Heather

@IOnceWasAKid Gah, that makes me feel old. My daughter was about 11 when I wrote the very first draft of Ten Days, back in 2007, and now she's gone through uni, graduated and married last year. You can see I write at glacial speed. :D  (The first draft of the first version ended when they left the house, which is why this version does not yet have an ending)
            
            The good news is that I now know why I keep getting derailed with my writing. It doesn't make it any easier to restart, but knowing helps a lot. I also think that by promising not to start a new story until 10 Days is finished I made things harder for myself. Writing something different has previously been the way I've managed to unstick myself from writers block in the past. All I can say right now is that it WILL be finished. However, I won't make the same mistake as I did before. The story will have to be complete before I'll post any more chapters so I can keep the momentum going.

@Seewah85  I briefly looked into getting a few printed copies, so I could have just one "book" of my own on my bookshelf, but the cheapest I could find at the time was ridiculous. Something like £900, which was/is out of my price range. And that was some years ago, so it would be even more expensive now.  As much as I love the story even I don't think it's worth that much!
            
            I'm open to suggestions as long as it doesn't involve Amazon or anything where I might get reviews. The comments I get on Wattpad are about as much as I can cope with. (and sometimes not) I recently discovered that my irrational crushing dread of negative reviews likely comes from something called Rejection Sensitivity and I'm on a waiting list for an ASD/ADHD assessment. 
            
            I don't have Facebook but I'll send you a note through Wattpad's own messaging system. You will find it in the inbox and may even get an email notification if you're lucky, although they never work for me.

@flights_of_fantasy I love that it’s your pride & joy!!So here I am again, almost a year later & still cannot get this story out of my head which is a lovely place to be IMO ☺️ q: I really want a physical copy of this story, so I am wondering if you’d be open to like a commission all around with a book binder & myself? Or as an alternative route, printing it only for my eyes. My ultimate concern being that you the author get the right/preferred credit for this work.
            If you’d prefer a more private chat, I have no idea how to do that here. Maybe FB Messenger? I’m happy to give you my username ☺️

@Seewah85 Thank you so much for your lovely comments. Eternal Flame may be the story I'm most proud of, so I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed it. I tested it on Jane Austen fans before bringing it to Wattpad, and although some weren't sure what to make of it at the start they'd all warmed up to it by the end. :)

@BandBC I'm not sure if this will be helpful, but the reads I have on my stories have just built up slowly over time. I don't think there's any magic formula for getting people to read a story. I was very lucky that one of my books was chosen as a featured story, back before they changed the system, and that certainly helped. A finished book also attracts more readers than a work in progress, as many people like to read all the way through rather than waiting for the next chapter to be posted. 
            
            The best advice I can give is to be patient, (yes, super hard, I know!) and don't compare your story to anything that's been on Wattpad for years and has had time to build up lots of reads. Try to ignore the numbers and concentrate on writing what you want to write.

@flights_of_fantasy of course there’s no pressure. The best works are those given the love and attention they deserve. There is no need got you to force chapters or a story out. The fact that you choose to share whatever you write with us is something I’m sure your readers are thankful for. 

@idontakecrap Thank you for reading and I'm so pleased you enjoyed it! I just wish I could write faster.  Writing creatively (rather than factually) is a bit of a challenge for me at the moment, but I'm sure I'll get back to it eventually.

@JaniceVanSteenburg8 Thank you. I'm so glad you enjoyed reading them. No, please don't start Ten Days. It will be finished at some point, but I'm not sure yet whether I have to pull some chapters down and change direction.  It will get finished, though. I'm not starting any more stories until its done.

@thegoblinowl I think it's one of the ways Wattpad tries to stop stories being copied to repost elsewhere, maybe. One of the (many) reasons I've never published anything is because while the story is only readable online I can make alterations and corrections as needed. Once it's printed I can't change anything and I hate the idea of mistakes going unfixed.

@thegoblinowl well if you said yes I was going to try to copy and paste but I guess  that won't work huh 

@thegoblinowl I'm curious how you would do that. Wattpad won't even allow me to copy sections of my own story and paste into another document.

@ mazymaze  no absolutely not! Was a low day anyway and the story was a welcome escape :) 

@mazymaze So glad to hear you enjoyed the story, but I'm really sorry I stopped you working! Hope you didn't get in trouble for that. :)

@hipsterpenguin It will be finished, but I can't say when. I won't allow myself to write anything new until Ten Days is done, but writing creative fiction of any sort is difficult for me at the moment. My muse is dead in the water and I still don't know how to fix the problem that was brought to my attention without ripping up the last couple of posted chapters and starting again; a solution that does nothing to improve my motivation. Still, I've never completely abandoned a story once I started posting. Everything has been finished eventually, and I intend to stick to that rule.

@Lioncitygal sequels?! yes!! Feelings of warm n fuzzy,  angst, anger, happiness n jubilation from your characters/story. I sincerely hope you will get all the spare time you need n hv all that creative juices flowing. And your fans will be waiting, no matter the duration. You're a darn good writer!! Good luck with everything. Stay sane n safe 

@Lioncitygal  Thank you for all your comments. Your reactions were priceless and made me laugh. In some cases they also reminded me what I have been capable of producing. I hope to get back to that point someday. It's not for want of ideas, I have plenty of those. It's just the spare time and focus I need at the moment.
            
            I get very attached to my story ideas, the plots and the characters I've been thinking about, so I still have high hopes that one or more of the Blackwood sequels will come to life one day.