Gone
- Thread starter othyrsyde
- Start date
Jeez, this is just epic in the true sense of the word. Grand-scale, heroic, real. I'm loving the footnotes and lexica, as well. Glad I finally put my mind to reading this.
Thanks, glad you finally read it and even more enjoyed it!
Okay, so aside from the fact that it took me days to read just one update
IT WAS AWESOME!
Can't wait for more!
Sorry for the long updates, there's just so much to say
. And thank you too! It won't be too long until the next update, just need to finish the artwork up and some last minute editing.Hey everyone!
Well I was hoping this message would have an accompanying update, but sadly it does not. This time however, it's not because I've been cursed with writer's block or too busy with RL to get them done. In fact I've come to be plagued by indecision. I have three possible ideas for how to wrap this all up, and I'm weighing them on the scales of plausibility and coolness. Since I'm about to leave for my reserve for the holidays, I'm just giving it a break for the rest of the year. Plus I have plenty of work to do for the Livy Awards.
So Happy Holidays everyone, from Yule to Kwanza, and I'll see you all in 2015.
Well I was hoping this message would have an accompanying update, but sadly it does not. This time however, it's not because I've been cursed with writer's block or too busy with RL to get them done. In fact I've come to be plagued by indecision. I have three possible ideas for how to wrap this all up, and I'm weighing them on the scales of plausibility and coolness. Since I'm about to leave for my reserve for the holidays, I'm just giving it a break for the rest of the year. Plus I have plenty of work to do for the Livy Awards.
So Happy Holidays everyone, from Yule to Kwanza, and I'll see you all in 2015.
I would like to thank everyone that voted for this TL in the Turtledove's this year.
However I've been considering another reboot. There are several reasons for this. The first being there are several mistakes made, particularly in the Guatemala parts; along with research uncovering more info on the Conquista that would make my long term goals more plausible if incorporated. That said, I've considered just rewriting most of the updates on Guatemala, however this has led into other issues with the TL. One of them is just I'm reluctant to rewrite several past updates, while the old ones are still there. It feels sloppy, and leads to me being annoyed with the time limit for editing on this site and the fact it won't be fixed since it seems the site's software isn't going to be updated (and I feel bad for bugging Darkmessiah so much for editing them). This is is a minor quibble though.
The main issue, with both fixing past mistakes and continuing forward basically comes down to the updates being just too long. There's a lot of info I feel needs to be covered, like all the history and cultural background on Mesoamerica, simply because there is so many stereotypes, simplicities, and outright falsehoods that are quite prevalent. Not to mention that beyond Montezuma, Cuauhtemoc, and Cortes not much of the period's figures are well known either, including on the Spanish side. And trying to cover all this while advancing the alternate history has become unwieldy and a chore. This should be fun to write not an endurance trial.
Then there's problems with the format in which I'm telling it, relying too much on footnotes, the language lexicons, and brackets. Maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist, but more or less I'm just really unsatisfied with the entire project. So I'm putting this on hiatus. Sometimes with a break you can look back on your old work with new eyes and realize it wasn't that bad. So who knows, I might just soldier forth and fix it along the way. Or, more than likely, it's going to get another reboot. You can chalk it up to me being too ambitious and trying to tell too much too quickly.
So sorry again. At least this time it's not ending over some BS drama from Chat, but to make this more enjoyable for the readers and myself. Again thanks for the votes, and thanks for those who read and supported this. See you again when this gets continued, in whatever form that may be.
However I've been considering another reboot. There are several reasons for this. The first being there are several mistakes made, particularly in the Guatemala parts; along with research uncovering more info on the Conquista that would make my long term goals more plausible if incorporated. That said, I've considered just rewriting most of the updates on Guatemala, however this has led into other issues with the TL. One of them is just I'm reluctant to rewrite several past updates, while the old ones are still there. It feels sloppy, and leads to me being annoyed with the time limit for editing on this site and the fact it won't be fixed since it seems the site's software isn't going to be updated (and I feel bad for bugging Darkmessiah so much for editing them). This is is a minor quibble though.
The main issue, with both fixing past mistakes and continuing forward basically comes down to the updates being just too long. There's a lot of info I feel needs to be covered, like all the history and cultural background on Mesoamerica, simply because there is so many stereotypes, simplicities, and outright falsehoods that are quite prevalent. Not to mention that beyond Montezuma, Cuauhtemoc, and Cortes not much of the period's figures are well known either, including on the Spanish side. And trying to cover all this while advancing the alternate history has become unwieldy and a chore. This should be fun to write not an endurance trial.
