Writer's Notes- Log

Quick Update 9/15... 2019...:

Well, shit, it's been a while. If anyone reads this, it's been a little under a year since I last updated this story, and unfortunately it's not very likely that I'll pick this back up. There are still a good number of chapters in Athena's story that I never wrote up, but the RP is done in an unfinished state, so I don't know if they'll ever get written up.

What have I been doing instead? No idea why you care, but I've run a few NSFW D&D games, and now am involved in a monstergirl-focused Discord RP server. If you're interested, feel free to check out my DPP reddit account (https://old.reddit.com/user/ooo\\\_lmooo); new things I start work on may be posted there. Feel free to reach out as well, but don't be too disappointed if you don't get a reply, I check it rather infrequently.

Well, that's about all I've got. If you ever read this, a big thanks for reading and (hopefully) enjoying The Dungeons of Drath'nalak. This was more than a passion project for me, it was a huge process and really helped me not only refine my own writing style, but also get used to editing other people's.

Oof. It's been a while. Two and a half months, just about. I've been doing my best to keep chapters rolling out- the fact that they're already mostly written definitely helps. Sorry about this past weekend, as a combination of being busy, running out of written chapters, and just general seasonal depression combined to make me miss a few days. This Thursday might lack an update as well, depending on whether I can get an additional chapter written over the next few days.

I'm hoping to get back to the "main" story in the near future- I've especially been itching to write another full body transformation, but I'm low on ideas. If you have a suggestion of request, drop it in a comment (if anyone still reads these). The Athena storyline likely has another 10-15 chapters or so, unfortunately I haven't heard from the other end of the RP in almost exactly two months, so it's likely that once it runs out, it'll either just kind of stop, or I'll start typing up chapters that are fully written by myself.

I can mutter and make promises all I want, but we'll just have to see whether things go well. Between my job and the fact that I've got a computer that runs games well, I haven't had much time or motivation to do some serious writing. I'm going to write up the witch's basement chapter right now- it'll be a bit of a short one, so I might get a chance to get ahead by a few days.

As a final note, I absolutely hate asking people to do anything, whether it's a subscription or a favorite, but I'm going to allow myself one opportunity, in this paragraph that will likely remain consistent through these updates. If you read a chapter in this story and think to yourself, "Hey, this was really well written, I would love to read more of this," just hit the little "Like" button. This feedback helps me know I've done a good job, and will help me write more of what you want to read. As I mentioned above, the positive feedback so far provides great motivation for me to keep writing, and "Likes" are a big part of that.

Update 8/22

Three weeks since the last one of these, damn. Time has started to go by pretty quickly for me at my job. I have a new computer, which is nice, but I don't plan on using it to write, so it won't change much. Honestly, I don't really have much to talk about- likely why these updates have slowed down- so this will likely be a short one, and I don't know when the next will be.

As far as Patreon, artwork, all of that, I think it's no surprise that it's not on my radar anymore. If I get the motivation to write more, it'll potentially be accompanied by more half-brained schemes to fudge publicity, but for now it seems like people are enjoying what I'm putting out, and I'm okay with that.

Speaking of content, I've been putting out new chapters for the first side story for a while now, and I think that story's almost finished. As of now, I have another three chapters written and ready to be published (so through Thursday), and I'm going to write up the last few chapters now, so I'll come back later tonight and edit this statement with the full length of the story. (Promised Edit: There are three more, for six total. Will finish Sunday 8/19.)

I've been writing out a second story with the same reddit user, and while that's slowed down, I'd say it's at least 2-3 times the length of Serra's storyline, so that should be plenty to continue onto after finishing off our soon-to-be-Cow Maiden. If you're interested in the side stories, just head over to my reddit account and shoot me a message with a character description.

Update 7/23

Two weeks later, and here we are. I've been much more active on reddit than this site, though that isn't something publicly available, so I apologize for the recent lack of content and updates. In fact, the last time I wrote a chapter here was last Wednesday, which happened to be the day that I started an excellent RP with someone on reddit. This is good news and bad news, which I'll get to in a bit.

