Progress Report 2022.12.13: A Little Something About Burn Out

Hi friends,

I hope you’re having a good December!

This is going to be a short update for a few different reasons. At the moment, there’s not much to write an update about. I’m struggling a lot with a burn out cycle: the amount of content I need to generate in order to get to the next update is, as we know, astoundingly high; the longer I without an update, the more deadlines I blow and the more stressed I get; the more stressed I am, the more burnt out I feel; the more burnt out I feel, the less I am able to write.

Burn out cycles are very painful to deal with as an independent creator. If you’re not creating all the time, if you’re not releasing a constant stream of content, the drop in engagement or interest hits like a ton of bricks. It can be very difficult to push through to the next stage. However, even artists need time to breathe and time to recoup—it’s not possibly to create 24/7 (I say, as I write this post at 1:00am in the morning because I can’t sleep). I am doing what I can to mitigate the negative effects, but after writing over 500,000 words of Wayfarer and Wayfarer related content this year, I am very worn out.

While I am still poking at various Episode 3 Scene 1 branches, I am currently not able to get any kind of significant work on it done, be that writing or coding. I’m hoping that after the holidays, I’ll be able to approach the development with some freshness and have more to talk about at that time.

That beings said, the Veyer branch is currently ~74,000 words. Aeran has made his appearance in the branch and is, naturally, causing a lot of narrative strife—it’s one of the reasons the back half of this branch has been so difficult to complete. There are many layered dynamics to work into the scene and the MC’s dialogue options and mental state. It’s more like a tapestry than a straightforward scene, and getting across the finish line for this section has been very challenging.

In non-game news, a community project I’ve been working on will be announced soon! We’ve been working on a Wayfarer-themed pin up calendar for 2023. The calendar is digital only and will be available in January, with all proceeds donated to charity. I’ll be making an announcement on my game dev blog later this week or next, but I’ll be sure to update you with the details here as well.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. As always, thank you all so much for your support. 💕