Writer TWO YEARS IN (My experience since my last input)

[DECEASED Erskine Barran]

From a drunkard Lord-Major of the Galidraani Free-State
Soaring to the prestigious heights that led to becoming Lord-Regent of the Empire - and all of it unexpected to the last.​

I never once saw this coming, never even once.

If you'd have asked me if I'd see my first serious character at the top of the pile within 2 years OOC, I think we all know I would've laughed at you - and quite rightly so. I spurned responsibility as much as I could, even refusing offers for promotion to join the NIO's creative-staff, or at least until I was rightly pressganged into it. For my own good, I know, still to this day, I know lol. But as people come and go, voids must be filled, and if one commits enough to the cause without LOA or loss of muse, (with exception for illness and IRL work commitments) it stands to clear reason that the only thing remaining left to do is climb from there.

And I tried so damn hard to do that at a snail's pace too, slow and steady with head down in earnest, but I didn't think the proverbial tortoise could win again in this day and age. I'm still shrugging shoulders as to how that worked out, but I'm here now, both wincing at the What Ifs and chuckling that its all working out at the same time. So take it from me, it is best not to get hung up on such things because they find ways of building up eventually, and buying time before burnout could buy you another year's worth of muse if you transmute it properly.

365 days worth of muse when you could be needed most, which brings me to my next point.... You need to maintain your muse by any means necessary, even seeing your regular work hours as a break from the screen to build your muse up again, anything you think can work must be implemented - not only for yourself but for those you write with and often.

Not because you owe them this or that, obligations are meaningless when you're doing well for yourself already, they only take on meaning and precedence when you start to worry about said obligations. What I drive at here is this, when writers vibe with each other and put out solid collaborative gold, that can fuel the muse for both perspectives involved - and in ways that can keep you from overworking yourself. If it comes naturally, deadline and reply-time issues are non-existent, because having fun with it barely takes half as much time as toiling through it in chunks. If you really enjoy it, you'll blitz through it, if you're struggling - you know you'll feel that struggle quite quickly. Mindsets are easier with good writing partners, like a LOT easier.

You're making your own form of magic after all, and that should be fun no matter what your average word-count is.

And also, you're probably not told this very often but pay attention, the people you write with actually want to see you happy, not only because you write better that way, but because seeing likeminded people happy makes your writing-partners happy as well. Morale counts for more than you think, so cheer up for everyone's sake, because we like boosting that happiness too.

Get stuck in amongst it and enjoy the story-focused era, best time to do so, we're all breaking records together out here - and thats HYPE A F as far as I see it. Muse fuel right there.

Until next year, folks.
Godspeed fae the Goidels of Galidraan III.