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Hey guys! First of all, thanks so much for reading and supporting the story.I've spent like two hours trying to write this post because I keep getting insanely long-winded, so here's attempt #15 at keeping it shorter (it's still long, but believe me it was way longer before).With book 3 finished here on Patreon, my next step is to re-read the story and revise. After that, I need to write book 2 of my lit RPG. After that, I'm currently leaning toward a decision that may be unpopular, but I'll try to explain. I'm thinking about fully writing and revising book 4 of Level One God before I start posting chapters again.From a timeline perspective, that would mean ~3 weeks revising book 3 (Hopefully not longer), 3-4 months writing the romantasy book 2, and then 3-4 months writing book 4 of L1G and about 3 weeks to revise it.All told, that would have chapter releases pausing for quite a while. It would be like... me finishing the romantasy late December/early to mid January and not being ready to post L1G again until possibly as late as March or April next year.I know that probably sucks to hear if you're enjoying the story, and I'd obviously encourage everyone to just switch to a free Patreon membership in the meantime so you can see me post when things are back again. Please don't feel guilty canceling your memberships at all.So why am I making this decision (probably)?It ultimately just comes down to quality. At the end of the day, I want you guys to read the best version of the story I can put out there. The way I've been doing things isn't accomplishing that, and it has been eating at me for a long time.The main reason I haven't paused long enough to get ahead yet is because I'm also a huge people-pleaser, and the idea of telling everyone the pause would be this long has kind of scared me into just dealing with the situation until now.But I know I'm planning to find a way to keep writing the L1G series until it's finished, and with my responsibilities to write the romantasy as well, I've got to kind of do the smart thing and set myself up for a sustainable pattern instead of continuing to struggle with the way I've been doing it.Some super summarized other things that kept leading to this post getting super long - I tried really hard to shorten them, haha

1) I write a lot faster when I'm not revising chapters to share as I go, so even with the initial pause it should eventually mean there's more L1G with shorter breaks.2) I struggle being super involved with the community when the book is still in progress. Some great things come out of it, but so does a lot of self-doubt and internal conflict. I'll often see conversations with people speculating and getting excited about something I haven't written yet. It's hard to just sort of hear that and not internalize it and let it influence how the scene goes, especially when my own vision is radically different or exactly what someone says they hope doesn't happen.So I hope that makes sense to you guys and isn't too disappointing. And if you have more questions feel free to ask and I'll go into more detail in the comments. I just wanted to try to avoid writing a 10k word update because most people probably just want to know when chapters will be publishing again.

Comments

Krae Z Hand

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!! Well, have fun, and I'll look forward to your return

Dave T

If you want to please me it is really very simple: 1. Carry on waking up each day with a heartbeat. 2. Do whatever is needed to write the best L1G you can. 3. Stop worrying about us and concentrate on you and your family.

Hayden Hodge

Obviously unfortunate news to hear, but that’s my selfishness. I will keep with a paid subscription no matter what. All I request is at least some periodic updates around the timelines you’ve stated. Like let us know if you actually finish with your Romantasy December mid-February or if it takes you longer. I sub to you because of your awesome writing, but I’ve also never canceled because of your communication. Take care of your health and sustainability as well as your family. You’re fantastic and I’m sure I speak for most people here when I say we appreciate you. P.S. Any chance of sliding over a loot chapter of Brynn in the interim?

Korrasis

You've proven you're great at what you do. Take the time you need and enjoy doing it. Don't worry about us we will be here when you return!

Zachary Scott

Thanks so much, Hayden. I really appreciate the longtime support. I'll definitely keep you guys posted. I may even pop in to brag a little if anything cool happens in the romantasy world or if Level One God has a strong launch in November. The Brynn loot chapter is POSSIBLE... haha. I'll admit that's a big project and something I kind of look at with a lot of excitement and also a lot of dread. Maybe what I can do though is share the first draft of the looting for anyone who wants to see it, as long as everyone understands it's like a game that hasn't been patched yet. Items are actually one of the big things in lit RPG that will be so much easier and nicer to handle if I'm sort of writing in the dark versus sharing as I go. That way, I can freely go back and kind of "patch" items that are over or undertuned instead of being stuck with them however I dreamed them up.