In the immediate term, I'll say that the reddit "launch" went alright, at least until my post got taken down about an hour after posting because it didn't fit the proper format. Sigh. I can't complain too much, I knew it was a stretch, but it was still frustrating- especially because I got an almost-automated, one-line response when I asked for clarification behind the decision that was made, and then a few days later there was a passive-aggressive rule update that specifically called out the fact that I chose to share something in a different manner than normal on their site.

Which brings me back around to now, and after a week of radio silence, I have some bad news- that's likely to continue. I'm having a blast writing a back-and-forth with the aforementioned redditor, and so while it's taking all of my writing time, I'm happy to spend it continuing the RP, especially because of the good news, which is that all of this writing will end up in this story, hopefully in the near future.

Related to that last point, much of what I'm writing has significant contextual differences from this story, and relies on the character that has been created. Due to this, I'll be adapting some of the written material for new chapters, but once I finish a storyline and reach an end with the writer (we've already come to one such "bad end"), I'll be writing up the entire storyline and posting it episodically as an offshoot of the very first chapter. Now, it'll be linear, breaking each time I feel a crucial decision is made, but if people would like to add on their own takes on the story, feel free to do so. I'm hoping to cut out the first storyline and start uploading one chapter per day by the start of next week.

That's it for today. Again, thank you for reading, especially after such a long break- I'd be surprised if anyone actually reads these notes at this point. In the least committal of ways, I promise more chapters will come soon.

Update 7/9

Well, it's been several weeks since I did one of these on a Monday, but here we are again. I like how the new, low-pressure "schedule" is going, and so it's likely to continue for a while. However, I will just cut to the chase and mention how I'll be sharing this story on /r/dirtypenpals later tonight, and opening it up for more personal RPs tomorrow (more on that in a bit).

Things have calmed down for me and I'm starting to settle into a rhythm, which is good. I think there's a chance I'll get back into writing a chapter or two per night, but that's an upper limit if anything and depends on a lot of other factors. I have plenty of ideas of where I want these storylines to go, but lack the ability to put it into writing. Plugging again the idea of guest writers, I'll again say that you should feel free to write your own chapters for the story if you have an idea of how to continue a storyline. If you don't have an idea, but want to write and help extend the story, feel free to ask me for some of my ideas that I haven't had the time or motivation to put into words just yet.

Going back to what I mentioned about personal RPs, I'll reiterate that this story was born on the subreddit Dirty Pen Pals as a personal CYOA back-and-forth, and when I had a sizable amount of written material I decided to port it over to this site for more permanence and the ability for people to read at their leisure. I also mentioned about a month ago that I'm 99.5% finished porting over content from before (there's about two more chapters in one specific storyline that need to be adapted) but I've decided that I do kind of miss the personal aspect, so I'll be running these RPs in tandem with writing new chapters. It has the benefits of being able to create your own personal character and interact with situations exactly how you want to interact with them, and if you mentioned that you were a reader on this site (include your username) I'll give you priority in terms of starting an RP.

Speaking of reddit, time for a bit of cross-promotion. Last week I had my username on this site changed from ooo_lmooo (my reddit username) to SweptUnderfoot (my Tumblr username). I'm going to start posting chapter updates and answering any questions on my Tumblr, which as of yet has very little (nothing) in terms of content. As far as reddit, like I mentioned I'll be running personal RPs through that account, if you're interested in that.

That was quiet a lot, but it looks like it might be a big week for the story. If the reddit posts catch on, I'm hoping to see an influx of readers, but either way I'm content with where the story's at and where it's headed. Here's another huge thanks to every who has not only read this story, but also came and read these notes all the way to the end. You're the people who make this worthwhile, and I wouldn't be able to do it without the thought of you.

Update 6/30

Alright, well, this is a bit awkward. Long story short I did really enjoy the break, and it feels like there's a weight off my shoulders, so I'm going to be changing again. I came back to over 160 notifications related to this story, most of which were likes, and I really appreciate that. It also helped show that I don't need to worry about updating every day in order to reach people, people will inevitably find the story anyways.

