I ever wrote with an outline.) Man, let me tell you, it turns out it makes a big difference. Using an outline was like finding the secret Easy Mode option for writing I didn't know existed; it doesn't just help me when I'm first starting a story either, but helps me resume writing on a story after setting it down too. Now, there's no one right way to make an outline; if you look in my scraps you can see all of the outlines I made for my own stories, but you don't have to copy my outline style if there's a different way you'd like to do it. What I can tell you is, think of the outline as being for the story what an initial sketch is for a traditional artist's finished work. The two aspects you need for an outline is to have it be simple, and readable by yourself. Have it have the information you need to recollect your own ideas to yourself. Don't worry about making it all fancy and perfect, because it doesn't need to be, nor should it have to be. Yes, writing an outline takes some time that you could have spent already starting on the story itself, but in my experience, the amount of time and effort my outlines have saved me in the long term has more than made up for it.
Second, having the right mood. This one is, perhaps obviously, very subjective for exactly what works, but basically if you're finding that you're really struggling in actually feeling motivated to write, you probably need to change the mood. The main thing I recommend is music, as that's usually the easiest to change; for myself personally, it's calm and relaxing tracks, sometimes with added rain ambiance or such, specifically without lyrics, as I find those distract me from my writing. However, I know very well that just because that's what works for me, doesn't mean it works for everyone. Don't be afraid to experiment with different genres or such if what you're currently trying isn't working; or perhaps what used to work for you might someday stop working, and you'll have to find something else. If what works for you is heavy metal, or podcasts about alien conspiracies, then that's what works for you.
Third, having momentum. I have found that just like moving physical objects, writing has momentum to it. Basically, if you're already writing, it's easy to continue writing. However, if you're not writing, then it can be difficult to start writing. So how do you fix this? Start writing. I know, "easier said than done," right? Well I mean, literally start writing anything. Whether it's some completely nonsensical thing a character starts doing that they would never would normally, jotting down ideas for other stories, starting a critique for something you recently watched, what you're thinking about at that moment, whatever, just start writing down something. You can go back and delete it later, so don't worry about whether it fits; alternatively, if you're on a desktop or laptop, just open up a different text document to start writing your nonsense on. The point is you've just got to get into the flow of putting words on the screen, and once you have, you should find that starting to actually write your story again is much easier than it was before you wrote down your unrelated thing.
I hope that maybe that advice helps anyone else with their difficulty with writing, or getting started on writing. =)
Alright, that's my monthly journal entry/ramble complete. If you read through the whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good May. If you didn't read through the whole thing, that's okay, I still hope you have a good May anyway. =)
Anyway, the change is to when I leave shouts on people's pages to thank them for stuff. You may have noticed that before I liked to do it for each and every favorite and such, to show my appreciation. While I still appreciate each and every favorite, I really do, out of a feeling of... Well, for lack of a better term, 'cringe', I've decided that I will not leave a shout to thank someone for a favorite if there is already another shout from me still on their profile page. Back when I started here it didn't bother me, but over time it started feeling kind of awkward. (You can see on the page of my main regular reader, destiny667, the shout feed is still almost entirely me. >_>) Point is, I just wanted everyone to know that's why I'm not always leaving shouts anymore, like I was before. (I still intend to leave shouts for someone adding me to their watch list even if there's a previous shout from me still there, though. I feel those are a little more important, so.)
Alright, so how did this last month go for me? Well, not great, writing wise. I only got one story uploaded, 'Of betrayal and love', which has an around average amount of views and favorites. So why only one upload? Not only did it take me longer after the story before it to really get started, the story itself ended up a bit long, and real life was making it difficult for me to really spend a lot of time on it, with some days where I couldn't get any progress in on it at all. (Besides Saturdays, which I don't write on regardless.) It also doesn't really help that I had almost a week between uploading it and really being able to get started on the next story, for which I don't even have the outline finished for yet. (I probably will get it finished later tonight though.)
Well then, how do I expect this coming month to go? As always, I hope for better, and this time I do have some reason to think it should actually be better. Right now, as I'm typing this, I'm still on some time off for my birthday, and I don't have to go back to work until the 4th. In addition to that, I'm actually going to have the 15th through the 21st also off. While I don't intend to dedicate all of that time to writing, as I have other things I'd also like to do with that free time, I do think that I should be able to get more writing done during that time off than I would between work days. Will it be enough for me to maybe even upload three stories this coming month? I feel like... Probably not. First up will be the Seventh Old Wager, and while I don't think it will necessarily be a really long one, I don't think it will be especially short either. After that of course will be a requested story, for which I can't currently make a guess at how long it might take. The real problem is the story after that though, the Eighth Old Wager, which I know will be a long one, so I highly doubt that I'll be able to finish it after two other stories this month, even if both of the other stories don't take long. I do hope that I'll at least have it already started though, so I hope to have two stories uploaded this month.
...
So, I thought I'd add a little bit of practical writing advice here on this journal entry. Specifically, some things I've found for that one problem that I'm sure everyone who has tried to write before has run into. You're sitting there, writing app of choice open. You know the story you want to write; you've been brainstorming it for the past week, if not longer... And you're just staring at the blank page, your mind stuck on what to start writing.
Yes, in other words, how do I deal with the dreaded Writer's Block? I have found in my experience that there are three key things to do to combat Writer's Block. Having an outline, having the right mood, and having momentum, which I'll go through one at a time here.
First, having an outline. Now I know what you may be thinking, "I have the whole thing in my head, why would I need an outline? It's just like writing the thing twice; it's a waste of my time." I know because I used to think like that too, and dismissed the idea of using outlines, until I saw someone else's advice about using one. I thought about it, and decided I'd go ahead and try it out, at least once, to see if it really made a difference. (You can see that first instance of me using an outline here on Fur Affinity; my first story, 'Becoming more than friends', is the first time I ever wrote with an outline.) Man, let me tell you, it turns out it makes a big difference. Using an outline was like finding the secret Easy Mode option for writing I didn't know existed; it doesn't just help me when I'm first starting a story either, but helps me resume writing on a story after setting it down too. Now, there's no one right way to make an outline; if you look in my scraps you can see all of the outlines I made for my own stories, but you don't have to copy my outline style if there's a different way you'd like to do it. What I can tell you is, think of the outline as being for the story what an initial sketch is for a traditional artist's finished work. The two aspects you need for an outline is to have it be simple, and readable by yourself. Have it have the information you need to recollect your own ideas to yourself. Don't worry about making it all fancy and perfect, because it doesn't need to be, nor should it have to be. Yes, writing an outline takes some time that you could have spent already starting on the story itself, but in my experience, the amount of time and effort my outlines have saved me in the long term has more than made up for it.
Second, having the right mood. This one is, perhaps obviously, very subjective for exactly what works, but basically if you're finding that you're really struggling in actually feeling motivated to write, you probably need to change the mood. The main thing I recommend is music, as that's usually the easiest to change; for myself personally, it's calm and relaxing tracks, sometimes with added rain ambiance or such, specifically without lyrics, as I find those distract me from my writing. However, I know very well that just because that's what works for me, doesn't mean it works for everyone. Don't be afraid to experiment with different genres or such if what you're currently trying isn't working; or perhaps what used to work for you might someday stop working, and you'll have to find something else. If what works for you is heavy metal, or podcasts about alien conspiracies, then that's what works for you.
Third, having momentum. I have found that just like moving physical objects, writing has momentum to it. Basically, if you're already writing, it's easy to continue writing. However, if you're not writing, then it can be difficult to start writing. So how do you fix this? Start writing. I know, "easier said than done," right? Well I mean, literally start writing anything. Whether it's some completely nonsensical thing a character starts doing that they would never would normally, jotting down ideas for other stories, starting a critique for something you recently watched, what you're thinking about at that moment, whatever, just start writing down something. You can go back and delete it later, so don't worry about whether it fits; alternatively, if you're on a desktop or laptop, just open up a different text document to start writing your nonsense on. The point is you've just got to get into the flow of putting words on the screen, and once you have, you should find that starting to actually write your story again is much easier than it was before you wrote down your unrelated thing.
I hope that maybe that advice helps anyone else with their difficulty with writing, or getting started on writing. =)
Alright, that's my monthly journal entry/ramble complete. If you read through the whole thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good May. If you didn't read through the whole thing, that's okay, I still hope you have a good May anyway. =)
April 2023 and me not having an April Fools' joke
General | Posted 2 years agoAnother month gone by, and we're all still here. Time for another of my rambly journal entries where I look back at the previous month and how things went, and where I personally expect the coming month to go. Unfortunately I don't have an April Fools' joke to put here; no I'm not just saying that to lure you into a false sense of security and then hit you with the joke later. I really just don't have a clever joke to put in this. I do have something amusing in a kind of annoying way that's been going on to share, but it's not an April Fools' joke.
Anyway, so how'd this last month go for me? Well as I expected last month, I finished two stories. Unfortunately I am not in the process of another story yet, but I'll get to that later. First there was Sweet Benefits Part three, finishing off that series and my first foray into writing in second person. It has done quite well, once again repeating that pattern of having more favorites and more views than the previous entry in the same series, which still baffles me personally, but oh well. After that was the Sixth Old Wager, which has done about average for my stories. Even though the story that was my idea has done worse than the story that wasn't my idea, I'm not really disappointed; I knew the Sixth Old Wager was going to be a simpler entry in the series, and of course it's the sixth entry in a series, (twelfth, if we're counting the (Un)Fair Wager series as a whole,) so that it would still do 'okay' is perfectly fine by me. Besides, even if nobody liked my personal stories but me, I'd probably still be writing them anyway at this point, so I don't really worry about it.
So how do I expect this coming month to go? Well first I should explain the thing that's been going on. If you've noticed my main profile page UP NEXT section you may have noticed that it's been a week since I last uploaded and I still haven't started on the next story yet, which is longer than I usually take for my between-story breaks. It's a request slot, and the first person up was that person I've mentioned before who couldn't come up with a story idea; again, just like before, I don't hold it against them. I then moved on to the next person in line, who apparently doesn't actually know English and communicates with me in Polish which I have to translate... Yeah, if you're thinking that sounds familiar, you're not crazy. Though I cannot technically prove it, I'm about 99% certain this is the same Polish individual who back around January of 2022 got banned and made a bunch of alt accounts. As I mentioned in a couple of journals at the time, I have no idea what got them banned, and I have nothing against them personally. Since they have technically followed my personal request requirements otherwise, (and have been effectively forced out of my request list for over a year at this point,) I figured I would give them a chance. However, the back and forth has been slow on account of both the language barrier issue and that their ideas so far have been things I either won't write or I can tell I wouldn't have any fun writing, so I've been denying those ideas. Either we'll get it resolved soon, or I'll lose patience and boot them out of the line and move on to the next person in the queue; whichever the case, I should hopefully be back to working on writing by April 3rd or 4th.
If I can get started writing by then, then well, I hope to get two stories done by the end of the month. My next personal story slot is going to be the Seventh Old Wager of course, which might be a bit of a longer one, though probably not super long. My personal expectation is that I'll finish it either shortly before or shortly after the end of April, so either I'll have two stories uploaded in April, or just one but have the other close to ready to upload. That's my guess anyway, but I suppose we'll find out.
Alright, that's my journal entry and letting people know what's going on with my uploads done. As always, if you read through the entire thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good April. Even if you didn't read through the whole thing, I still hope you have a good April anyway. =)
Anyway, so how'd this last month go for me? Well as I expected last month, I finished two stories. Unfortunately I am not in the process of another story yet, but I'll get to that later. First there was Sweet Benefits Part three, finishing off that series and my first foray into writing in second person. It has done quite well, once again repeating that pattern of having more favorites and more views than the previous entry in the same series, which still baffles me personally, but oh well. After that was the Sixth Old Wager, which has done about average for my stories. Even though the story that was my idea has done worse than the story that wasn't my idea, I'm not really disappointed; I knew the Sixth Old Wager was going to be a simpler entry in the series, and of course it's the sixth entry in a series, (twelfth, if we're counting the (Un)Fair Wager series as a whole,) so that it would still do 'okay' is perfectly fine by me. Besides, even if nobody liked my personal stories but me, I'd probably still be writing them anyway at this point, so I don't really worry about it.
So how do I expect this coming month to go? Well first I should explain the thing that's been going on. If you've noticed my main profile page UP NEXT section you may have noticed that it's been a week since I last uploaded and I still haven't started on the next story yet, which is longer than I usually take for my between-story breaks. It's a request slot, and the first person up was that person I've mentioned before who couldn't come up with a story idea; again, just like before, I don't hold it against them. I then moved on to the next person in line, who apparently doesn't actually know English and communicates with me in Polish which I have to translate... Yeah, if you're thinking that sounds familiar, you're not crazy. Though I cannot technically prove it, I'm about 99% certain this is the same Polish individual who back around January of 2022 got banned and made a bunch of alt accounts. As I mentioned in a couple of journals at the time, I have no idea what got them banned, and I have nothing against them personally. Since they have technically followed my personal request requirements otherwise, (and have been effectively forced out of my request list for over a year at this point,) I figured I would give them a chance. However, the back and forth has been slow on account of both the language barrier issue and that their ideas so far have been things I either won't write or I can tell I wouldn't have any fun writing, so I've been denying those ideas. Either we'll get it resolved soon, or I'll lose patience and boot them out of the line and move on to the next person in the queue; whichever the case, I should hopefully be back to working on writing by April 3rd or 4th.
