Survivor: Isla Nublar

Hiatus Announcement

Hello,

So as some of you may have noticed, it's been almost a month since my last update. I used to juggle a handful of stories simultaneously and post new chapters daily.

However, for the past few months now, I have been feeling unmotivated to keep updating my stories. I slowly started to go from posting every day, to every two days, until completely stopping.

The reason why I'm writing this note and letting you guys know that I might not continue posting, is because I didn't want to leave the few of you who constantly shared your enthusiasm hanging and waiting. I appreciate all of you and I felt like I needed to let you know what happened that I abruptly stopped updating.

You guys have no idea how crucial and essential it is for a fanfic writer to have feedback and constant encouragement to keep posting and writing, especially for multi-chapters. The fact that a reader takes ten — hell, even just two — minutes of their time to stop by the comments section to share their thoughts on the chapter/one shot and leave a review, helps us to see that you guys are actually reading, enjoying and following the storyline, which is the main fuel for motivation and enthusiasm in publishing.

The silence that us writers get — and I'm saying "us" because I know it's not just me who feels like giving up — after every update translates to people not being interested.

I wanted to share with you guys our POV to give you another perspective (the most important one) on how it's like to be on this side of Fanfiction.

It's a lot of work to write a chapter. Oneshots are easier, but a multi-chapter takes a lot of energy, and they are very consuming (especially if they are long). It takes me about 8 hours to write a chapter (and some writers take days or even a couple of weeks), and I often change my mindset from one fanfic setting to a completely different one, which is really exhausting; no one out there does the same, or at least I don't think so. So, getting in the mindset of a couple of teenagers dealing with a pair of square snob parents one day, and the following day change my perspective to write a couple who is in the middle of the jungle trying to survive with nothing but their instincts, just to then end up getting little to no appreciation, is very discouraging.

Yes, you might come back to read each update, but the only way us writers have of knowing that you are enjoying it and anticipate an update, is if you let us know.

Fanfiction is a two way relationship between writer and reader: the writer needs you guys to be active readers, to engage with us, and let us know you are liking the story, what you like or not, snips you are catching here and there, etc. Just like you guys need the author to update and keep your favorite stories going. And by not engaging, it comes across as you guys not being interested in the work, which results in us losing motivation and eagerness to keep writing.

There can be many reasons why people don't take a few minutes to write a heartfelt review or a few words, but in general it's not really fair, and believe me, it feels like no one is on the other end, or that the stories you have to tell are ignored or just bad.

Like I said; it takes us hours, days, weeks to put together one chapter, and all we ask in return is for you guys to take 60 seconds to let us know you're there. Seriously, even a simple "I loved this because..." Sometimes, even just votes might help.

Maybe English is not your first language and you don't know how to express your thoughts? Well, I have a couple of readers who leave comments in Spanish (I speak Spanish), one of them even takes her time to give very rich, insightful reviews. If Spanish is not your language either, then leave them in yours and trust me...I'll use google translate if I have to, in order to understand you.

Perhaps you don't leave comments because you had a bad experience and previous authors wouldn't even care for them. I acknowledge every reader who stops by and leaves some love. I've made a couple of close friends that way, actually. I even listen to suggestions and prompts and have used many of them on my chapters across the board.

What I'm trying to say is that your motivation and encouragement are indispensable for us. Without it, we don't have ground to keep sharing our stories, since it feels like no one is reading, or, to put it more bluntly, that no one cares. Sometimes it might be the case that, especially when stories get updated regularly, people just start getting used to it and take the updates for granted, as if writers were faithful robots that satisfied you in one click. But we are not. Fanfiction is not a job, we have lives and struggles outside of it, so very often, writing here is a way to relax and get to a happy place. But, truth is, writing (and posting regularly), no matter how much you love it, is hard, it's draining, and passion and motivation are the only fuel in this case. And coming here to an empty audience leaves us with none.

I keep writing for myself, so the stories aren't really unfinished. I just don't have a concrete reason to share them when the audience is perceived as nonexistent.

Thank you for taking your time to read this and hear me out. I hope we can start a two-way relationship, if you'd like for me to keep sharing with you my stories.