Hi everybody, Cube here
Now I am writing this because I have been thinking a lot about the future of this novel. Whilst I have a very small number of readers, quite frankly, I make no money at all from Tale of Four. Now I do not write entirely for money, and when I first started Tale of Four, I did so completely because I loved the idea of the story and the world I made.
Do not misunderstand; I love this novel, much more than my first one. But although I love this novel and first started writing it for my own enjoyment more than I did for any financial gain, this is becoming something I am starting to be unable to do. Of course, there has always been a part of publishing it to have fans and make money; after all, I wouldn't publish it if I didn't have that motive, but I am now in a stage of my life where I can't spend hours of my day planning and writing chapters for soemthing that I am struggling to see a future for. I work 6 days a week and must use any free time I have to focus on this.
I am sure you can all understand that splitting my focus between this and my actual life is becoming a much harder thing. I love Tale of Four; I wouldn't have put so much time into it, but there are days, sometimes many in a row, when I have no readers.
I do not blame anyone for this, not people who enjoy my story nor myself. I understand that this novel isn't what the platform and readers on it really want. I knew this when I first started writing. I made the novel because I enjoy what I do, but this enjoyment is now becoming soemthing I can no longer truly focus my entire life on without seeing a future in it. I have been thinking about how long it would take for me to finish the story at the upload schedule I am on. I have already hit 250 chapters, and the next arc will be Olivier's second. Overall, I have 24 arcs or parts combined for every character, with an average of thirty to fifty chapters in each arc.
At minimum, that's 720 chapters, and I feel it will be more. Using that standard, I will be writing for at least a year, roughly 470 more days spent on this. If we use the maximum number of chapters, I feel it may reach 1,200, and I would still have 950 chapters to write.
I can write this; I would be willing, but my future is making this hard. I work mornings and evenings. I am learning to drive; I am trying to advance my career; I have a life outside of my novel and job. If I were making money or had a substantial following that didn't make me money but was big enough to springboard from, this wouldn't be an issue. Unlike my first novel, even with a small following, I didn't have many worries. I was in school; I had no real responsibilities. When I first started Tale of Four, it was the same. I had finished school and was looking for work. Now, I pay bills and other expenses.
Part of me doesn't want to stop, and part knows I won't completely, but writing has shifted for me. I want fans, I want money. I want to try and make soemthing of being a writer. Even if I get to a stage where I can't live off it, I want to at least show soemthing from it.
I am not complaining or bitching, thinking it's unfair or that I am the greatest writer to live and deserve more; I honestly think, in terms of writing ability, I am subpar. I can make the world, but I do struggle to put it on paper. That's not the reason for this. This is entirely because my life has gotten to a point where, looking at the future of my novel and my personal life, I don't see a point anymore in writing an additional 470 chapters for no gain. If I did, it would be solely for my own entertainment.
I will finish Oliver's second arc after this, but after that, I think I am going to put Tale of Four on hiatus and try soemthing new. It is upsetting to say, but it is the way things must be. Anyone who reads this, please leave comments on how you feel about this; if there are none, then it confirms everything I have written here.
Should I get enough feedback from fans asking me not to do so? If I write another novel, I will return periodically back here and upload a chapter a week or soemthing, but daily uploads and all that will stop after Oliver part 2.
Anyway, thank you all, and I am sorry to anyone who reads this and is upset.
Cube.