If I can get started writing by then, then well, I hope to get two stories done by the end of the month. My next personal story slot is going to be the Seventh Old Wager of course, which might be a bit of a longer one, though probably not super long. My personal expectation is that I'll finish it either shortly before or shortly after the end of April, so either I'll have two stories uploaded in April, or just one but have the other close to ready to upload. That's my guess anyway, but I suppose we'll find out.
Alright, that's my journal entry and letting people know what's going on with my uploads done. As always, if you read through the entire thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good April. Even if you didn't read through the whole thing, I still hope you have a good April anyway. =)
March 2023, and my first memory of watching DBZ
General | Posted 3 years agoAnother month and we're still here, and I'm writing another rambling journal entry. I thought I'd try something a little different though, and add something fun as well to this; plus I told this story to a couple of my coworkers and one of them said I should share it online somewhere, and I realized I could here. I won't guarantee I'll do this every month; this may end up being the only time, but I figured I'd try it. So after I do my usual monthly recap and explaining where I expect next month to go, I'll include at the bottom my story of the first time I ever watched Dragon Ball Z...
Alright, so how did this last month go for me? Though I didn't get the three stories I was kind of hoping for done, I did still upload two, as I expected. First was the Fifth Old Wager, which has done fairly well; I'm glad that people are continuing to enjoy the series, and it makes me more eager to finish it. Having already planned ahead a fair deal, I am starting to think that an epilogue for the Old Wager series may actually be likely after all. After that was Healing For A Master part two, making its unexpectedly early debut since it was not originally slated to be the next requested story in line. It hasn't done as well as the Fifth Old Wager has, but it's done alright... In fact, at the time of this writing, it has more views and more favorites than part one does; the favorites I can understand, if someone enjoyed the second part but didn't particularly enjoy the first part, then so be it, but I'm a bit confused about the view count being higher. It makes me wonder how that happened.
Anyway, as for how I expect this next month to go, it's a little hard to say but my personal guess is I'll have two stories done and be in the process of a third by the end of the month. This current week is a busy one for me, work wise, but I don't know if it's going to continue to be like that for the rest of the month, or if I'll be getting short hour weeks at work like I was last month. Of course, I noticed that even with less work, my writing output didn't really speed up that much; I have had more distractions of other forms going on lately, but I do still feel a bit disappointed in myself. Even more so from the fact that I'm not currently sure what I could do to speed back up again.
...
Okay, so my story of the first time I ever watched Dragon Ball Z. First, some context, I don't remember exactly what age I was, but I'm pretty sure I was at least 7, and no older than 10; which would put this in the late 1990s to early 2000s. I knew Dragon Ball Z existed; I'd heard the name being passed around, seen commercials for tie in toy lines and stuff, but I'd never actually had the chance to watch the show myself. I didn't even really know anything about what it was about; I just knew that everybody who ever mentioned it said it was really good. I was over at this birthday party of a boy I didn't really know that well, but we went to the same church and I ended up on the invite list somehow. We're doing normal birthday party stuff as a bunch of boys, then he says something like, "oh guys, I've got to show you this thing; it's the coolest ever!" He took us to what I think was his parents' bedroom; I remember there being a big bed, which we sat along the end of, and in front of the bed was a waist-high dresser against the wall with a large television on it. On which, he starts to play some Dragon Ball Z thing. I do not know if it was the show or one of the movies or what; I just know that he goes to the climactic scene at the end or something, and this is the way I remember it going down:
It's this scene of some area out in the middle of nowhere with some flat top plateaus as the only things around. Two guys are facing off against each other, though I didn't even realize at first that it was two different guys. See, the way I absorbed stuff back when I was little, especially animated things, meant that only certain aspects of characters stuck out to me as things to identify them with, in this case their hair and skin tone. The problem being that these two characters, who I would find out years later were Goku and Vegeta, have skin tones and hair so similar that to young me at the time, they might as well have been identical; I could not tell them apart whatsoever. One of the two (I still could not tell you which) goes into a monologue moment, maybe internal maybe out loud, and goes like this. "Ugh, he's too powerful. I'm going to have to take it to the NEXT... POWER LEVEL!" That was something that stuck out to me, the way they said it; they didn't just say, 'next power level' like any normal person, but instead got louder and had more emphasis as they said 'next', then paused for like an entire second, before yelling 'power level' with even more emphasis. Then, he starts going all, "HaaaAAAH!" and powering up, for what I'm pretty sure was at least thirty seconds, before firing off some kind of energy beam attack at the second guy. As far as I could tell, the second guy just stood there the entire time the first guy was charging up, and didn't do anything to try to avoid or protect himself from the attack, and just takes it right on the chin.
So the second guy gets knocked to the ground, looking kind of beat up, then starts getting up. Then he starts having a monologue moment, where he goes, "ugh, he's too powerful. I'm going to have to take it to the NEXT... POWER LEVEL!" Yes, I remember him saying pretty much the exact same thing, in the exact same way. Then of course he starts charging up, for like a bit longer than the first guy did, then fires a somewhat larger energy attack at the first guy. Who, as far as I could tell, just stood there the entire time and didn't do anything to try to avoid or protect himself from the attack, and just takes it right on the chin... And I remember it just going back and forth like that, slightly escalating the amount of charging up and the size of the energy attack, with the same exact monologue line happening, like five or six times, for at least thirty minutes!
And again, I have zero context of this while I'm watching it. I don't know who these characters are, why they're fighting, what the stakes are, who's good, who's bad, and who I should be rooting for. As a young boy I was easily amused by gratuitous and pointless action; I could amuse myself for hours on end wiping out enemies in video games in the exact same fashion over and over again. Yet even so, by the time we got to the end of it, I was so bored! The first time the first guy charged up and fired an energy attack, I was kind of intrigued in a like, 'oh that's neat I suppose' way, but once it started repeating the thought going through my head was, 'wait, they're really just doing the same thing over and over? Is this all this show is? Why does everybody think this is so good?' So for a long time afterward, that's what my impression of Dragon Ball Z was, and anytime anyone would talk about it I'd be thinking, 'the stupid power level show?' It took over a decade and a half for me to finally learn that the show actually had a plot and wasn't just that all the time.
I should also emphasize, that's just the way I remember it going down. I don't know if maybe I took a hit to the head that messed up my memory of it, or if I dreamed part of it later, or maybe the kid showing it was rewinding and replaying part of it and I didn't realize it at the time. When I first retold it to some friends who had actually watched all of Dragon Ball Z, they informed me that there wasn't any official material that went exactly how I described it. Still, that's the way I remember it, and I remember being bored at the time but in retrospect I find the memory incredibly hilarious, and I love retelling it. XD
To this day, I still haven't actually watched Dragon Ball Z. I did watch the Abridged version by Team Four Star on YouTube though, which I really enjoyed.
Alright, if you read through that entire thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good March. Even if you didn't read it, I still wish you a good March anyway. =)
Alright, so how did this last month go for me? Though I didn't get the three stories I was kind of hoping for done, I did still upload two, as I expected. First was the Fifth Old Wager, which has done fairly well; I'm glad that people are continuing to enjoy the series, and it makes me more eager to finish it. Having already planned ahead a fair deal, I am starting to think that an epilogue for the Old Wager series may actually be likely after all. After that was Healing For A Master part two, making its unexpectedly early debut since it was not originally slated to be the next requested story in line. It hasn't done as well as the Fifth Old Wager has, but it's done alright... In fact, at the time of this writing, it has more views and more favorites than part one does; the favorites I can understand, if someone enjoyed the second part but didn't particularly enjoy the first part, then so be it, but I'm a bit confused about the view count being higher. It makes me wonder how that happened.
Anyway, as for how I expect this next month to go, it's a little hard to say but my personal guess is I'll have two stories done and be in the process of a third by the end of the month. This current week is a busy one for me, work wise, but I don't know if it's going to continue to be like that for the rest of the month, or if I'll be getting short hour weeks at work like I was last month. Of course, I noticed that even with less work, my writing output didn't really speed up that much; I have had more distractions of other forms going on lately, but I do still feel a bit disappointed in myself. Even more so from the fact that I'm not currently sure what I could do to speed back up again.
...
Okay, so my story of the first time I ever watched Dragon Ball Z. First, some context, I don't remember exactly what age I was, but I'm pretty sure I was at least 7, and no older than 10; which would put this in the late 1990s to early 2000s. I knew Dragon Ball Z existed; I'd heard the name being passed around, seen commercials for tie in toy lines and stuff, but I'd never actually had the chance to watch the show myself. I didn't even really know anything about what it was about; I just knew that everybody who ever mentioned it said it was really good. I was over at this birthday party of a boy I didn't really know that well, but we went to the same church and I ended up on the invite list somehow. We're doing normal birthday party stuff as a bunch of boys, then he says something like, "oh guys, I've got to show you this thing; it's the coolest ever!" He took us to what I think was his parents' bedroom; I remember there being a big bed, which we sat along the end of, and in front of the bed was a waist-high dresser against the wall with a large television on it. On which, he starts to play some Dragon Ball Z thing. I do not know if it was the show or one of the movies or what; I just know that he goes to the climactic scene at the end or something, and this is the way I remember it going down:
It's this scene of some area out in the middle of nowhere with some flat top plateaus as the only things around. Two guys are facing off against each other, though I didn't even realize at first that it was two different guys. See, the way I absorbed stuff back when I was little, especially animated things, meant that only certain aspects of characters stuck out to me as things to identify them with, in this case their hair and skin tone. The problem being that these two characters, who I would find out years later were Goku and Vegeta, have skin tones and hair so similar that to young me at the time, they might as well have been identical; I could not tell them apart whatsoever. One of the two (I still could not tell you which) goes into a monologue moment, maybe internal maybe out loud, and goes like this. "Ugh, he's too powerful. I'm going to have to take it to the NEXT... POWER LEVEL!" That was something that stuck out to me, the way they said it; they didn't just say, 'next power level' like any normal person, but instead got louder and had more emphasis as they said 'next', then paused for like an entire second, before yelling 'power level' with even more emphasis. Then, he starts going all, "HaaaAAAH!" and powering up, for what I'm pretty sure was at least thirty seconds, before firing off some kind of energy beam attack at the second guy. As far as I could tell, the second guy just stood there the entire time the first guy was charging up, and didn't do anything to try to avoid or protect himself from the attack, and just takes it right on the chin.
So the second guy gets knocked to the ground, looking kind of beat up, then starts getting up. Then he starts having a monologue moment, where he goes, "ugh, he's too powerful. I'm going to have to take it to the NEXT... POWER LEVEL!" Yes, I remember him saying pretty much the exact same thing, in the exact same way. Then of course he starts charging up, for like a bit longer than the first guy did, then fires a somewhat larger energy attack at the first guy. Who, as far as I could tell, just stood there the entire time and didn't do anything to try to avoid or protect himself from the attack, and just takes it right on the chin... And I remember it just going back and forth like that, slightly escalating the amount of charging up and the size of the energy attack, with the same exact monologue line happening, like five or six times, for at least thirty minutes!
And again, I have zero context of this while I'm watching it. I don't know who these characters are, why they're fighting, what the stakes are, who's good, who's bad, and who I should be rooting for. As a young boy I was easily amused by gratuitous and pointless action; I could amuse myself for hours on end wiping out enemies in video games in the exact same fashion over and over again. Yet even so, by the time we got to the end of it, I was so bored! The first time the first guy charged up and fired an energy attack, I was kind of intrigued in a like, 'oh that's neat I suppose' way, but once it started repeating the thought going through my head was, 'wait, they're really just doing the same thing over and over? Is this all this show is? Why does everybody think this is so good?' So for a long time afterward, that's what my impression of Dragon Ball Z was, and anytime anyone would talk about it I'd be thinking, 'the stupid power level show?' It took over a decade and a half for me to finally learn that the show actually had a plot and wasn't just that all the time.
I should also emphasize, that's just the way I remember it going down. I don't know if maybe I took a hit to the head that messed up my memory of it, or if I dreamed part of it later, or maybe the kid showing it was rewinding and replaying part of it and I didn't realize it at the time. When I first retold it to some friends who had actually watched all of Dragon Ball Z, they informed me that there wasn't any official material that went exactly how I described it. Still, that's the way I remember it, and I remember being bored at the time but in retrospect I find the memory incredibly hilarious, and I love retelling it. XD
To this day, I still haven't actually watched Dragon Ball Z. I did watch the Abridged version by Team Four Star on YouTube though, which I really enjoyed.
Alright, if you read through that entire thing, then thank you, and I hope you have a good March. Even if you didn't read it, I still wish you a good March anyway. =)
February 2023
General | Posted 3 years agoHello readers, time for another one of my monthly check ins and ramblings. The start of 2023 has had a few problems for me, but overall I would say things are going alright for me personally. Still kinda feels like the whole world is slowly spiraling down the drain, but with perhaps a bit of hope that things could get better. Anyway, there's nothing I can really do about that except keep hanging on and hope that my online writings can help brighten somebody's day.
So how did this last month go for me? Well as I kind of expected in my last journal entry, I only managed one story upload this month, 'Healing for a master, part one'. It actually hasn't done as well as my uploads usually do, but that's fine by me anyway. It is still curious, and makes me wonder what elements lead some stories to get more favorites than others, but as I've said before, my stories not being popular doesn't bother me.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well as always I hope it will go well, and I'm fairly certain I can get at least two stories uploaded, possibly even three. As of the time of this writing, as you can see on my profile page description, the main draft for my next story is actually finished already, and I just need to do a final read through and any edits I feel appropriate; I expect I'll probably upload it early in the morning of the 3rd of this month. The story actually ended up not as long as I thought it would, which kind of surprised me; usually I underestimate my story lengths, not overestimate it. It does make me feel a little disappointed in myself for how long it took to write it, since it wasn't actually that long of a story; unfortunately I'm just still finding myself kinda short on free time these days, and still having that issue of struggling to keep up with the things I want to do.