In response, I'll be getting rid of the schedule and poll, and going back to extending storylines whenever I have ideas or want to write. There won't be daily updates, or at least not as often, but I'm not going to stop writing entirely. I have a few more ideas for other stories, but I want to flesh those out a bit before I start writing.

One big change related to this story, though, is that I'm fully accepting submitted chapters. While it'll still be moderated, I won't try to take credit for chapters that others have written, and I'm just using the moderated setting in order to ensure that additional chapters fit in terms of quality, tone, and situation. If you show that you can handle writing quality chapters, I'm open to adding writers with full permissions so that you don't have to get every chapter approved- just write a bit and message me if you're interested.

I think that's about it. If you're still reading these notes, thanks for sticking around. I won't promise when there will be more chapters, but I'm probably going to write at least something after finishing these notes.

Short Update 6/21:

Hey all, short time since last notes. Here's the super short version- I've felt like I've had almost no motivation to write this week, for one reason or another, hence the low amount of quality chapters. I've decided that I'm going to take a complete break from writing for a week, through the conference of next week. I'll be pushing back the poll results and Thursday/Friday schedule until next week, and my goal is to write absolutely nothing until then. Sorry for the hiatus but this will hopefully stop me from getting burnt out.

Update 6/18

Well, that's another week gone. This next one looks to be pretty tame out in front of a very busy week at work due to a user conference, so I'll do my best to write enough for both weeks. Next week likely won't have a notes update, poll, or schedule, as anything Monday-Wednesday will be on the shorter side. I might do a short update with plans for Thursday-Sunday when that comes around, but we'll see. I did want to address something from this past weekend. I felt I was exceptionally busy Saturday and Sunday, and it led to a combination of lack of time and lack of motivation. If the chapters I put out those days seemed rushed or lackluster, I apologize. Moving forwards with the polls, I'm going to test it out a few more weeks and figure out if it was just an odd weekend or if it had to do with "being told" what to write. I doubt it's the second, but do want to keep it in mind. It would suck if the poll result days were always the least active, and almost make getting voted a bad thing, so obviously I want to avoid that outcome.

Returning shortly to the idea of a Patreon, I didn't get any feedback on the idea, and in this case no feedback means negative feedback. There's also the matter of how expensive it would be to commission even just a picture for one in five chapters- that's currently 31 pictures, at a conservative average of $50 each I'd be looking at over $1550, not to mention the time it'd take to put together. At some point, I plan on at least throwing down some money to get a commissioned image of the main character or a few of the more major side characters, but for now that's a far-off thought.

Rather short set of notes today, but I've said all I have to say, and there's always the comments if you have unanswered questions. Poll should be up reasonably soon, and I'll be back to writing later tonight.

Update 6/11

Well, that's a full week of work in the books, and I don't feel too burned out yet. Updates did slow down a good amount, but I was expecting that, and I hope you all can stomach that moving forwards. If there's ever a time that I feel I can't update fast enough, or I'm losing interest, I'll reach out to guest writers for help keeping pace- anything on that will be in these notes.

Speaking of these notes, this will be one of the last weeks that I'll have a new chapter to post alongside the finished notes, so in the future just expect these to be up around 6 or so EST Monday afternoons, and look for the blue chapter at the bottom of the page.

Also on the topic of changes, this is the first week of my new "storyline-per-day" schedule, featuring the new polling system. Check for a new chapter below this one with the poll and full information on how it works.

Moving forwards, besides the poll, I'm considering starting a Patreon, though it wouldn't be for a few weeks. I'm not lacking in money, just to be clear, but the Patreon would be a way for me to justify putting money into this story, in the form of commissioning artists and skipping work time to write. If it became large enough, I would also likely host a second vote on Patreon, and take the winners from each vote as the Saturday and Sunday stories. To be clear, every single cent that comes from this Patreon would go back into the story, and I would likely match it with my own money. I'd love to get to the point where I can practically hire an artist to draw images of the different characters and transformations that I can slot into chapters. If this is something that you could see yourself supporting, let me know in a comment (no commitment, I promise).

