I didn’t plan for this story to take me a decade and a half to write. I didn’t plan to take a ten-year hiatus halfway through. But life happened and the responsibilities of adulthood overtook the ambitions of youth. Still, never once in all those years did I forget about my story. Never once did I consider it abandoned. Through it all, I always intended to go back to it.
To the writers out there worrying that it has been too long since their last update to continue: There is no such thing. To those worrying they are too old: There is no such thing. To those worrying they are too busy to update frequently enough: There is no such thing. If writing brings you joy, write. Don’t worry about the timeline, don’t worry about how often you can or cannot update. Don’t worry about whether you might be losing readers—the readers that matter will wait (believe it or not, I actually had a few readers still there waiting for me after ten years without a word!). And even if none do wait, you’ll find new readers along the way. If it brings you joy, then write.
To the readers out there anxiously waiting for an update from their favourite authors: Tell them. No, don’t just drop a kudos and move on. Leave the comment, write the review, DM them, it doesn’t matter, just tell them! You never know when a simple message saying that you are still there waiting might make an author pick up their quill again.
And finally, to my own readers. My wonderful, glorious, patient, kind-hearted, and encouraging readers. I would never have finished this story without you. This story exists because of you. I write because of you. Thank you.