Oh also, I meant to mention this in last month's journal actually, but forgot to. I've added my Discord profile onto my contact info. I didn't previously like the idea of anyone from here being able to contact me there, but then I realized I've been advertising my uploads on the Discord server of one of the artists I follow on Patreon, so that ship has already sailed; I'm not even really sure why I was worried about it before. Anyway, if you choose to contact me on Discord, I would recommend sending me a note on here as well mentioning who you are on Discord, so I know who you are instead of wondering if it's a random spam or hacked account trying to get mine.
Whether you read through this or not, I hope you have a good February! =)
So how did this last month go for me? Well as I kind of expected in my last journal entry, I only managed one story upload this month, 'Healing for a master, part one'. It actually hasn't done as well as my uploads usually do, but that's fine by me anyway. It is still curious, and makes me wonder what elements lead some stories to get more favorites than others, but as I've said before, my stories not being popular doesn't bother me.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well as always I hope it will go well, and I'm fairly certain I can get at least two stories uploaded, possibly even three. As of the time of this writing, as you can see on my profile page description, the main draft for my next story is actually finished already, and I just need to do a final read through and any edits I feel appropriate; I expect I'll probably upload it early in the morning of the 3rd of this month. The story actually ended up not as long as I thought it would, which kind of surprised me; usually I underestimate my story lengths, not overestimate it. It does make me feel a little disappointed in myself for how long it took to write it, since it wasn't actually that long of a story; unfortunately I'm just still finding myself kinda short on free time these days, and still having that issue of struggling to keep up with the things I want to do.
Oh also, I meant to mention this in last month's journal actually, but forgot to. I've added my Discord profile onto my contact info. I didn't previously like the idea of anyone from here being able to contact me there, but then I realized I've been advertising my uploads on the Discord server of one of the artists I follow on Patreon, so that ship has already sailed; I'm not even really sure why I was worried about it before. Anyway, if you choose to contact me on Discord, I would recommend sending me a note on here as well mentioning who you are on Discord, so I know who you are instead of wondering if it's a random spam or hacked account trying to get mine.
Whether you read through this or not, I hope you have a good February! =)
January 2023 and 2022 in review
General | Posted 3 years agoAnother month, but not just any month, the start of a new year! I hope everyone has had happy holidays and a good start to 2023! I want to look back and ramble about my writing on this site as a whole, but first I'll just ramble a bit about this past month and what I expect of this coming month.
First off, obviously I was wrong in my last journal entry, and I did not get two stories done this last month. My family holiday time ended up being a lot more involved than I thought, and really for like, over a third of the month I really didn't have the spare time to put towards writing. Also the requester whose turn was up couldn't think of a story they wanted me to write, but I don't blame them at all. Even if they had given me a prompt right away, I still would have barely gotten any work done on it.
As for the one story I did upload this month, The fourth old wager, it's done decently well. A bit fewer favorites than the other entries in the Old Wager series, but I think that's because of its more dramatic and less smut-focused content. So it's understandable, and I don't begrudge anyone who likes the other entries but doesn't like it; some people don't like stories that are a bit of a downer, and that's fine.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well, I'm hoping I'll get two stories uploaded, but I wouldn't be surprised if it actually turns out to be another one story month. While things aren't as busy with family now as they were a week ago, technically I still have a relative visiting, and I'm trying to spend at least some time with them and not just shut away in my room to write stuff. They'll be gone by next weekend though, and after that things should hopefully be back to normal for me. Whereas last month I was getting scheduled more time at work than I wanted, now I'm actually getting scheduled less time than I want, but at least it will give me more free time, hopefully.
First up will be a requested story from my returning requester, destiny667, who I moved up from second in line to first in line since the other requester still couldn't think up a story idea yet. (I moved them to second in line instead of removing them from the list completely though.) Now, this requested story is one that I don't think will be super long, and aside from potentially being slow at writing this coming week, I expect it to be fairly easy to get through. With a story up next like that, I would normally be confident at getting two stories done in a month, however, after that will be the fifth entry in the Old Wager series, which I already know since I've plotted it all out in my head, will probably be an extra long one. That's why it wouldn't surprise me if I'm actually not done with it by the end of the month; but I think I should be close to finishing it by then, maybe halfway through it at worst, is my guess.
So! Thus marks a full year of me writing erotica here! Well, technically I started in late 2021, but I feel like I didn't really hit my stride and make some of my personal improvements until into 2022. I have so far uploaded 27 stories, 27 outlines, 1 character sheet, and my writing requirements list. I have earned 125 comments, (I think this also includes replies on comments I put on other people's work though, so it's not all comments on my works.) 321 favorites, and I have 49 watchers. Not mind boggling statistics by any means, but I do feel proud of it, at least somewhat.
What do I expect out of this coming year? Well, I think it's too early to make any grand or precise predictions, but unless something causes some major upheaval in my life, I don't intend to stop writing these erotica stories any time soon. I'm especially determined to finish the rest of the Old Wager series, which will have eight parts in the end; maybe an epilogue like the (Un)Fair Wager series had, but the only 'epilogue' plan I have probably wouldn't be super long, so I was just going to have it at the end of the eighth part. Only if the eighth ends up really long will I split it into its own thing. I also want to make another character sheet for the main characters of the Old Wager series, just like I did with the (Un)Fair Wager, but that shouldn't be a super big project. I'm also planning, for my next personal story after the Old Wager series is finished, to make a simple CYOA story, as I had mentioned in a previous journal entry. At the present rate of things, that will probably be in May or June.
With the start of a new year and all, I can't help myself but once again think on the idea of how could I make money from this. (Also because of the aforementioned not as much time scheduled at work as I want.) Making a lot of money still doesn't seem feasible yet, nor is it something I expect or am counting on in any way. I think, at most, the only thing I'd do is set up like a Ko-fi account, and have it act as a tip jar. Something where it is explicitly just for if anyone feels like chipping anything my way, and not something anyone should feel obligated to do, even those who I am writing stories for directly; and on the flip side is explicitly not for anyone to try to bribe me into writing something I normally wouldn't, or to let them cut in line in the waiting list. I did have an idea of maybe I would keep a tracker of how much money has been tipped, and when it reaches a certain amount I would get a week off from work so I could try to focus more time on writing, as if I had been paid to just write for that week, as an incentive for pitching into it; however, I could see how that could easily be perceived as trying to make people feel obligated to give me money, which again, I don't want. As I wrote about in, well, my first ever journal entry on this website actually, (see that if you want to see me spout a lot of words on this subject) yes ideally maybe someday I could make enough money from writing that I don't need another job, but right now I don't need to worry about that, so I'll try not to think about it too hard. Maybe when/if the number of people watching me hits triple digits and I'm getting more attention on my work I'll put serious thought into it again, but for now, I'm gonna get back to treating it as a hobby.
Well now, that was of course an extra long ramble of a journal entry. If you actually read through the whole thing, then I sincerely thank you for giving up a bit of time in your life, and I wish you a good 2023. If you didn't read through the whole thing, that's okay, and I still wish you a good 2023 anyway. Here's to more stories! =)
First off, obviously I was wrong in my last journal entry, and I did not get two stories done this last month. My family holiday time ended up being a lot more involved than I thought, and really for like, over a third of the month I really didn't have the spare time to put towards writing. Also the requester whose turn was up couldn't think of a story they wanted me to write, but I don't blame them at all. Even if they had given me a prompt right away, I still would have barely gotten any work done on it.
As for the one story I did upload this month, The fourth old wager, it's done decently well. A bit fewer favorites than the other entries in the Old Wager series, but I think that's because of its more dramatic and less smut-focused content. So it's understandable, and I don't begrudge anyone who likes the other entries but doesn't like it; some people don't like stories that are a bit of a downer, and that's fine.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well, I'm hoping I'll get two stories uploaded, but I wouldn't be surprised if it actually turns out to be another one story month. While things aren't as busy with family now as they were a week ago, technically I still have a relative visiting, and I'm trying to spend at least some time with them and not just shut away in my room to write stuff. They'll be gone by next weekend though, and after that things should hopefully be back to normal for me. Whereas last month I was getting scheduled more time at work than I wanted, now I'm actually getting scheduled less time than I want, but at least it will give me more free time, hopefully.
First up will be a requested story from my returning requester, destiny667, who I moved up from second in line to first in line since the other requester still couldn't think up a story idea yet. (I moved them to second in line instead of removing them from the list completely though.) Now, this requested story is one that I don't think will be super long, and aside from potentially being slow at writing this coming week, I expect it to be fairly easy to get through. With a story up next like that, I would normally be confident at getting two stories done in a month, however, after that will be the fifth entry in the Old Wager series, which I already know since I've plotted it all out in my head, will probably be an extra long one. That's why it wouldn't surprise me if I'm actually not done with it by the end of the month; but I think I should be close to finishing it by then, maybe halfway through it at worst, is my guess.
So! Thus marks a full year of me writing erotica here! Well, technically I started in late 2021, but I feel like I didn't really hit my stride and make some of my personal improvements until into 2022. I have so far uploaded 27 stories, 27 outlines, 1 character sheet, and my writing requirements list. I have earned 125 comments, (I think this also includes replies on comments I put on other people's work though, so it's not all comments on my works.) 321 favorites, and I have 49 watchers. Not mind boggling statistics by any means, but I do feel proud of it, at least somewhat.
What do I expect out of this coming year? Well, I think it's too early to make any grand or precise predictions, but unless something causes some major upheaval in my life, I don't intend to stop writing these erotica stories any time soon. I'm especially determined to finish the rest of the Old Wager series, which will have eight parts in the end; maybe an epilogue like the (Un)Fair Wager series had, but the only 'epilogue' plan I have probably wouldn't be super long, so I was just going to have it at the end of the eighth part. Only if the eighth ends up really long will I split it into its own thing. I also want to make another character sheet for the main characters of the Old Wager series, just like I did with the (Un)Fair Wager, but that shouldn't be a super big project. I'm also planning, for my next personal story after the Old Wager series is finished, to make a simple CYOA story, as I had mentioned in a previous journal entry. At the present rate of things, that will probably be in May or June.
With the start of a new year and all, I can't help myself but once again think on the idea of how could I make money from this. (Also because of the aforementioned not as much time scheduled at work as I want.) Making a lot of money still doesn't seem feasible yet, nor is it something I expect or am counting on in any way. I think, at most, the only thing I'd do is set up like a Ko-fi account, and have it act as a tip jar. Something where it is explicitly just for if anyone feels like chipping anything my way, and not something anyone should feel obligated to do, even those who I am writing stories for directly; and on the flip side is explicitly not for anyone to try to bribe me into writing something I normally wouldn't, or to let them cut in line in the waiting list. I did have an idea of maybe I would keep a tracker of how much money has been tipped, and when it reaches a certain amount I would get a week off from work so I could try to focus more time on writing, as if I had been paid to just write for that week, as an incentive for pitching into it; however, I could see how that could easily be perceived as trying to make people feel obligated to give me money, which again, I don't want. As I wrote about in, well, my first ever journal entry on this website actually, (see that if you want to see me spout a lot of words on this subject) yes ideally maybe someday I could make enough money from writing that I don't need another job, but right now I don't need to worry about that, so I'll try not to think about it too hard. Maybe when/if the number of people watching me hits triple digits and I'm getting more attention on my work I'll put serious thought into it again, but for now, I'm gonna get back to treating it as a hobby.
Well now, that was of course an extra long ramble of a journal entry. If you actually read through the whole thing, then I sincerely thank you for giving up a bit of time in your life, and I wish you a good 2023. If you didn't read through the whole thing, that's okay, and I still wish you a good 2023 anyway. Here's to more stories! =)
December 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoI hope that everyone reading this has had a good November! I feel like I did overall, though for the last couple of weeks work has been keeping me rather busy. On nights between work it's been a struggle just to keep up with my usual routine, let alone do much extra, which is why this journal is a little on the late side once again.
So, how has this last month been for me on the writing front? Well, as I suspected in my last journal, I got two stories uploaded, The Third Old Wager, and Sweet Benefits Part Two, and I'm part way through writing The Fourth Old Wager. The Third Old Wager has done pretty well, actually having more favorites than the previous two entries in the series, as of the time of this writing, but fewer comments, oddly enough. Sweet Benefits Part Two has been doing a bit below average in views and favorites than my stories have been lately, but it was a blast to write, so I really don't mind. (And as always, it's not like I'm doing this for the sake of the numbers; I just like checking the numbers and pondering what they seem to imply.) The feedback I've been getting lately- though granted there hasn't been a whole lot of it- has suggested that my writing ability is still improving, which I find promising.
... It has kind of come at the expense of doing much of anything else with my free time, though. Used to be that the hobby I spent the most free time on was playing video games; however, for the last few months, but especially during November, I've hardly played any games at all, except on the short breaks I give myself between finishing one story and starting on the next. (Aside from Cookie Clicker, which I don't really 'play' so much as just leave it on in the background because it takes next to no processor power when minimized.) It's not like I haven't been enjoying my time writing; far from it in fact, as I've said above, the stories lately have been pretty fun. It's just that between not wanting to burn out on writing, and wanting to get some time on recent games I've been wanting to play but haven't really gotten to, I'm considering implementing a policy on myself of setting aside at least one, maybe two days a week where I won't do any story writing, regardless of how much free time I have that day. (Probably Saturdays, and then maybe Fridays or Sundays as well, maybe depending on the week.) That may of course mean that my stories take a little longer on average to get finished, but hopefully that will keep the quality more consistent if it accomplishes the goal of preventing me from burning out.