That's about it. Check out the poll (should be up within a few minutes), vote on the poll, and let me know what you think about the new schedule and other stuff. New chapters in a few hours!

Update 6/4

Alright, well, I almost made it a week, but figured today would be the best day to post. Today I finally started the full-time job I mentioned in the last update, and it's a doozy of an 8-5 (at least). Like I expected, I don't think I'll be able to write at all while on work time (at least for a while) and so for now updates are going to feel slow compared to when I didn't have anything else to do.

Speaking of updates, there will likely be a more consistent schedule, revolving around three points in the day. After I wake up each morning, I'll try to put out a shorter chapter before I have to leave, and the same right when I get back from work. At night, however, I'm going to try to write at least one or two longer chapters before falling asleep, and so there should be at least some progress every day.

On the top of what to write, I'm thinking over ideas related to choosing storylines for the week and working on one a day, as well as letting readers vote on what I should update on weekends. I'm trying to get these notes out kind of quick right now, so that'll be something for next week or the week after.

I've used up 99.5% of the reddit material I still had, and there's only a few chapters left for one specific storyline. From here on out it's going to pretty much be only rewritten chapters (where storylines meet events from other storylines) and original chapters.

That should wrap things up. If you have story suggestions leave a comment or even write up a chapter. I'll be back later tonight with some actual content, and I'll put out another of these notes next Monday- as long as I remember.

Short Update 5/30

So, I just finished my first chapter that uses variables to test whether you've completed a certain action earlier in the story. I'm planning to use these to keep repetition between chapters to a minimum, but the downside is that it makes less sense for readers that aren't using the Game Mode. I don't know if I like the way it's handled, and so I might just settle for the repetition option. For reference, this chapter is 8.2 Use the book to shrink your breasts, as there's a way to view that story both having read and not having read from the ornate tome.

Update 5/29

Hey all!

First off, thanks for the insane amount of positive attention this story has gathered. I love knowing that what I'm doing is being enjoyed by other people, and it gives me motivation to continue going.

These last few days I've been doing my best to update at least every few hours while I'm awake, but that's going to change. I start a full-time job tomorrow, and while I might be able to push out a few small chapters this week, at the start of next week I won't be able to spend my days playing video games and writing erotica. In addition, I'm almost out of pre-written material- recently, I've been writing original chapters and "easy" chapters in about a 2-to-1 ratio. "Easy" chapters are chapters that either come directly from DPP roleplay (and so are already written), short description chapters, or chapters that are just links. I think this is likely to continue, and the ratio will likely grow once I wrap up the last few RPs that are providing "source" material.

If you're reading this, you're likely at least a little invested in the story, so I'll share the three chapters that still have "source" material written- they're 10.1 Try to move on, 11.1 Continue onwards (after The easy way), and 11.4 The supervisor's office. I have a few ideas for other storylines that I've jotted down notes on, it's just a matter of fleshing out my thoughts.

Speaking of ideas, I'm looking for yours! If you think there's a way that a chapter could have gone differently, or have a vision of how a storyline could continue, let me know! There's two great ways- either leave a comment, or even write out a suggestion for a chapter. Credit will be given for all users who submit ideas, both in this chapter (which I will continually update with new notes) and in the chapter they help write.

As a final note, I absolutely hate asking people to do anything, whether it's a subscription or a favorite, but I'm going to allow myself one opportunity, in this paragraph that will likely remain consistent through these updates. If you read a chapter in this story and think to yourself, "Hey, this was really well written, I would love to read more of this," just hit the little "Like" button. This feedback helps me know I've done a good job, and will help me write more of what you want to read. As I mentioned above, the positive feedback so far provides great motivation for me to keep writing, and "Likes" are a big part of that.

I think that's about it for this update. I'd say to expect one weekly, but I don't know if I'll manage to stick to that. I'm also trying to decide whether to write these in separate chapters, which might get cluttered, or in the same one- which could involve either erasing the previous update or simply shuffling it down the page.