Shifting My Priorities

I swear, every time I tell myself "I'm going to blog more"; I do go on a "run" of them, of sorts, releasing them consistently and frequently... and then lapse once again. To the record-furthest extent this time. It's been nearly three months since I last updated this place 😑

But now, I am finally blogging again, because I recently made a decision relating to my stories that is important for you to hear.

So, finishing my 9th story Background Pony Cuddle Simulator ended the period of me working on three stories at once. I spoke about this in the blog Where My Writing Has Been.

If you didn't know, I try to work on two stories at a time max. But one day, I took on a third without realizing it. It was difficult, but I didn't want to put any of the three stories on hiatus; I was having too much fun with them. So I kept cracking at it, until one of them, whichever gone, got finished. That one being Background Pony Cuddle Simulator.

Afterwards, because of the two-at-a-time rule, after I finished BPCS, I chose my next course of action as "Finish either Secret of the Pies or Something Sparkling (a collab with Captain_Cosmos) before moving on to story #10."

And that's the way it was going for a while. Despite story #10 being next up, I didn't consider it ready to go yet, because I was working on two stories at once. I wanted to keep story #10 on the waitlist until one of the two in-progress ones was complete.

But later on... it didn't turn out like that. For a pretty depressing reason, so bear with me here.

At about when I was writing Chapter 11 of Secret of the Pies (which is still the most recent to be published), I started having questions about the chapter's pace, which, to this day I still think is too fast. But the problem was, trying to add more to it messed up the flow. So yeah, it was pretty frustrating.

I asked Captain_Cosmos for assistance on the chapter, specifically for the question if it was too fast-paced. Captain said it wasn't, so I published it how it was, and... whenever I read it, I still wish it could have been longer. I'm not too pleased with the chapter. But again, the flow thing. There just isn't a way to balance the two sides out.

Then, as I began to write Chapter 12, those same issues kept coming up. "Should I include this? Should I not include this?" popped up in my head, over and over again. For this part and that part. And it was getting to me. I hate being in "decision purgatory" like that. It's overwhelming to me.

And then, for a really big blow, one day, I started having trouble writing a chapter of Something Sparkling, brought on by self-doubt and constantly finding things I thought I needed to improve in the chapter. Stuck in a rut of edit, edit, edit, it's never perfect.

And on that same day, more bad feels flared up, because I remembered that story #12 on my list is a requested story. Requested back in January 2021, at that. So, it was definitely possible that I might have to take on story #10 before Secret of the Pies or Something Sparkling was complete and work on three at once anyway. Move down the list, so I can get to the requested #12 in a reasonable time frame. I had acknowledged that since the beginning of this whole thing.

The difference, though, is that up until that fateful day, those two stories were at a good flow, to the point where I felt like I could realistically finish one of them before starting #10, and still be at a time point where I wouldn't feel guilty over a request taking a long time. But when progress of the two stories slowed down precipitiously, in fact, they nearly halted... that's when I got concerned.

It's hard to explain, but I basically shut down that night. I was just overwhelmed by everything that was going wrong, what could go wrong, and not knowing what in Equestria to do. Couldn't make progress on Secret of the Pies, couldn't make progress on Something Sparkling, felt a deadline of beginning story #10 creeping up on me... going back and forth and in circles with a decision on what to do... it was all just too much.

I eventually decided to forcibly break of the purgatory and just make a snap decision. I was fed up of all that considering and evaluating; let me just do something. In that snap, I chose to start story #10. And that was that. No reconsideration. Ultimately, that was the only way to get me out of that situation.

I also felt it was a good idea due to that story's content, which you'll see when it's released!

So... yeah! That's what I've been doing. Working on story #10. While I am struggling with story flow vs. more content there as well, eventually I will release it. It has progressed far.

Now... here's some sad news that I must break to you: I am putting Secret of the Pies on hiatus. Officially. To the point where it will have the brown status with the pause button.

I really did not want to do this. I love Secret of the Pies very much, and it hurts to kick it to the side. That was exactly one of the reasons I was stuck in all that decision-making. I knew there were benefits to putting SotP on hiatus, but I was hesitant because of my love for the story.

I'm also upset about it because I feel like it ruins a streak of mine. One of the goals I've set for myself as a Fimfiction writer is to never, ever cancel a story. Finish everything I start. And whenever I looked at a story with the "On Hiatus" status... I didn't want that for myself either. I still don't

But ultimately, I have concluded that it is the right decision. The story was causing me stress, and that's not something you want in writing, which should be a fun activity. Simply put, I was not having fun writing Secret of the Pies. I was only stressed about it.

I did try to look at Chapter 12 again today, for the possibility that I'd say "Oh, I can see the direction now. It's become workable." I took this as a possibility due to the fact that, beautifully, I did manage to pick my writing of Something Sparkling back up! The self-doubt dissipated, and Captain and I released a new chapter yesterday! I've also been having fun writing story #10, so... maybe things have changed?

Well... they haven't. Taking a look at Secret of the Pies Chapter 12, the familiar cannon of timeline questions shot right back at me. Don't know if this is the right start, don't know whether to include that part or not... like, the chapter looks highly intimidating. And when I try to think of what I could do with it, asking myself questions related to the problems... I feel stressed out again.

In contrast to Something Sparkling, where I did complete a chapter, and story #10, where progress has been fairly smooth and I've been happy to write it. And I don't currently know of a way to help or fix the issues that are stalling Chapter 12.

So, ultimately, I can see that the best thing to do, the right decision, is to click that menu and select "On Hiatus."

This is also something I've been considering due to the length of time that I have not worked on Secret of the Pies. Progress on it has been inactive since May 23, so well over a week, and after that look at Chapter 12, it doesn't seem like I'll be getting back to it anytime within the next few days.

Another reason for that being work on Something Sparkling, which again, has picked back up, and story #10, which is fairly close to being done and leads directly to the requested #12, giving me extra motivation to work on it.

I didn't want to change Secret of the Pies' status, for the possibility that I'd only be off of it for a few days, maybe a week. I don't see a short period like that as a hiatus; just a break. But now, considering the statistics, I can say now that the story is effectively on hiatus, and thus it's time for me to officially acknowledge that.

Don't worry; I will finish Secret of the Pies someday. I have too much love for the story to cancel it; I already know the basis of Chapter 13 and can see a rough outline for the rest of it, that I really want to see come into existence.

But for now, it's what I need to do. My other two in-progress stories have reasons to be prioritized, not be under me working on three stories at
a time, and I need to shelve that stress away.

Not sure when story #10 will be released, but hopefully within the next few days.

I hope you understand my decisions here, and again, Secret of the Pies will return eventually.

- Player 4