Anyway, well how do I expect this next month to go for writing? Once again I'm guessing it will likely be two stories, with maybe the possibility of three. I am, roughly, halfway through writing The Fourth Old Wager. (I'm halfway through the outline segments, but the outline segments of my stories are not always equal in size when fully written, so it's hard for me to gauge how much more writing I actually have in store for it.) The next requester in line is a first time requester for me rather than one of my recurring requesters, so I don't know yet what to expect from them. After that will be the Fifth Old Wager, which I suspect will be an extra large entry of the series; that's why I don't feel confident making any claim that it will finished before the end of the month. I do actually have an 8 day staycation time off planned this month, right around Christmas... However, it's mainly for spending time with relatives, not just relaxing and writing furry erotica, so I don't really expect it to grant me a lot more time for writing than I would normally have. We'll find out when the time comes, of course.
Anyway, that's my monthly ramble done. If you read through this whole thing, thank you, and if you've got any thoughts or input on me setting aside days to not write, by all means, I wouldn't mind hearing it. (It doesn't necessarily mean I'll follow any of your suggestions though. =P) Of course, even if you did not read through the whole thing, I hope you have a good December.
And a preemptive merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, joyous Kwanzaa, or good whatever holiday(s) you do or do not celebrate, to all! =)
So, how has this last month been for me on the writing front? Well, as I suspected in my last journal, I got two stories uploaded, The Third Old Wager, and Sweet Benefits Part Two, and I'm part way through writing The Fourth Old Wager. The Third Old Wager has done pretty well, actually having more favorites than the previous two entries in the series, as of the time of this writing, but fewer comments, oddly enough. Sweet Benefits Part Two has been doing a bit below average in views and favorites than my stories have been lately, but it was a blast to write, so I really don't mind. (And as always, it's not like I'm doing this for the sake of the numbers; I just like checking the numbers and pondering what they seem to imply.) The feedback I've been getting lately- though granted there hasn't been a whole lot of it- has suggested that my writing ability is still improving, which I find promising.
... It has kind of come at the expense of doing much of anything else with my free time, though. Used to be that the hobby I spent the most free time on was playing video games; however, for the last few months, but especially during November, I've hardly played any games at all, except on the short breaks I give myself between finishing one story and starting on the next. (Aside from Cookie Clicker, which I don't really 'play' so much as just leave it on in the background because it takes next to no processor power when minimized.) It's not like I haven't been enjoying my time writing; far from it in fact, as I've said above, the stories lately have been pretty fun. It's just that between not wanting to burn out on writing, and wanting to get some time on recent games I've been wanting to play but haven't really gotten to, I'm considering implementing a policy on myself of setting aside at least one, maybe two days a week where I won't do any story writing, regardless of how much free time I have that day. (Probably Saturdays, and then maybe Fridays or Sundays as well, maybe depending on the week.) That may of course mean that my stories take a little longer on average to get finished, but hopefully that will keep the quality more consistent if it accomplishes the goal of preventing me from burning out.
Anyway, well how do I expect this next month to go for writing? Once again I'm guessing it will likely be two stories, with maybe the possibility of three. I am, roughly, halfway through writing The Fourth Old Wager. (I'm halfway through the outline segments, but the outline segments of my stories are not always equal in size when fully written, so it's hard for me to gauge how much more writing I actually have in store for it.) The next requester in line is a first time requester for me rather than one of my recurring requesters, so I don't know yet what to expect from them. After that will be the Fifth Old Wager, which I suspect will be an extra large entry of the series; that's why I don't feel confident making any claim that it will finished before the end of the month. I do actually have an 8 day staycation time off planned this month, right around Christmas... However, it's mainly for spending time with relatives, not just relaxing and writing furry erotica, so I don't really expect it to grant me a lot more time for writing than I would normally have. We'll find out when the time comes, of course.
Anyway, that's my monthly ramble done. If you read through this whole thing, thank you, and if you've got any thoughts or input on me setting aside days to not write, by all means, I wouldn't mind hearing it. (It doesn't necessarily mean I'll follow any of your suggestions though. =P) Of course, even if you did not read through the whole thing, I hope you have a good December.
And a preemptive merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, joyous Kwanzaa, or good whatever holiday(s) you do or do not celebrate, to all! =)
November 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoWell, once again I'm running late on making this journal entry. I should've planned ahead better, as I knew that the start of the month was going to be very busy for me, but I didn't, and that's totally my own mistake. I actually meant to write this entry yesterday, but by the time I got home and got on my computer I had forgotten. Whoops!
This coming month has some more of that un-fun real life stuff going on, at least if you live in the United States like me. (And it's not like we're the only place with stuff going on, obviously.) It's hard for me not to think that the future of our country is in the balance with what's currently going on with the elections... But anyway, I don't want to get too political here, and again I know it's very, very un-fun to discuss or even think about too much. I just wanted to say that it might be affecting my writing pace this month, depending on how much it might stress me out, because I for one will not be ignoring it.
Anyway, so how'd this last month go for me? Well, obviously I didn't get two stories done as I was hoping I would. Instead I only got one story uploaded, the fourth and final part of the Roommates Make The Best Pets series. It isn't doing amazingly or anything, but it's doing alright, and it feels good to me that I've now officially completed a requested series. The requester, destiny667, seems happy with it and is eager to ask for more requests, and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with them. =)
As for how I expect this coming month to go? Well, I would love to say that I could get three stories uploaded this month, but at present I do not know if that is a realistic expectation or not. I am already partway through writing my next story, the third entry in the Old Wager prequel series; I think I'm around halfway through it, hopefully a little more, though that would suggest that unless my pace can pick up I might not have it done until like, the 12th or 13th. So, yeah, unfortunately I think that actually having three stories all done and uploaded before the end of the month is unlikely. However, I'm pretty sure I can get two done by then, unless any major holdups happen, or I can't bring myself to write because of the aforementioned un-fun real life stuff. Thus my prediction is that by the start of next month, I'll once again be partway through a story, which will presumably be the fourth entry in the Old Wager prequel series after the next requested story.
As always, if you read through this whole ramble of mine, thank you. Whether you did or you didn't, I hope you have a happy November. =)
This coming month has some more of that un-fun real life stuff going on, at least if you live in the United States like me. (And it's not like we're the only place with stuff going on, obviously.) It's hard for me not to think that the future of our country is in the balance with what's currently going on with the elections... But anyway, I don't want to get too political here, and again I know it's very, very un-fun to discuss or even think about too much. I just wanted to say that it might be affecting my writing pace this month, depending on how much it might stress me out, because I for one will not be ignoring it.
Anyway, so how'd this last month go for me? Well, obviously I didn't get two stories done as I was hoping I would. Instead I only got one story uploaded, the fourth and final part of the Roommates Make The Best Pets series. It isn't doing amazingly or anything, but it's doing alright, and it feels good to me that I've now officially completed a requested series. The requester, destiny667, seems happy with it and is eager to ask for more requests, and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with them. =)
As for how I expect this coming month to go? Well, I would love to say that I could get three stories uploaded this month, but at present I do not know if that is a realistic expectation or not. I am already partway through writing my next story, the third entry in the Old Wager prequel series; I think I'm around halfway through it, hopefully a little more, though that would suggest that unless my pace can pick up I might not have it done until like, the 12th or 13th. So, yeah, unfortunately I think that actually having three stories all done and uploaded before the end of the month is unlikely. However, I'm pretty sure I can get two done by then, unless any major holdups happen, or I can't bring myself to write because of the aforementioned un-fun real life stuff. Thus my prediction is that by the start of next month, I'll once again be partway through a story, which will presumably be the fourth entry in the Old Wager prequel series after the next requested story.
As always, if you read through this whole ramble of mine, thank you. Whether you did or you didn't, I hope you have a happy November. =)
October 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoAlright, running a little late on making this journal I know, but I've had a lot to catch up on over the last few days. For most real life things, last month went pretty well for me, with the big exception of work. Work has been rather rough, this last week especially. I've made it through it though, and I actually have a week off here now, so I have some time to recover.
So how'd this last month go for me, writing wise? Well, not so great. The first story I uploaded this month, Envious of Heroes, now stands as my upload with the fewest favorites that isn't an outline. By contrast, my second upload, The Second Old Wager, has my average number of favorites for my story uploads, and a lot of comment engagement; currently tied for the most comments on any of my uploads, in fact. I'm not upset about the first story not doing well; one of my stories would have to be the 'worst' one, in the end. (I do wonder how much bias on this website there is against it being a story with pretty much human characters, by appearance, instead of furry characters.) Besides, it made me realize the vast difference in quality of my work when I'm working on a story I actually enjoy working on, versus when I'm not really enjoying it. I've since updated my writing requirements list appropriately.
Also, I'm really glad that the Eeveelution series is still getting as much positive attention as it is. That I can get some people really invested in and enjoying a long running narrative that I'm crafting feels great, and fills me with encouragement that I can do more. One off, self contained stories are fun too, and I don't plan to stop doing them, but making a long series with various threads that end up tying back together is so much fun for me.
So, how do I expect this coming month to go? Well, that un-fun committee hearing that was supposed to be last month got delayed into this one, so there's that going on at some point. As mentioned, I have a week off of work, which at the time of this writing I am actually already in the first day of. However, I'm not sure if I really be getting much extra writing done during this week off, as I have some shows and movies I'd like to catch up on, and would like to spend more time playing the latest big Terraria update with a personal friend of mine. Not to mention, the next story I'm writing will be the final, big part of Roommates Make the Best Pets, and after that will be another (Un)Fair Wager prequel. Of course, I kind of hope that I get both of those done this month, but I wouldn't be surprised if I don't quite finish the (Un)Fair Wager prequel before the month is over.
Basically my guess is that I'll get either 1 or 2 stories uploaded this month.
And alas, since I don't have the means to easily ensure the stories I'm writing fit in well with the time of year that they are uploaded, don't expect either of the stories to work as a Halloween special, sorry. =(
Anyway, as always if you read through this whole ramble of mine, I thank you; and whether you did or did not, I hope you have a good October, a happy Halloween, and be well. =)
So how'd this last month go for me, writing wise? Well, not so great. The first story I uploaded this month, Envious of Heroes, now stands as my upload with the fewest favorites that isn't an outline. By contrast, my second upload, The Second Old Wager, has my average number of favorites for my story uploads, and a lot of comment engagement; currently tied for the most comments on any of my uploads, in fact. I'm not upset about the first story not doing well; one of my stories would have to be the 'worst' one, in the end. (I do wonder how much bias on this website there is against it being a story with pretty much human characters, by appearance, instead of furry characters.) Besides, it made me realize the vast difference in quality of my work when I'm working on a story I actually enjoy working on, versus when I'm not really enjoying it. I've since updated my writing requirements list appropriately.
Also, I'm really glad that the Eeveelution series is still getting as much positive attention as it is. That I can get some people really invested in and enjoying a long running narrative that I'm crafting feels great, and fills me with encouragement that I can do more. One off, self contained stories are fun too, and I don't plan to stop doing them, but making a long series with various threads that end up tying back together is so much fun for me.
So, how do I expect this coming month to go? Well, that un-fun committee hearing that was supposed to be last month got delayed into this one, so there's that going on at some point. As mentioned, I have a week off of work, which at the time of this writing I am actually already in the first day of. However, I'm not sure if I really be getting much extra writing done during this week off, as I have some shows and movies I'd like to catch up on, and would like to spend more time playing the latest big Terraria update with a personal friend of mine. Not to mention, the next story I'm writing will be the final, big part of Roommates Make the Best Pets, and after that will be another (Un)Fair Wager prequel. Of course, I kind of hope that I get both of those done this month, but I wouldn't be surprised if I don't quite finish the (Un)Fair Wager prequel before the month is over.
Basically my guess is that I'll get either 1 or 2 stories uploaded this month.
And alas, since I don't have the means to easily ensure the stories I'm writing fit in well with the time of year that they are uploaded, don't expect either of the stories to work as a Halloween special, sorry. =(
Anyway, as always if you read through this whole ramble of mine, I thank you; and whether you did or did not, I hope you have a good October, a happy Halloween, and be well. =)
September 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoAnother month come and gone, and here we are still. I've nothing really much to say for personal developments this last month; it's been rather chill, just the way I like it. I know there's some un-fun but important stuff I want to keep up with coming in this month though, which I hope ultimately turns into good news, but we'll see.
So, how did this last month go for me? As I expected, I got two uploads finished. First, the first part of the series I'm writing in second person instead of third person, "Sweet Benefits." It didn't do amazingly well, but it still did decent, and writing in second person was easier than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to continuing that, though that certainly won't be this month... Probably not even next month either.
