It has been so long since I wrote an actual story, that I think it’s time that I wrote were exactly I am with it. To be honest, this was inspired by four people: Comicality, craftingmom, Parker Owens, and northie.

Yesterday, Comsie posted a topic about the harassment he experienced due to leaving some of his stories unattended to. And it got me thinking of my own stories. While I certainly never experienced any harassment over any of my stories, it made me examine how long it takes for me to post a story or a poem. The last time I added a chapter was back in June of this year, a poem. The last story, was an anthology piece posted back in December of 2015, and my first story hasn’t been updated in well over a year.

Yesterday, I also saw that blog entry by craftingmom, detailing where she was at with Falling Apart coming to a close and gave us details into her future writing projects. So I figured, maybe I ought to do something similar. So, here we are!

Poetry- Last year, I took the plunge and began perusing through AC’s poetry prompts. And I tried my hand at doing some of the prompts. However, I haven’t posted a poem in months, and it’s been far longer since I directly responded to a poetry prompt. And it was simply due to other things taking precedence. What I plan on doing is getting back into writing poetry. I even have an outline for a response to AC’s Elegy prompt that I never got around to. I also plan on getting back into haikus and tankas, they have a special place in my heart, and autumn is just the perfect time to begin writing them once more. From there… just working on each of AC’s prompts with maybe an unprompted poem here and there.

The Day and Night Sequel- So… last year, I wrote a story for the 2015 Winter Anthology. It was well-received and many asked about a sequel. I promised to get it out for the 2016 Spring Anthology, but I wasn’t able to do so. A major reason had to deal with making the story fit the theme without making the theme too obvious within the sequel. Well, as it turned out, that was too tall an order for me. And it simply wasn’t working for me. So I shelved it for the meantime, hoping that the next themes would make all the difference. But again, the themes didn’t speak to me for the sequel, even though I was hoping this Fall’s Anthology would do the trick, only to be disappointed again.

At this point, I think I should simply write the story without the guidance of an anthology theme. And when I’m done writing it, and it has gone through editing, I’ll post it

The First Story- So, for many who have read my stories and poems, the future of In Four Years is probably the biggest question mark. Believe me, you’re not alone, I’m right there with you.

It… freaked me out. I poured so much of myself when I was a freshman, that it was a trippy and crazy experience to see how much of myself was in the protagonist. And it begged the question: How much do I want this story to be based on my life experiences? And quite frankly, I didn’t know how to answer. Hell, I still don’t know.

However, the main issue revolves around a simple question: to edit or not to edit? The answer seems simple enough; the first (and only) chapter has issues that must be edited. But, how? See, I am so conflicted about this, on the one hand I do want to edit and revamp the chapter, but on the other… I'm sentimental about a lot of things, and this is no different. I want to keep the chapter unchanged (faults and all) so I can remind myself how far I have come. I have thought about unpublishing the story, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’m just unsure what would happen to all the reviews given for my first attempt at writing a story. If they had disappeared, it would’ve pained me deeply.

For so long, this story has remained in limbo. And as I’m writing this, I am still conflicted about In Four Years, so for the time being it will have to remain in limbo. But hopefully, I will be able to one day come back to this first story.

Future Projects- This is where I give my deepest gratitude to two wonderful friends: Parker Owens and northie. For it was those two that helped reignite my muse. This month, we’ve been writing scenes and weaving them together in a tapestry of a story. It has been such an awesome experience that my seemingly dormant muse finally decided to wake up. Now, I’m sure many of you are thinking, Will you three post this story? Well… my lips are sealed on that one.

So, what has my muse been up to since it woke up? Well, I saw this Halloween picture online and thought, this would be an interesting premise for a short story! So, right now, I am in the process of writing that Halloween story, and hopefully I can have it ready to post on Halloween. And what is so cool, is that it’ll be using characters that had been quietly in my head for a while now. And I can assure you, that this Halloween short story will not be their only appearance. Because their actual story will be a multi-chapter novella, which I am in the process of outlining. Plus, I have two other story ideas that I am considering writing, one is a short story that centers around the 2016 Election. And I am sure that these will not be the last story ideas I have.

In Conclusion- I have a lot on my plate, besides getting back to stories like Day and Night and starting new ones, I also need to get back to reviewing, which I have sadly been neglecting to do for months So, a lot of these things will take time, but I’ll be sure to get to my old and new stories as soon as possible.

And despite of the uncertainties that remain with In Four Years and Day and Night, I feel pretty confident and optimistic about the months to come.

Love y'all!
-Drew

PS: I hope that when I was discussing the sequel, I didn't come across as dissing the anthology themes. Because they were awesome, it's just they and the sequel never really clicked.