Then there's problems with the format in which I'm telling it, relying too much on footnotes, the language lexicons, and brackets. Maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist, but more or less I'm just really unsatisfied with the entire project. So I'm putting this on hiatus. Sometimes with a break you can look back on your old work with new eyes and realize it wasn't that bad. So who knows, I might just soldier forth and fix it along the way. Or, more than likely, it's going to get another reboot. You can chalk it up to me being too ambitious and trying to tell too much too quickly.
So sorry again. At least this time it's not ending over some BS drama from Chat, but to make this more enjoyable for the readers and myself. Again thanks for the votes, and thanks for those who read and supported this. See you again when this gets continued, in whatever form that may be.
twovultures
Donor
See, this is why I like an ancient POD for N.A. timelines. That way when I find out I made a mistake (extremely common) or a new archaeological find completely re-writes pre-Columbian history (not uncommon) I can just say "but butterflies!" and continue.
Whether or not you decide to go through with rebooting (personally I'm willing to forgive you a mistake or two with Guatamalan history) I will continue to watch what you do with great interest.
Whether or not you decide to go through with rebooting (personally I'm willing to forgive you a mistake or two with Guatamalan history) I will continue to watch what you do with great interest.
Deleted member 67076
Please, please, please don't reboot. Im so excited to see what comes next! ;_;
Othyrsyde, I firstly want to say that I'm sad to hear that you're feeling like you might need to put this on hiatus for a bit. I've been enjoying reading the updates when they come out sporadically (even though I have to re-read it from the beginning each time because I've totally forgotten what happened in the previous update from the one that came before it). Secondly, though, I want to say that this is totally your project to continue, reboot or not continue, at your own discretion. I don't believe in trying to convince you to continue it because, frankly, if you're not enjoying writing it, then me asking you to continue for my sake would be unfair to you.
However, I do want to say that the discouragement that you're feeling sounds a lot like discouragement I've experienced in the past. Well, specifically, that the more and more time I spend on Donnacona's Dream, the more and more I want to go back and change what I've already written. Specifically, your own advice that you gave me about trying to incorporate more indigenous-language words has inspired me to try to recreate Kanatian/Laurentian place names, but has also made me cringe at the place names that I used in the first few updates (which were either French-derived, direct translations, or overly simplistic)... But, I know that if I went back and edited posts now, I'd end up writing everything in more detail, and it would be a year before I'd even be at 1600 with the reboot. And I'm really, really, interested in where I'll end up by 1700. So, I've decided that I'll save all the changes I make for later, when I decide it's time to create a "Finished Timelines and Scenarios Version", and for now will accept the fact that I'm writing a TL in which my writing style and depth of research have improved substantially as the TL has progressed.
Anyways, hope that wasn't too rambly. I guess my point was that I feel like I can empathize with where you're at now, and that my way out of my own similar situation was to stop being my own worst critic, to keep on writing and to put off revisions until the indefinite future.
However, I do want to say that the discouragement that you're feeling sounds a lot like discouragement I've experienced in the past. Well, specifically, that the more and more time I spend on Donnacona's Dream, the more and more I want to go back and change what I've already written. Specifically, your own advice that you gave me about trying to incorporate more indigenous-language words has inspired me to try to recreate Kanatian/Laurentian place names, but has also made me cringe at the place names that I used in the first few updates (which were either French-derived, direct translations, or overly simplistic)... But, I know that if I went back and edited posts now, I'd end up writing everything in more detail, and it would be a year before I'd even be at 1600 with the reboot. And I'm really, really, interested in where I'll end up by 1700. So, I've decided that I'll save all the changes I make for later, when I decide it's time to create a "Finished Timelines and Scenarios Version", and for now will accept the fact that I'm writing a TL in which my writing style and depth of research have improved substantially as the TL has progressed.
Anyways, hope that wasn't too rambly. I guess my point was that I feel like I can empathize with where you're at now, and that my way out of my own similar situation was to stop being my own worst critic, to keep on writing and to put off revisions until the indefinite future.
To be honest, I'd really like to know where this is going, and I'd rather see that than wait for the 3rd (?) version of this... especially as my knowledge of the period and area is limited to reading some general, popular science works and I'm learning a lot by reading your TL as it is now. But it's your TL, of course.