The second upload for this month was the first of the (Un)Fair Wager prequel stories I plan to write, "The first old wager." For a prequel story that acts as effectively the eighth part of the series, I think it did pretty good. It was really satisfying to see that people were still invested to see more parts of that story being told. Also, on a related note to it, I know I said I was only planning one other prequel before, but I've actually thought of one more that I think will be good as well, so there's now plans for three prequel parts.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well unfortunately, I had a stall after the second upload this month; I wanted to dedicate some time to working on a thing unrelated to FA. I thought it would only take a couple days maybe, but instead it took about a week. So I don't have as much of a head start on my next upload as I could have; in fact, I haven't really started on it at all, aside from brainstorming it. Still, I hope and I think that maybe I can still get two uploads done this coming month. My next story up will be a requested story, and I think it will be a bit on the short side for my uploads, as it's an idea I'm not sure on how to expand upon all that much, nor do I feel terribly inclined to. After that, I intend to do the next (Un)Fair Wager prequel, which might be a bit long. So, I wouldn't be surprised if I only get one upload done this month; I'm quite certain I probably won't get more than 2 done this month.
This journal entry feels more on the simpler side to me, compared to my other ones, but that's just fine. This last month was kind of a simple month, for me anyway. As always, I hope you all have a good coming month. =)
So, how did this last month go for me? As I expected, I got two uploads finished. First, the first part of the series I'm writing in second person instead of third person, "Sweet Benefits." It didn't do amazingly well, but it still did decent, and writing in second person was easier than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to continuing that, though that certainly won't be this month... Probably not even next month either.
The second upload for this month was the first of the (Un)Fair Wager prequel stories I plan to write, "The first old wager." For a prequel story that acts as effectively the eighth part of the series, I think it did pretty good. It was really satisfying to see that people were still invested to see more parts of that story being told. Also, on a related note to it, I know I said I was only planning one other prequel before, but I've actually thought of one more that I think will be good as well, so there's now plans for three prequel parts.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well unfortunately, I had a stall after the second upload this month; I wanted to dedicate some time to working on a thing unrelated to FA. I thought it would only take a couple days maybe, but instead it took about a week. So I don't have as much of a head start on my next upload as I could have; in fact, I haven't really started on it at all, aside from brainstorming it. Still, I hope and I think that maybe I can still get two uploads done this coming month. My next story up will be a requested story, and I think it will be a bit on the short side for my uploads, as it's an idea I'm not sure on how to expand upon all that much, nor do I feel terribly inclined to. After that, I intend to do the next (Un)Fair Wager prequel, which might be a bit long. So, I wouldn't be surprised if I only get one upload done this month; I'm quite certain I probably won't get more than 2 done this month.
This journal entry feels more on the simpler side to me, compared to my other ones, but that's just fine. This last month was kind of a simple month, for me anyway. As always, I hope you all have a good coming month. =)
August 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoAnother month on this spinning rock we call home, and I'm still here. How did this last month go? On the personal side of things, better than I expected in most regards. The un-fun stuff I was anxious about didn't turn out that bad, and for some reason the pseudo-holiday thing in the middle of the month did not cause a huge surge of business at work as it usually does every year. Work did end up being rough towards the end of the month for me, because of us losing a few employees including two shift managers in the span of two weeks.
Anyway, as for my story uploads, as I expected I only got one actually uploaded, but oh man what an upload. A Risky Stream Game now ties with the first part of The (Un)Fair Wager series for the most favorites on all my stories, with around half the views. It's done so well that I almost regret making it a standalone story rather than figure out a way to turn it into a series; the epilogue scene just wouldn't work the same if it was the first part of a series. That said, I do have at least one idea for a, 'sequel of sorts'; something that, while not starring the same characters, is continuing off from it through things set in motion in the story.
Overall, it makes me happy that the reception I'm getting here is continuing to improve. That even on one of my personally poorer feeling months, I'm still able to get a good story done.
So, how do I expect this coming month to go? My guess, I think I'll get two stories uploaded. I'm already part way through the next request, and though I've had a few days recently where I wasn't able to get much if any work done on it, this first week of the month should hopefully get some good progress in. Mainly, because I actually have this week off of work; I do have some stuff going on with my personal friends this week so I'm not sure if I'll really be able to do the, 'treat writing as if it's my full time job' thing, but I should be able to get more writing in than I would during a normal work week, hopefully. If things go especially well, maybe I could get three stories done, but I doubt that. I would be surprised if I only get one story uploaded, but if my next personal story idea ends up being bigger than I'm expecting it to be, then I could see that happening.
Also, I want to mention here a future plan I have, even though it's definitely not coming this month. I'm going to write a CYOA story. A short and simple one, at least in terms of choices; my current plan of it is a first choice with two options that each lead to a second choice also with two options each, so four total endings. I don't know if I'll make CYOA stories something I do regularly. My main reason to be hesitant is I'm sure it will probably be a lot more work than my usual stories; even with the above idea, if each part is only 1/3rd the amount of work as one of my usual stories so that a full branch is about equivalent to another story, that's still 7/3rds or 233% the amount of effort of another story.
Still, I'm determined to give it a try at least once, to see how it goes and how much people like it. There's similar ideas that I'm at least thinking about, but have not deciding for sure to try. Like stories with an actual audience participation; where I'd write a part, then let comments input on what should happen next and/or what a character does; in the vein of like Problem Sleuth, Homestuck, and Prequel. However, I'm not sure if those would really get much attention since it would still just be a story to read, without an accompanying comic. Alternatively, I could do a similar thing with request stories just with the person making the request, buuut that kind of feels barely removed from ERP, which I really, really don't want to do.
Alright, my rambling for this month is done. As usual, if you read through this whole thing, then thank you. Even if you didn't read through the whole thing, I hope you have a good August. =)
Anyway, as for my story uploads, as I expected I only got one actually uploaded, but oh man what an upload. A Risky Stream Game now ties with the first part of The (Un)Fair Wager series for the most favorites on all my stories, with around half the views. It's done so well that I almost regret making it a standalone story rather than figure out a way to turn it into a series; the epilogue scene just wouldn't work the same if it was the first part of a series. That said, I do have at least one idea for a, 'sequel of sorts'; something that, while not starring the same characters, is continuing off from it through things set in motion in the story.
Overall, it makes me happy that the reception I'm getting here is continuing to improve. That even on one of my personally poorer feeling months, I'm still able to get a good story done.
So, how do I expect this coming month to go? My guess, I think I'll get two stories uploaded. I'm already part way through the next request, and though I've had a few days recently where I wasn't able to get much if any work done on it, this first week of the month should hopefully get some good progress in. Mainly, because I actually have this week off of work; I do have some stuff going on with my personal friends this week so I'm not sure if I'll really be able to do the, 'treat writing as if it's my full time job' thing, but I should be able to get more writing in than I would during a normal work week, hopefully. If things go especially well, maybe I could get three stories done, but I doubt that. I would be surprised if I only get one story uploaded, but if my next personal story idea ends up being bigger than I'm expecting it to be, then I could see that happening.
Also, I want to mention here a future plan I have, even though it's definitely not coming this month. I'm going to write a CYOA story. A short and simple one, at least in terms of choices; my current plan of it is a first choice with two options that each lead to a second choice also with two options each, so four total endings. I don't know if I'll make CYOA stories something I do regularly. My main reason to be hesitant is I'm sure it will probably be a lot more work than my usual stories; even with the above idea, if each part is only 1/3rd the amount of work as one of my usual stories so that a full branch is about equivalent to another story, that's still 7/3rds or 233% the amount of effort of another story.
Still, I'm determined to give it a try at least once, to see how it goes and how much people like it. There's similar ideas that I'm at least thinking about, but have not deciding for sure to try. Like stories with an actual audience participation; where I'd write a part, then let comments input on what should happen next and/or what a character does; in the vein of like Problem Sleuth, Homestuck, and Prequel. However, I'm not sure if those would really get much attention since it would still just be a story to read, without an accompanying comic. Alternatively, I could do a similar thing with request stories just with the person making the request, buuut that kind of feels barely removed from ERP, which I really, really don't want to do.
Alright, my rambling for this month is done. As usual, if you read through this whole thing, then thank you. Even if you didn't read through the whole thing, I hope you have a good August. =)
July 2022, and big happenings IRL
General | Posted 3 years agoThis journal entry is going to be even more ramble-y than mine usually are. This last month has felt particularly heavy on me, with a lot of real life un-fun things going on. There's one in particular I feel I really should address; I think it would be inappropriate if I didn't, given the usual content of my writing and my interests. So I'm dividing this entry into two parts; if you want to skip the un-fun stuff and go straight to where I talk about my writing, scroll to where I have the ellipsis divide. I am, under the circumstances, not going to make this journal entry featured on my profile page.
This last month, work has been more difficult than usual thanks to stupid drama between a couple of the management staff. I've also been having an issue with a tendon in my arm; don't worry, not like, my arm is unusable serious. It just hurts a bit and hasn't gone away. I think I might've sprained it, though I don't recall any incident where that could've happened. Those two things are actually minor compared to the things that have actually been bogging me down. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my arm pain is being caused or at least exacerbated by stress about the bigger things.
So, I live in the United States; I think I've mentioned that before. If you've been paying attention to the news on the U.S. at all lately, you probably know that there's some big committee hearings going on this last month about the attempted insurrection, and continuing into the coming month; it really doesn't get much more un-fun than that, I know, but I refuse to stick my head in the sand and ignore it. I think it's really, really important, and I'm not going to let myself not know how it's going. Our country suffered badly because of the Big Lie and is continuing to even now.
The real big thing though, the biggest thing, is what happened last Friday with the supreme court decision.
If you know my stories, you know I have a thing for women getting knocked up. Nothing turns me on more than the idea of a lady having unsafe intercourse that eventually leads to childbirth, and that is of course reflected in my writing. Though I don't find pregnant women or the act of childbirth attractive in a direct sense, the idea of them does fill me with a sense of, satisfaction for lack of a better term. So it's probably no surprise that as far as my author word of god is concerned, all of the female characters who got knocked up in my stories did not get abortions or miscarriages, and went on to give birth to healthy children.
However, those characters exist in fictional worlds; worlds that are entirely under my control. Worlds that can exist as an idealized vision straight from my imagination, where these characters won't have any severe complications or issues, and can go on to live happily ever after, just because I say so.
Real life of course, is different. Real life is complicated. Real life is not ideal, and it's messy and full of issues and hardships. Real life is a place where people don't get to avoid complications, issues, and troubles just because I would like it that way.
It feels especially complicated for me, as my church calls on me to be pro-life. That's right, I'm religious, specifically Protestant; I know that may come as a big surprise, given what I've taken up as my hobby here. I understand the reasons why my church wants me to be pro-life, and if the country was more idealized, I would potentially be pro-life when it comes to the law as well. Again though, it isn't an idealized place, and we have issues like people not having access to proper medical care because they can't afford it, and adoption not being such a clean option as the pro-life arguers like to pretend it is.
I am, as mentioned in my profile, a straight male. I'm also single, and I have been my whole life. Therefore, I don't need access to abortions myself, and I probably still won't for the foreseeable future. However, I am an empathetic and sympathetic person, or at least I like to think that I am. As such, I understand why others would feel that being forced to carry a pregnancy, especially an unexpected one, is something they would not want.
I have had a number of long internal debates with myself about the matter over the years. If you had asked me a few years ago, I probably would've told you that I was pro-life all the way, due to my faith. Since then though, after educating myself and after considering all the circumstances of the world we live in, I have, a little reluctantly, flipped to the opinion that pro-choice is the lesser of two evils, as it were.
If we lived in a world where we could guarantee for certain that pregnancy wouldn't come with potentially dire medical risks; if we lived in a world where we could guarantee for certain that a kid put into adoption or foster care would still receive a fulfilling and happy life; especially if we lived in a world with some kind of sci-fi tech where we could take a developing fetus and put it in a tube so the mother doesn't have to be burdened with growing it herself unless she wants to. (It would also have to be a free and easy option for everyone, too; not just something for only the uber rich or the circumstantially privileged. If it technically exists but isn't a realistic option, then that's not good enough.) Then, and only then, would I be okay with the law saying that abortions are illegal.
...
...
...
So, un-fun stuff aside, how did this last month go for my writing? I think decent, considering how rough this month has ended up feeling. Though, it's kind of a cheat though, since one of the three stories I uploaded this last month was actually written the month before.
Curiously, all three stories I uploaded seemed to have done similarly in terms of views and favorites. This included part three of the Roommates make the best pets series, which so far has broken the trend among my major series uploads for having the most favorites among my stories. Of course, it could catch up later, but since my stories tend to get the main bulk of their favorites in their first week of uploading, I kind of doubt it. I won't lie, I do feel a little disappointed with my writing in it; I think the stress and such I was under this month may very well have reflected upon my writing quality in it.
I'm pretty happy with how 'Creating a lineage' went though, and it feels good to have the first of the Savages setting stories up.
One little tidbit that's interesting to me is regarding the first story I uploaded this month, 'A blindfold anniversary', which was of course a story trade with UNKNOWN7. Compared to mine, their half of the trade has more views, but fewer favorites. It was pretty fun doing a story trade request, and I wouldn't mind doing more, but of course I can't expect every person that wants a request to also be a writer.
So, how do I expect this coming month to go? Well... Probably not too well, actually. One of the un-fun things I was talking about before is still going to be going on this month. Also, from the 11th to the 16th there's a local pseudo-holiday going on that I know from experience always makes us super busy; though I don't expect to be at work for all of those days, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm working at least four of them, and end up being so worn out that I don't feel like doing any writing at all those days.
I think I'll definitely still be able to upload at least one story this coming month; I would be surprised if I didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if I only get one uploaded though. For what to expect in particular? Well, I won't say too much yet, but I will mention that both the personal story I'm going to do and the next request are both going to have Pokemon anthro characters. I'm not sure if I'll be able to start work on the next story tonight or tomorrow, but I should be able to get started on it Saturday at the latest.
