The English Year

HAHAHA!! I KNOW what pre-lubing is!!! I was just sorta making a joke! =) You're so funny, Jon!

Where's the update?! haha

On 03/16/2013 04:40 PM, semaj565 said:

Where's the update?! haha

OMG omg omg omg...I don't trust myself to say anymore out of fear that my major excitement might mess up my keyboard. The gamut of emotions I go through from a single chapter of your work is crazy! I felt so upset in Corbin's defense at the support this freshman skank is getting. I'm glad you're back. I'm a total stan for your work!

On 05/20/2014 05:05 PM, BlackArrow said:

OMG omg omg omg...I don't trust myself to say anymore out of fear that my major excitement might mess up my keyboard. The gamut of emotions I go through from a single chapter of your work is crazy! I felt so upset in Corbin's defense at the support this freshman skank is getting. I'm glad you're back. I'm a total stan for your work!

I really just need Corbin to not with Nick and see what Pete has to say. I mean really he has been waiting so long to get those words from Pete. I get that Pete hurt him (which makes Pete a jerk) but what if Pete was in denial? It really seems that way to me...and I think Corbin was on the right track in thinking he really shouldn't drag a nice guy like Nick into what is going on in his life.

On 04/01/2015 09:02 AM, W.E_Rosenthal said:

I really just need Corbin to not with Nick and see what Pete has to say. I mean really he has been waiting so long to get those words from Pete. I get that Pete hurt him (which makes Pete a jerk) but what if Pete was in denial? It really seems that way to me...and I think Corbin was on the right track in thinking he really shouldn't drag a nice guy like Nick into what is going on in his life.

It is pretty interesting. But extremely slow - in terms of the main plot. Too slow, in my opinion. I understand building up the story, but this one really takes it's time. Journey down this road if you are patient.

This story began eight years ago in Aug, 2012. The author posted 34 chapters over a span of four years, then abruptly and mysteriously stopped posting more than three years ago and I thought, “Well, another good story cheated of an ending.” Now after well over seven years into the story chapter 35 appears without so much as a reason for the lengthy hiatus. When the story was being posted rather regularly it was without a doubt my favorite and I looked forward to each and every post. Then suddenly nothing. To me, loyal readers deserve more than that. Now I am reluctant to read chapter 35 and continue The English Year because to do it justice, which the story deserves, I would have to reread everything before reading chapter 35, and I’m not sure that I want to do that given that this could very well happen again.

This is why I think that a story, particularly a story as good as this one, should be completed before posting.

I welcome a comment from the author.

20 minutes ago, Arran said:

I welcome a comment from the author.

As an author who has three stories on Temporary Hold, I can tell you how difficult it is to keep writing when inspiration and time are lacking. And being met with critical comments, when finally getting back to posting, would be totally demotivating and depressing for me.

I think Jwolf is being brave and awesome to take up the task again after such a long time. As I understand it, he is determined to finish the story. If you worry about this being true, simply wait until The English Year is Complete before reading again.

I can understand why you had to take a break from the weekly time and effort necessary to produce a new chapter.  What I can not understand is how you could simply abandon your readers, who after 34 chapters obviously had some personal investment in the story and deserved better from you.  In lieu of chapter 35,  could you not have published something like the explanation you just provided?  I think your readers would have been supportive and wished you well and waited for the story to resume (well, I guess waiting faithfully for three years is a bit much to expect).

6 hours ago, Jwolf said:

I definitely want to take the time to respond to this comment as thoroughly as possible, as I’m sure you’re not the first or last person to feel this way about my story or any ongoing story. 
 

Here’s the reality. Writing and posting here don’t pay my bills. When I took a hiatus from writing, it was because life got in the way and certain needs had to be met. If this were my full time undertaking, things would be different. I love writing and I love getting to share this story, and believe me stepping away for an extended period was probably tougher on me than it was on you as a reader. 
 

Keeping up with a story takes a great deal of time even in the best circumstances. Hours spent writing, then editing, and the waiting and interacting. It’s not always a simple procedure. I understand that reading and following along with a story is time consuming as well, and I don’t take anyone who’s spent the time reading my work for granted. 
 

I’ll end with this. Following an ongoing story has its risks and its rewards. Sometimes authors need breaks- novels take years and years to complete and some authors put works down for many years before going back to them. With an ongoing story, you don’t get that luxury without disappointing people. On the other hand, readers have access to the writers as the story is taking shape. Your comments and suggestions make their way into the narrative. Even though this is largely autobiographical (I won’t even touch on the emotional toll if telling this story because that was my decision to share), the way it’s told is shaped by interaction with everyone on this site. 
 

In short, if you’d like to wait until the story is ‘complete’, I don’t blame you. If you want to continue to follow along, I appreciate you. I can’t promise a long hiatus won’t happen again, but it is my intention to finish this story at some point in the future. Thanks for the comments!

I thank you for the kind and thoughtful response and explaining it from your perspective, Jwolf. I really didn’t mean to sound harsh in my comment; I just like the story so much and was saddened to think that it didn’t look like it would be completed. Obviously my comment upset you and for that I’m sorry. I’m happy to hear that it will continue to completion. If the story was put on hold, I didn’t notice it. I will be more careful about that in the future. Still, because of the long hiatus I will reread the The English Year from the beginning before reading the latest chapter and any that follow because I think the story deserves it. Again, my apology. I applaud your effort at creating such a great and provoking story. Obviously you do love writing to produce a story of this caliber. Thanks for the effort.

2 hours ago, Ozymandias said:

I can understand why you had to take a break from the weekly time and effort necessary to produce a new chapter.  What I can not understand is how you could simply abandon your readers, who after 34 chapters obviously had some personal investment in the story and deserved better from you.  In lieu of chapter 35,  could you not have published something like the explanation you just provided?  I think your readers would have been supportive and wished you well and waited for the story to resume (well, I guess waiting faithfully for three years is a bit much to expect).

I understand how you feel, and I apologize that you felt abandoned by me on this site. I did return a few times in the last couple of years to express my plans to pick the story up as soon as I could- I was careful not to give timelines or definitive promises that I wasn't sure I could keep. I also put the story on a temporary hold. As I said, there are times that life gets in the way of our hobbies, no matter how intent we are on keeping up with those things.In this case, that also included my inability to return and give more detailed explanations as to why I was gone.

I disagree with you that anyone is owed explanations or updates. In life, we all choose what portions of our personal lives to share and not to share and my desire to share this specific portion of my past isn't an automatic gateway into my current or more recent situations.

As you mentioned, readers do have a personal investment in the story- that isn't lost on me and I've always been very appreciative of the support. As I still am. My involvement with this story goes beyond personal, as I lived these things and relive them every time I begin writing again. The events of the last few years may warrant their own story in the future, but for now I choose not to share those and hope my explanation and decision to come back and dive back into this story is sufficient. As stated, I understand the hesitation to jump back into a story that isn't finished yet, but such is the nature of this medium of writing and publishing. 

Glad to see you're back!

I'm happy that you managed to take the time you needed and found your way back to the story. I for one can say it only brings me good feelings to see the story being updated again. The absence was felt, but it didn't make my life worse in any practical way haha.

I hope you enjoy your time back to this story as much as any of us reading it 

Where oh where are you tonight?

Why did you leave us here all alone?

I searched the site over,

And thought I'd found true prose, 

You took a vacation and,

Phtt! You were gone!