how not to keep a schedule by yours truly

 

I won't reveal my age (I'm an old lady lmao - not elderly but you know, old; I am a millennial for those wondering lol) but I've been into fanfiction since I was in elementary school. Among television, film, and forms of media outside of music, I noticed there isn't as much pressure to update often. Back in my Glee days, it wasn't uncommon for a fic to update once every two to three weeks. I notice a stark difference when it comes to fanfic featuring music artists though. Weekly updates (or sometimes, even daily) are expected or, rather, I feel somewhat of a pressure to update weekly. Perhaps it's just me. Is it just me? Do any of you feel like you need to update as often as possible?

I have the nasty habit of boring easily. I felt myself getting to that point with Portions for Foxes which is frustrating. It's a fic I've marinated on for years and I can see it beginning to affect my writing. I'm getting lazy and wanting to explore other ideas and abandon that story completely. I recently decided that taking long breaks in between is probably necessary.

Anyway. I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts. How do you approach your writing schedule?

Poll

How often do you update?

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MidnightOnyx #1
I've literally gone MONTHS without updating (and by months I mean in one story it's been just about a year I'm ashamed to admit). I update when the muse hits and I generally like to have a couple chapters backed up for my one long form story before I post. When it's anything else like a short story or visual, I post as soon as I'm done with it. I'd rather have my readers wait (sometimes...well ok most of the time, an obscenely long time for a story or chapter than put something out that isn't my best.) and get something good. I'm pretty up front though in letting readers know my output is at a snails pace. Hopefully though when I actually do update, they feel it was worth the wait and I tend to have exceptionally long stories to make up for it. I actually had to shorten my chapters for my long form to cut down on wait time as they were so long (some complained too long), it took me forever to type them up ( I handwrite my chapters for my long form story only first and then type them up and post). I've got an ongoing series and I'm on the last installment currently and the series as a whole has taken me about 5 yrs and I am ready to be done. I have a storyline book that has a bunch of ideas and everything is on hold right now (except for that long form story) until I finish this series and then the wrap up part cause I NEED to finish it. I'd be lying if I said I haven't seriously considered just stopping it. I do have people reading it and I don't want to let them down and I do really want to finish it, so I will.

So I know exactly how you feel! Do whatever is best for YOU.
sapphirefrogeggs13 #2
It’s not just you! When I was writing on these sites, I felt so anxious about meeting weekly deadlines to keep up with everyone else. But then, I ended up burning out and lost interest in almost every single story I wrote simply because I kept forcing myself.

Nowadays I just write whenever the inspiration hits, and it’s not super regular. I also don’t really upload anything anymore, simply to avoid the pressure from creeping back again. It feels strange now, but I think it’s paying off…
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