If you've read through my ramble this month, especially the un-fun stuff, then thank you. If you didn't want to stomach the un-fun stuff though and skipped it, I don't blame you. No matter what, I hope you have a good month, and to my fellow Americans, have a happy Fourth of July, and stay strong.
This last month, work has been more difficult than usual thanks to stupid drama between a couple of the management staff. I've also been having an issue with a tendon in my arm; don't worry, not like, my arm is unusable serious. It just hurts a bit and hasn't gone away. I think I might've sprained it, though I don't recall any incident where that could've happened. Those two things are actually minor compared to the things that have actually been bogging me down. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my arm pain is being caused or at least exacerbated by stress about the bigger things.
So, I live in the United States; I think I've mentioned that before. If you've been paying attention to the news on the U.S. at all lately, you probably know that there's some big committee hearings going on this last month about the attempted insurrection, and continuing into the coming month; it really doesn't get much more un-fun than that, I know, but I refuse to stick my head in the sand and ignore it. I think it's really, really important, and I'm not going to let myself not know how it's going. Our country suffered badly because of the Big Lie and is continuing to even now.
The real big thing though, the biggest thing, is what happened last Friday with the supreme court decision.
If you know my stories, you know I have a thing for women getting knocked up. Nothing turns me on more than the idea of a lady having unsafe intercourse that eventually leads to childbirth, and that is of course reflected in my writing. Though I don't find pregnant women or the act of childbirth attractive in a direct sense, the idea of them does fill me with a sense of, satisfaction for lack of a better term. So it's probably no surprise that as far as my author word of god is concerned, all of the female characters who got knocked up in my stories did not get abortions or miscarriages, and went on to give birth to healthy children.
However, those characters exist in fictional worlds; worlds that are entirely under my control. Worlds that can exist as an idealized vision straight from my imagination, where these characters won't have any severe complications or issues, and can go on to live happily ever after, just because I say so.
Real life of course, is different. Real life is complicated. Real life is not ideal, and it's messy and full of issues and hardships. Real life is a place where people don't get to avoid complications, issues, and troubles just because I would like it that way.
It feels especially complicated for me, as my church calls on me to be pro-life. That's right, I'm religious, specifically Protestant; I know that may come as a big surprise, given what I've taken up as my hobby here. I understand the reasons why my church wants me to be pro-life, and if the country was more idealized, I would potentially be pro-life when it comes to the law as well. Again though, it isn't an idealized place, and we have issues like people not having access to proper medical care because they can't afford it, and adoption not being such a clean option as the pro-life arguers like to pretend it is.
I am, as mentioned in my profile, a straight male. I'm also single, and I have been my whole life. Therefore, I don't need access to abortions myself, and I probably still won't for the foreseeable future. However, I am an empathetic and sympathetic person, or at least I like to think that I am. As such, I understand why others would feel that being forced to carry a pregnancy, especially an unexpected one, is something they would not want.
I have had a number of long internal debates with myself about the matter over the years. If you had asked me a few years ago, I probably would've told you that I was pro-life all the way, due to my faith. Since then though, after educating myself and after considering all the circumstances of the world we live in, I have, a little reluctantly, flipped to the opinion that pro-choice is the lesser of two evils, as it were.
If we lived in a world where we could guarantee for certain that pregnancy wouldn't come with potentially dire medical risks; if we lived in a world where we could guarantee for certain that a kid put into adoption or foster care would still receive a fulfilling and happy life; especially if we lived in a world with some kind of sci-fi tech where we could take a developing fetus and put it in a tube so the mother doesn't have to be burdened with growing it herself unless she wants to. (It would also have to be a free and easy option for everyone, too; not just something for only the uber rich or the circumstantially privileged. If it technically exists but isn't a realistic option, then that's not good enough.) Then, and only then, would I be okay with the law saying that abortions are illegal.
...
...
...
So, un-fun stuff aside, how did this last month go for my writing? I think decent, considering how rough this month has ended up feeling. Though, it's kind of a cheat though, since one of the three stories I uploaded this last month was actually written the month before.
Curiously, all three stories I uploaded seemed to have done similarly in terms of views and favorites. This included part three of the Roommates make the best pets series, which so far has broken the trend among my major series uploads for having the most favorites among my stories. Of course, it could catch up later, but since my stories tend to get the main bulk of their favorites in their first week of uploading, I kind of doubt it. I won't lie, I do feel a little disappointed with my writing in it; I think the stress and such I was under this month may very well have reflected upon my writing quality in it.
I'm pretty happy with how 'Creating a lineage' went though, and it feels good to have the first of the Savages setting stories up.
One little tidbit that's interesting to me is regarding the first story I uploaded this month, 'A blindfold anniversary', which was of course a story trade with UNKNOWN7. Compared to mine, their half of the trade has more views, but fewer favorites. It was pretty fun doing a story trade request, and I wouldn't mind doing more, but of course I can't expect every person that wants a request to also be a writer.
So, how do I expect this coming month to go? Well... Probably not too well, actually. One of the un-fun things I was talking about before is still going to be going on this month. Also, from the 11th to the 16th there's a local pseudo-holiday going on that I know from experience always makes us super busy; though I don't expect to be at work for all of those days, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm working at least four of them, and end up being so worn out that I don't feel like doing any writing at all those days.
I think I'll definitely still be able to upload at least one story this coming month; I would be surprised if I didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if I only get one uploaded though. For what to expect in particular? Well, I won't say too much yet, but I will mention that both the personal story I'm going to do and the next request are both going to have Pokemon anthro characters. I'm not sure if I'll be able to start work on the next story tonight or tomorrow, but I should be able to get started on it Saturday at the latest.
If you've read through my ramble this month, especially the un-fun stuff, then thank you. If you didn't want to stomach the un-fun stuff though and skipped it, I don't blame you. No matter what, I hope you have a good month, and to my fellow Americans, have a happy Fourth of July, and stay strong.
June 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoWell, my apologies for not following through on the expectations I might've set in my last journal about things going better this month. Once again you may be wondering, what happened? Well in short, I accidentally took a ten day writing break without intending to. If you've checked my 'UP NEXT' part of my profile page lately, you may have noticed that it says I've already finished the next story I intend to upload. Since it wasn't just a regular requested story, but a writing trade, I decided on my own volition that it would be a bit better if I waited to upload it until the other writer was done writing their story, or at least was close to. I finished the draft on the 17th, and thought I would take a day or two break in the meantime; however, then life got distracting with the RPG I've been running for my friends and some video gaming, (On a related note, Sunless Skies is pretty fun, if a bit unforgiving; if you're into top down pseudo-space shooters and Cthulhuian style mythos, I highly recommend it.) and the next thing I knew it had been over a week and I still hadn't started up on my next story. That is my bad.
Anyway, so during May I uploaded two stories, part two of the Roommates Make The Best Pets series, and the standalone followup to my first story, A Wolf's Pride. A Wolf's Pride isn't doing as well, but it is the shortest story I've uploaded, (By a wider margin than I even realized.) and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Roommates Make The Best Pets part two however is doing very well, now standing at 4th place for most favorites among my uploads.
As I've mentioned before, it's not like views and favorites are the most important thing to me, and in general I don't really care whether or not my stories are getting a great reception. It's not like I intend to only try to write what gets more views and favorites. If mediocrity is the price I pay for writing what I want to write, then so be it. Just because I don't care that much though, doesn't mean it doesn't pique my curiosity to check, mainly in an academic sense. The trend I think I'm seeing so far, is that my stories that feature popular fan settings tend to get more views; stuff like Pokemon, Zootopia, and even Bakugan. That makes sense to me, as I imagine plenty of people are looking up those popular things and clicking on the stories when they show up in search results. However, rather than the fan setting stuff getting the most favorites, it's the series that get the most favorites; The (Un)Fair Wager series and Roommates Make The Best Pets series together hold the top 7 spots in number of favorites, and are my only uploads to have reached 10 or more favorites. At this time, I'm not really sure why that is; I wonder if people just prefer long series when it comes to sitting and reading since there's more of it, or if they like seeing things set up early paying off in later parts. I myself always like the idea of a long, fleshed out, high quality series, but my schedule is usually busy enough that something more easily digestible in a single sitting is usually better off for me personally. I really wonder what makes someone favorite my stories when they do...
... Okay, putting that rambling aside to move on to different rambling; how do I expect this next month to go? Well, I'm hesitant to set high expectations again, but for real this time I think it should hopefully be better. This week and next week, I don't have entirely off work but I do have more time off than I normally would; this is because I kind of need to do some house sitting, and while that will also eat up some of my time, I should still have more free time overall than I would have if I had my usual work schedule. Besides, as I mentioned above, I already have a story done and ready to upload, I'm just waiting to do so because reasons. I feel confident that it will be up this month. Then there's also the personal story I'm currently working on, which I don't think will be a super big one. After that, part three of Roommates Make The Best Pets, which I imagine some people are probably highly looking forward to. Of course, I can't guarantee all of that will be uploaded this month, but I think it's more likely than not.
As usual, if you read through this entire bunch of monthly rambling of mine, thank you. Even if you didn't, I hope you have a good month. =)
Anyway, so during May I uploaded two stories, part two of the Roommates Make The Best Pets series, and the standalone followup to my first story, A Wolf's Pride. A Wolf's Pride isn't doing as well, but it is the shortest story I've uploaded, (By a wider margin than I even realized.) and I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Roommates Make The Best Pets part two however is doing very well, now standing at 4th place for most favorites among my uploads.
As I've mentioned before, it's not like views and favorites are the most important thing to me, and in general I don't really care whether or not my stories are getting a great reception. It's not like I intend to only try to write what gets more views and favorites. If mediocrity is the price I pay for writing what I want to write, then so be it. Just because I don't care that much though, doesn't mean it doesn't pique my curiosity to check, mainly in an academic sense. The trend I think I'm seeing so far, is that my stories that feature popular fan settings tend to get more views; stuff like Pokemon, Zootopia, and even Bakugan. That makes sense to me, as I imagine plenty of people are looking up those popular things and clicking on the stories when they show up in search results. However, rather than the fan setting stuff getting the most favorites, it's the series that get the most favorites; The (Un)Fair Wager series and Roommates Make The Best Pets series together hold the top 7 spots in number of favorites, and are my only uploads to have reached 10 or more favorites. At this time, I'm not really sure why that is; I wonder if people just prefer long series when it comes to sitting and reading since there's more of it, or if they like seeing things set up early paying off in later parts. I myself always like the idea of a long, fleshed out, high quality series, but my schedule is usually busy enough that something more easily digestible in a single sitting is usually better off for me personally. I really wonder what makes someone favorite my stories when they do...
... Okay, putting that rambling aside to move on to different rambling; how do I expect this next month to go? Well, I'm hesitant to set high expectations again, but for real this time I think it should hopefully be better. This week and next week, I don't have entirely off work but I do have more time off than I normally would; this is because I kind of need to do some house sitting, and while that will also eat up some of my time, I should still have more free time overall than I would have if I had my usual work schedule. Besides, as I mentioned above, I already have a story done and ready to upload, I'm just waiting to do so because reasons. I feel confident that it will be up this month. Then there's also the personal story I'm currently working on, which I don't think will be a super big one. After that, part three of Roommates Make The Best Pets, which I imagine some people are probably highly looking forward to. Of course, I can't guarantee all of that will be uploaded this month, but I think it's more likely than not.
As usual, if you read through this entire bunch of monthly rambling of mine, thank you. Even if you didn't, I hope you have a good month. =)
May 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoWell, an entire month without any uploads from me; obviously my plans didn't go as intended, so what happened?
The cause is the campaign I mentioned working on in my last journal entry; what I thought would only take one more week to finish ended up taking more than three weeks. This was in part my own fault, as I got unfocused and didn't make a good outline of what I should be working on until far later than I should have. However, also my work schedule got more hectic throughout April, leaving me with less time than usual to work on my hobby projects.
As of the 24th however, I was done enough with the campaign to set it aside and pick back up with the next requested story, part two of Roommates Make The Best Pets. Though I wasn't able to put any work on it for the last couple of days for various reasons, I am already a good chunk of the way through it, and I'm almost into my vacation proper, so I wouldn't be surprised if I have it finished within just a few more days at most.
Also yes, I still haven't uploaded that requirements text either; that's because I decided to save doing that until after finishing the requested story. It will probably go up not long after that.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Hopefully, a lot better. I don't have to go back to work until the 9th at the earliest, and though I do have other plans throughout my vacation, I should still have a lot of time I could put to writing; so who knows, I might have multiple stories uploaded throughout this coming week. I'm not sure how it will be after my vacation is over, but I'm hoping it will be back to the same kind of routine I had back around the first couple of months of this year, with a story done every one or two weeks.
I had a quiet birthday, but really that's the way I like it. I hope everyone else had a good April, and hopefully an even better May. =)
The cause is the campaign I mentioned working on in my last journal entry; what I thought would only take one more week to finish ended up taking more than three weeks. This was in part my own fault, as I got unfocused and didn't make a good outline of what I should be working on until far later than I should have. However, also my work schedule got more hectic throughout April, leaving me with less time than usual to work on my hobby projects.
As of the 24th however, I was done enough with the campaign to set it aside and pick back up with the next requested story, part two of Roommates Make The Best Pets. Though I wasn't able to put any work on it for the last couple of days for various reasons, I am already a good chunk of the way through it, and I'm almost into my vacation proper, so I wouldn't be surprised if I have it finished within just a few more days at most.