Jacob Fraize

So while I will say that this is a disappointment to hear, I do appreciate the heads up. I'll probably keep my sub but as others have said would also like to continue receiving updates as things go so we can stay informed. Thank you for the story so far and I'm looking forward to the day you pick it back up

Hayden Hodge

I’m fine with that of course. Also I think you’ve told us your romantasy book before, but I would love to help support you by picking those up as well. I’m not into romantasy personally but my GF loves those types of books.

Gustav Fischer

I high key think its a mistake. I do appreciate the story tho, and you gotta do what you think is right.

James Williams

understood, I'll probably just keep my paid sub as I'm not really hurting for 10 bucks a month. I look forward to the next chapter whenever it drops

Ben Bass

No worries, you are the author and I know that I am here to support you in YOUR writing journey. I don't plan on going anywhere or changing anything. Remember you are a person too, so don't forget to please yourself too. In other words, as a people pleaser myself, learning "Don't set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm." is a great phrase to help you remember to take care of yourself. In this scenario, it means taking the time to write to your quality in the manner that works for you. Either way, once you start posting again I'll keep dropping my thoughts and ideas because I like doing that. Do what you need to do, I'l still be here, L1G is an amazing story and I really am glad that I found it. Take care of yourself and your family.

Zachary Scott

Thanks so much, Ben. I've never heard that phrase but that's pretty awesome. I'm definitely guilty of that at times. I always enjoy seeing your comments come through, so I'll be happy to see you back when book 4 kicks off, and I really appreciate the continued support.

Zachary Scott

Thanks so much, James! And if that changes or you just get tired of being subbed while I'm paused, please don't feel guilty to cancel. It's appreciated, but never expected! :)

Zachary Scott

I hear that, Gustav. It's definitely a tricky place in my writing career to navigate. The way I'm trying to look at things is to sort of position myself so I can keep this up for the longest period. I'm balancing a few things. Like one is just my own enjoyment and where my creative juices lead me. On that front, I'm still getting to write both books and I'm setting myself up with a sustainable way to keep doing that for a long time. The other side is financial. I don't care about getting rich, but I do need enough money to pay our bills and I'm the sole provider for my wife and two kids. And from a financial standpoint, I've been told by many people close to me that continuing to work on Level One God is actually the "mistake" in most people's eyes. Right now, L1G is something I've put about a year and a half into and the advance I got from the publisher and all the Patreon money combined from this book so far have probably made me about... less than 1% of what I earned from spending 3-4 months writing the romantasy. So my biggest goal with L1G at this point is just finding a way to make it feel enjoyable for me to keep working on it and not stressful. I'm already kind of putting more pressure on myself and irritating my publisher in romantasy by taking longer to deliver books because it's important to me to keep writing this series. But if I lose money on Patreon or followers on RR for slowing down, that's really not at the top of my list of concerns, if that makes sense.

Zachary Scott

Thank you, Jacob! And definitely, I'll keep you guys posted as I hit landmarks along the way and pop in to post if anything about the timelines changes.

Zachary Scott

Haha, I love that. Thanks, Dave. I wish everybody was that easy to please :)

Dave T

As long as you wake up with a pulse then the day is one of endless possibilities. Don't panic if you don't though - just roll over, go back to sleep and try again later.

James Williams

brother I didn't cancel before, I won't now. I love this story

Geekdumb

Clearly I'm late to the party but I just finished after recently starting the patreon. Looking forward to more story but happy to hear that you're finding a balance for yourself.

Ragnoris

Oooof long waits suck

Rebecca

Recently found L1G and it will definitely go into my reread and recommend list. I've followed while you are on hiatus and look forward to this book getting more traction. Please post updates so new folks can jump in and understand where you are in the process.