W.a.r. By Jeff Wilson (Jkwsquirrel)

[jkwsquirrel]

11 hours ago, droughtquake said:

So when will the next WAR story be posted?
;–)

I know I said before that I was done, but I really feel like it's time to leave the WAR world behind after Aiden's story.  If I do any more writing, I think it will have to be in some other world outside of Billy and company.  There's a few reasons for that.  One, I think I've tapped into about as much of that world as I can.  It's been fun revisiting from a different perspective, but there's not much more I feel the need to explore there anymore.  For another reason, I think it's very hard for new readers to jump into a story with eight books.  That's a daunting task.  I judge a lot of my success based on feedback from readers.  I've noticed the current story just isn't generating as much feedback as earlier works did.  It's only natural that there would be some attrition.  There was a big drop off from Commencement to Dustin's World, and another drop from Dustin's World to Aiden's War in both number of readers and comments.  Again, it's hard to top the high point of Commencement when there'd be 30 or more comments on a chapter, but it is a sign that interest is waning.  I do this out of a love for writing and interacting with readers.  Comments are the only payment I want.  I also may have alienated some people toward the end of Commencement when real life got in the way.  I'm not some cute little squirrel writing these tales, but a real guy with real life problems, and when those worlds collided it really fucked me up.  (I'm still cute, just not a squirrel...)  It really seemed that I was done at the end of 6.  I thought I was done.  So when I came back, it probably looked like I was looking for attention instead of going through the biggest crisis of my life and coming out better for it on the other side.  That wasn't my intention, but appearances are what they are.  So, yeah, I think I'm done with WAR world after this.  Doesn't mean I'm done writing though, just means I'll need to explore some other world.  I have a knack for writing characters you want to punch in the face.  Surely I can use that gift in some way.

[Freerider]

WAR had a big impact on me. It made me reflect on my high school years and made me realise that it was not as happy a time as I previously thought. 

You can only do that once to me

I do enjoy your writing. As with Aiden's story, I think the thing is we already know how it is going to end. That takes away part of the suspense in the story. 
Still a nice read though. You may be right and need a new universe to explore. I will be there to read all about it!

[Guest]

I think Dustin and Aiden are antiheroes who come across very early as unlikable much of the time. Billy didn’t show his unlikable side(s) as frequently initially. I’d probably read a story with Billy’s insulin pump as the protagonist if you wrote it – I’d be disturbed because I hate needles and blood, but I’d read it.
;–)

[jkwsquirrel]

The next-to-last chapter, Checkmate, is up!  Check it out and watch out for flying desks!

[jkwsquirrel]

The last chapter is up!  Read!  Enjoy!  Comment!

[Guest]

I’m very sad that this is the conclusion to the WAR series.

Another possible sequel would be from the perspective of a therapist struggling with as an intransigent patient: Hartley.

[jkwsquirrel]

I think I might want to start writing again. I miss it. I miss writing. I think I was pretty okay, even if my mental health was crap back then. It's been five years. I'm in a different place in my life now. I want to write a "cleaner" version of some of my stuff, Like, String had so much more potential if I hadn't had a mental breakdown while writing it. It's just been so long. But for the first time in a long time I've got the itch.

[Okiegrad]

On 7/21/2025 at 2:30 AM, jkwsquirrel said:

I think I might want to start writing again. I miss it. I miss writing. I think I was pretty okay, even if my mental health was crap back then. It's been five years. I'm in a different place in my life now. I want to write a "cleaner" version of some of my stuff, Like, String had so much more potential if I hadn't had a mental breakdown while writing it. It's just been so long. But for the first time in a long time I've got the itch.

Would love to see you come back to writing.  You had some great stories, and great insights into life through your characters.  Looking forward to it!!

[Jason Rimbaud]

On 7/21/2025 at 12:30 AM, jkwsquirrel said:

I think I might want to start writing again. I miss it. I miss writing. I think I was pretty okay, even if my mental health was crap back then. It's been five years. I'm in a different place in my life now. I want to write a "cleaner" version of some of my stuff, Like, String had so much more potential if I hadn't had a mental breakdown while writing it. It's just been so long. But for the first time in a long time I've got the itch.

 I took nearly a twenty year break from posting. Once you get the itch, the itch must be scratched. 

The good thing about writing, you don't even have to share what you write. That's what I did for fifteen years, wrote for me.  Hope you get back to it.