Also yes, I still haven't uploaded that requirements text either; that's because I decided to save doing that until after finishing the requested story. It will probably go up not long after that.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Hopefully, a lot better. I don't have to go back to work until the 9th at the earliest, and though I do have other plans throughout my vacation, I should still have a lot of time I could put to writing; so who knows, I might have multiple stories uploaded throughout this coming week. I'm not sure how it will be after my vacation is over, but I'm hoping it will be back to the same kind of routine I had back around the first couple of months of this year, with a story done every one or two weeks.
I had a quiet birthday, but really that's the way I like it. I hope everyone else had a good April, and hopefully an even better May. =)
April 2022
General | Posted 3 years agoWell, another month, and we're all still here, amazingly. Gonna announce here that I'm quitting my writing permanently- Oh wait, it's too late for April Fools. Darn. Well never mind then. =P
So, this last month was, as I guessed it would be in my previous journal, very slow for me. So slow that I only uploaded one story, the requested story A New Zootopia Drug. In terms of views, it did fairly well; it had over 200 views within the first 24 hours, IIRC. However, only one favorite on it so far. I wonder if perhaps it's an audience thing; Fur Affinity probably isn't the best website of choice to upload a non-furry erotica. Especially not one that is a modification of a setting with anthropomorphic animal characters being changed into one that isn't. I suspect a lot of the views are people who clicked because of the Zootopia tag but then left after the paragraph that explained the characters were actually mostly human.
Not that I'm overly concerned about the performance of my stories or necessarily appealing to the audience, since this is just a hobby. It still interests me to pay attention to stats, but I don't worry about it. Perhaps sometime later I'll make another Zootopia based story but with the anthropomorphic characters more like they're supposed to be, to make it up to anyone who might have been disappointed by A New Zootopia Drug.
So looking forward, what do I expect for this coming month? Probably still kinda slow, at least to begin with. As mentioned at the bottom of my profile page description, I'm currently working on something outside of FA entirely; a campaign for a tabletop RPG that I'm going to run for a couple of my real life friends. It's already at a decent amount done, but once again my work schedule is making getting free time for these things difficult. I'm hoping that it won't take me longer than another week, but I can't be certain. After that, I will be returning to working on stories for here as I did before, starting with the second part of the requested series, Roommates Make The Best Pets. I decided to once again skip doing a story of my own, as spending weeks working on the non-FA thing and then returning and making the requests wait even longer kinda seemed unfair. I still don't expect to be back to my regular pace until next month probably, but I think I'll be able to complete that story before the end of this month.
Before that though, there is something I've been considering doing. Right now, my process for requests is that people message me, then I send them my requirements, then if they're okay with them, we then discuss the potential story. I don't have said requirements listed in my profile because the profile page is technically supposed to remain SFW, and my requirements discuss NSFW topics. I had an idea though, to maybe just go ahead and upload my requirements into my scraps folder, and link to it in my profile page and such. At least that way, a step can be saved as people won't have to first message me and then see the requirements; they can already have seen the requirements and already know if they're okay with them.
I think the last topic to discuss is something else mentioned in my profile description, albeit indirectly; my birthday is in April. Specifically, the 29th, and I've already prepared to take some time off work starting then and going into the first week of May. Of course, since that's right at the end of the month, as far as affecting my potential writing output, that's going to be more on May instead of this month. Hopefully a good one, as I'll have a bunch of free time on my hands.
I hope you all had a good previous month, and I hope you all have a good month this month as well. =)
So, this last month was, as I guessed it would be in my previous journal, very slow for me. So slow that I only uploaded one story, the requested story A New Zootopia Drug. In terms of views, it did fairly well; it had over 200 views within the first 24 hours, IIRC. However, only one favorite on it so far. I wonder if perhaps it's an audience thing; Fur Affinity probably isn't the best website of choice to upload a non-furry erotica. Especially not one that is a modification of a setting with anthropomorphic animal characters being changed into one that isn't. I suspect a lot of the views are people who clicked because of the Zootopia tag but then left after the paragraph that explained the characters were actually mostly human.
Not that I'm overly concerned about the performance of my stories or necessarily appealing to the audience, since this is just a hobby. It still interests me to pay attention to stats, but I don't worry about it. Perhaps sometime later I'll make another Zootopia based story but with the anthropomorphic characters more like they're supposed to be, to make it up to anyone who might have been disappointed by A New Zootopia Drug.
So looking forward, what do I expect for this coming month? Probably still kinda slow, at least to begin with. As mentioned at the bottom of my profile page description, I'm currently working on something outside of FA entirely; a campaign for a tabletop RPG that I'm going to run for a couple of my real life friends. It's already at a decent amount done, but once again my work schedule is making getting free time for these things difficult. I'm hoping that it won't take me longer than another week, but I can't be certain. After that, I will be returning to working on stories for here as I did before, starting with the second part of the requested series, Roommates Make The Best Pets. I decided to once again skip doing a story of my own, as spending weeks working on the non-FA thing and then returning and making the requests wait even longer kinda seemed unfair. I still don't expect to be back to my regular pace until next month probably, but I think I'll be able to complete that story before the end of this month.
Before that though, there is something I've been considering doing. Right now, my process for requests is that people message me, then I send them my requirements, then if they're okay with them, we then discuss the potential story. I don't have said requirements listed in my profile because the profile page is technically supposed to remain SFW, and my requirements discuss NSFW topics. I had an idea though, to maybe just go ahead and upload my requirements into my scraps folder, and link to it in my profile page and such. At least that way, a step can be saved as people won't have to first message me and then see the requirements; they can already have seen the requirements and already know if they're okay with them.
I think the last topic to discuss is something else mentioned in my profile description, albeit indirectly; my birthday is in April. Specifically, the 29th, and I've already prepared to take some time off work starting then and going into the first week of May. Of course, since that's right at the end of the month, as far as affecting my potential writing output, that's going to be more on May instead of this month. Hopefully a good one, as I'll have a bunch of free time on my hands.
I hope you all had a good previous month, and I hope you all have a good month this month as well. =)
March 2022
General | Posted 4 years agoWell, the end of this last month hit pretty hard. Before I say anything about my own writing, I feel it's important to of course address what's happening in Ukraine. I think it's awful, and I hope anyone there is doing what they can to stay safe.
Of course, I'm in the US, so personally I'm perfectly safe... At least, as safe as I feel anybody currently is with the worlds' nuclear super powers starting to go on alert.
Anyway, as for my writing stuff and how the above indirectly relates to it, remember how I had the 21st to the 27th off and I was going to try to do a lot of writing during that time? Well, I did the final stuff for the (Un)Fair Wager series, was taking a little break while contacting the next requester to clarify a little on their request... And then Russia moved their forces, and as someone who cares about what happens with other people even if it doesn't affect me, that hit me hard emotionally. It also doesn't help that pretty much at the same time, I got Covid. So yeah, I felt awful both emotionally and physically, and that's why my writing suddenly went on hiatus right at a time when I was intending to be doing a lot of it. I'm fine now physically speaking; I was vaccinated so it's just been like an annoying cold, and it only felt particularly bad on the first day I was having symptoms. Emotionally though, well... I could still be doing better.
Of course it's actually ended up giving me more time off than I was supposed to have, but it doesn't feel much like time off. I still want to do my writing; I don't intend to abandon it completely unless I'm absolutely forced to, but at the moment I don't know when I'll be picking it back up. It's been difficult for me to get my creative thoughts onto how I want the next story to go, let alone the desire to actually go about typing it into words.
So, how did the last month go for me, the last half a week or so of it aside? I started with the first part of the requested series, "Roommates make the best pets," which received pretty good attention; it now sits tied with (Un)Fair Wager part five in 4th place for most favorites on my stories, breaking the monopoly that the Eeveelutions held on my top 5 most favorited stories. Next was the epilogue and 'character sheet' of the (Un)Fair Wager series, fully finishing that series off; they of course didn't get that many views, which doesn't surprise me as most people seeing something that's just the end of a long series might get turned away as they don't want to read the whole series first. I'm still happy to have written them though, and in terms of ratio of views to favorites, they're actually doing among the best of all my uploads; the (Un)Fair Wager epilogue most certainly has the best views to comments ratio of all my uploads for sure.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well, probably slowly. I don't have any more plans for time off, and I expect to be returning to a steady work routine just as soon as I'm no longer contagious. So chances are I won't have any window of time larger than a typical weekend to get a lot of writing work in, and then the usual maybe an hour or two a day if even that otherwise. Not to mention that of course I'm still waiting for my desire and drive to write to come back, as was mentioned above. I also have a different project thing I need to work on in the not too distant future, that has nothing to do with writing on FA, so that will eat up more of my time for putting out content this coming month.
Here is my current plans for what's coming then: First, when I can, I'll work on the current request who has thankfully been waiting patiently. Then, instead of writing a personal story, I'll work on that non-FA thing. After that, I'll return to FA writing by going to the next request that's in line. I won't spoil what the first request in line is, but the second request in line is going to be the next part of, "Roommates make the best pets." Hopefully I will have all that done before the end of March, but unfortunately at this time I cannot guarantee it.
I hope everyone has a good March. If you read through this whole thing, thank you for your time. =)
Of course, I'm in the US, so personally I'm perfectly safe... At least, as safe as I feel anybody currently is with the worlds' nuclear super powers starting to go on alert.
Anyway, as for my writing stuff and how the above indirectly relates to it, remember how I had the 21st to the 27th off and I was going to try to do a lot of writing during that time? Well, I did the final stuff for the (Un)Fair Wager series, was taking a little break while contacting the next requester to clarify a little on their request... And then Russia moved their forces, and as someone who cares about what happens with other people even if it doesn't affect me, that hit me hard emotionally. It also doesn't help that pretty much at the same time, I got Covid. So yeah, I felt awful both emotionally and physically, and that's why my writing suddenly went on hiatus right at a time when I was intending to be doing a lot of it. I'm fine now physically speaking; I was vaccinated so it's just been like an annoying cold, and it only felt particularly bad on the first day I was having symptoms. Emotionally though, well... I could still be doing better.
Of course it's actually ended up giving me more time off than I was supposed to have, but it doesn't feel much like time off. I still want to do my writing; I don't intend to abandon it completely unless I'm absolutely forced to, but at the moment I don't know when I'll be picking it back up. It's been difficult for me to get my creative thoughts onto how I want the next story to go, let alone the desire to actually go about typing it into words.
So, how did the last month go for me, the last half a week or so of it aside? I started with the first part of the requested series, "Roommates make the best pets," which received pretty good attention; it now sits tied with (Un)Fair Wager part five in 4th place for most favorites on my stories, breaking the monopoly that the Eeveelutions held on my top 5 most favorited stories. Next was the epilogue and 'character sheet' of the (Un)Fair Wager series, fully finishing that series off; they of course didn't get that many views, which doesn't surprise me as most people seeing something that's just the end of a long series might get turned away as they don't want to read the whole series first. I'm still happy to have written them though, and in terms of ratio of views to favorites, they're actually doing among the best of all my uploads; the (Un)Fair Wager epilogue most certainly has the best views to comments ratio of all my uploads for sure.
How do I expect this coming month to go? Well, probably slowly. I don't have any more plans for time off, and I expect to be returning to a steady work routine just as soon as I'm no longer contagious. So chances are I won't have any window of time larger than a typical weekend to get a lot of writing work in, and then the usual maybe an hour or two a day if even that otherwise. Not to mention that of course I'm still waiting for my desire and drive to write to come back, as was mentioned above. I also have a different project thing I need to work on in the not too distant future, that has nothing to do with writing on FA, so that will eat up more of my time for putting out content this coming month.
Here is my current plans for what's coming then: First, when I can, I'll work on the current request who has thankfully been waiting patiently. Then, instead of writing a personal story, I'll work on that non-FA thing. After that, I'll return to FA writing by going to the next request that's in line. I won't spoil what the first request in line is, but the second request in line is going to be the next part of, "Roommates make the best pets." Hopefully I will have all that done before the end of March, but unfortunately at this time I cannot guarantee it.
I hope everyone has a good March. If you read through this whole thing, thank you for your time. =)
February 2022
General | Posted 4 years agoI'm feeling like I'm running out of topics related to writing or Furaffinity that I can ramble about on a weekly basis, so I'm gonna change to doing these around the start of every month instead; thus this one will serve as February's entry. A mix of looking back at the previous month, talking about the upcoming month, and any general announcements I might want to make.
First off, it's Black History Month in the US; I'm whiter than bleach myself, and I don't think of myself as any kind of authority to speak on it. I just didn't want to go without mentioning it.
I feel like January went pretty well. Started with "Odd Shiny Hunting Tactics", a story that ultimately ended up revolving around an interesting gender dynamic for a Pokemon Anthro setting. The requester of the story, Winterfull, did apparently end up getting banned, seemingly several times given the suspicious new accounts that also got banned; as I've said before, I don't know what they originally did, so I've no weight on the subject one way or the other. Regardless, I actually am thinking of returning to the same setting for a couple more stories at some point later down the line; perhaps not this month, given my current plans, but you can expect that I will eventually write more Pokemon stories where the females are intelligent and the males are like animals.
Also in January I finally started uploading my story outlines to my scraps folder. They haven't gotten a lot of attention of course, but I wasn't expecting them to, so I don't mind that. I only hope they might someday help inspire someone else to work on their own creative project by seeing how I do it.
