Writer's Blog: School's Out For Summer

Current Demo Length: 328k

Next Demo Update: Sunday! Will include first half of Chapter 11 and possibly the second half as well (depending on how much I get done tomorrow)

Average Playthrough: Probably around 80k?

I’m currently eyeballs-deep in editing Chapter 11 for Sunday’s release (Reese needs to chill), so this weekly blog will be a little shorter than usual. But I have exciting news to share!

The Exciting News: I’m taking this summer off teaching to work full-time on Mind Blind!

I’ll still remain on call as a substitute in order to keep my job, but I’ve decided to take July and August off my regular classes in order to dedicate even more time to finishing Mind Blind (if I can hit 400k words by the time September rolls around, I should be in a good place to finish by the end of this calendar year when school starts again.) This will also give me space to begin reworking and recoding earlier scenes, as the amount of editing feels frankly overwhelming right now (every time I think I might be ready to announce the great save-pocolypse and updates, a new problem appears that needs to be fixed, to the point where I’ve begun to wonder if it would be better to simply forge ahead and then post the rework at the end).

You may have noticed me being quieter on Tumblr lately, and the reason is I’ve been in a bit of a creative funk. Middles have historically always hardest for me to write, not to mention that this is my first time writing for a real live audience! (I mean, I've always told stories to my kindergarten students, but they consider a fart to be the pinnacle of humor.) And lately, I’ve been feeling somewhat like a gymnast who, mid back-flip, begins to worry that they won’t stick the landing. 

A mystery novel needs to be tied with a nice bow at the end, and this goes doubly so for interactive fiction where so many plot threads can be accidentally dropped. Taking two months to dedicate myself fully to writing Mind Blind will enable me to have time to creatively recharge while also being more on top of social media, so that going online feels joyful instead of overwhelming because I really should be doing XYZ instead of having fun answering questions. (I’d also like to finish Rosy’s half-written Cupid Calamity route for Patreon, as well as all of the Aeon Student Guide.)

When I created this Patreon back in January, I never in a trillion years ever imagined that taking this summer to write would be an option. You’ve all made this possible, and I’m incredibly grateful for your support. So thank you! I can’t wait to dive into Mind Blind fulltime over these next two months, and am even more excited to share upcoming chapters!