The title is fairly self-explanitory, but wait there's more!

You might be thinking, "Why are you going on hiatus?" or, "You're an asshole for not finishing things!"

Hopefully, I can answer the first and hope to address the second in the following paragraphs.

Ever since Roy got to the grocery store, I feel like things have been slipping out of my control. Events take longer than they are supposed to and often don't occur as I imagine they should. I feel that this is due to my lack of experience, I need to juggle the interactions of all these characters, while trying to introduce new ones, show setting, advance the plot, and strengthen Roy in a combative sense.

I can't manage all of that and the recent chaters show that fact all too clearly. Just think, when was the last time Roy's abilities grew in a meaningful way? Too many things are going on and I can't pick out the key points. When I sit down to write there is this sense of dread that the chapter will be just as meandering as the last, and that I cannot put the story back on track.

Looking at this from the perspective of a reader, the first chapters had some content and there was the expectation that things would 'heat up' as it went along. Now here we are and not only have things not heated up, they seem calmer than ever, there is no urgency, no threat, nothing. Which is extraordinarily poor considering this is an apocalyptic tale. The current state doesn't even mesh with the synopsis!

If I were the reader I would not feel compelled to follow or read this story! I don't know your thoughts exactly, but I can guess things haven't exactly been 'exciting'. So as you can see, we are in the gutter and there is not light in sight. I don't feel that I can turn things around within a chapter or two and recapture your, or my own, interest.

There were always a few things in the conception of this story that posed a challenge to me. The most superficial are the blue boxes, which I have grown to hate. As a reader, I don't suppose you remember or need to consider too extensively those numbers, they're just window dressing. But as a writer, they feel like a constant burden which I need to keep in mind and constantly reference within the story. I know that some authors can't live without their tables, sadly I am not one of them.

Going deeper, the premise of the story, a fantastical apocalypse, is difficult. I know that some people fly with this concept fairly easily, but for me it draws out too many questions. Considering how exactly society frays after monsters pop up is a frustrating excercise. The idea of a bunch of people gathering in a grocery store and lazing about while the 'authorities' work things out sounds logical. It's what happens after a disaster these days. At the same time, it's boring, it's not Biohazard, nor is it Fallout. It's a bunch of character drama that takes place in a boxy structure.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

This would be somewhat intresting if everyone were super confrontational and melodramatic. I mean, just look at the Walking Dead, or the new The Mist TV series. But I'm an amateur and that type of drama is not something I'm familiar with, so things end up being just plain boring. There are probably a bunch of cooler things that I could be focusing on,like how the military is handling things, or what it's like in New York. Hell, imagine if this story followed a sect of terrorists, that would be kind of intresting.

But no, this story follows a teenager with not much going for him. I think the story would need some brilliant execution for that to work out, espeacially on a site like RoyalRoadl where action and badassery are par for the course.

There are other issues to, I could go on and on, but that would be redundant.

Soo... what now? I've done some thinking and I think the following will be my plan.

I'm going to set this story aside and return to it at some future date, when I get some more experience and can look at it with a fresh apir of eyes. For now I'm going to draw up a new story. This story had a grand scheme (it doesn't get much grander than gobal apocalypse), but my poor execution has degraded the initial concept. For my next project I will try to start with a simple idea, something common and done to death. There's a reason people copy Tolkien, everything is easier when you don't have to be the one inventing the wheel.

In the worse case scenario I churn out something unoriginal and cookie-cutter. On the other hand any good execution will be obvious, and adding something new becomes easy as it's a matter of tweaking the existing landscape. Things become so much easier for the amateur author. That's not to say creativity and stunning execution can't make a tropey premise great, just look at PMMM.

There are other atypical elements of this story which I will shy away from in my next project. For this story I've been introducing characters non-stop, in fact one of the primary characters has yet to show up (and we're already 90k words in!). I'll establish a concrete cast in the first few chapters for my next story.

The MC will be more active, so it feels like they are the ones moving the plot forward.

The amount of description will be toned down and the style will be simplified.

There will be no stats or blue screens.

There will be a villain to defeat, there will be a conflict to resolve.

There, those are my new commandments for writing a simple story. Of course I don't plan to follow them for the rest of my life. Instead they're just a guide so that I can write something basic that will sharpen my skills.

Congratualtions for reading through all of that. It heartens me to know that somebody cares enough to read this overly long hiatus message, I know that alot of author just stick this in as a note at the end of a chapter of a a brief little thing, opposed to a ramabling exploration.

If you want to throw in your ten cents or point out where I've gone horribly wrong, feel free to comment.

And that's a wrap. (For a while)

October 19th, 2017