Next for January I finished part 5 of The (Un)Fair Wager, which is the final main part of that series; I'm not done with it, as there's going to be an epilogue and one more little thing, but the bulk of the story and namely all the NSFW scenes are complete. (Un)Fair Wager ended up being more ambitious than I was expecting, but I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. Part 1 has the most views of all my stories, with almost a hundred more than "A Most Annoying Companion", which is my second most viewed story. The five parts of (Un)Fair Wager are my top 5 stories for number of favorites. I know the Eeveelutions are pretty popular, which is probably the biggest factor in how much attention the series has gained.
The last story I did in January was "Something they can do together, a quicksand story" which marks the first story I've written where I had no personal interest in the kink at play. As I said in its description, I might not take any more of such requests, but I wanted to know if I was capable of doing that or not.
Also, not long ago, I finally made myself an avatar. I have an avatar I use as my default everywhere else online, but I was worried it wouldn't be allowed with Furaffinity's policies, as it's technically two copyrighted images combined together. (A slorg from Neopets, wearing the orange "sunglasses" of Kamina from Gurren Lagann.) So I'd been going without an avatar here, but then I got the idea to reference both a famous saying in regards to writers, and also a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit based on Jeopardy. I made the color scheme of it orange on light green, as an homage to my avatar that I use everywhere else.
February is of course also the month of Valentine's Day. Unfortunately I won't have any kind of special story to release for it, just as I didn't for Christmas last year either. I work on my stories one at a time to keep myself from getting tangled up in multiple projects; with how long they take for me to make, and that I already know what the next two after the one I'm currently working on are going to be, there's no way I'd be able to fit in a Valentine's Day themed story in time.
As for how I expect writing to be going this month, for the first few weeks here, probably still slow. My part time job is continuing to be making the, "part," descriptor more and more alleged, with already another week coming up where I'm only an hour short of being in a full time position instead. Great for money, especially since I'd like to pick up a Switch by the end of the month, but I just haven't been able to get a lot of free time for writing lately.
However, that will be completely different come the week of the 21st to the 27th, as I'm taking that whole week off of work, at least 7 days in a row. (My weekly schedule is not set in stone, so I can't be certain if I'll have any extra days around that off. I fully expect to definitely be working on the 28th, but my time off could potentially be starting as early as the 18th. EDIT: So I will have the 18th and 19th off, but I'll have one final shift on the 20th it seems, just barely keeping it from being more than 7 days off in a row, alas.) As I alluded to in... One of my upload descriptions I think? I don't remember which one now. Anyway, as I previously alluded, I'm going to experiment and try using that week off to behave as if writing here was my job, and do a lot more of it. Not write non-stop the whole week, but you know, try to make myself put in a good number of hours at least 5 of those 7 (or potentially more) days. I don't know how I'll do, as I've never really done something like that before, but I intend to try my best!
Also during that week off I might try to set up a Ko-fi account or something, for those who feel like supporting me. The main reason I haven't yet is because I literally don't know anything about how to set one up, so I didn't want to try to figure it out until I would have plenty of free time to do, thus during a week off. Also though, I don't want anyone to feel like they're obligated to send me any money; I don't need any extra money, I get plenty from my job, as I've just said above and as I said in my first ever journal entry here. I definitely wouldn't want anyone who isn't in a secure financial position to be sending me any money that they would be better off having themselves. Or potentially even worse, for anyone to try to send me money in an attempt to make ME obligated to write for them. So, assuming I do make such an account, it will serve as essentially just an optional tip jar. As for the hypothetical Patreon account I spoke of in my old journal entry, while I'm still keeping that as a potential future plan, I'm not planning on opening one yet.
Thank you if you've read this whole rambling journal entry, and thank you even if you haven't. I hope you all have a great February. =)
First off, it's Black History Month in the US; I'm whiter than bleach myself, and I don't think of myself as any kind of authority to speak on it. I just didn't want to go without mentioning it.
I feel like January went pretty well. Started with "Odd Shiny Hunting Tactics", a story that ultimately ended up revolving around an interesting gender dynamic for a Pokemon Anthro setting. The requester of the story, Winterfull, did apparently end up getting banned, seemingly several times given the suspicious new accounts that also got banned; as I've said before, I don't know what they originally did, so I've no weight on the subject one way or the other. Regardless, I actually am thinking of returning to the same setting for a couple more stories at some point later down the line; perhaps not this month, given my current plans, but you can expect that I will eventually write more Pokemon stories where the females are intelligent and the males are like animals.
Also in January I finally started uploading my story outlines to my scraps folder. They haven't gotten a lot of attention of course, but I wasn't expecting them to, so I don't mind that. I only hope they might someday help inspire someone else to work on their own creative project by seeing how I do it.
Next for January I finished part 5 of The (Un)Fair Wager, which is the final main part of that series; I'm not done with it, as there's going to be an epilogue and one more little thing, but the bulk of the story and namely all the NSFW scenes are complete. (Un)Fair Wager ended up being more ambitious than I was expecting, but I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. Part 1 has the most views of all my stories, with almost a hundred more than "A Most Annoying Companion", which is my second most viewed story. The five parts of (Un)Fair Wager are my top 5 stories for number of favorites. I know the Eeveelutions are pretty popular, which is probably the biggest factor in how much attention the series has gained.
The last story I did in January was "Something they can do together, a quicksand story" which marks the first story I've written where I had no personal interest in the kink at play. As I said in its description, I might not take any more of such requests, but I wanted to know if I was capable of doing that or not.
Also, not long ago, I finally made myself an avatar. I have an avatar I use as my default everywhere else online, but I was worried it wouldn't be allowed with Furaffinity's policies, as it's technically two copyrighted images combined together. (A slorg from Neopets, wearing the orange "sunglasses" of Kamina from Gurren Lagann.) So I'd been going without an avatar here, but then I got the idea to reference both a famous saying in regards to writers, and also a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit based on Jeopardy. I made the color scheme of it orange on light green, as an homage to my avatar that I use everywhere else.
February is of course also the month of Valentine's Day. Unfortunately I won't have any kind of special story to release for it, just as I didn't for Christmas last year either. I work on my stories one at a time to keep myself from getting tangled up in multiple projects; with how long they take for me to make, and that I already know what the next two after the one I'm currently working on are going to be, there's no way I'd be able to fit in a Valentine's Day themed story in time.
As for how I expect writing to be going this month, for the first few weeks here, probably still slow. My part time job is continuing to be making the, "part," descriptor more and more alleged, with already another week coming up where I'm only an hour short of being in a full time position instead. Great for money, especially since I'd like to pick up a Switch by the end of the month, but I just haven't been able to get a lot of free time for writing lately.
However, that will be completely different come the week of the 21st to the 27th, as I'm taking that whole week off of work, at least 7 days in a row. (My weekly schedule is not set in stone, so I can't be certain if I'll have any extra days around that off. I fully expect to definitely be working on the 28th, but my time off could potentially be starting as early as the 18th. EDIT: So I will have the 18th and 19th off, but I'll have one final shift on the 20th it seems, just barely keeping it from being more than 7 days off in a row, alas.) As I alluded to in... One of my upload descriptions I think? I don't remember which one now. Anyway, as I previously alluded, I'm going to experiment and try using that week off to behave as if writing here was my job, and do a lot more of it. Not write non-stop the whole week, but you know, try to make myself put in a good number of hours at least 5 of those 7 (or potentially more) days. I don't know how I'll do, as I've never really done something like that before, but I intend to try my best!
Also during that week off I might try to set up a Ko-fi account or something, for those who feel like supporting me. The main reason I haven't yet is because I literally don't know anything about how to set one up, so I didn't want to try to figure it out until I would have plenty of free time to do, thus during a week off. Also though, I don't want anyone to feel like they're obligated to send me any money; I don't need any extra money, I get plenty from my job, as I've just said above and as I said in my first ever journal entry here. I definitely wouldn't want anyone who isn't in a secure financial position to be sending me any money that they would be better off having themselves. Or potentially even worse, for anyone to try to send me money in an attempt to make ME obligated to write for them. So, assuming I do make such an account, it will serve as essentially just an optional tip jar. As for the hypothetical Patreon account I spoke of in my old journal entry, while I'm still keeping that as a potential future plan, I'm not planning on opening one yet.
Thank you if you've read this whole rambling journal entry, and thank you even if you haven't. I hope you all have a great February. =)
On file formats and text formatting.
General | Posted 4 years agoAlright, to get back to a journal entry that's actually about my writing, I thought I'd talk a little bit about file formats, and why I upload my stories as .txt files instead of .rtf, which seems to be the more popular format among the other writers on this site.
Well, quite simply, I like using the generated preview feature on Fur Affinity. It's the method of presentation that I personally like the best, after checking out what other uploaded stories were like back when I first decided to start uploading last October. That means having my files opened from notepad, which I don't actually like writing in for stories; so instead, I write my works in wordpad, which is what I'm most comfortable with, which is .rtf. Of course, if you pay attention to my descriptions you know I mention using google docs. I don't like actually writing in google docs because google docs uses various autocorrects that I personally do not like, such as making quotation marks go from looking, "like this," to, “like this.” However, since google docs has spellcheck and word count features, which my wordpad version does not have, I use a google doc in part of my process to help me check for errors and check how many words are in the story.
So in the full process, I write in wordpad, copy paste from there to google docs to check it over, then copy paste from google docs to notepad, then upload those files. Except for my outlines; those I just write straight in notepad and upload as is, since I don't care if they're perfect.
As I said, I've seen that other authors here usually seem to upload in .rtf, then possibly put a copy paste of the story in the description of the upload as well, but personally I prefer the preview. Of course, just uploading a straight .txt file means I don't get to use bold, italic, or underlined text... Or at least, I thought it didn't, until just a couple days ago I saw a story that had underlined and italic text in the generated preview, much to my surprise. ಠ_ಠ
I guess that means the text formatting works if you write the bracket formats in the .txt file. Here I was, embracing the self made challenge of making writing without those tools... Well you know, I probably still will anyway, because that's the way I'm getting used to writing my erotica now. Quite the funny revelation though.
Well, quite simply, I like using the generated preview feature on Fur Affinity. It's the method of presentation that I personally like the best, after checking out what other uploaded stories were like back when I first decided to start uploading last October. That means having my files opened from notepad, which I don't actually like writing in for stories; so instead, I write my works in wordpad, which is what I'm most comfortable with, which is .rtf. Of course, if you pay attention to my descriptions you know I mention using google docs. I don't like actually writing in google docs because google docs uses various autocorrects that I personally do not like, such as making quotation marks go from looking, "like this," to, “like this.” However, since google docs has spellcheck and word count features, which my wordpad version does not have, I use a google doc in part of my process to help me check for errors and check how many words are in the story.
So in the full process, I write in wordpad, copy paste from there to google docs to check it over, then copy paste from google docs to notepad, then upload those files. Except for my outlines; those I just write straight in notepad and upload as is, since I don't care if they're perfect.
As I said, I've seen that other authors here usually seem to upload in .rtf, then possibly put a copy paste of the story in the description of the upload as well, but personally I prefer the preview. Of course, just uploading a straight .txt file means I don't get to use bold, italic, or underlined text... Or at least, I thought it didn't, until just a couple days ago I saw a story that had underlined and italic text in the generated preview, much to my surprise. ಠ_ಠ
I guess that means the text formatting works if you write the bracket formats in the .txt file. Here I was, embracing the self made challenge of making writing without those tools... Well you know, I probably still will anyway, because that's the way I'm getting used to writing my erotica now. Quite the funny revelation though.
There's a real person on the other side.
General | Posted 4 years agoI think it's easy to forget on the internet that, by default, every account you interact with has a real person on the other end of it. That doesn't mean they should be free from consequences of their actions, but we shouldn't be so quick to throw hate and derision at the slightest infraction. Every person here has their own troubles in life, their own dreams and desires, and their own thoughts and opinions. I think that we get caught up in the anonymity that the internet provides, and tend to see all the interactions here as just with some internet handle instead of with a real person. Even I forget sometimes, though I try not to.
Even that person mentioned in my last journal entry, the Polish individual who made many sock puppet accounts, is still a real person somewhere. What they did was silly and wrong, but I don't hate them for it.
Whoever you are that you happen to be on this website reading this text that I've written, I don't know who you are. I don't know if I would get along with you if we met and got to know each other in person; it's possible that I may despise your political opinions, or loathe some of the decisions you've made in your life. For right now though, that does not matter, and no matter who you are, I wish you a good day. I hope your troubles are eased, whatever they are, and I hope that you are safe, healthy, and happy. It's impossible for me to actually go to you and help you if you need it, but if these words provide you with any comfort, then I'm glad to write them; and if the stories I write on this site give you any happiness, then I'm happy for you.
May peace be with you on your travels through the internet.
Even that person mentioned in my last journal entry, the Polish individual who made many sock puppet accounts, is still a real person somewhere. What they did was silly and wrong, but I don't hate them for it.
Whoever you are that you happen to be on this website reading this text that I've written, I don't know who you are. I don't know if I would get along with you if we met and got to know each other in person; it's possible that I may despise your political opinions, or loathe some of the decisions you've made in your life. For right now though, that does not matter, and no matter who you are, I wish you a good day. I hope your troubles are eased, whatever they are, and I hope that you are safe, healthy, and happy. It's impossible for me to actually go to you and help you if you need it, but if these words provide you with any comfort, then I'm glad to write them; and if the stories I write on this site give you any happiness, then I'm happy for you.
May peace be with you on your travels through the internet.
